Our values aren’t just words on a page—they guide how we respond to your needs, approach every job, and work together as a team. When you partner with Exigent, you’re working with professionals who put these principles into action every day.
We build our business around a single principle: your critical systems must operate with optimal uptime, efficiency, and comfort. Our technicians respond rapidly, communicate clearly, and solve problems effectively—combining deep technical knowledge with a genuine commitment to service excellence.
We keep critical mechanical facilities running and efficient. By bringing together top talent from across the industry, we deliver solutions that ensure optimal uptime, efficiency, and comfort for our customers' most important systems.
Since our founding, we’ve grown to include seven Group Companies across the eastern United States, creating a $230M+ platform with plans for continued strategic expansion. Our regional centers allow us to combine local responsiveness with the resources of a larger organization.
What makes Exigent different is our approach to growth — we’ve designed our platform from the ground up to support every Operating Company equally, rather than forcing them into a pre-existing system. This deliberate strategy respects what makes each business special while providing the resources to reach the next level
Operating Companies
Platform
Exigent delivers comprehensive mechanical solutions for critical facilities through our Operating Companies’ deep expertise across multiple disciplines.
Our core capabilities include:
We focus on stable, recession-proof verticals such as hospitals, schools, industrial plants, government facilities, and data centers — environments where mechanical systems are mission-critical and the cost of failure is high.
Our deliberate business model delivers exceptional results through a comprehensive platform that goes beyond technology. Exigent's platform is designed to accelerate growth, enhance productivity, and drive profitability for all our operating companies.
The Exigent platform integrates world-class systems across Sales, Operations, HR, Finance, and IT — creating a foundation that empowers every operating company to focus on excellence rather than administrative distractions.
Our integrated tech stack features industry-leading components that work together seamlessly:
CRM driving consistent sales growth.
Mobile platform optimizing field operations.
Streamlining HR management.
Ensuring financial discipline.
Data warehouse powering cross-system analytics.
We specialize in stable, recession-proof verticals where system failure isn’t an option:
Our complementary service offerings — from controls and building automation to engineering and energy efficiency solutions — enable seamless cross-selling and comprehensive coverage for your most important mechanical systems.
We invest heavily in our technicians through comprehensive training programs, certification support, and clear advancement pathways. This commitment ensures our customers receive expert service from professionals who take pride in their craft and deliver solutions that stand the test of time.
Our union affiliation delivers a highly skilled workforce, flexible access to project labor, and industry-leading stability with technician turnover rates well below industry averages.
Exigent combines seasoned corporate leadership with experienced operating company presidents who maintain entrepreneurial ownership of their businesses while benefiting from our shared platform.
Exigent combines seasoned corporate leadership with experienced operating company presidents who maintain entrepreneurial ownership of their businesses while benefiting from our shared platform.
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Peter van Niekerk is the Chief Executive Officer of Exigent, where he leads a $230M+ national mechanical services platform through its next phase of growth. Since joining at the end of 2022, Peter has set the company’s strategic direction, built a high-performing executive and presidential leadership team, and cultivated a culture of operational discipline and partnership. A trusted leader in the private equity space, Peter liaises directly with investors and drives engagement with new acquisition targets.
Peter brings more than two decades of experience building services and processing businesses worldwide, including prior roles as CEO of Protegis and Sunless Inc.—both of which resulted in successful private equity exits. He has led or supported over 50 M&A transactions across the U.S., Europe, Australia, and Africa. Earlier in his career, Peter held senior leadership roles at Gategroup, AlixPartners, and Booz Allen. He holds law and economics degrees from Stellenbosch University and the London School of Economics, and has completed the Stanford Executive Program.
Kevin is the Chief Operating Officer of Exigent, where he oversees operational performance, safety, technician training, and integration across all group companies. Since joining in July 2023, he has driven key initiatives including the development of a standardized monthly business review process, onboarding of new OpCos, and evaluation of strategic service expansions. With nearly 30 years of experience in mechanical services—primarily at Trane—Kevin brings deep expertise in managing complex, multi-site operations with full P&L responsibility.
At Trane, Kevin held roles spanning sales, regional leadership, and national account strategy, culminating in his position as Vice President of Key and Strategic Accounts. He successfully led teams as large as 700 and quadrupled Trane’s national account business in four years. Known for his disciplined approach to technician utilization, process optimization, and safety performance, Kevin has also led M&A integrations on both the contractor and franchisee sides. He is a LEEP AP and serves on Exigent’s board of directors.
Jarret Ryan is the Chief Commercial Officer of Exigent, where he leads strategic selling and marketing across the platform’s national network of mechanical services companies. Since joining in 2023, he has driven key initiatives including the rollout of a unified Sales Playbook, the implementation of Salesforce as the enterprise CRM, and a cross-selling strategy that unlocks multi-OpCo collaboration. With over two decades of leadership in the Fire & Life Safety industry, Jarret brings a deep bench of experience scaling commercial and operational teams across multi-branch and national organizations.
Prior to Exigent, Jarret held executive roles at Protegis Fire & Safety and Summit Fire & Security—both private equity-backed—where he supported over 20 M&A transactions and played an active role in multiple exits, including PE-to-PE transitions. His early advancement into executive leadership paved the way for his appointment into executive leadership, including becoming the President of ABCO Fire Protection’s Projects division, where he helped contribute to a tripling of the overall business. Jarret serves on multiple industry boards and holds certifications in sales effectiveness.
Kristin is Vice President of Human Resources at Exigent, leading all people, payroll, and compliance functions across the multi-company platform. Since joining full-time in March 2023, she has delivered enterprise-level impact through the rollout of a unified benefits program, payroll consolidation, and the implementation of an industry-leading HRIS (UKG). She has also championed workforce development through the “Master the Art of Leadership Fundamentals” program and accelerated hiring with a modernized talent acquisition approach—driving a 28% referral hire rate.
With a career spanning Charles E. Smith Companies, EMCOR, Linc Group, and ABM, Kristin brings decades of HR leadership in mechanical services and facilities management. She has played a critical role in more than 20 acquisitions, providing diligence, risk evaluation, and integration across people systems. Her track record includes standing up and merging HR departments, aligning SOPs to ISO 9000 standards, and guiding cultural transitions during corporate mergers. Kristin’s deep domain knowledge and operational agility make her a cornerstone of Exigent’s scalable growth.