New Deals: A sewer cleaning and basement sealing company, staffing agency, and 3 other finds

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NEW DEALS

1/ Sewer Cleaning And Basement Sealing Company

📍 Location: Summit County, Ohio
💰 Asking Price: $1,900,000
💼 EBITDA: $548,000
📊 Revenue: $1,412,000
📅 Established: N/A

💭 My 2 Cents: Basement sealing is a great boring business that has flown a little under the radar while providing a necessary service that is always in demand and is basically recession-resistant. I like that this company has two different, but related, revenue streams, as this kind of diversification always gives me more confidence in the security of their earnings. I also like how sewer cleaning is a business where there isn’t a lot of competition, as this also points to steady work and cash flow. This company gets most of its work from word of mouth and referrals from past clients and realtors, so a new owner could really grow by starting an expanded marketing and sales strategy. I’d want to know whether customers generally only use one service or if there is much crossover between the two, what their average job size and duration is, how much repeat business they get, and if they service commercial as well as residential clients with the larger projects this would involve. I’d also want to know what equipment is included in the sale as well as its condition and possible need for replacement. With the 9 existing employees planning to stick around and the owner open to staying on to aid in the transfer of the required license (and longer as a consultant if desired), this looks like an excellent opportunity for someone looking to get into an established boring business.

2/ Staffing Agency

📍 Location: N/A
💰 Asking Price: $12,250,000
💼 EBITDA: $2,730,748
📊 Revenue: $24,956,557
📅 Established: 2004

💭 My 2 Cents: This staffing agency caters to the private aviation sector, providing pilots, flight attendants, and maintenance personnel for 400+ clients ranging from high-net-worth individuals to aviation management companies and government contractors. Staffing agencies can be great money makers, but there is frequently a lot of competition, so a specialized business like this with an established niche and proven track record doesn’t come along every day. Add to this that you can generally scale staffing companies without needing to make many investments in terms of capital costs, as seen with this agency reaching revenues of nearly $25M with only 10 employees. I also like their extremely high customer retention rate, as they claim to have never had a client cancel a contract unless that client has sold their plane or decided to staff internally (but I’d want to verify this claim). I’d need to understand their average contract size and duration, the standard length of their customer relationships, and if their business is largely one-time placement or if there is also recurring revenue. I’d also want to look into their competition and if there are any challenges in finding the aviation personnel to provide to their clients. Given the diversity of their clients, I think they should be relatively recession-proof, but I’d be curious as to how they did during the last economic downturn. Ultimately, though, this deal offers not only solid cash flow but the opportunity to expand by tapping their existing client base and finding new customers.

3/ Commercial And Residential Lawn Service

📍 Location: Sarasota, Florida
💰 Asking Price: $2,400,000
💼 EBITDA: $662,413
📊 Revenue: $5,200,000
📅 Established: 2009

💭 My 2 Cents: Location is everything in the lawn care business, so I love that this full-suite lawn care company is based in Florida as they are able to keep busy year-round. In lawn care, a real challenge can be getting to a point of having a baseline level of business to support equipment purchases, so it’s nice that this company has $800K in well-maintained stock. Plus, tangible hard assets provide a bit of a moat against competitors. I’d want to better understand how much revenue comes from design vs maintenance work, if they have ongoing service contracts with customers, what their level of recurring business is, and how they go about gaining new customers. While they currently have an impressive 75-person staff, this can be an industry with a lot of turnover, so I’d need to know if it can be a challenge to attract and retain employees. I’d finally want to get a feel for what the current owner does day-to-day, what would be involved in replacing them, and make sure the needed management is in place for a staff this large.

4/ IT Consulting Firm

📍 Location: Ohio
💰 Asking Price: $6,000,000
💼 EBITDA: $1,217,645
📊 Revenue: $5,120,902
📅 Established: N/A

💭 My 2 Cents: This company helps design, build, and install IT systems for their clients. I’m always a fan of businesses like this that can take care of every need their customers have, as they are able to capture every side of the relationships they have with clients and, by extension, bring in more revenue. I really like that they have a staff of 25 that includes both technical experts and a strong management team who will be able to stay on, ensuring continuity in their core operations while allowing the new owner to work on the business instead of in the business. I also like that they have over $550K of inventory and specialized equipment that comes with the sale (though I would want to check on its condition) and that they have a lease for a large facility with favorable terms through 2030, so there shouldn’t be any concern of outgrowing the space or needing to move any time soon. While I like their business model, I want to know more about what actual services they provide and where the bulk of their revenue and earnings come from. I’d also be curious as to how long they’ve been in business, what their revenues historically have been like, what their average project size and duration is, if they have any contracts for IT management or if they are primarily focused on new builds, if they have a backlog of scheduled work, how they win new business, who their main competitors are, and the day-to-day role of the owners and what would be involved in replacing them.

5/ HVAC Business

📍 Location: Utah
💰 Asking Price: $4,100,000
💼 EBITDA: $718,546
📊 Revenue: $7,017,697
📅 Established: 1996

💭 My 2 Cents: Two things stand out to me about this HVAC business. First is that they’ve decided to shift to a focus on maintenance work and have already been able to grow this to about 30% of their business. Maintenance work can really help insulate against potential strains in the new construction market, and as that market potentially slows down in the future, it will pay real dividends to have already spent the time and resources to build out other parts of their business. Secondly, I like that much of their work is in the luxury market in a very expensive area, with the average home project bringing in $400K and multifamily projects up to $2M. Home prices in the Park City area have been growing exponentially over the years, with many new multi-million dollar mansions being built each year. As these houses continue to increase in value, I’d assume that the average project size will go up as well. Additionally, the high-end side of the housing market is usually less prone to slowdowns. I also like the size of this company, with 40 employees, a CAD department, a service department with six outfitted vans, a sales department, and managers in place. This makes me think that this is a well-run operation with the capability to handle a large number of complicated jobs. While everything looks great, I’d have a few questions. I’d want to understand how their client relationships work, if these are held mostly by the owner, and, if so, how they would transfer to a new owner. I’d also look to dig into the value of the equipment included in the sale, what licenses are required to operate the business, what their current backlog is like, how they develop new business, and whether additional personnel or equipment would be needed to grow the business. I’d finally want to confirm that their Park City market is projected to continue to grow. Assuming everything checks out, this is an awesome opportunity to get into the highly desired HVAC space.