What HVAC and veterinary markets signal for landscape M&A
by Robert Clinkenbeard, CEO of Wilson360
If you want to understand where the landscape M&A is headed, stop looking only at landscaping. Look at HVAC. Look at veterinary clinics. These industries have already moved through the consolidation cycle now gaining speed in landscaping, and the patterns are remarkably consistent. Understanding what happened to the companies that paid attention versus those that didn’t is the most valuable strategic exercise for landscape company owners right now.
Landscaping’s consolidation wave is real. It’s accelerating, and it’s following a playbook private equity has refined across dozens of fragmented service industries. But every playbook has gaps. For up-and-coming landscape companies, those gaps are where they can build something the big platforms can’t easily replicate.
Where landscaping sits on the consolidation curve
Fragmented industries that attract PE capital move through predictable stages. First, acquire platforms and bolt on smaller companies. Valuations climb as competition intensifies. Then, easy deals thin out, integration problems become harder to ignore and capital shifts from buying growth to improving operations. Eventually, larger platforms consolidate, and the market settles around fewer major players.
HVAC appears to be midway through its residential consolidation cycle, according to PKF O’Connor Davies industry analysis. Veterinary has moved further, with corporate groups owning an estimated 30% of general practices and representing roughly half of primary care revenue.
Landscaping is earlier in the cycle. According to Lawn & Landscape’s 2026 State of the M&A Market report, the percentage of owners approached about selling six to 10 times per month jumped from 8% in 2025 to 26% in 2026. Nearly 58% said their interest in selling had increased over three years, and 89% believe consolidation among existing platforms is coming. The acceleration phase is still building.
What the other industries teach
PE follows recurring revenue. In HVAC, maintenance agreements and service contracts attracted institutional capital.
Integration is harder than acquisition. Buying companies in landscape M&A is the easy part. Making them work together is where platforms stumble. In veterinary, early consolidators weakened the culture and autonomy that made individual practices valuable. In HVAC, aggressive cost-cutting pushed technicians away from PE-backed shops.
The entry-level acquisition size drops over time. As larger targets are acquired, PE buyers move downstream. In HVAC, PE deal share rose from 8% of transactions in 2023 to 23% in 2024. In landscaping, the minimum EBITDA threshold for buyer interest has dropped.
Vertical integration follows horizontal consolidation. Once platforms build geographic density, look for adjacent services. HVAC expanded into plumbing and electrical. Veterinary groups added specialty care and diagnostics. In landscaping, irrigation and fertilization are already being added to existing platforms.
How up-and-coming companies can compete
Consolidation doesn’t eliminate the independent operator. Across fragmented markets, well-run independents still thrive by understanding where big platforms struggle.
Start with relationships. The landscape company whose owner knows every property manager by name and whose crews have serviced the same accounts for years has something no acquisition can duplicate.
Invest in operational infrastructure now before you fully launch into landscape M&A. Clean financials, real-time labor tracking, documented processes and a management team that operates without the owner driving daily profitability can make a company attractive to buyers.
Build your leadership bench. Owner-dependent businesses receive lower valuations and stricter terms. Companies with strong management teams command premiums. More importantly, a deep bench gives the owner room to grow and delegate regardless of whether you ever sell.
If the patterns from HVAC and veterinary hold, the landscape industry may have three to five years before the consolidation cycle shifts materially. Companies that invest in operational excellence, strong teams and deeper client relationships now will be better positioned to compete independently or consider a transaction on stronger terms.
The landscape industry is not the first to face this kind of consolidation. Owners who study the patterns and act on them now, this moment represents an extraordinary opportunity, whether the goal is to build, sell or simply compete at a level that can’t be ignored. L&L
Reprinted with permission. GIE Media. Lawn & Landscape June 2026 (c)
