Building a Super-Regional Leader in PVF Distribution
Lehman Pipe & Supply is a value-added distributor of pipes, valves, and fittings serving a diverse base of mechanical and plumbing contractors across Florida and the Caribbean, serving commercial end markets including healthcare, education, and retail. Rotunda had been developing its conviction in PVF distribution since 2016, evaluating more than 10 deals in the space and cultivating deep sector expertise before finding the right platform. Due to the industry knowledge we built over that time, when Rotunda was introduced to Lehman in 2024, we immediately recognized it as a strong operator in a fragmented market with significant room to grow.
A thesis years in the making. A company that stood out from the rest.
Our conviction in PVF distribution dates back to 2016. Over nearly a decade we developed the thesis, evaluated more than 10 banked deals in the space, and cultivated relationships with seasoned operating executives in the sector before we were ready to act. When Lehman came to market in 2024, our industry knowledge allowed us to move swiftly and with confidence.
PVF distribution is a technically complex business where expertise and reliability matter more than price. The market is highly fragmented with limited dealer sophistication, and the Southeast region in particular offered significant untapped potential for a well-capitalized operator with the right foundation. The commercial end markets Lehman served including healthcare, education, and retail depend on reliable PVF supply, and the contractors who serve them need a distributor with the inventory, expertise, and responsiveness to keep projects moving.
The challenge
The business had reached an inflection point that familiar to many founder-led distributors face: significant opportunity ahead but not enough organizational infrastructure to capture it. The management team was stretched, functional leadership gaps were limiting growth, and the systems needed to run a larger, multi-location business were not yet in place. Lehman needed a partner who understood the business well enough to help build what was missing without disrupting what was working.
The landscape
Most competitors operate locally with limited analytical sophistication and low-quality customer service. The commercial construction market in Florida alone represents one of the largest and most active PVF markets in the country, and the opportunity to expand from that base into adjacent geographies and product categories was clear from day one of our research.
A founder transition done right. A platform built for scale.
We’re looking for founders ready to professionalize and scale—and we know you’re assessing fit, too. This means honest conversations about goals, capabilities, and what success looks like. When it aligns, our entire team commits alongside you. This includes our deal team led by two Rotunda partners, our value creation team, and operating executive network.
With the founder stepping back from day-to-day operations, building the functional team around the CEO and existing management has been an immediate priority. We added a COO, CFO, Controller, Director of HR, and a Sales Excellence Officer to give the business the organizational depth to grow without losing the institutional knowledge and customer relationships built over decades.
We have implemented formal reporting, financial planning processes, and KPI frameworks to give leadership real visibility into performance across the business. The data and technology infrastructure to support AI-enabled management capabilities and robust business intelligence tools is actively being built out, moving the business from minimal data capability at entry toward a fully data-driven operating model.
Since investing, we have opened a new Orlando location, extending Lehman’s reach within Florida and establishing a repeatable model for greenfield expansion. A roadmap for additional locations across the Southeast is actively being developed, giving the business a clear path to building regional scale without relying solely on acquisitions to grow.
Since investing, we completed an acquisition that moved Lehman beyond its core commercial PVF focus into the industrial PVF space, meaningfully broadening the customer base and end market exposure. We are continuing to pursue product expansion into adjacent categories including fire protection and plumbing supply, deepening the value proposition for existing customers and opening relationships with new ones across the region.
A business with decades behind it and we believe significant growth still in front of it.
Lehman spent decades cultivating its contractor relationships in Florida and the Caribbean, led by a management team that understood its customers and consistently delivered for them. That foundation is exceptionally difficult to replicate, and it is the core of what Rotunda seeks to building on in the business’ next chapter of growth.
In the years since we partnered with Lehman we have achieved significant progress together: we opened a new Orlando location made 5 key hires to bolster the organizational infrastructure and completed an acquisition that brought industrial PVF into the platform, meaningfully expanding Lehman’s offerings. The roadmap ahead is equally clear more geographies, more product categories, and a data-driven operating model that supports a business significantly larger than the one we acquired.
“Looking back at our partnership with Rotunda over the last year and a half, I’m very happy to say that everything they talked about in the beginning is everything we are doing today. Today we have a more stable company because of the people we have in place.”
This case study is for informational purposes only. The quoted statement reflects the opinion of a portfolio company executive and is not necessarily indicative of the experience of other portfolio companies. No compensation was provided for this testimonial, and there can be no assurance of future results.