The Daily Dig
Foundral has acquired A. Hattersley & Sons, a Fort Wayne, Indiana mechanical contractor with a legacy dating back to 1856 and a reputation as the area's oldest and most respected firm in its trade.
A. Hattersley & Sons works across commercial, industrial, and institutional markets. Its services cover design and construction, engineering, project management, installation, and maintenance of piping and HVAC systems.
President and CEO Jack Koehne said the decision came down to finding a partner willing to grow the business without dismantling what built it, specifically the craftsmanship, client relationships, and culture that have defined the firm across generations.
Foundral is building and scaling a family of union-backed mechanical contracting companies, empowering acquired firms to take on larger jobs while preserving their identities. The platform is backed by Chicago-based private equity firm McNally Capital. Partner Ravi P. Shah described A. Hattersley & Sons as a natural fit, noting the acquisition strengthens an already established portfolio of accomplished contractors across the country. Financial terms were not disclosed in the announcement.
Snapshot:
Acquired Company: A. Hattersley & Sons
Acquirer: Foundral
Private Equity Sponsor: McNally Capital (Chicago, Illinois)
Acquired Company HQ: Fort Wayne, Indiana
Year Founded: 1856
Markets Served: Commercial, industrial, institutional
Scope of Services: Design and construction, engineering, project management, installation, maintenance of piping and HVAC systems
Platform Focus Areas: Healthcare, higher education, industrial, government, life sciences, data centers
Deal Value: Not disclosed in announcement
Announcement Date: May 21, 2026
TheJobWalk Thoughts
Mechanical contracting rollups are accelerating across the Midwest, and Foundral is moving with clear intent. They are not buying revenue. They are buying institutional relationships, union labor pipelines, and regional reputation, things that take a generation to build and cannot be replicated by throwing capital at a market.
For GCs in northern Indiana and surrounding markets, A. Hattersley & Sons is about to have more capacity and more appetite for complex work than it has historically carried. If you have been scope-limiting them on bids, that calculation is worth revisiting.
Suppliers and trade partners in their network should recognize that platforms like Foundral eventually bring purchasing structure with them as they grow. The contractors who get preferred positioning inside these portfolios are the ones already embedded before that structure arrives, not the ones knocking on the door after it does.
