United States. Innovair Corporation has been acquired by Ouellet Group Inc. This acquisition will add more jobs to the South Florida market as Ouellet Group Inc. expands its reach into the United States and Latin America.
As of July 12, 2021, Ouellet Group Inc. owns 100% of the shares of Innovair Corporation, which specializes in the sale of residential and commercial ductless air conditioning and heating units.
Ouellet Group Inc., headquartered in Canada, is a designer, manufacturer and distributor of electric heating and cooling products. Ouellet is headquartered in L'islet, Quebec, and was founded in 1967 as a backyard family business, but has since grown to 500 employees. For the past 50 years, Ouellet has become especially known for its high-performance electric heating products, which are distributed and sold in North America and Europe.
Ouellet was looking to grow in the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean and determined that buy vs. build was the best strategy. Ouellet has historically focused on heating and is relatively new to the air conditioning market. Now, with vertically integrated manufacturing and an overlap in outsourced manufacturing, the combined entity will enjoy greater efficiencies and growth opportunities.
Headquartered in Miami, Florida, Innovair was founded by Julio Gomez, president, and his wife Maria in 1997. The company manufactures and distributes its own brand of air conditioning equipment and parts for residential, light commercial and commercial applications in the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean. Julio Gomez, who has been in the air conditioning business for nearly 50 years, is proud of the widely recognized and respected reputation Innovair has earned in the industry, giving them the opportunity to enjoy the fruit of their labor. Both Innovair and Ouellet are family businesses. Ouellet is owned by three brothers and Innovair is owned by a husband and wife team.
"My wife and I wanted to transition to the next natural role in our business, giving us a greater balance between work and family while maintaining our roles in the company we founded. The agreement not only meets our financial goals, but also preserves the culture that is vitally important to us, our employees and customers," said Julio Gomez. Ouellet told us to 'keep doing what we're doing.'
His son, Alex Gomez, will have an expanded leadership role in the company and will continue to guide the company's e-commerce and domestic sales in the U.S., which have seen significant growth over the past three years. Innovair performed well during the pandemic, as more people worked from home and needed more and better air conditioning equipment. As with the national trend towards more e-commerce, Innovair found that its online sales increased, leading to the need for more staff to meet the demand for faster delivery times.
As part of the sale, Ouellet has obtained a five-year lease on Innovair's two 40,000-square-foot buildings in Miami with the option to renew them with two leases over five years. The distribution of Innovair products will continue to be carried out from Innovair's facilities in Miami.
The acquisition also provides a significant opportunity for product and service growth for both companies' customers. Innovair offers an opportunity for Ouellet to strengthen and expand its service offering.
Innovair will remain a wholly-owned subsidiary and will operate as it always has, with management in Florida intact. Innovair's owners will remain involved with the business and the combined entity will seek to grow the HVAC business aggressively in the U.S., through relationships with distributors and directly to the consumer.
