From left: Southern Home Services regional VP Eric Griswold and CEO Bryan Benak; Blazer founder Scott Broyles and president Bobby Broyles; and Southern Home Services COO Drew Poskon. (Image courtesy Blazer)
A Mechanicsville-based heating and plumbing firm will look to grow its ranks after recently being acquired by a Florida-based HVAC company.
Blazer Heating, Air & Plumbing was acquired Monday by Southern Home Services, a residential HVAC, plumbing and electric company.
With the additional horsepower behind it, Blazer is aiming to expand its team and coverage range, company president Bobby Broyles told BizSense on Tuesday. Blazer’s Mechanicsville headquarters, 37 employees, name and operations are all being maintained with the acquisition.
The deal closed May 18. Terms were not disclosed.
It’s the first acquisition in the Richmond region and second overall in Virginia for Southern Home Services, which is based in Maitland, Florida. Williams Mullen served as legal counsel to Blazer in the transaction.
Blazer provides HVAC and plumbing services within a roughly 30-mile radius from its headquarters at 7025 Pole Green Road. The company focuses primarily on residential customers.
Blazer was founded in 1989, and was owned by Scott Broyles leading up to Monday’s acquisition. His son Bobby came on in 2020 and has since taken on the president role.
Scott, 68, plans to retire in the coming months. He told BizSense he began considering an acquisition for Blazer a few years ago, wondering if the company might be able to grow further with more backing behind it.
“I knew that I was getting to the point where, to grow the business any more, was I willing to take on any more liability (or projects) at 68 years old,” he said. “We decided it was time to get out of the way and find the right partner. Southern Home Services has fit that to a T.”
After considering other firms, Scott was introduced to Southern Home Services, which he said Blazer liked for its Southeast focus and its model of letting acquired companies keep their existing branding.
Southern Home Services was founded in 2016 and is majority-backed by San Francisco private equity firm Gryphon Investors. The firm acquired Southern Home from Atlanta PE firm MSouth Equity Partners in 2021.
Southern Home CEO Bryan Benak told BizSense Tuesday that it has been growing and acquiring companies over the past decade, and is up to 28 HVAC, plumbing and electrical services businesses under its purview across 11 U.S. states, mainly in the Southeastern region.
He said acquiring Blazer was attractive both for the company itself and the region, adding that Southern Home has had interest in expanding to Richmond for some time.
“We want to go deep into all of the Southern markets,” Benak said. “They don’t all have to be the Atlantas of the world … we just feel like there’s a lot of opportunity. You don’t have to be in the D.C. area to be successful in these industries.”
He noted that practically all of Southern Home’s acquired companies keep their name, branding and employees following an acquisition, something he said he finds more effective than a rebrand to Southern Home.
“People (in Richmond) don’t know who Southern Home Services is, and we don’t want them to know who Southern is. We want them to know Blazer,” he said. “It’s about maintaining that brand and that continuity.”
Benak said that following an acquisition, Southern Home assists companies with acquiring new vehicles, marketing and other capital expenditures to help them grow.
Bobby added that he feels the acquisition can help Blazer streamline things like HR and IT operations, making benefits packages, PTO and payroll services easier to manage.
“One thing my dad always preaches about is time; it’s something you can’t get back. Southern Home Services has the resources to cut down on things that are very time-consuming,” Bobby said. “We’re taking these responsibilities away and (our employees) can focus more on the customer.”
With the acquisition now complete, Bobby said he wants to grow Blazer’s plumbing department and start an electrical department. He said the company will consider expanding services to the Williamsburg area.
“We think that’s a fertile area, a lot of homeowners,” he said. “You see a lot of people expanding that way.”
Blazer moved to its newly constructed Mechanicsville headquarters in 2023. Prior to that, the company was based at Hanover Airpark.
In addition to Blazer, Southern Home Services has two office locations in Virginia, in Leesburg and Lorton in Northern Virginia, both of which were added with the firm’s acquisition of AirPlus Heating, Cooling, Plumbing & Electrical in 2023.
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