New Deals: An auto body shop, irrigation and sprinkler company, and 3 other finds

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NEW DEALS

1/ Auto Body Shop

📍 Location: New York
💰 Asking Price: $2,400,000
💼 EBITDA: $500,000
📊 Revenue: $3,500,000
📅 Established: 1973

💭 My 2 Cents: Autobody shops are a recession-resistant business with growing demand as the number of cars on the road continues to increase every year. During strong economies, shops can cater to both new and used car owners, while in tough times, consumers are more likely to repair their existing vehicles rather than buy new ones. This family-owned business offers both auto body repair and related towing services, building an excellent reputation over 43 years of continuous service. You can run into shady operators in this space, so their longevity and proven track record point to how they are the real deal. I like their two complementary revenue streams, high-traffic location, and very solid scale with 21 employees, not to mention the $1M in equipment and inventory included in the sale. I also like their spacious modern facility and associated storage area, which come with flexible lease terms or can be purchased separately. While everything looks good on the surface, I’d want to know their revenue breakdown between auto body repair and towing, what service contracts they have (on the towing side it could be police contracts and on the auto body side it could be fleet contracts) that provide consistent revenue, who their main competition is locally, and what the role of the owners are (when was the last time they had to do an oil change themselves?). For someone looking to get into or expand in the industry, this looks like a rock-solid cash producer.

2/ Irrigation and Sprinkler Company

📍 Location: Florida
💰 Asking Price: $3,800,000
💼 EBITDA: $1,599,524
📊 Revenue: $3,516,247
📅 Established: 2012

💭 My 2 Cents: This business specializes in irrigation system design, installation, maintenance, and repair services, with additional expertise in low-voltage lighting systems for landscape and entryway and art features. I really like their diverse mix of residential, commercial, and government clients, as this helps insulate them from a fluctuation in any one market and ensures a stable revenue flow. I also like their full suite of irrigation services, underscoring their ability to handle big projects, and their broad geographical reach that spans southern Florida, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean. I’d be curious as to how they handle their overseas business to include how these projects are sourced, managed, and accounted for. I’d also want to better understand the revenue split between their different services, their average job size and duration, the typical timespan from new contract to actual payment, who their key competitors are, and the qualifications and experience of their staff. I’d also want to see a breakdown of new vs repeat revenue since they do a good amount of maintenance and repair services. Ultimately, with the company’s very appealing high margins, reasonable asking price, and the seller being willing to let a buyer use his license during the transition, this should be a really interesting opportunity for someone with or without a background in the industry.

3/ B2B Property Services Business

📍 Location: North Carolina (Home-Based)
💰 Asking Price: $4,750,000
💼 EBITDA: $1,125,000
📊 Revenue: $3,500,000
📅 Established: 2012

💭 My 2 Cents: I like innovative home-based businesses like this that feature a streamlined operating model while bringing in serious revenues. This particular company has carved out a niche handling basic repair and replacement services for multi-family communities and property management companies along the I-85 corridor in North and South Carolina (both of which are experiencing significant population growth). They are strictly a scheduling and coordinating business, as they outsource all on-site work to subcontractors who complete 80% of the jobs within 2 days. I like how their subcontractor network and established client base have contributed to their steady revenue growth, while their ready scalability would support further expansion under a motivated new owner. I’d need to get a handle on who their main clients are and any possible client concentration, the terms of their standard contract, how they ensure service quality and consistency, if there are any employees other than the owner, and, given the importance of the owner, how a transition would work. This is not a remote hands-off business, but for a new owner looking to run a home-based operation, this deal offers a very impressive cash producer.

4/ Residential HVAC Business

📍 Location: California
💰 Asking Price: $5,650,000
💼 EBITDA: $1,120,000
📊 Revenue: $3,374,000
📅 Established: 2005

💭 My 2 Cents: While residential HVAC is the quintessential essential business (no wonder it’s getting scooped up by PE left and right), there are some really nice tailwinds behind this southern California residential HVAC company, as they are in a locale that combines a warm climate, steady population growth, and a lot of associated new construction. Add to this that they primarily serve high-end residential areas and have acquired an excellent reputation and loyal customer base over their 20 years in business, and you have a business that’s really cooking. However, I’d want to see if they have any contracts with multi-unit properties or property managers. I’d also want to look into how they source new work, how much competition they face, the roles and responsibilities of their staff, who the key license holders in the business are (and if there is any redundancy), and the equipment that comes with the sale. Given the ongoing influx in their area, there should be some real growth potential here, which is made even better by the owners offering both seller financing and an extended transition.

5/ Lumber Yard

📍 Location: Texas
💰 Asking Price: $3,100,000
💼 EBITDA: $851,074
📊 Revenue: $8,026,029
📅 Established: 1967

💭 My 2 Cents: Lumber yards are poised for growth, buoyed by the resurgence of domestic manufacturing and the construction of new industrial facilities (alongside robust demand from new residential construction and home renovations). This family-owned lumber yard in Texas, with its 50-year legacy, has become a cornerstone of its local community, likely drawing a significant portion of its business from local residents and providing a stable foundation of repeat revenue through home renovations and repairs. I’d want to get a detailed breakdown of their customer base, assess the value and turnover rate of their current inventory, analyze the revenue split between retail and wholesale sales, and examine their supplier relationships and terms. With growth opportunities on the horizon, I’d also evaluate the yard's capacity and utilization rate to ensure they are prepared for potential scaling and ask about their geographic reach to determine how they can capitalize on upcoming opportunities in the manufacturing and industrial sectors.