Building an HVAC Roll-Up in France

Entrepreneurship through acquisition is increasingly becoming a global phenomenon, and in this episode Rick and Royce speak with Louis-Clair Francois-Poncet, an HBS alum who returned to his native France after business school to pursue ETA alongside a longtime friend. Since launching their roll-up in 2022, they have acquired fifteen HVAC businesses, combining them under a single company while still preserving the local brands and cultures that made each one successful. Louis-Clair shares how he identified HVAC as an attractive sector, raised capital from French investors, and built deal flow by establishing credibility with business owners. Along the way, they explore the differences between pursuing ETA in France and North America, the distinct motivations of business owners who sell without wanting to retire, the power of bringing professional management and information systems to small businesses, and how a roll-up can create value not simply through economies of scale, but by better management, technology, recruiting, and shared resources. The conversation also considers what it means to build an entrepreneurial career around a unified professional and personal life, and why businesses that depend on skilled tradespeople may prove particularly resilient in an age of rapid technological change. Ultimately, Louis-Clair’s experience offers a compelling look at how the ETA model can travel across borders and how entrepreneurs can adapt it to local markets while still preserving the fundamental principles that make the model work.