Apex Service Partners announced that it has partnered with Southern Air Heating & Cooling, a leading residential HVAC services company with locations across Louisiana and Mississippi.

Southern Air, headquartered in Ball, Lousiana, will join Florida businesses Best Home Services and Frank Gay Services as a member of the Apex platform.

Founded in 1994 by Ira Preuett, Southern Air will continue to be operated independently by the Preuett family under its current brand names.

"We are thrilled and privileged to partner with Southern Air Founder and CEO Ira Preuett, and welcome Southern Air’s incredible employees to Apex. They have a proven history of providing fast, friendly and highly technical services that fit perfectly with Apex’s mission of building a people-focused national HVAC, plumbing and electrical services platform," said AJ Brown, CEO of Apex. "Southern Air is an extremely impressive operation with a bright future of growth ahead.”

"We are excited to accelerate our growth as part of the Apex family, and look forward to helping build the best network of service providers across the country,” said Ira Preuett. “Apex has a strong set of values and a philosophy of prioritizing its customers and employees, which aligns perfectly with Southern Air. Apex will help us become a larger and stronger company and expand into neighboring geographies."

Apex plans to invest at least $100 million in equity capital in HVAC, plumbing and electrical services companies across the U.S., creating a network of market-leading service companies.