Sponsored by Young America Capital
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Q2 2026 Edition  ·  Young America Capital

Fall Deal Season
starts in 100 days.

Middle market M&A intelligence for Chattanooga-area CEOs, operators, and advisors. Fall deal season starts in September. The window to prepare is now.

Deal spotlight →
Middle Market EV/EBITDA
9.3x
Global median · IB IQ 2025
PE Dry Powder (US)
$1.2T
▲ aging 4+ yrs · League Park
Strategic Buyer Premium
14.7x
vs. 9.6x PE · R.L. Hulett 1H 2025
Days to Fall Deal Season
~120
▼ window closing

Market Read

Q2 2026 · Turbulence & Opportunity

May and June are the window. Fall deal season runs September through November — and the businesses that transact on their own terms are the ones that spent the prior six months getting ready. Buyers are doing their homework right now. Lenders are setting credit parameters. Valuations are being benchmarked against current data, not last year's comps. If a transaction is in your planning horizon — a sale, a recap, a capital raise, or an acquisition — the preparation that happens in the next 90 days determines the outcome in the next 12 months.

Are you ready?
The deals that close well in Q4 are being built right now.
Buyers are disciplined, well-capitalized, and selective. The businesses that attract serious attention share a few things: clean financials, a clear narrative, and an advisor who has done this in conditions like these. Distressed assets also create opportunity — for the right buyer, good assets in difficult situations can offer outsized returns. Before fall season opens:
  • Seek objective counsel from advisors you know and trust — it's a different world with different rules
  • Plan on tight numbers and believable assumptions; challenge every assumption you haven't stress-tested
  • Focus on what you can control; implement a 90-to-120-day preparation plan now
  • Communicate with stakeholders to maintain trust and preserve your leverage
  • Determine whether market disruption creates an opportunity — for you or around you

Chattanooga Deal Spotlight

Sourced · 2025
Sell-Side M&A · Manufacturing
Founder's filtration business, built from scratch in 1983, sells for $1.3 billion
Micronics Engineered Filtration Group — founded by one person in Chattanooga in 1983 — sold to Cleanova, backed by PX3 Partners, in a deal valued at $1.3 billion. What began as a single-founder industrial business became a global filtration platform over four decades of private equity development. The exit is a benchmark for specialty manufacturers evaluating what patient capital and disciplined build-out can produce at exit.
$1.3B exitPE buildIndustrial mfg
Buy & Build · Business Services / SaaS
Accel-KKR-backed Ntracts closes second healthcare SaaS acquisition in eight months
Chattanooga-based Ntracts, a contract lifecycle management platform for healthcare, acquired MCN Solutions — a leader in healthcare policy management and regulatory content — in November 2025, its second acquisition since receiving majority backing from Accel-KKR in 2023. The average community hospital loses an estimated 9% of annual revenue to contract mismanagement. Ntracts is building the compliance operating system to close that gap, one tuck-in at a time.
Accel-KKR backed2nd acquisitionHealthcare SaaS
Sell-Side M&A · Logistics
Specialized LTL carrier serving the flooring industry changes hands to Southeast acquirer
Xpress Global Systems (XGS), a Chattanooga-based LTL carrier with a 315-truck fleet purpose-built for oversized flooring freight, was acquired by LRT Group in November 2025. The buyer's CEO projected doubling XGS's network within three years. Niche freight is being consolidated by operators who understand the specificity required to serve single-vertical supply chains.
Niche LTL315-truck fleetStrategic buyer
Majority Recap · Home Services
Metro Plumbing sells majority stake to PE — founder stays in, targets Southeast expansion
Metro Plumbing, Heating and Air — one of Chattanooga's most recognized service brands, founded in 1989 — sold majority ownership to a PE-backed acquirer in August 2025, with the founder retaining equity and remaining involved. The structure is a majority recapitalization: the owner takes meaningful liquidity, brings in institutional capital, and partners for the next phase of growth. For founder-led service businesses, this deal illustrates that a full sale is not the only exit available.
Majority recapFounder retainedPE-backed growth

Regional Deal Scan

Chattanooga & Southeast · 2025–2026
Business Services · HR Tech · Apr 2025
WorkHound acquired by WorkStep
WorkHound built a platform for frontline workers to give anonymous feedback — serving trucking, logistics, manufacturing, and warehousing. Chattanooga-based WorkHound was acquired by San Francisco-based WorkStep, a software company focused on improving engagement and retention for frontline workers. A Chattanooga tech company with a supply chain workforce problem just became part of a national platform.
SaaS exitStrategic buyerHR tech
Business Services · Healthcare SaaS · Mar 2025
Ntracts acquires Compliatric — first deal post Accel-KKR backing
Chattanooga-based Ntracts, a leader in contract lifecycle management for healthcare, acquired Compliatric — a regulatory, accreditation, and compliance management technology company. This marks Ntracts' first acquisition since receiving majority backing from Accel-KKR. One PE-backed platform. Two acquisitions in one year. This is what a software roll-up looks like when capital is deployed with conviction.
Accel-KKRBuy & buildHealthcare SaaS
Business Services · Healthcare SaaS · Nov 2025
Ntracts acquires MCN Solutions — second deal in eight months
Ntracts acquired MCN Solutions, a leader in healthcare policy management, templates, regulatory alerts, and continuing education content. The average community hospital loses an estimated 9% of annual revenue to contract mismanagement. Two acquisitions in eight months says they mean it — Ntracts is building the compliance operating system for American healthcare from Chattanooga.
Accel-KKR2nd acquisitionPolicy management
Business Services · Logistics Tech · Apr 2025
TextLocate acquired by Tenstreet
Chattanooga-based TextLocate — which helps trucking companies and drivers stay connected with messaging, location tracking, and fraud prevention — was acquired by Tenstreet, a truck driver recruiting and software provider based in Tulsa. A focused, niche software product solving a specific problem for a specific industry. Vertical SaaS exits like this happen quietly. This one is worth understanding.
Vertical SaaSStrategic buyerTrucking tech
Business Services · Home Services · Jun 2025
Scenic City Plumbing acquired by Leap Partners — deal #27 in Southeast roll-up
Founded in 1987 by Jeff Logan, Scenic City Plumbing was acquired by Leap Partners, which has now acquired 26 HVAC, plumbing, and electrical companies across eight Southeast states over three and a half years. The company continues operating under the Scenic City Plumbing name with Logan leading continuity. If you run a trade services business, Leap Partners may already be calling.
PE roll-upTrade servicesFounder exit
Business Services · Home Services · Aug 2025
Metro Plumbing sells majority stake — founder stays in, targets Southeast growth
Metro Plumbing, Heating and Air — founded in 1989 and one of Chattanooga's most recognized service brands — sold majority ownership to a PE-backed acquirer with a goal to double its local reach. A majority recapitalization means the founder stays in, takes chips off the table, and partners with capital to grow. That is a different kind of exit story, and one more business owners should know is available to them.
Majority recapFounder retainedPE-backed growth

Sector Intelligence Reports

On request · Confidential

Each report covers public comp sets, private deal flow, buyer landscape, and valuation context — benchmarked specifically for middle market operators in that sector. Request the one that's relevant to your business.

Fall deal season starts in 100 days

Conversations Aren't Signals.
They're Confidential Research.

The deals you just read about share one thing in common: the owners who got the best outcomes did not wait for perfect conditions. They understood their market, knew their value, and were prepared when the moment came.

The fall M&A window opens now. Processes that close before year-end — whether a full sale, a majority recapitalization, or a strategic partnership — typically begin in June and July. That means the owners who are best positioned this fall started their conversations in the spring.

Picking up the phone does not mean you are ready to sell. It does not mean you have made any decision at all. It means you are doing what every well-positioned business owner does before they need to — gathering intelligence on your own market, your own value, and your own options. Privately. On your terms. That is what a confidential market discussion is for.

What It Is What It Is Not
A private, no-obligation discussion A pitch or a sales process
An honest read on current market valuations for businesses like yours A request for financial statements or sensitive data
A chance to ask the questions you haven't been able to ask anyone A commitment to do anything at all
Completely confidential Anything that goes beyond the conversation without your explicit direction

The market is moving. The deals in this edition tell you which direction. The only question is whether you are watching from the sideline or positioned to be in the next edition.

Your information will never be shared. This conversation goes no further than you decide.