Home Services Deals: Management Incentive Plans (MIP) Done Right
When the deal is home services and the question is Management Incentive Plans (MIP), the structure decisions in the first 30 days outlast the next five years. This is where Jason Powell works.
The economics on a home services platform deal usually hinge on a handful of structural decisions. Management Incentive Plans (MIP) is one of them.
The typical home services platform sits at $8M to $80M EV with EBITDA in the $2M to $15M range. The thesis runs on regional roll-ups of HVAC, plumbing, and electrical operators. The cleanest home services deals close in 60 days from LOI. The mess is almost always in the licenses, not the financials.
How Management Incentive Plans (MIP) actually gets structured.
Size the MIP at 10 to 15 percent of post-close equity, with 60 percent time-vested and 40 percent performance-vested.
Use profits interests for tax efficiency, with a clear strike value at grant.
Build double-trigger acceleration on change of control plus termination.
Document the MIP in the LLC operating agreement, not in a separate plan only.
In home services, layer in working capital peg that survives a slow February as part of the Management Incentive Plans (MIP) workstream.
Promising the MIP percentage in the LOI without modeling the impact on the LP waterfall. The LP finds out and the deal stalls.
"MIPs are the cheapest retention tool you have. Use them deliberately, document them precisely."Jason Powell · Management Incentive Plans (MIP)
The deal is one thing. The capital that opens up after close is another.
After close, the call list for refinancing, recapitalization, and growth equity gets short and known. Jason carries that list.
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Bring the home services deal. Get Management Incentive Plans (MIP) done right.
Direct counsel from a securities and M&A attorney with billions in structured transactions, the independent-sponsor-native playbook, and the capital markets network that opens up post-close.