The investment bank
for construction
and infrastructure M&A.
Carleton McKenna & Co is a middle market investment bank dedicated to the built environment. We advise owners of general contractors, specialty contractors, engineering firms, architecture firms, environmental services providers, and infrastructure businesses on sell-side M&A, ESOP transactions, and capital advisory engagements.
Organized the way the
industry itself is organized.
We structure our construction practice around the CSI MasterFormat — the taxonomy owners, general contractors, engineers, and specialty subcontractors already use to organize their work. Buyers, lenders, and sureties use the same language. Our advisors do too. Every engagement is led by bankers who understand where your business sits within the built environment and what makes it valuable to specific acquirers.
Facility Construction
Vertical construction and the finished building envelope. Concrete, masonry, metals, wood and plastics, thermal and moisture protection, openings, finishes, specialties, equipment, furnishings, and conveying systems.
General contractors, commercial builders, building products manufacturers, glazing, roofing, masonry, drywall, flooring, and finish contractors.
Strategic consolidators, middle market PE, family offices, building products platforms.
Facility Services
The systems inside the building. Fire suppression, plumbing, HVAC, integrated automation, electrical, communications, electronic safety and security. The MEP and low-voltage backbone of every modern facility.
Mechanical contractors, electrical contractors, plumbing contractors, fire protection, low-voltage and security integrators, HVAC service and installation, controls and building automation.
National MEP platforms, PE consolidators, strategic acquirers rolling up recurring service revenue, infrastructure-adjacent funds.
Site & Infrastructure
Earthwork, exterior improvements, utilities, transportation, and waterway and marine construction. The horizontal work that supports every vertical structure and every public project.
Civil contractors, excavation and site work, paving and asphalt, utility contractors, transportation and bridge, marine, pavement marking, land surveying, environmental and remediation services.
Infrastructure funds, strategic civil consolidators, public-work-focused PE, transportation and utility platforms.
Process Equipment
Industrial process infrastructure. Process integration, material processing and handling, process heating, cooling and drying, gas and liquid handling, purification and storage, industry-specific manufacturing systems, power generation, water and wastewater.
Process contractors and integrators, industrial process equipment manufacturers, water and wastewater specialists, power and energy contractors, engineered systems providers, industrial services and controls.
Industrial-focused PE, strategic engineered systems platforms, water and wastewater consolidators, energy transition acquirers.
Buyers underwrite
construction differently.
Construction, engineering, and infrastructure businesses live or die on backlog quality, bonding capacity, contract structures, workforce continuity, and the visibility of forward revenue. Generic M&A advisors often miss these subtleties. We do not.
We serve the full built environment: general contractors, specialty trades, civil and heavy infrastructure, architecture and engineering services, environmental and remediation services, building products, and construction-adjacent technology. Our practice covers sell-side M&A, majority recapitalizations, ESOP transactions, and capital raising for owners who have built durable businesses in the construction sector.
Managing Director Chuck Fenske leads our construction, engineering, and infrastructure advisory practice. He is a Certified Valuation Analyst with deep experience at Pepper Construction, Knoch Construction, and Houlihan Capital, where he led the Cleveland office. He brings construction-native fluency to every engagement.
Track record, not
marketing claims.
Practice led by a
construction insider.
Chuck Fenske, Managing Director, leads the construction and infrastructure practice at Carleton McKenna & Co. Before investment banking, Chuck spent years on the operator side of the industry — first at Pepper Construction and later at Knoch Construction — building the operational fluency in backlog, bonding, WIP, and workforce continuity that most bankers try to learn on someone else's transaction.
He is a Certified Valuation Analyst, holds FINRA Series 79 and Series 63 registrations, and previously led the Cleveland office of Houlihan Capital. Across his career he has advised owners of general contractors, specialty trade contractors, engineering firms, architecture firms, environmental services providers, and infrastructure businesses on transactions ranging from strategic sales to ESOPs to majority recapitalizations.
Owners choose us because they get Chuck. Not a pitch team that hands off to a junior. Every engagement, first call to closing.
- Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA)
- FINRA Series 79 & 63 registered
- Prior: Pepper Construction — construction operations
- Prior: Knoch Construction — construction operations
- Prior: Houlihan Capital — led Cleveland office
- Weatherhead MBA, Case Western Reserve University
- B.S., Accounting & Construction Management, The Ohio State University
One team on your transaction.
Led start to finish.
When you engage Carleton McKenna, a senior team member leads your transaction from first call to closing, and the team built around that engagement stays with it the entire way. The same people who prepare your materials run the valuation work, manage buyer outreach, and carry your diligence. Nothing gets rebuilt by an unfamiliar set of hands halfway through, and the banker negotiating in the final week is the one who returned your first call.
Your senior team member is on every buyer call, in every management presentation, and at every negotiation, with the same team working alongside them throughout. You know everyone on your deal by name.
We run a limited number of processes at once, deliberately. This is what keeps the same team on your transaction across the full engagement — and what larger firms cannot match at their scale.
We represent only sellers, only in M&A. No parallel consulting engagements with your future acquirer. No buy-side book. No private equity fund of our own. One conversation with the buyer universe: the one on your behalf.
How owners describe
working with our team.
We engaged with CM&Co based on several recommendations from other professionals and they were able to set Board expectations. They did a marvelous job of managing the due diligence process, were always quick to respond to our questions and exhibited great patience to match our short time frame to get a deal done.
If you don't use a professional organization like Carleton McKenna, you're going to struggle and it's going to be a long, drawn-out process. You might let a good opportunity pass by just because you didn't have the right partner.
CM&Co not only made this process more likely to succeed and smoother, but they also increased the value received, effectively self-funding their compensation many times over.
Construction M&A,
answered directly.
How is Carleton McKenna different from a larger construction M&A firm?
Two structural differences matter most to owners:
- A Managing Director as your point of contact, first call to closing. At larger firms, an MD typically leads the pitch and the opening weeks, then hands off to an associate or VP for buyer outreach, materials, and diligence. At Carleton McKenna, the MD who returns your first call is the same senior banker negotiating with the buyer in the final week — supported by the full firm team behind them.
- Pure sell-side representation. Larger firms often operate research, consulting, executive coaching, buy-side advisory, and private equity funds alongside their investment banking arm. Carleton McKenna represents only sellers, only in M&A. One conversation with the buyer universe: the one on your behalf.
Beyond those two:
- National reach. We advise middle market owners across the United States, typically on transactions of $10M–$250M in revenue and $3M–$30M in EBITDA.
- Custom process design. Every engagement is built from the ground up for your business. No templated playbook.
- Sector-native operator background. Managing Director Chuck Fenske brings operator experience from Pepper Construction and Knoch Construction, paired with the firm's cross-sector fluency for construction-adjacent businesses.
How does Carleton McKenna organize the construction M&A practice?
The practice is organized around the four CSI MasterFormat groups: Facility Construction (Divisions 03–14), Facility Services (Divisions 21–28), Site & Infrastructure (Divisions 31–35), and Process Equipment (Divisions 40–48). Owners, general contractors, engineers, and specialty subcontractors already use this taxonomy to organize their work — and so do the strategic acquirers, private equity sponsors, and infrastructure funds who buy construction businesses. Speaking the industry's own language shortens diligence, sharpens positioning, and helps buyers underwrite what your business actually does.
What buyers acquire Facility Services (MEP) contractors, and what drives their valuations?
Facility Services businesses — mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, low-voltage, HVAC service, and building automation — are among the most actively consolidated segments of the built environment. Buyers include national MEP platforms rolling up local strong-hold contractors, middle market private equity sponsors building service-and-install platforms, and strategic acquirers pursuing recurring revenue. Valuations are driven by the mix of recurring service revenue vs project revenue, technician retention, geographic density, customer concentration, and margin durability. Firms with a meaningful service book typically command higher multiples than pure project contractors of similar size.
How is Site & Infrastructure M&A different from Facility Construction M&A?
Site and Infrastructure businesses (civil, earthwork, utilities, transportation, marine, and environmental) serve a fundamentally different buyer universe from Facility Construction. Infrastructure funds and public-work-focused private equity underwrite long-dated public sector visibility, DBE and small-business set-aside dynamics, bonding capacity that is often two or three times higher than a vertical GC of similar revenue, and multi-year backlog with escalation clauses. Facility Construction, by contrast, is more sensitive to commercial and industrial cycles and is typically valued on backlog quality, gross margin, and customer concentration. The two groups can share a parent buyer but rarely share a valuation logic.
Does Carleton McKenna advise Process Equipment businesses?
Yes. Process Equipment (CSI Divisions 40–48) covers industrial process infrastructure, material handling, process heating and cooling, gas and liquid handling, water and wastewater equipment, power generation, and industry-specific manufacturing systems. Owners in this group serve manufacturing, energy, water, food and beverage, and industrial end markets. Buyers include industrial-focused private equity, engineered systems platforms, water and wastewater consolidators, and energy transition acquirers. Our practice covers the full spectrum from process contractors and integrators to industrial equipment manufacturers.
What types of construction, engineering, and infrastructure companies does Carleton McKenna advise?
Carleton McKenna & Co advises owners across the full built environment: general contractors, specialty trade contractors (electrical, mechanical, concrete, paving, roofing, demolition), civil and heavy infrastructure contractors, architecture and engineering firms, environmental and remediation services providers, land services and survey businesses, building products manufacturers, and construction-adjacent technology and SaaS companies. The firm has closed transactions across each of these subsectors.
Who leads Carleton McKenna's construction and engineering M&A practice?
Managing Director Chuck Fenske leads the construction, engineering, and infrastructure practice. He is a Certified Valuation Analyst with prior experience at Pepper Construction, Knoch Construction, and Houlihan Capital, where he led the Cleveland office. He brings sector-native fluency to backlog analysis, bonding strategy, surety relationships, and workforce continuity, the issues that drive valuation outcomes in construction transactions.
How do buyers value construction and engineering businesses?
Buyers underwrite construction and engineering companies on backlog quality and visibility, gross margin durability, bonding capacity and surety program terms, customer concentration, skilled labor retention, project execution track record, safety record, and exposure to economic cycles. EBITDA multiples vary widely by subsector. Engineering and specialty trade businesses with recurring or repeat revenue typically command higher multiples than project-based general contractors. Infrastructure businesses with long-dated public sector visibility often attract premium valuations from infrastructure funds.
What size construction and infrastructure companies does Carleton McKenna work with?
The firm focuses on the middle market: typically construction, engineering, and infrastructure companies with revenue between $10 million and $250 million and EBITDA between $3 million and $30 million. Senior bankers lead every engagement from first call through closing.
What construction, engineering, and infrastructure transactions has Carleton McKenna completed?
Selected construction sector transactions include McClintock Electric (electrical contracting), Emerald Built Environments (commercial construction and environmental services), CIG & Sharpe Engineering (engineering and project management), Lafarge Pavement Marking (specialty trades), Reliable Construction Heaters (construction equipment), and Millman Land Services (land survey services for the built environment, acquired by CBRE).
Can a construction company owner use an ESOP as an exit strategy?
Yes. Employee Stock Ownership Plans are particularly well-suited to construction firms because they preserve bonding capacity, retain skilled labor and key project managers, maintain customer relationships, and deliver substantial tax advantages to the selling owner. Carleton McKenna structures and executes ESOP transactions for construction, engineering, and infrastructure businesses as an alternative or complement to a strategic or private equity sale.
Does Carleton McKenna only work with construction companies in Ohio?
No. While the firm is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Carleton McKenna advises construction, engineering, and infrastructure companies nationwide. The firm has direct relationships with active strategic acquirers, private equity sponsors, infrastructure funds, and family offices investing in the built environment across the United States.
How long does it take to sell a middle market construction or engineering company?
A typical sell-side M&A process for a middle market construction or engineering business runs six to nine months from engagement to closing, depending on the complexity of the bonding program, backlog composition, and buyer diligence requirements. ESOP transactions follow a different timeline driven by trustee selection, valuation, and financing structure.
Every report, guide,
and market update, in one place.
The construction M&A intelligence we produce for owners, boards, and buyers — quarterly market reports, subsector deep dives, ESOP economics, and reference material. New material is added continuously; check back often or subscribe for updates.
construction business?
Start with a confidential conversation. We will share what buyers are paying for companies like yours and what your path to closing looks like.