HomeServe has acquired suburban Lousiville United Plumbing for an undisclosed sum. Connecticut-based HomeServe provides homeowners with coverage that protects them against expensive emergency repairs, whether it’s water, sewer, electrical, HVAC, or some other expensive disaster.

Founded in 2003, HomeServe USA Corp. provides home repair solutions to more than 4.2 million customers across the US and Canada. Its North American operating brands include HomeServe, Home Emergency Insurance Solutions, Service Line Warranties of America, and Service Line Warranties of Canada. In addition to offering coverage, HomeServe matches homeowners with contractors in its network. It also has a line of business dedicated to providing HVAC repair services to homeowners.

The company is global, with operations in North America, the UK, France, and Spain. HomeService also owns home services matchmakers around the world. These include Checkatrade in the UK, Spain’s Habitissimo, and eLocal in North America.

United Plumbing and HomeServe had a long-established relationship before the acquisition. United Plumbing has been a contractor in the HomeServe network for 14 years. The family-owned United has won a number of awards for its service. Notably, these awards include the Diamond Award, given annually to HomeServe’s top contractor.

Not the First Time

This isn’t the first time HomeServe has acquired a local home services company. For example, in 2018, the company acquired Geisel Heating, a Cleveland-area HVAC company.

So here’s how HomeServe explained the deal at the time.

“HomeServe’s growing HVAC business has been key to the company’s growth in North America. The company’s goal is to offer a complete solution to the installation, repair, and maintenance of residential heating, air conditioning, and water heating systems. The Geisel acquisition represents the company’s latest step in capturing a piece of the estimated $29 billion annual HVAC business opportunity in the U.S.”

Therefore, acquiring United would appear to be part of a strategy to directly own more of the service network HomeServe relies on to service its customer base.

As HomeServe cites five key “sources of value” on its investor page. These are products; marketing expertise; partnerships; our trades network; and our ability to generate repeat and recurring revenue.

So it would seem this acquisition is focused on exerting more control over the quality of its trade network.