New Deals: An architectural millwork company, commercial concrete business, and 3 other finds

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NEW DEALS

1/ Architectural Millwork Company

📍 Location: Texas
💰 Asking Price: $1,975,000
💼 EBITDA: $780,000
📊 Revenue: $8,000,000
📅 Established: 1998

💭 My 2 Cents: This boutique company has built a stellar reputation over more than 30 years providing high-end architectural millwork for institutional, corporate, and residential clients. I really like how they have developed strong relationships with architects, designers, and general contractors throughout their metro Texas area, as seen in their impressive $9M pipeline of pending work. I also like their skilled workforce, strategic use of subcontractors as needed, and ability to handle the full scope of projects from initial cost estimate to final installation. It’s also great that they are positioned for further growth, as a new owner could bring in more advanced ERP systems and a dedicated sales team to target higher-margin work. I’d want to know how much of their pipeline is actually under contract, if there is any client concentration risk, what will be involved in renewing their lease (expires 3/1/27), the condition of any equipment included in the sale, and how much expansion they could support without additional investment. This could be a great turnkey opportunity, as their full-time president would like to remain, and two of the owners are also open to staying involved.

2/ Commercial Concrete Business

📍 Location: California
💰 Asking Price: $2,500,000
💼 EBITDA: $988,761
📊 Revenue: $12,480,391
📅 Established: 1990

💭 My 2 Cents: Commercial concrete can be a fairly recession-resistant business if the focus is on government and institutional jobs and earthquake retrofitting (legally-mandated in CA). This profitable company generates $8M to $12M in revenue annually while operating with minimal overhead (they have a small office with a low rent and the owner is home-based). They also have going for them their location in the active Southern California construction market, where they have built a loyal client base of general contractors over 35 years, their certification as a Small Business Enterprise (SBE), and the $800K in FF&E included in the sale. I’d want to look into their level of repeat business, what their current backlog and pipeline are, whether revenues are tied to a small number of customers or general contractors, the condition and projected useful life of their equipment, the qualifications and experience of their staff, how dependent the business is on the owner or key foremen for relationships and operations, and if there are any key license holders beyond the owner in the business.

3/ Commercial Janitorial Business

📍 Location: California
💰 Asking Price: N/A
💼 EBITDA: $2,200,000
📊 Revenue: $10,000,000
📅 Established: 2010

💭 My 2 Cents: Janitorial services companies can be very attractive with their recurring revenue model and low CapEx requirements, but when evaluating them, you want to make sure they can handle the high level of competition you find in this space. This company meets the test, as they have grown into a high-margin business serving hundreds of recurring clients across the commercial, industrial, and institutional sectors. I like their excellent reputation, low overhead as they are home-based, and robust marketing and sales infrastructure, all of which point to their ready scalability and potential for further growth. However, I’d need to understand how many of their accounts are long-term contracts versus shorter-term arrangements, what their client acquisition cost and churn rate are, how they monitor for quality control and customer satisfaction, how they recruit and retain staff, what employee turnover looks like, and what would be involved in expanding their geographic footprint. Given the fact that CA is also cracking down hard on misclassified 1099 workers, I’d also want to ensure how they structure labor is compliant with CA labor laws.

4/ Security Guard Company

📍 Location: Texas
💰 Asking Price: $2,500,000
💼 EBITDA: $1,200,000
📊 Revenue: $3,800,000
📅 Established: 2012

💭 My 2 Cents: While I really like security guard companies with the steadily growing demand for their services, it’s pretty rare to actually find one for sale. That makes this business, which specializes in armed/unarmed security guards, personal protection, and 24/7 patrol services, a particularly intriguing find. They have a workforce of 110 that lets them handle multiple jobs at the same time and a lean overhead structure, enabling them to bring in a substantial cash flow and rack up very high margins. I’d want more detail on their client base, including how much work they do for private entities, the public sector, and special events. I’d also want to check on the contracts they have in place, as most security contracts are monthly retainers or long-term agreements (especially with corporate, industrial, or residential HOA clients). I’d also need to understand what is involved in training and certifying their guards, how they handle scheduling and dispatch with such a large workforce, what guard turnover looks like and how they manage it, and who their main competitors are. For a new owner, what’s great about this type of business is the scalability—once a dispatching and supervisory system is in place, you can scale regionally with added guards or monitoring staff.

5/ Real Estate Brokerage & Property Management Business

📍 Location: Utah
💰 Asking Price: $1,500,000
💼 EBITDA: $626,436
📊 Revenue: $2,839,766
📅 Established: 2016

💭 My 2 Cents: What immediately catches the eye about this real estate company is their mix of high-margin services and recurring income. While the brokerage side of the business is more cyclical, it brings in really nice earnings on every one of their transactions, while the property management side contributes over $700K in steady annual revenue. The two sides are also mutually reinforcing, as they expose potential clients to each other. I also like this company’s diverse commercial client base, lean operating structure, and the potential scalability of their property management business. I’d need to get a handle on the earnings breakdown between the two sides of the business, how many properties they currently have under management (and the mix of single-family, multifamily, HOAs, or commercial), the roles and responsibilities of their four listed employees, whether there is a licensed Principal Broker in place beyond the owner, and how maintenance and tenant issues handled (as this is where PM firms make or lose margin). Assuming you are comfortable with the real estate market in Utah going forward, this should be a very attractive chance to enter or expand in the industry.