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Experts say the acquisition of Colorado-based Lohmiller & Company strengthens SRS Distribution's growing HVAC platform as Home Depot continues expanding its reach among professional contractors.

Home Depot-owned SRS Distribution has entered into an agreement to acquire Lohmiller & Company, a Denver-based wholesale heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) distributor with four locations in Colorado.

The move marks the second addition to SRS’s growing HVAC offerings. The companies did not disclose terms of the deal.

SRS was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in McKinney, Texas. It distributes building products throughout North America, operating more than 1,300 locations across the U.S. and Canada. Those locations appear under a family of local brands. However, the company has been a wholly owned subsidiary of The Home Depot since 2024.

Home Depot ranks No. 4 in Digital Commerce 360’s Top 1000 Database. The market research tool tracks North America’s largest online retailers by their annual ecommerce sales.

Home Depot is No. 224 in Digital Commerce 360’s all-new AI Rankings. That set of rankings is available in the Top 1000 Pro with AI Database.

Why Home Depot’s SRS is acquiring Lohmiller & Company

SRS laid out its underlying interest in acquiring Lohmiller & Company in its public announcement about the deal.

“Following our recent acquisition of Mingledorff’s, a leading HVAC distributor in the Southeast, Lohmiller will be the second addition to our nascent HVAC platform,” said SRS CEO Dan Tinker.

He added that he believed the company’s customer service and workforce values made Lohmiller & Company a good fit.

“We are honored they selected SRS as the right home for the business,” he stated. “Additionally, Lohmiller and Mingledorff’s are both strategically aligned with Carrier, and we are thrilled to support this partnership as we continue expansion in the HVAC space.”

The acquisition continues the trajectory Home Depot has been steering since 2024. That was when it bought SRS in what became its largest acquisition ever. The Home Depot Inc. acquired SRS Distribution for approximately $18.25 billion. At the time, Home Depot billed it as another way to tap into its growing pro business. The SRS acquisition was followed by SRS acquiring both GMS and Mingledorff’s.

Why consolidation is happening in HVAC distribution

Brian Meegan, a partner at the Colorado-based law firm Kupfer, sees the acquisition as part of a trend. Meegan, whose work focuses on mergers and acquisitions, said HVAC services consolidation is a recurring revenue and expertise retention play.

“One of the interesting outcomes from this strategy is the hedge it provides against new construction as a customer category,” Meegan said.

He noted that new construction and roofing, while lucrative, are volatile by nature. He pointed to the seasonality of roofing and new construction. Moreover, new housing remains highly sensitive to economic cycles. Meanwhile, HVAC, he emphasized, provides some revenue stability.

“The recurring service revenue and dispersed customer base of the HVAC business, on the other hand, provide stability, while furthering control of distribution of products and parts, just on a smaller scale,” Meegan assessed.

He explained that these strategies put acquirers between manufacturers and their end customers. In turn, that gives them purchasing power leverage and ownership of critical industry customer data. That data, ultimately, may be as valuable as the heating and cooling units themselves.

“Proprietary data is where the real ‘gold’ lies in the new age of AI, and these transactions are resulting in an ever-larger accumulation and consolidation of that critical asset that will be used to help these acquiring groups gain ever-better insight into this vast consumer segment and where the next great opportunities lie,” he said.

What the Lohmiller & Company acquisition means for Home Depot

Max Friar is the founder and managing partner of Calder Capital, a nationwide lower-middle-market M&A advisory firm. He offered a similar read on Home Depot’s strategy. Friar is also a partner and co-owner of Weinkauf Plumbing & Heating, an Alpena, Michigan-based HVAC and plumbing company.

“Home Depot’s slogan is ‘how doers get more done.’ Its continued investment in SRS suggests that it increasingly sees those doers as professional contractors, not just DIY customers,” Friar said.

Friar explained that from his vantage point, Home Depot views SRS and its combination of organic and acquisitive growth as a strategic imperative for the growth of its retail business.

“SRS has given Home Depot a foothold in fragmented trades like HVAC, roofing, and specialty distribution, where success depends on relationships, product availability, and getting the right material to the right jobsite on time,” he said. “That is a very different business from waiting for a customer to walk into a big-box store, or order products online, but the two models fit together well.”

Friar said he continues to see meaningful buyer demand in distribution, construction and the specialty trades.

“Buyers are more disciplined and processes are taking longer, but good companies on the market remain scarce,” Friar shared.

He added that when a blue-chip buyer continues putting capital behind these essential, service-driven industries, it confirms what is being seen in the lower middle market.

“This is still a seller’s market, and ‘boring’ continues to be beautiful,” Friar said.

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