Watsco & Carrier JV buys Chicago-based HVAC distributor

Written on: March 18, 2021 by ICM

Watsco, Inc. and Carrier Global Corp. have formed a joint venture to acquire Temperature Equipment Corp. (TEC),  a Chicago-based HVAC distributors with annual sales of $291 million. Terms of the deal were not revealed.
TEC marks Watsco’s first entry into the U.S. Midwest. The acquisition enables Watsco to expand into new markets with 32 locations (in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota and Missouri) and 10,000 contractor-customers.
TEC’s product offering includes various brands of residential, light-commercial and applied HVAC equipment made by Carrier as well as complimentary systems, parts, supplies and accessories sourced from approximately 1,200 vendors, including Bryant.
TEC will operate as an independent business. Watsco will own 80% of TEC and Carrier 20%. The transaction is expected to close within the next 30 days.
“TEC is one of the most iconic, entrepreneurial, long-standing family businesses in our industry,” said Albert H. Nahmad, Watsco’s Chairman & CEO. “Skip Mungo and his team have built a great company and they will continue TEC’s focus on growth with their name, identity and unique culture in what will be new markets for our company. We look forward to supporting their growth with capital, ideas, technology and our industry relationships to build on their historical success. We are pleased to become part of the TEC family.”
“We are excited to become a member of the Watsco family and provide the catalyst for growth in the Midwest,” said Skip Mungo, TEC’s President & CEO. “Partnering with Watsco will enable us to think bigger while retaining our unique culture and approach to the market. We look forward to launching their innovative technology platforms over time to support our customers, complementing the historical capabilities and customer focus that is at the heart of TEC’s culture.”
Watsco has acquired 63 businesses since 1989 under its “buy and build” strategy, which includes actions to:

• Identify and partner with great businesses focused on the HVAC/R industry.
• Support their leadership team and honor the culture and legacy they have created.
• Ask for aggressive growth plans and help leadership achieve their ambitions.
• Motivate teams and reaffirm an ownership culture with long-term equity.
• Deploy the industry’s most comprehensive suite of customer-focused technologies.
• Solicit and collaborate on big ideas to foster a spirit of innovation and growth.
• Build a stronger Watsco because of our association with these companies.

For more info about TEC, visit www.tecmungo.com.