# Who Owns Austin’s Home-Service Companies? A Verified Map of Private Equity, Roll-Ups, and Local Brands *A documented map of the parent companies, private-equity sponsors, public corporations, franchises and independent operators behind the home-service brands advertising across Austin.* **Snapshot date:** July 26, 2026 **Publication universe:** 67 active Austin-facing consumer brands **Coverage:** HVAC, plumbing, bundled residential electrical, roofing and exterior services, foundation repair, and pest control ## Executive findings - The reconstructed publication universe contains **67 active Austin-facing consumer brands**: 26 in HVAC, plumbing or bundled electrical; 9 in roofing and exterior services; 12 in foundation repair; and 20 in pest control. - **14 brands (20.9%)** sit inside sponsor-backed operating platforms. **4 (6.0%)** have public-company parents. **5 (7.5%)** are local franchises whose operator must be separated from the franchisor’s owner. - **32 brands (47.8%)** are coded to founder, family or local ownership based on a named-owner trail or a current ownership claim. That bucket is not a cap-table audit. Nine of the 67 records rely on current self-reporting rather than a complete legal chain. - **11 brands (16.4%)** remain private but have no publication-grade current controller. Alta Pest Control is classified separately because Trivest’s investment was explicitly minority and non-control, with founders retaining control. [S054](https://www.trivest.com/news/trivest-partners-announces-investment-in-alta-pest-control/) - For **48 of 67 brands (71.6%)**, the current ownership structure is rated A or B and is not coded unresolved. This includes some franchise or platform rows where the ownership structure is clear but an intermediate local legal entity remains unknown. - **11 brands** continue under an established consumer name after an acquisition or platform transaction. A retained name says little by itself about current ownership. ## One group, several Austin names An Austin homeowner can encounter Fox Service Company, Precision Heating & Air, and Daniel’s Plumbing & Air Conditioning as separate names. At the ownership level, the paths converge. Southern Home Services acquired Precision in 2020, announced the Fox acquisition the same year, and added Daniel’s in 2022. Southern still lists all three in its current brand materials. Southern itself sits within North American Essential Home Services, the holding structure in which Gryphon Investors completed a majority investment in 2021. Management retained a meaningful stake. [S001](https://www.southernhomeservices.com/blog/2020/july/southern-home-services-acquires-austin-based-pre/)[S002](https://www.southernhomeservices.com/blog/2020/july/southern-hvactm-expands-into-texas-with-fox-serv/)[S003](https://www.southernhomeservices.com/blog/2022/april/)[S004](https://www.southernhomeservices.com/daniels/)[S005](https://www.southernhomeservices.com/site-map/)[S006](https://www.gryphon-inv.com/companies/north-american-essential-home-services-naehs/)[S007](https://www.southernhomeservices.com/blog/2021/october/gryphon-investors-completes-majority-investment-/) That does not mean the three brands are interchangeable. They may have different phone numbers, trade licenses, service histories, crews and customer relationships. It does mean that a list of consumer-facing names can materially overstate the number of unrelated owners in the market. A second cluster was largely absent from the original census. Austin Air Conditioning and Roger’s Plumbing are current brands inside SAS Service Partners, an Austin-based platform backed by Storr Group. SAS also acquired Cool Atmosphere. That name is now presented within Austin Air Conditioning, so this database treats Cool Atmosphere as an absorbed historical record rather than a separate current brand. The transaction pages contain conflicting rendered years; the chronology in SAS’s own news index is used and the discrepancy is preserved in the conflict table. [S037](https://sasservicepartners.com/news/austin-air-conditioning)[S038](https://sasservicepartners.com/news/rogers-plumbing)[S039](https://sasservicepartners.com/news/cool-atmosphere)[S040](https://sasservicepartners.com/news)[S041](https://austinairconditioning.com/)[S042](https://callrogersplumbing.com/)[S043](https://coolatmosphereheatingandair.com/)[S044](https://sasservicepartners.com/meet-the-team-old) These examples explain the unit of analysis used here. The database counts a consumer-facing brand when it currently serves Austin, but it separately records legal entities, platforms, holding companies, sponsors, public parents, franchise systems and local franchisees. One brand can create several graph nodes. Several brands can lead to one owner. ## The ownership map The public map defaults to a narrow chain: **consumer brand → current platform or local operator → ultimate owner or sponsor**. That is the useful view for most readers. The deeper view adds legal entities, minority investors, former sponsors and transaction edges. The default cannot be a force-directed web of every relationship. With 67 active brands, 170 entity nodes and 102 relationship edges, an all-at-once diagram becomes a hairball. The interactive version therefore opens to sponsor-backed brands, lets the reader filter by service category and owner type, and reveals intermediate entities on demand. Franchise edges use a different label from subsidiary edges. Pending transactions do not replace current-owner edges. Each brand also has a mobile chain card. A card can say, for example: > **Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Austin** > Local operator: Brett Bidwell’s Austin franchisee, legal entity unresolved > Franchise system: Neighborly > Franchisor owner: KKR > Meaning: KKR owns Neighborly, not the Austin franchisee operating company. [S029](https://www.mrrooter.com/austin/)[S030](https://www.kkr.com/newsroom/news/news-details/2021/kkr-completes-acquisition-neighborly) That last sentence matters. Treating a franchisor’s sponsor as the direct owner of every local franchisee is a category error. ## What the 67-brand denominator shows The owner-type distribution is a count of brands in this dataset, not a count of legal entities and not a measure of revenue. The 14 sponsor-backed brands are Fox, Precision, Daniel’s, Radiant, Stan’s, Service Wizard, Abacus, Goettl, ARS/Rescue Rooter, Austin Air Conditioning, Roger’s Plumbing, Ja-Mar, Groundworks and Aptive. The four public-company-owned brands are Strand Brothers Service Experts, HomeTeam Pest Defense, Orkin and Terminix. The five franchise records are Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Austin, Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Austin, Aire Serv of Cedar Park, Aire Serv of Round Rock and Ram Jack Austin. Their local operators are not collapsed into Neighborly, Authority Brands or Ram Jack’s franchise system. For Mr. Rooter and Aire Serv of Round Rock, the public record identifies local owners. For Benjamin Franklin, Aire Serv of Cedar Park and Ram Jack Austin, the local legal entity or owner still needs stronger documentation. [S029](https://www.mrrooter.com/austin/)[S033](https://www.benjaminfranklinplumbing.com/austin/)[S034](https://www.aireserv.com/cedar-park/)[S035](https://www.aireserv.com/round-rock/)[S129](https://www.ramjack.com/austin/) The largest owner-type bucket is the 32 brands coded to founder, family or local ownership. Some have unusually strong evidence. Efficient names George and Molly Drazic as owners. Baird says John and Melanie Baird have been sole owners since 1987. Bats identifies Brent Parks. Stride exposes both Stride Pest Control, LLC and owner Tyson Kearns. [S107](https://efficienttexas.com/about-us/)[S134](https://www.bairdfoundationrepair.com/about-us/)[S138](https://batsfoundationrepair.com/about-us/)[S152](https://stridepestcontrol.com/) Other records are weaker. RoofCrafters, Anderson, Silver Creek, Bruecher, A-Tex, Pest Wranglers and Roberts currently describe themselves as family- or locally owned, but the public record captured here does not establish the exact current holders. They remain in the local bucket because the claim is current and directly made, but their evidence rating is C and the exact owner question remains open. Eleven companies remain in the private/control-unresolved bucket. This is not a euphemism for independent. It means the operating brand is current, while the controlling owner was not established to publication standard. The unresolved group includes Austin Major Air & Heat, Kidd Roofing, Wilson Roofing, Austin Roofing and Construction, Olshan, CenTex, Douglas, Advanced Foundation Repair, Hawx, Ranger and EcoShield. The distinction prevents a common research error: treating silence as evidence. A company is not independent simply because no acquisition release appears in search results. Small-business sales can be private, old transaction pages can disappear, and the brand site may never disclose a parent. ## HVAC, plumbing and bundled electrical This is the most visibly consolidated portion of the dataset. It contains 26 active brands, including broad multi-trade operators, plumbing specialists, HVAC specialists, national branches and local franchises. ### Southern Home Services and Gryphon Fox, Precision and Daniel’s are the clearest retained-brand cluster. Southern’s own transaction and current brand pages establish the immediate parent. Gryphon’s current portfolio material and the 2021 majority-investment announcement establish the sponsor chain. The evidence is stronger than a shared address, common website software or similar phone routing because it directly states the acquisitions and current holding relationship. [S001](https://www.southernhomeservices.com/blog/2020/july/southern-home-services-acquires-austin-based-pre/)[S002](https://www.southernhomeservices.com/blog/2020/july/southern-hvactm-expands-into-texas-with-fox-serv/)[S003](https://www.southernhomeservices.com/blog/2022/april/)[S004](https://www.southernhomeservices.com/daniels/)[S005](https://www.southernhomeservices.com/site-map/)[S006](https://www.gryphon-inv.com/companies/north-american-essential-home-services-naehs/)[S007](https://www.southernhomeservices.com/blog/2021/october/gryphon-investors-completes-majority-investment-/) Daniel’s carries an extra flag. Southern maintains a current Daniel’s page and site-map listing, but consumer routing suggests some operational consolidation. The ownership chain is not in doubt. The question is whether Daniel’s should remain a fully separate active consumer brand. It stays in the 67-brand denominator because the parent currently publishes it as an Austin brand, with the conflict exposed rather than silently resolved. ### Radiant, Stan’s, Abacus and Goettl Radiant’s current customer terms name **Radiant Plumbing Service, LLC** as the entity doing business as Radiant Plumbing & Air Conditioning. Current T3 and Riverside materials place the operation within T3 Services Group and Riverside’s portfolio. The public materials do not state an exact ownership percentage, so the database uses “portfolio company of” rather than “majority owned by.” [S008](https://radiantplumbing.com/maintenance-plan/)[S009](https://www.t3servicesgroup.com/)[S010](https://www.riversidecompany.com/investment-portfolio/t3-services-group) Stan’s changed sponsors. Treaty Oak was a former owner. The Master Trades Group completed its acquisition of Stan’s Home Services in March 2024. L Catterton acquired LTP Home Services Group, now Master Trades Group, in 2022 and still lists the platform as a current investment. The current chain is therefore Stan’s → Master Trades Group → L Catterton. Treaty Oak belongs in the transaction history, not on the current-owner card. [S011](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-master-trades-group-acquires-stans-home-services-302098640.html)[S012](https://treatyoak.com/)[S013](https://www.lcatterton.com/investments.html)[S014](https://www.lcatterton.com/Press.html) Abacus provides one of the cleanest direct parent disclosures in the market. Its current privacy policy says the company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Wrench Group, LLC. Wrench’s 2022 recapitalization states that Leonard Green and management retained a majority interest while TSG Consumer Partners and Oak Hill made significant minority investments. The database keeps all three capital relationships instead of flattening Wrench into a generic “PE-owned” label. [S015](https://www.abacusplumbing.com/privacy-policy/)[S016](https://www.wrenchgroup.com/articles/tsg-consumer-partners-and-oak-hill-partner-with-leonard-green-and-management-to-enhance-the-wrench-groups-next-phase-of-growth)[S017](https://www.leonardgreen.com/) Goettl serves Austin under the Goettl name after the Dayton Services rebrand. Cortec invested in the platform in 2021. Dayton appears in the historical table, not as a second current operator. [S018](https://www.goettl.com/austin/)[S019](https://www.cortecgroup.com/) ### Service Experts, Service Wizard and ARS Strand Brothers is an Austin Service Experts center. Brookfield Infrastructure completed its acquisition of Enercare, including Service Experts, in 2018 and continues to report the business. Because Brookfield Infrastructure is a public infrastructure owner, this database codes Strand as public-company owned rather than placing it in the private-equity bucket. [S020](https://bip.brookfield.com/press-releases/bip/brookfield-infrastructure-completes-c43-billion-acquisition-enercare-inc)[S021](https://www.serviceexperts.com/austin-tx/)[S022](https://bip.brookfield.com/sites/brookfield-bip-v2/files/Brookfield-BIP-IR-V2/BIPC/annual-reports/bip-2025-20-f.pdf) Champions Group acquired Service Wizard in 2022. Blackstone announced an agreement to acquire Champions on February 17, 2026 and said closing was expected in the first half of 2026. A closing announcement was not found before the July 26 snapshot. The correct current card is therefore Service Wizard → Champions Group; ultimate sponsor pending/unresolved. It is not published as a completed Blackstone ownership chain. [S023](https://championsgroupholdings.com/2022/11/22/growth-continues-with-service-wizard-of-austin/)[S024](https://www.blackstone.com/news/press/blackstone-announces-agreement-to-acquire-champions-group/)[S025](https://servicewizardac.com/) ARS/Rescue Rooter’s Austin branch belongs to American Residential Services. GI Partners acquired a majority interest in 2020, with Charlesbank and management retaining significant stakes. Sale exploration or auction reporting does not change that chain without a closed transaction. [S026](https://www.ars.com/austin)[S027](https://www.gipartners.com/)[S028](https://www.gipartners.com/portfolio/) ### The SAS/Storr cluster SAS Service Partners is the most consequential gap found during the audit. It launched around Austin Air Conditioning, added Cool Atmosphere and acquired Roger’s Plumbing. The platform says it is backed by Storr Group. Austin Air and Roger’s remain current consumer brands. Cool Atmosphere does not remain a separate active count because the present public path combines it into Austin Air Conditioning. [S037](https://sasservicepartners.com/news/austin-air-conditioning)[S038](https://sasservicepartners.com/news/rogers-plumbing)[S039](https://sasservicepartners.com/news/cool-atmosphere)[S040](https://sasservicepartners.com/news)[S041](https://austinairconditioning.com/)[S042](https://callrogersplumbing.com/)[S043](https://coolatmosphereheatingandair.com/)[S044](https://sasservicepartners.com/meet-the-team-old) This cluster also shows why “locally operated” is not the same as “locally owned.” Austin Air can retain local leadership, an Austin office and a familiar name while the equity chain runs through SAS and Storr. Those statements can all be true at once. ### Current local operators and unresolved companies The same category still contains substantial local ownership. ABC remains tied to Bobby Jenkins and the Jenkins family. Efficient identifies George and Molly Drazic. Reliant traces its ownership to Max Hicks and family. Excalibur’s public trail links the brand to Excalibur Plumbing, LLC and Blake Smith. Whitestone and Crow’s have named-owner records. [S100](https://www.abchomeandcommercial.com/austin/about)[S107](https://efficienttexas.com/about-us/)[S108](https://www.reliantplumbing.com/about-us/)[S110](https://www.excaliburplumbing.com/)[S111](https://www.bbb.org/us/tx/leander/profile/plumber/excalibur-plumbing-llc-0825-90055054)[S112](https://callwhitestone.com/)[S113](https://www.bbb.org/us/tx/cedar-park/profile/plumber/whitestone-plumbing-0825-1000193219)[S114](https://crowsplumbing.com/)[S115](https://www.bbb.org/us/tx/round-rock/profile/plumber/crows-plumbing-service-0825-90034943) McCullough and Christianson make current local/family claims, but the exact equity holders are not public in the sources reviewed. AirFix’s legal entity is visible, while its controller is not. Austin Major Air & Heat appears tied to Adoni Enterprises, Inc., but the current owner remains unresolved. These differences are preserved in the data rather than compressed into an “independent” category. ## Roofing and exterior services The roofing universe contains nine active brands. The original census identified Kidd, Hall, RoofCrafters and Longhorn. The audit added Ja-Mar, Anderson, Silver Creek, Wilson, and Austin Roofing and Construction after finding current Austin-area operating evidence. Ja-Mar is the clearest platform-owned roofing case. Dunes Point Capital states that Roofing Services Solutions acquired Ja-Mar on April 8, 2025, and Dunes Point still lists the platform. Ja-Mar’s current site remains active and uses local-company or local-owner wording. The transaction evidence controls the equity classification. The local wording is coded as operating or management language unless Ja-Mar documents a different post-transaction ownership arrangement. [S045](https://www.dunespointcapital.com/news/roofing-services-solutions-acquires-ja-mar-roofing-sheet-metal/)[S046](https://www.dunespointcapital.com/portfolio/roofing-services-solutions/)[S047](https://jamarroofing.com/) Hall and Longhorn have named local-owner trails. RoofCrafters has a current corporate identity and family/local language, but exact shareholders are unresolved. Anderson and Silver Creek make current family/local claims without exposing the holders. Kidd’s D.R. Kidd Company, Inc. identity is supported, but the current controller is not. Wilson and Austin Roofing and Construction are active operators with insufficient public control evidence. [S118](https://www.kiddroof.com/austin-roofing/)[S119](https://www.bbb.org/us/tx/austin/profile/roofing-contractors/kidd-roofing-0825-43065)[S120](https://hallroofingtx.com/)[S121](https://roofcrafters.com/austin/)[S122](https://www.gaf.com/en-us/roofing-contractors/residential/usa/tx/leander/roofcrafters-inc-1101351)[S123](https://www.longhornroofing.com/)[S124](https://andersonroofingtexas.com/)[S125](https://scecroofs.com/)[S126](https://wilsonroofing.com/)[S127](https://www.austinroofingandconstruction.com/) No roofing brand is ranked by size. Office presence, years in business, reviews and website visibility are not comparable revenue measures. A company with more reviews may have stronger review acquisition, older listings, broader consumer volume or simply a different request strategy. None of those establishes market share. ## Foundation repair Foundation repair has 12 active brands and the highest share of unresolved control questions in the dataset. The category mixes national platforms, franchises, long-running local operators and companies whose current legal owners are hard to see. Groundworks is the clearest sponsor-backed chain. It serves Austin from its San Antonio-area operation. KKR made the controlling investment in March 2023. Cortec’s current investment history says it exited majority control and retained minority positions. Foundation Support Specialists, acquired by Groundworks in July 2022, is retained as a historical record rather than counted as a second current brand. [S048](https://www.groundworks.com/service-areas/foundation-repair-austin-tx/)[S049](https://www.groundworks.com/resources/kkr-makes-significant-investment-in-groundworks/)[S050](https://www.cortecgroup.com/portfolio/groundworks/)[S051](https://www.groundworks.com/resources/groundworks-acquires-foundation-support-specialists/) Ram Jack Austin is a franchise. Its public page says franchises are independently owned and operated, but the Austin franchisee’s legal identity is unresolved. The database therefore does not say that the franchisor owns the local operating company. [S129](https://www.ramjack.com/austin/) Baird, G.L. Hunt, All in One, Bats and Quality have stronger local-owner evidence. Baird currently names John and Melanie Baird as sole owners. G.L. Hunt identifies the Hunt family. All in One has an owner trail to Robert J. Knight. Bats identifies Brent Parks. Quality Foundation Repair, which Model A excluded as a generic-looking site, has a current Austin operating trail and named founder Simon Wallace. The exclusion was reversed. [S134](https://www.bairdfoundationrepair.com/about-us/)[S135](https://glhunt.com/)[S136](https://allinonefoundationrepair.com/)[S137](https://www.bbb.org/us/tx/austin/profile/foundation-contractors/all-in-one-foundation-repair-0825-90019893)[S138](https://batsfoundationrepair.com/about-us/)[S139](https://qualityfoundationrepairaustin.com/)[S140](https://www.bbb.org/us/tx/austin/profile/foundation-contractors/quality-foundation-repair-0825-90081815)[S141](https://www.arcsite.com/blog/quality-foundation-repair) Olshan, CenTex, Douglas and Advanced remain unresolved at the controller level. Advanced’s legal identity as Advanced Foundation Repair, LP is supportable, but the general partner and ultimate owner are not. Olshan’s current Austin service is clear; its ultimate control is not. No family or PE label is assigned to either company without better records. [S128](https://www.olshanfoundation.com/regions/texas/austin/)[S130](https://centexfoundationrepair.com/)[S131](https://douglasfoundationrepair.com/)[S132](https://foundationrepairs.com/texas/austin-foundation-repair/)[S133](https://www.bbb.org/us/tx/dallas/profile/foundation-contractors/advanced-foundation-repair-lp-0875-19000054) ## Pest control Pest control contains 20 active brands in addition to ABC’s cross-category record. The ownership structures range from public-company branches to sponsor-backed operators, a minority-invested founder-controlled company, and local family businesses. Orkin and HomeTeam lead to Rollins, Inc. Rollins completed the HomeTeam acquisition in 2008 and still lists both brands. Terminix leads to Rentokil Initial, which completed the acquisition in October 2022. These public-company chains are more straightforward than many private-platform chains because the parent relationship remains visible in current corporate materials. [S055](https://www.rollins.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/28/rollins-inc-completes-acquisition-of-hometeam-pest-defense)[S056](https://www.rollins.com/about-us/brands/default.aspx)[S057](https://www.rentokil-initial.com/media/news-releases/news-2022/terminix_completion.aspx)[S145](https://pestdefense.com/austin/)[S153](https://www.orkin.com/locations/texas-tx/austin-pest-control)[S154](https://www.terminix.com/exterminators/tx/austin-pest-control/) Aptive is sponsor-backed. Citation Capital acquired a majority stake in August 2024, while management retained a significant interest. Alta requires different language. Trivest’s announcement says its investment was minority and non-control and that Alta’s founders retained operational and financial control. Alta is therefore not counted among the 14 sponsor-controlled brands. [S052](https://www.citationcapital.com/news/citation-capital-invests-in-aptive-environmental)[S053](https://aptivepestcontrol.com/locations/texas-tx/austin-pest-control/local-branch/)[S054](https://www.trivest.com/news/trivest-partners-announces-investment-in-alta-pest-control/)[S149](https://www.altapestcontrol.com/locations/austin-tx) Bulwark, Berrett, Romney, Stride, Massey, Natran, X Out and Absolute have current named-family or named-owner evidence. Pest Wranglers and A-Tex make current local claims but do not expose the exact holders. ClearDefense is founder-led, though the current allocation among founders is not public. Roberts makes a current family-owned claim. [S143](https://atexpm.com/)[S146](https://bulwarkpestcontrol.com/locations/austin/)[S147](https://berretthomeservices.com/austin-texas/pest-control/)[S148](https://www.bbb.org/us/tx/garland/profile/pest-control/berrett-pest-control-0875-90510549)[S150](https://romneypestcontrol.com/austin/)[S151](https://pestwranglers.com/)[S152](https://stridepestcontrol.com/)[S159](https://www.masseyservices.com/austin/)[S160](https://www.masseyservices.com/about-us/)[S161](https://natran.com/austin-pest-control/)[S162](https://xoutpest.com/)[S163](https://www.bbb.org/us/tx/austin/profile/pest-control/x-out-pest-services-llc-0825-1000183342)[S164](https://cleardefensepest.com/pest-control-austin-tx/)[S165](https://www.robertspestcontrol.com/)[S166](https://www.absolutepestmgmt.com/) Three pest records remain materially unresolved. Hawx was acquired by PCM Growth in 2021, but a sufficiently current direct source confirming sponsor continuity was not found. Ranger’s operating company is current, while public references conflict on the individual controller. EcoShield has a current Austin branch, but Massey’s 2015 acquisition of an EcoShield Austin division cannot be assumed to describe the current EcoShield-branded operation. Those cases are published as unresolved, not guessed. [S058](https://www.pcmgrowth.com/)[S059](https://www.masseyservices.com/massey-services-acquires-ecoshield-pest-controls-austin-division/)[S155](https://hawxpestcontrol.com/austin-tx-pest-control/)[S156](https://rangertermiteandpestcontrolinc.com/)[S157](https://www.bbb.org/us/tx/austin/profile/pest-control/ranger-termite-pest-control-inc-0825-90002691)[S158](https://www.ecoshieldpest.com/locations/austin-tx) Texas pest-control licensing should make this category more resolvable than the current dataset suggests. The Texas Department of Agriculture regulates structural pest-control businesses. A systematic business-license export should be the next evidence pull for A-Tex, Pest Wranglers, Ranger, EcoShield and other branches. [S060](https://texasagriculture.gov/Regulatory-Programs/Pesticides/Structural-Pest-Control-Service) ## What “local” actually means “Local” is not one ownership status. The database separates six common meanings. **Locally owned** means the current equity owner is local or the company makes a current local-ownership claim. Efficient, Baird and Stride have named-owner support. Silver Creek and Pest Wranglers have current local claims but unresolved holders. Those records do not receive the same evidence rating. **Locally managed** means local leadership runs the operation, regardless of who owns the equity. An acquired brand can remain locally managed. A local president or branch manager is not proof of ownership. **Locally operated** describes where the staff, office or service territory sit. Austin Air’s local operation can coexist with SAS/Storr ownership. A national branch can also be locally operated without being locally owned. **Family founded** is historical. A founder can remain in the business after a sale, roll equity, or leave. Austin Air’s Henderson-family history and Cool Atmosphere’s founder participation do not erase the SAS transaction. [S037](https://sasservicepartners.com/news/austin-air-conditioning)[S039](https://sasservicepartners.com/news/cool-atmosphere)[S044](https://sasservicepartners.com/meet-the-team-old) **Founder led** concerns management. ClearDefense’s founders are identifiable, but the current equity allocation is not. The database therefore uses “founder led” rather than inventing a percentage. **Franchise owned** means a local business owns or operates a territory under a franchised brand. Mr. Rooter Austin is locally owned by Brett Bidwell while the Mr. Rooter system belongs to Neighborly and Neighborly belongs to KKR. Benjamin Franklin’s franchisor belongs to an Apax-majority, BCI-minority structure, while the Austin franchisee remains unresolved. [S029](https://www.mrrooter.com/austin/)[S030](https://www.kkr.com/newsroom/news/news-details/2021/kkr-completes-acquisition-neighborly)[S031](https://www.apax.com/partnerships/authority-brands/)[S032](https://www.bci.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2022-2023-corporate-annual-report_financial-statements-2.pdf)[S033](https://www.benjaminfranklinplumbing.com/austin/) **Private-equity backed** is also too broad unless the interest is stated. Gryphon’s Southern investment is majority. Leonard Green and management retain majority ownership of Wrench while TSG and Oak Hill hold significant minority interests. Trivest is a non-control minority investor in Alta. KKR owns Neighborly, but not the local Mr. Rooter operating company. The graph keeps those distinctions visible. A company can reasonably use historical or operational local language after a transaction. The publication does not accuse any brand of deception. It asks a narrower factual question: what exactly does the wording describe—history, management, location, franchise ownership, or current equity? ## Selected ownership cards The database includes a mobile card for every active brand. These are representative examples of the wording used when the chain is clear, partial or unresolved. ### Fox Service Company **Current chain:** Fox Service Company → Southern Home Services → North American Essential Home Services → Gryphon Investors. **Interest:** Gryphon majority; management retained a meaningful stake at the holding-company level. **Status:** current. [S002](https://www.southernhomeservices.com/blog/2020/july/southern-hvactm-expands-into-texas-with-fox-serv/)[S005](https://www.southernhomeservices.com/site-map/)[S006](https://www.gryphon-inv.com/companies/north-american-essential-home-services-naehs/)[S007](https://www.southernhomeservices.com/blog/2021/october/gryphon-investors-completes-majority-investment-/) ### Radiant Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electrical **Current chain:** Radiant brand → Radiant Plumbing Service, LLC → T3 Services Group → The Riverside Company. **Interest:** public materials establish the portfolio relationship but do not state the percentage. **Status:** current. [S008](https://radiantplumbing.com/maintenance-plan/)[S009](https://www.t3servicesgroup.com/)[S010](https://www.riversidecompany.com/investment-portfolio/t3-services-group) ### Stan’s Heating, Air, Plumbing & Electrical **Current chain:** Stan’s → Stan’s Home Services Holdings lineage → The Master Trades Group → L Catterton. **Former sponsor:** Treaty Oak Equity, which exited in March 2024. **Status:** current under Master Trades Group. [S011](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-master-trades-group-acquires-stans-home-services-302098640.html)[S012](https://treatyoak.com/)[S013](https://www.lcatterton.com/investments.html)[S014](https://www.lcatterton.com/Press.html) ### Abacus Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electrical **Current chain:** Abacus → Wrench Group. **Capital structure:** Leonard Green and management retain majority ownership; TSG Consumer Partners and Oak Hill hold significant minority interests. **Status:** current. [S015](https://www.abacusplumbing.com/privacy-policy/)[S016](https://www.wrenchgroup.com/articles/tsg-consumer-partners-and-oak-hill-partner-with-leonard-green-and-management-to-enhance-the-wrench-groups-next-phase-of-growth)[S017](https://www.leonardgreen.com/) ### Service Wizard Heating & Air Conditioning **Current chain:** Service Wizard → Champions Group Holdings. **Ultimate sponsor:** unresolved at the snapshot. Odyssey is the last closed sponsor in the record; Blackstone announced an acquisition agreement, but closing was not established. [S023](https://championsgroupholdings.com/2022/11/22/growth-continues-with-service-wizard-of-austin/)[S024](https://www.blackstone.com/news/press/blackstone-announces-agreement-to-acquire-champions-group/)[S025](https://servicewizardac.com/) ### Austin Air Conditioning **Current chain:** Austin Air Conditioning → SAS Service Partners → Storr Group. **Seller participation:** SAS states that the seller rolled substantial equity. **Local wording:** the brand may be locally operated without being independently locally owned. [S037](https://sasservicepartners.com/news/austin-air-conditioning)[S040](https://sasservicepartners.com/news)[S041](https://austinairconditioning.com/)[S044](https://sasservicepartners.com/meet-the-team-old) ### Ja-Mar Roofing & Sheet Metal **Current chain:** Ja-Mar → Roofing Services Solutions → Dunes Point Capital. **Transaction date:** April 8, 2025. **Local wording:** current local-company language is not treated as proof that local holders retained control. [S045](https://www.dunespointcapital.com/news/roofing-services-solutions-acquires-ja-mar-roofing-sheet-metal/)[S046](https://www.dunespointcapital.com/portfolio/roofing-services-solutions/)[S047](https://jamarroofing.com/) ### Groundworks **Current chain:** Groundworks → KKR. **Minority investor:** Cortec retained minority positions after exiting majority control in March 2023. **Austin footprint:** service-area presence from the San Antonio-area operation. [S048](https://www.groundworks.com/service-areas/foundation-repair-austin-tx/)[S049](https://www.groundworks.com/resources/kkr-makes-significant-investment-in-groundworks/)[S050](https://www.cortecgroup.com/portfolio/groundworks/) ### Aptive Environmental **Current chain:** Aptive → Citation Capital. **Interest:** Citation acquired a majority stake in August 2024; management retained a significant interest. **Austin footprint:** current North Lamar branch page. [S052](https://www.citationcapital.com/news/citation-capital-invests-in-aptive-environmental)[S053](https://aptivepestcontrol.com/locations/texas-tx/austin-pest-control/local-branch/) ### Alta Pest Control **Current chain:** founders and management retain control. **Outside capital:** Trivest holds a non-control minority investment. **Classification:** minority-invested, founder-controlled, not sponsor-controlled. [S054](https://www.trivest.com/news/trivest-partners-announces-investment-in-alta-pest-control/)[S149](https://www.altapestcontrol.com/locations/austin-tx) ### Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Austin **Current chain:** Austin franchisee owned by Brett Bidwell → franchise of Neighborly. **Franchisor owner:** KKR. **Boundary:** KKR’s ownership stops at Neighborly unless separate evidence shows direct ownership of the Austin franchisee. [S029](https://www.mrrooter.com/austin/)[S030](https://www.kkr.com/newsroom/news/news-details/2021/kkr-completes-acquisition-neighborly) ### Terminix **Current chain:** Terminix → Rentokil Initial plc through Rentokil North America. **Transaction:** Rentokil completed the acquisition on October 12, 2022. **Austin footprint:** current branch page. [S057](https://www.rentokil-initial.com/media/news-releases/news-2022/terminix_completion.aspx)[S154](https://www.terminix.com/exterminators/tx/austin-pest-control/) ### Baird Foundation Repair **Current chain:** Baird → John and Melanie Baird. **Interest:** the current company says they have been sole owners since 1987. **Status:** current family ownership with A-rated evidence. [S134](https://www.bairdfoundationrepair.com/about-us/) ## How ownership was verified The research used a current-owner test. A transaction announcement establishes that a deal was announced or closed at a point in time. It does not, by itself, establish the owner on July 26, 2026. A current chain normally required both a transaction or legal source and a current portfolio, parent, brand, terms or corporate source. Evidence priority ran in this order: current legal terms and regulatory records; current parent or sponsor portfolio pages; completed transaction announcements; current official brand and location pages; state or trade-license records; BBB and trade-association identity records; reputable secondary reporting; and lead-only sources. Syndicated copies of the same press release count as one independence group. Evidence ratings are simple: - **A:** current direct primary evidence, usually with a second current or transaction source. - **B:** strong current evidence with a missing intermediate entity, percentage or second independent source. - **C:** current self-report, credible identity lead or stale relationship that needs another record. - **D:** unresolved, conflicting or lead-only evidence. The brand may still be included as a real operator, but its controller is not published as settled. Austin presence required a current official branch, office, franchise territory or service-area page. A dispatch-based company can qualify, but the presence type is labeled. A city landing page alone was not enough when the site looked generic or could not be tied to an operating identity. The original Model A report was useful for discovery but its eight named structured files were not present in the uploaded DOCX. Model B stated that it had not received those files. The master data therefore had to be rebuilt rather than merged. Several Model B citations were rejected, including a Fox careers page used for Precision and a Fox News URL used for Daniel’s. The corrected dataset links those relationships to Southern and Gryphon primary evidence. ## What the data cannot establish This is an ownership and observable-footprint database. It is not a revenue census. The 20.9% sponsor-backed figure means 14 of 67 consumer-brand records in this reconstructed universe sit in sponsor-backed operating platforms. It does not mean private equity has 20.9% of Austin home-service revenue, jobs, customers, permits, trucks, calls or search demand. A platform can own several brands; one brand can operate several locations; a small specialist and a large multi-trade company each count once. Permit counts would have their own limits. The permit applicant may be a builder, subcontractor, employee, affiliate or old entity name. License files identify regulated businesses but do not measure sales. Review totals are platform-dependent and vulnerable to listing age, mergers and solicitation practices. Search visibility measures demand capture, not completed work. Locations can be offices, warehouses, call centers, franchise territories or dispatch points. The census is also incomplete at the small-operator tail. Hutto, Manor, Bee Cave, Dripping Springs, Buda, Kyle, Georgetown and Leander likely contain additional licensed or low-visibility operators. The dataset is described as a reconstructed publication universe, not a complete count of every eligible contractor. The data cannot show that ownership caused a change in pricing, service quality, employment or customer outcomes. That would require before-and-after operating data, a valid comparison group and controls for inflation, labor, materials, weather, demand and business mix. No such causal claim is made here. ## Corrections and updates Companies, owners, investors, reporters and readers can submit a correction with the affected brand, the disputed field, the proposed replacement, the effective date and direct supporting evidence. Useful evidence includes current legal terms, state filings, license records, closing announcements, sponsor portfolio pages, signed company statements and current franchisee documents. A submission will not overwrite the public record silently. Accepted changes will update the relevant CSV and JSON rows, preserve the prior value, cite the new evidence and appear in the changelog with an effective date. Disputed records remain visibly unresolved until the evidence supports a conclusion. The full data package includes the brand, entity, relationship, transaction, evidence, footprint, conflict and unresolved tables; a JSON graph; the methodology; and a reproducible changelog. The point is not to make the map look complete. It is to make every published chain inspectable.