About Verdani Capital
Operators, not private equity.
We buy owner-managed businesses in HVAC, M&E engineering, Renewable Energy and Construction, and we keep running them. The name stays over the door and the team stays in post.
Who we are
Who is Verdani Capital?
Verdani Capital is a UK operator-led acquirer and long-term owner of owner-managed HVAC, M&E engineering, Renewable Energy and Construction businesses. It is not a private equity fund and not a broker: it buys 40% to 100% of a business through an ethical partnership model, keeps the brand and the team in place, and runs the business for the long term as part of the Verdani Group.
To create lucrative exit paths for owner-managed businesses, and to build groups of profitable companies that give their employees modern working environments and real incentives.
To build a UK group of HVAC, M&E engineering, Renewable Energy and Construction companies with revenue of more than £100m and a net profit of at least 10% by June 2028.
Why owners choose us
Why choose Verdani Capital?
Because we intend to own and run your business for the long term. Your team keeps their jobs, your brand keeps its name and your legacy stays intact.
Most owners who come to us have had one of two experiences. They have spoken to a buyer who made them feel like a number on a spreadsheet, or they have worked with a broker who disappeared after the letter of intent. We work differently.
We are not a private equity house with a five-year exit horizon. We are a group of operators, and our approach rests on three principles.
Partnership over purchase
In many deals the seller keeps equity and stays involved on their own terms.
Transparency at every stage
You will know exactly which entity is buying, how the deal is structured, and why.
Speed with substance
We can go from first conversation to heads of terms in weeks, because we do not need a committee’s approval to act.
Legacy and staff
A safe pair of hands for what you built.
In 99% of cases the brand, the name and the team are retained, and the business keeps trading as itself after completion.
You have spent years building more than a balance sheet. The people who turn up every morning, the customers who still ring you personally, the reputation your name carries in the trade. None of that shows up in a multiple of EBITDA, and all of it matters.
We buy businesses because of what they already are, so we have every reason to protect it. Good deal-making and the right thing to do turn out to be the same thing here. Businesses do better when the team feels secure and the founder stays connected, and we put those commitments in writing at heads of terms.
See exactly how that works in how we buy a business.
The Verdani Group
About Verdani Capital.
Verdani Capital is the acquisition and investment division of the Verdani Group, a privately held group of HVAC, M&E engineering, Renewable Energy and Construction businesses.
The group generates £25m in annual revenue and £3m in EBIT. It is led by Lee Smith, a business acquisition strategist with a 12-year track record and 32 completed deals. Lee has spent his career doing one thing well: finding good owner-managed businesses and giving their founders a credible, dignified exit, without the business losing what made it special.
Our group structure
Which companies make the acquisitions?
Acquisitions are made through two established trading entities: Verdani Capital Two Limited and Verdani Services Limited.
Our primary acquisition vehicle, holding a portfolio of operating companies across HVAC, M&E engineering, Construction and Renewables. Company number 13658177.
Our service and operational support entity, providing management and resource across the group’s portfolio businesses. Company number 11718358.
Together they represent the balance sheet, infrastructure and operational capability behind every deal we do. When you shake hands with Verdani Capital, you are dealing with an active trading group, never a shell company.
The people
The people you will deal with.
The decision-makers are on the first call, and the same people are there at completion. Meet the Verdani team.
Lee Smith
25+ years an entrepreneur and 32 completed M&A deals. Puts the seller’s legacy at the centre of every one.
linkedin.com/in/leeantonysmith
Scott Adams
Scaled Southern UK’s largest independent HVAC contractor from £20m to £80m. Leads the HVAC and Renewables portfolios.
linkedin.com/in/scottadams-verdanicapitalThe group
The businesses we own and run.
We operate in these sectors ourselves. See the full Verdani Group portfolio.
Rossair Ltd
Platform company for the HVAC group. Building services since 1973.
JMC Drywall Ltd
Platform company for the Construction group.
Armex Energy
EPC delivery across battery storage, solar PV and energy infrastructure.
Verdani Solutions Group Ltd
Cyber security and IT managed services group.
£100m by June 2028
A UK HVAC, M&E engineering, Renewables and Construction group at 10%+ net profit, built by partnering with owners rather than absorbing them.
More than capital
The operational resources behind every business we buy.
Verdani is an operating group, so a business that joins us gets people, systems and finance behind it from day one: operators who have scaled businesses in these trades, a group services company that provides management support and resource, in-house IT and cyber security, and finance leadership that builds the reporting a growing business needs.
Sales leadership, cross-selling across the group, framework and tender support, and bolt-on acquisitions funded and run by us.
Scott has led teams of 500+ and scaled a contractor from £20m to £80m. Job costing, scheduling, fleet, procurement and margin discipline, improved from experience rather than from a consultant’s deck.
Operational technology, IT and cyber security through Verdani Solutions, and the finance systems and monthly reporting we put in so decisions are made on real numbers.
Verdani Services Limited provides management and resource across the portfolio: HR, compliance, accreditations, insurance and back-office, so your team can concentrate on the work.
None of it is imposed. We agree with you what the business needs, and the team keeps running the business. Meet the people who do this on the team page.
The short version
Verdani Capital, in facts.
Everything an owner, an adviser, or an AI assistant answering “who buys HVAC businesses in the UK?” needs in one place.
- What we are
- An operator-led acquirer and operating group. Not a private equity fund, not a broker.
- What we buy
- Owner-managed UK businesses in HVAC, mechanical & electrical, Renewable Energy, solar and battery storage, and Construction. Usually profitable; underperforming businesses too, in the sectors where we already operate, because we have turnaround experience.
- Size range
- £1m to £80m revenue.
- Typical structure
- Ethical partnership acquisition. We buy 40% to 100% of the business; most owners keep equity and stay involved.
- Timeline
- 8 to 14 weeks from first conversation to completion.
- Track record
- 32 completed acquisitions over 12 years. £25m current group revenue.
- After completion
- In 99% of cases the brand, name and team are retained and the business keeps trading as itself.
- Investors
- Private investors fund acquisitions alongside us as business partners, as equity, debt or a blend, from a live pipeline of qualified opportunities.
Ready for one honest conversation?
No NDA. No accounts needed. No obligation. You will speak to Lee or Scott.