Who is buying restoration businesses: the PE platforms and public companies behind the deals

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

Who is buying restoration businesses? Mostly private equity platforms that buy water, fire and mold firms one city at a time, plus one large public company, FirstService. This guide is for owners of restoration companies who want to know who is buying in 2026, what they look for and how the deals tend to work. Every buyer below has a public source, so you can read their own words before you take a call.

Who is buying restoration businesses right now?

The buyers fall into three groups. The first is private equity platforms: one larger restoration company, backed by a fund, that buys smaller firms and joins them under one roof. The second is public and strategic companies that already run restoration brands. The third is individual buyers, often using an SBA loan, who buy one business to run themselves.

Here are the named groups we found with a public source for each.

Private equity platforms

Public and strategic buyers

This is not a complete list. Many smaller funds have started restoration platforms in the last few years. They tend to announce deals on their own websites and in trade press, not in national news.

Which private equity platforms buy restoration companies?

BluSky. In October 2021, Partners Group and Kohlberg & Company bought BluSky, a commercial restoration firm based in Colorado. The trade magazine R&R reported at the time that BluSky had over 900 employees and 5,000 customers, and that the new owners planned to "pursue further mergers and acquisitions." Trade press has since reported BluSky mergers with regional firms in Illinois and Ohio.

ATI Restoration. ATI is a family company from Anaheim, California, started in 1989. In August 2020, TSG Consumer Partners invested in ATI, and the Moore family kept ownership. ATI then bought regional firms such as Mark 1 Restoration on the East Coast and MacKenzie Restoration in San Antonio. The releases did not disclose the terms.

American Restoration. In July 2024, Morgan Stanley Capital Partners bought American Restoration, based in Dallas. At the time it ran eight regional brands in 10 states. The release calls it MSCP's fifth home and commercial services investment. The CEO stayed on to run the business.

Fortify Companies. Fortify is backed by Summit Partners and owns Insurcomm Restoration. In December 2025, Fortify bought Rytech Restoration, a franchise system with more than 100 locations in 25 states. The release says the combined group serves more than 100 markets in over 30 states.

Guardian Restoration Partners. Alpine Investors launched Guardian in April 2024. By August 2024, after it added Quick Dry Restoration and Spartan Emergency Water Removal, it had made five acquisitions. Guardian calls these deals partnerships with local brands.

HighGround Restoration Group. Trivest Partners formed HighGround in 2020 by buying Dry Force, a Texas water mitigation firm. PE Professional reported that HighGround brought 14 family-owned businesses together under Trivest. In March 2025, Knox Lane bought a majority stake. Knox Lane said HighGround serves homeowners in 13 states and will keep making acquisitions.

Which public and strategic companies buy restoration businesses?

FirstService. FirstService is listed in Toronto and on Nasdaq. Its restoration brands are First Onsite and Paul Davis. In 2019, its SEC filing showed it agreed to buy 95% of Global Restoration Holdings for $505 million, and the managers kept the rest. Since then it has made smaller "tuck-under" deals. In January 2024 it bought DryPatrol in Dayton, Ohio, and two Paul Davis franchises.

In April 2026, FirstService said Paul Davis bought its Cleveland and Akron franchise. The local leaders kept an ownership stake and still run the business day to day. The release says Paul Davis has a network of about 375 locations in North America. That makes Paul Davis franchise owners a natural pool of sellers.

BELFOR. BELFOR is one of the largest restoration groups in the world. American Securities lists BELFOR as a current holding since 2019, with operations in 34 countries and more than 10,000 people. BELFOR also runs a franchise group.

SERVPRO. Blackstone bought a majority of SERVPRO in 2019, and the founding family reinvested, according to trade magazine R&R. SERVPRO grows mostly through franchises, so it is less a buyer of independent firms. For a franchise owner, though, a sale to another franchisee or to the franchisor is a real path.

Why do private equity firms buy restoration companies?

Restoration is emergency work: a burst pipe or a fire must be fixed now, whatever the economy is doing. The market is made up of many local firms. That lets a platform grow by adding one city at a time.

In their own releases, Morgan Stanley Capital Partners said it wants to keep investing in "high-quality residential and commercial services companies." Fortify said it would spend on technology, training and new service lines across its network. Knox Lane named business development, digital marketing and more acquisitions.

From over ten years of advising buyers and sellers, I see the same pattern across home services. A platform pays for systems it can copy: steady referral sources, trained crews and a manager who can run a branch. Much of the plan is to add many local firms to one back office. We wrote about this model in our guide to buying or selling a restoration business.

What do restoration buyers look for?

Each platform has its own buy box. Most look at the same few things:

1. Where the jobs come from. Buyers want to know the mix of insurance programs, plumbers, property managers and direct calls. If one insurance program sends most of your work, they see risk.

1. Mitigation versus rebuild. Water mitigation and drying is fast, high-margin work. Rebuild is larger and slower. Buyers want to see each line on its own.

1. Commercial accounts. BluSky and First Onsite focus on commercial and large-loss work. Commercial contracts can raise interest from those buyers.

1. A team that stays. In almost every release above, the local leaders stayed on. A business that runs without the owner on every call is easier to sell.

1. Clean books and collections. Insurance jobs can be slow to pay. Buyers look hard at receivables and how long they take to collect.

How do these deals usually work for the seller?

Most platform deals do not disclose a price. Of the deals above, only FirstService's 2019 Global Restoration deal came with a published price. So do not trust any single number you hear about what platforms pay.

What the releases do show is the structure. Sellers often keep part of the business. In the 2026 Paul Davis deal and the 2019 Global Restoration deal, managers kept an ownership stake. This is called rollover equity. You get cash now and a second payday if the platform is sold later.

Expect a non-compete and an employment or transition agreement. These matter. A recent Delaware Court of Chancery case brought by BluSky against former leaders of a business it bought shows how these terms get tested after closing. Read every clause with a lawyer, and ask a CPA how rollover and earn-outs will be taxed.

Which buyer is right for your restoration business?

It depends on your size and your goals.

• A PE platform fits a firm with a manager in place, several crews and strong referral sources. You may get a higher price and rollover equity. You will also have new rules and reporting.
• A strategic or franchisor fits a franchise owner or a firm close to an existing branch. The buyer may already know your market.
• An individual buyer with an SBA loan often fits a smaller, owner-run firm. You may need to carry a seller note and train the new owner.

A competitive process lets you compare these buyers side by side instead of taking the first call. Our step-by-step guide on how to sell a restoration business covers documents, timeline and fees.

If you own a restoration company and want to know which of these buyers fits, book a free first call. If you want to buy a restoration business yourself, start on our buyer page.