Multiple for commercial sweeping business

June 11, 2025

by a searcher from University of Southern Indiana - Romain College of Business in Evansville, IN, USA

What are the EBITDA or SDE multiple ranges for commercial sweeping (parking lot maintenance) businesses? Here's a little info about the business: $3.4 Million Revenue $478k SDE $689k EBITDA Been in business for over 40 years, based in US Revenue/SDE have both been slowly growing since###-###-#### post covid data not ideal but it’s what I have) 2024 revenue was up 12% Top customer makes up 24% of revenue Top 5 customers make up 39% of revenue 37 total employees (2 FT, 35 PT) Asset sale, $2.2M inventory, $800k in RE Would love to hear thoughts!

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Reply by a searcher
from Hillsdale College in New York, NY, USA

We looked at one of these in depth. About 2x the size but similar profile. I think our LOI was at 4x EBITDA and we didn't get laughed at, but ultimately I think they found someone to get it under LOI at 4.5x -- not sure if it ever closed. The big PE backed platform, SCA, was paying as much as 6-7x for some addons from what I understand. About 18 months ago they paused acquisition activity to integrate their base business. I'm not sure if they re-started or at what valuations. The risk in the industry is that the broom bears are expensive and by the time an owner is selling, they likely haven't bought a lot of new ones in a while. Figure out who is doing the maintenance (it might low-key be the seller) and what it will cost you to maintain. Also check the assumptions about capex. If he has a close connection wtih a few brokers, he might be getting incredible deals on used equipment that you could never get as an industry outsider. Also make sure you understand the local competition, union/non-union dynamics, and how hard it is to retain (and train and hire new) drivers in that market.

Reply by a searcher
from Arizona State University in 7373 E Doubletree Ranch Rd #200, Scottsdale, AZ 85258, USA

I paid a little over 3x SDE for mine back in 2019 but it had low customer concentration at the time. Those concentrations that you listed are now very similar to my business after winning larger clients. I'm not sure how SBA lenders are these days with higher concentrations, maybe they just require a higher % down? I'd ask how involved the owner is and what roles they play in the business and if there's good middle management in place. Happy to chat if you want to review.

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