IERNA's Heating, Cooling and Plumbing

HVAC / Plumbing · Lutz, Hillsborough County · Founded 2003

About the company

Family-owned residential HVAC and plumbing contractor based in Lutz, serving Hillsborough, Pasco, Polk and northern Pinellas counties since 2003.

Ownership history

• September 1, 2022
  Strikepoint acquires IERNA's, deepening its Tampa Bay cluster
  Acquisition Strikepoint Group Holdings, LLC (backed by New Mountain Capital, LLC)

What changed after the sale

Still listed on Strikepoint's brand page as IERNA's Heating & Cooling in Lutz as of September 2026, so the brand was retained. Owner Charlene Irena said the partnership would let the business continue what it does best; Strikepoint CEO Charlie Haines framed it as solidifying leadership in greater Tampa Bay alongside Pinellas Comfort Systems, Performance and Paradise Air.

Only sourced observations are listed. Customers and employees can add what they saw.

Who really profits

Money paid to IERNA's Heating, Cooling and Plumbing now flows to Strikepoint Group Holdings, LLC (Newark, DE), and from there to its investors — New Mountain Capital, LLC — whose funds are ultimately owed returns by their limited partners. Private-equity-backed residential home services roll-up. The operating company is Horizon Services, founded 1987 in Newark, Delaware; the holding company was Horizon Group Holdings, LLC and adopted the Strikepoint Group Holdings brand in June 2021. Its financial sponsor is New Mountain Capital, which acquired control in November 2019 from Sun Capital Partners; New Mountain still lists it as a current flagship-control private equity portfolio company. Buys established residential HVAC, plumbing, electrical and drain companies, keeps each local brand name and management, and clusters geographically — including a deliberate Tampa Bay cluster (Pinellas Comfort Systems in Clearwater, Performance and Paradise Air in Largo, IERNA's in Lutz, Elite in Bradenton, Mr. AC in Sarasota) — alongside a large Northeast/Mid-Atlantic footprint via Horizon Services, Gold Medal, Hutchinson and HARP. Both the Horizon Group Holdings and Strikepoint Group Holdings names remain in concurrent use.

Capital events at the platform level: 2021-06-04 recap — Horizon Group Holdings rebrands as Strikepoint Group Holdings; at launch 20+ brands, ~2,000 employees, 1,500+ vehicles across 11 eastern states.; 2017-03-07 new sponsor — An affiliate of Sun Capital Partners, Inc. (Boca Raton, FL) acquires Horizon Services, Inc., the Newark, Delaware residential HVAC/plumbing business founded by Dave Geiger. Terms undisclosed. Sun Capital completed 10 add-on acquisitions during its hold, entering Northern New Jersey, Northern Virginia, Atlanta and Florida.; 2019-11-13 new sponsor — New Mountain Capital (New York) acquires control of Horizon Group Holdings, LLC; Sun Capital Partners affiliate exits after roughly two and a half years. Horizon's founder and management retained an equity stake. New Mountain sourced the deal preemptively outside an auction. Terms undisclosed. New Mountain personnel on the deal: Managing Director Mat Lori and Director Kyle Peterson.; 2019-11-13 exit — Sun Capital Partners affiliate completes sale of Horizon Services to New Mountain Capital. Sun Capital's own release confirms the exit and describes the buy-and-build hold period.; 2021-06-04 recap — Horizon Group Holdings rebrands as Strikepoint Group Holdings; at launch 20+ brands, ~2,000 employees, 1,500+ vehicles across 11 eastern states. No change of sponsor — New Mountain Capital remained the owner..

Read more: why prices rise after a sale · debt, exits and the 5-year clock.

Same owner, different name

Other Tampa Bay brands controlled by Strikepoint Group Holdings, LLC. Getting a "second opinion" from one of these is not a second opinion.