Huron Capital has formed a new platform to seek M&A in the HVAC sector through the investment of Pueblo Mechanical & Controls Inc. The private equity firm has partnered with Dan Bueschel to look for additional acquisitions in the space. PE firms are increasingly relying on operating partners to work with the companies they acquire.

Tucson, Arizona-based Pueblo, founded in 2001, provides provides maintenance and repair HVAC services for govermenment, educational and healthcare facilities mainly in Arizona. With Huron's investment, the target will be looking for add-on acquisitions in new markets including: Texas, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.

"We view this as a fragmented market with plenty of opportunity for growth both organically and through acquisition," says Huron partner Nick Barker. "We think Pueblo is a great platform from which to build.”

More and more family- and founder-run businesses in the lower middle-market companies are looking to private equity capital to finance their growth strategies. Such partnership can provide a handful of advantages such as a better chance of finding acquisitions, and access to more capital and industry contacts.

Founded in 1999, Huron is a lower middle-market private equity firm that has raised more than $1.7 billion in capital since its inception. The Detroit-based firm targets companies with up to $200 million in revenue using a buy-and-build investment model dubbed the ExecFactor. Its investments are concentrated in several different sectors, including: business services, consumer products and services, and industrials. In 2017, the firm formed Brudner Polymer to invest in adhesives and sealants.