What Started as a Cold Call Became a Transformational Partnership

Partnership Timeframe

2 Years

Revenue Growth

28%

EBITDA Growth

82%

Employee Growth

43%

Multiple of Invested Capital

4.8X

Starting Over

After selling their HVAC business to Direct Energy in 2010, Vaughn Goettler and his partner Jeremy Hetherington had the opportunity to re-acquire three successful branches from the large energy retailer in 2014. Many former employees were still involved in the business and Vaughn and Jeremy had the opportunity to re-create a leading independent HVAC operator in Canada. In 2018, the partners acquired four more locations and Right Time emerged as a leading independent Canadian HVAC contractor that focuses solely on the residential replacement market. Clairvest was following Right Time’s success and in 2018 approached the company with a proposal for a 50/50 partnership and an ambitious growth plan to position Right Time as the premier privately held heating and air conditioning company in North America.

Laying the Foundation for Exponential Growth

Clairvest worked with management on key strategic initiatives to position the business for growth. This included the strengthening of corporate infrastructure and increasing investment in marketing to generate incremental sales leads during periods of low activity. The executive team had been augmented with the addition of a CFO, a Director of Marketing, and a Director of Training. In addition, the call center operations have been significantly expanded to support the planned growth. Through three acquisitions, the Company has expanded to 11 locations across Canada.

Our relationship with Clairvest brought professionalism to our company to a level that we have never had before. It brought rigor to our company and it brought better outcomes.Vaughn Goettler, Co-Founder & CEO

So Good They Can’t Ignore You

Right Time grew headcount from 280 to 400 employees and EBITDA almost doubled in a 2-year period. The company was approached by a financial investor focused on the HVAC industry who offered a premium valuation for the business. The sale of Right Time was finalized in December 2020 generating a return of 4.8x on invested capital and a 112% IRR.