Who is buying low voltage businesses? The PE platforms and public companies, with sources

Part of the Low voltage guide: buying, selling, valuation and who is buying.

Low voltage businesses are being bought by three kinds of buyer: security and fire platforms, public companies chasing data center work, and private equity firms building platforms. This article is for an owner of a cabling, AV, security or network firm who wants to know who might call. It is also for buyers who want to know who they are up against. Every buyer below has a public source. Where a price was not disclosed, we say so. This is an explainer, not advice on any company or fund.

Who are the main buyers of low voltage businesses?

The main buyers are a short list of large integrators, a few public companies and a group of private equity firms. Here they are, with what each one bought and where the facts come from.

Notice the last column. In this trade almost nobody publishes a price. Our hub on buying or selling a low voltage business covers the sector as a whole: what buyers pay for, deal sizes and how a sale works.

Which security and fire platforms buy low voltage firms?

These are the most active buyers for a local firm. Cameras, access control and fire alarms all run on low voltage cable. So a platform that sells security or fire services often wants the crews who pull the cable too.

Convergint is a large systems integrator. On 12 May 2025 it announced it had bought Fiber Solutions, per the release. Fiber Solutions designs, installs and maintains fiber optic, structured cabling, security and AV networks. It is based in Fort Myers, with operations in Nashville. Convergint said the deal grew its reach in the Southeast and in healthcare and commercial work. The price was not disclosed.

Sciens Building Solutions is a fire and life safety platform. In August 2024 it bought Low Voltage Integrated Systems (LVIS) of Vista, California, per its release. LVIS started in fire alarms for offices and added cameras, access control and intercoms. It serves schools, universities and industrial sites. Sciens said the deal grew its presence in California.

SAGE Integration and Knox Lane. SAGE, a security integrator in Ohio, bought low voltage firms in 2026. Then investment firm Knox Lane took a majority stake in SAGE, according to Security Sales and Integration. The hub covers that chain of deals.

Many of these platforms buy security firms too. Our list of who is buying security businesses names the bigger ones.

Which public companies buy low voltage businesses?

Public buyers want one thing above all right now: data center work. Data centers need huge amounts of fiber and copper cable, installed and tested by trained crews.

IES Holdings is a US contractor listed on Nasdaq. Its Communications segment builds network systems for data centers and other critical sites. In its fiscal third quarter 2025 results, filed with the SEC, IES said its Communications segment had bought Qypsys, a Tampa provider of wireless network systems. The same release said the segment's revenue was $299.2 million in the quarter, up 56% on a year earlier. IES said demand from data centers drove the growth.

Hexatronic is a Swedish fiber company listed in Stockholm. It bought Superior Fiber and Data Services, a data installation and service firm in Texas, and closed the deal on 1 June 2026, per its release. Hexatronic paid for it with money from a share sale. It said the deal brings in schools, healthcare, government and more commercial clients. It did not give a price.

Public buyers do fewer deals than PE platforms. But they tend to buy firms with trained crews and long customer lists, not one-off project shops.

Which private equity firms and sponsors are buying?

Private equity buys low voltage firms in two ways. It buys a strong firm as a platform. Then the platform buys smaller firms as add-ons. If the model is new to you, read what a platform acquisition is.

Hudson Glade and New State Capital Partners bought ComNet Communications of Bethel, Connecticut, in September 2025. ComNet does structured cabling, AV and security work across the country. Hudson Glade called it a platform investment. It named the data center market, new services for existing clients and more acquisitions as ways to grow.

Westnet makes fire station alerting and dispatch systems. Armory Capital bought Westnet in 2023. In April 2026 Westnet bought Low Voltage Installations, a Colorado firm with about 26 years of work, per its release. The release says the firm supports 14 dispatch centers, 54 fire agencies and more than 206 fire and EMS stations. This is a PE-backed product company buying the installer that serves its customers.

26North Partners agreed to buy a controlling stake in AVI-SPL, a large AV integrator, in June 2025, according to rAVe PUBS. The seller was Marlin Equity Partners, which kept a minority stake. AVI-SPL has more than 4,400 staff and more than 70 offices, per the same report. A deal this size is far above a local firm. But a large AV platform with a new owner often buys smaller AV firms next.

Do IT and managed service companies buy low voltage firms?

Yes. An IT company that already looks after a client's network wants the crew that installs it. When Business Communications Inc. (BCI) bought NetLink Cabling Systems in Mississippi, Industrial Cyber reported that BCI wanted network, security and low voltage work under one roof. NetLink's local leaders and staff stayed.

For an IT buyer, a cabling firm brings two things. It brings technicians, who are hard to hire. And it brings customers who may also buy managed services, cybersecurity or support contracts.

What do these buyers look for?

Read the buyers' own words and the same points come up again and again.

1. Repeat customers. Hexatronic said many of Superior's key customers had been served for five years or more. Long relationships are worth more than one-off bids.
2. Growing markets. Data centers, healthcare, schools and public safety come up in almost every release above.
3. Service and maintenance work. Convergint stressed that Fiber Solutions maintains systems, not just installs them. Service work keeps paying after the install.
4. People who stay. In the ComNet and NetLink deals, the leaders stayed with the business. A buyer pays more when the team does not leave with the owner.
5. More than one skill. Most targets above do cabling plus security, AV, fire or wireless. A firm that does several of these is easier for a platform to sell to its clients.
6. A new region. Convergint wanted the Southeast. Sciens wanted more of California. A firm in a city a buyer does not yet cover can be worth more to that buyer.

Here is what weakens a firm in a buyer's eyes: one general contractor sending most of the work, no service contracts, and an owner who bids, runs and closes every job.

Which buyer is right for an owner?

It depends on what you want after the sale. A strategic buyer, such as Convergint or IES, may fold your firm into theirs. A private equity platform may keep your name and ask you to keep a share and help it buy more firms. A first-time buyer with an SBA loan may want you to stay for a while to hand over the clients.

Some questions to answer before you take a buyer's call:

• Do you want to leave on day one, stay a year, or stay and grow?
• Would you keep a stake in a bigger company, and do you understand how it would be valued?
• Who holds the licences your state requires, and will they stay?
• Which of your customers have a written agreement, and which work on a handshake?

The tax and legal side changes a lot between deal types. Talk to a CPA about an asset sale versus a stock sale, and to a lawyer about contracts and licences, before you sign a letter of intent.

Where does Acquisitions.com fit?

I have advised buyers and sellers of small and mid-sized businesses since 2016. Our AI scans 15+ business-for-sale marketplaces every day, and we also see off-market deals through advisors and brokers. We work on established, profitable businesses, typically $500K to $50M in revenue. Owners who want to know which buyers fit their firm can book a free call. Buyers looking for low voltage firms can start at /buy. Brokers and advisors who work with these owners can join us.