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Founder / Operator·Home Services

AJ Brown

Co-CEO & Executive Chairman at Apex Service Partners

Tampa, Florida, USA

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Why they matter

Co-CEO who scaled Apex from $40M to $3B+ revenue in six years and just closed an Apollo-backed minority raise — a live reference for home-services roll-up economics and PE-backed buy-and-build execution.

Background

AJ Brown is Co-CEO & Executive Chairman of Apex Service Partners, an Alpine Investors-backed residential HVAC, plumbing, and electrical services platform he co-founded in 2019. A Florida native who grew up in his family's Budweiser distributorship business, he holds an MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School and previously served as CFO/Head of Corporate Development at Avitru, a construction software company he helped grow at nearly 100% CAGR before its 2018 sale to Roper Technologies (NYSE: ROP). He joined Alpine Investors as a CEO-in-Residence before taking the helm at Apex, which he has scaled from roughly $40M to over $3B in annual revenue across 75 local brands and 13,000+ employees in 46 states.

Notable deals

  • 2019
    Co-founded and became CEO of Apex Service Partners, launching the Alpine Investors-backed platform with the acquisitions of Best Home Services and Frank Gay Services
  • 2018
    As Avitru's CFO/Head of Corporate Development, led the company's exit to Roper Technologies (NYSE: ROP) after growing it at nearly 100% CAGR
  • 2025
    Led Apex through a $3.4B single-asset continuation transaction, with Alpine Investors IX committing $450M alongside Blackstone Strategic Partners, HarbourVest, Lexington Partners, and Pantheon
  • 2026
    Secured a strategic minority investment from Apollo Funds into Apex alongside an additional Alpine Investors commitment, to fund national expansion and technology infrastructure

Call-prep brief

AJ Brown — Co-CEO & Executive Chairman, Apex Service Partners

Background

  • Florida native; grew up working in his family's Budweiser distributorship
  • MBA, Kellogg School of Management (part-time, while interning at PE firms McNally Capital and Frontenac)
  • Former CFO/Head of Corporate Development at Avitru (construction software), which he grew ~100% CAGR and exited to Roper Technologies (Dec 2018)
  • Joined Alpine Investors as a CEO-in-Residence before co-founding Apex in 2019

Current focus

  • Co-CEO alongside Will Matson; scaled Apex to 75 brands, 13,000+ employees, 46 states, $3B+ revenue
  • Just closed a strategic minority investment from Apollo Funds (announced May 2026) to fund national expansion and tech infrastructure
  • Previously steered a $3.4B single-asset continuation transaction (2025) involving Blackstone, HarbourVest, Lexington, and Pantheon

What he cares about

  • Self-describes as "super competitive" with an emphasis on building culture and "winning through others"
  • Strong believer in getting the first strategic hire right (cites Will Matson at Apex, Nick Morinto at Avitru)
  • Values integrity/honesty over polish — has publicly discussed a rocky start at Goldman Sachs rather than glossing over it

Sensitivities

  • Apex is mid-transaction with Apollo (expected close Q4 2026) — avoid questions that could be read as fishing for confidential deal terms
  • Recently completed a large continuation fund transaction; may be guarded on LP-level specifics
  • As Executive Chairman/Co-CEO of a roll-up, likely fields frequent inbound from competing platforms/sponsors — needs a clear reason to engage

Questions to ask

  1. What underwriting signals convinced you Apollo was the right capital partner for this stage of Apex's growth, versus staying purely Alpine-backed?
  2. How has the M&A playbook (integration cadence, brand retention, incentive structure for acquired owner-operators) evolved from the first 15 deals to today's 75-brand footprint?
  3. What operational or technology investments are you prioritizing with the new capital, and does that open a lane for adjacent service verticals?

Outreach draft

Subject
Quick call on home services roll-up playbook
Hi AJ, Congratulations on the Apollo investment in Apex — scaling from $40M to $3B+ in revenue while keeping 75 local brands intact is a rare feat in home services consolidation. I'm on the deal team at [Firm Name], and we're spending time on the residential HVAC/plumbing/electrical roll-up space. Given your experience building Apex from the ground up with Alpine and now bringing in Apollo, I'd love 20 minutes to hear your perspective on what separates durable platforms from ones that stall out post-acquisition — integration cadence, incentive design for owner-operators, or capital structure, whatever's top of mind for you. Would you have time in the next couple of weeks? Happy to work around your schedule. Best, [Your Name]

Linked companies

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