Private equity profits from natural disaster clean-up

‍

America is getting hit hard by natural disasters.

‍

Hurricane Helene caused $3-5Bn in commercial property damage, and Hurricane Milton's price tag is still adding up.

‍

The increased cadence and damage of storms is why the disaster-restoration industry, which covers water damage restoration, fire damage repairs, mold remediation, etc., is forecasted to grow from $70Bn this year to $92Bn by 2029.

‍

Mom-and-pop shops have traditionally dominated the industry, but like many other industries that have seen consolidation in recent years, private equity has been buying up these shops to get a piece of the disaster clean-up cash. Orangewood, Summit Partners, and Sun Capital are some PE firms that are particularly active in the space.

‍

For such investors, hurricanes and other climate-related disasters are good business.