M&A activity snapshot
Restoration has moved from a franchise-and-family-owned trade to an active PE platform category. The pattern shows in exits: Knox Lane acquired HighGround Restoration from Trivest in March 2025, after 13 add-on acquisitions and more than 12x revenue growth under Trivest. Soundcore sold American Restoration to Morgan Stanley Capital Partners in 2024 after 8 acquisitions covering 20 locations in 10 states.
No public provider publishes a restoration-only deal count. Hyde Park Capital's deal list shows the breadth of buyers, including Bain Capital's purchase of ServiceMaster Restore and AEA-backed Blackmon Mooring's acquisition of DryMaster Restoration.
The trade also has no single industry code. In the Census index, fire and flood restoration sits under 236118 and 236220, mold remediation under 562910, and disaster cleanup without remediation under 562998, which is one reason government data on the sector is thin.
Who is buying
Franchise systems with long-hold owners. Blackstone acquired a majority stake in SERVPRO in 2019 through its Core Private Equity strategy, designed to hold investments longer than traditional private equity; SERVPRO then had over 1,700 franchisees.
PE-backed residential platforms. Alpine Investors launched Guardian Restoration Partners in April 2024 with DryLux, Dry Kings and Midwest Restoration, applying the same buy-and-build approach it used in HVAC.
Commercial and large-loss platforms. Partners Group and Kohlberg & Company acquired BluSky, a commercial restoration provider, in October 2021. TSG Consumer Partners invested in ATI Restoration, then the nation's largest family-owned disaster recovery firm, in 2020, and American Securities acquired BELFOR in 2019.
Public strategics. FirstService owns Paul Davis Restoration and First Onsite and reports their results publicly, which makes it the best public window into the sector's economics.
What buyers look for
The core question is how predictable the revenue is. FirstService says organic growth at its restoration brands is influenced by weather-driven claims activity, which can be unpredictable. In one 2025 quarter, organic revenues decreased 7%, primarily due to reduced weather events and large-loss claims versus the prior-year quarter. Buyers separate base-load work (everyday water losses, mold, fire) from storm and catastrophe revenue, and price the base load.
Referral sources come next. Residential restoration work arrives largely through insurance carriers, adjusters, third-party administrators and plumbers. Buyers want to see many referral sources, documented program relationships, and no single carrier or administrator dominating revenue.
Standards and compliance round it out. The IICRC S500 standard sets procedures for water damage restoration in residential, commercial and institutional buildings, and EPA's RRP rule requires certified firms and trained workers for work that disturbs paint in pre-1978 homes, with an emergency exemption for disaster response.
What makes a strong company
Restoration businesses that draw platform interest usually show:
- A base of non-catastrophe work that covers fixed costs in a quiet weather year.
- Referral relationships spread across multiple carriers, administrators and local plumbers.
- Both mitigation and reconstruction capability, so the business keeps the full job.
- Technicians trained to IICRC standards and RRP certification for older housing stock.
- Disciplined receivables management, since insurance-paid jobs can take months to collect.
- Commercial accounts or large-loss capability, which BluSky and First Onsite-type platforms value.
Valuation and deal structure
No acceptable public source publishes restoration-specific multiples. The nearest proxy is the broader construction services sector, where M&A multiples averaged 12.5x EV/EBITDA from 2023 through mid-2025. That average reflects larger disclosed deals and is not a quote for an owner-operated restoration company. In the adjacent environmental services sector, Capstone notes transactions clearing at aggressive EBITDA multiples over the past 12 to 18 months.
Weather volatility shows up in structure. FirstService warns that a sustained period of below-average weather-related activity could lead to impairment of goodwill, the accounting form of overpaying for storm-year earnings. Buyers often handle that risk by basing price on multi-year normalized earnings rather than a single strong year. No public dataset tracks earnout or rollover rates in restoration deals.
Outlook
Expect continued platform formation and add-ons, with buyers becoming stricter about normalizing weather. Platforms launched in 2021-2024 are still buying, and early platforms have begun to change hands, as HighGround and American Restoration did. The swing factor is weather: FirstService reported working-capital and revenue effects from milder weather in its restoration businesses in 2025. Owners with diversified referral sources and a solid base of everyday losses will be best placed over the next 12-24 months.
Own a restoration or remediation company? Run the valuation tool to see a market-based range. Part of Home Services M&A. See also: trigger-based deal sourcing.