A permanent home for the company you built.
Grupo Cerne is building a Portuguese building services group, one company at a time, to stay. We are starting with heating, ventilation and air conditioning, and electrical and plumbing follow. We buy good companies and help them grow.
Why us
Pedro grew up inside a family business and knows this trade through the people who do it. Manuel built and ran his own company before turning to buying others. We know what it takes to build a business, and what is lost when one disappears.
How we behave
After a first conversation and a set of accounts, we give a clear yes or no, usually within two weeks, and when it is no we say why. When it is yes, we put an indicative value in writing early. The final price starts from that value, is adjusted for cash and debt at completion, and moves away from it only if diligence shows a company different from the one described to us.
Why these trades
Nobody notices a building’s heating, electrics or plumbing until the day they stop. These are trades you do not see and without which nothing works.
What we look for
| Sector | HVAC, electrical and plumbing |
|---|---|
| Revenue | Between €3 million and €20 million a year |
| Where | Portugal |
We took the name cerne, heartwood, for the part of a tree you cannot see and which holds up the rest, just as these businesses are in the buildings where they work.
A permanent home for the company you built.