Service Ignition / Brokerage & Advisory
Brokerage & Advisory
Your life's work deserves a real process.
Sell-side M&A advisory for owners of privately held home service companies, including majority sales and recapitalizations. We prepare you, represent you, and keep it confidential until you decide otherwise.
Why it matters
Most owners sell once. Buyers do this every week.
Private equity platforms, family offices and strategic buyers run acquisitions as a discipline. Without an advisor, the owner is the least prepared person at the table, and the first offer becomes the only offer.
A real process changes that: clean numbers, a story buyers believe, competition for the deal, and someone whose job is to protect your value and your people through close.
What you get
Sell-side advisory, end to end.
Valuation and recast
Three years of monthly financials, recast for owner add-backs, and a plain read on what the company is worth today and what moves the number.
Confidential materials
A blind teaser and a full confidential information memorandum: history, service mix, end markets, management, growth and financials.
Targeted buyer outreach
A buyers list built for your company, worked by broad process, targeted outreach or a short list, depending on what you want.
Offer comparison
Every letter of intent side by side: price, cash at close, rollover, earnout, deferred payments and terms.
Diligence and close
We run the data room and the diligence list with you, and recommend a quality of earnings review when it protects value.
Your team and next chapter
A transition plan for your people and customers, and clarity on your own role after close.
The process
From first call to close.
Timelines are typical, not promises. The biggest variable is how quickly the financial data comes together.
- 1First
Confidential conversation
Goals, timing, what you want for your team. No numbers required.
- 2Then
Valuation and readiness
Three years of monthly financials, recast for owner add-backs, and a plain read on value.
- 3About 30 to 45 days
Prepare the materials
A blind teaser and a confidential information memorandum. Speed depends on how fast the data comes in.
- 4Go to market
Confidential outreach
A buyers list built for your company. Buyers sign a mutual NDA before they see who you are.
- 5Offers
Compare and negotiate
Letters of intent side by side: price, structure, earnouts, rollover, terms.
- 63 to 5 months to close
Diligence and close
We run diligence with you while you keep the business performing. That is where deals are won or lost.
Deal structure
Price is only part of the deal.
Home service transactions usually combine several kinds of consideration. Two offers with the same headline number can pay very differently.
Illustrative only. Every deal mixes these differently; we model each offer side by side so you compare what you actually take home.
What drives value
What buyers pay for.
- Earnings: premium buyers typically look for $1.5M or more in EBITDA, at margins of 10% or better
- Recurring revenue, like maintenance agreements, over one-time project work
- A management team that runs the day without the owner
- Documented processes and KPIs tracked every week
- A healthy mix of residential and commercial customers, without concentration
- Performance that holds through the sale: deals die when results slip after the letter of intent
Earlier in the journey? Our operating partnership builds these, and our acquisitions team looks at companies of every size.
Get ready
What we will ask for first.
For a valuation, we start with a short list. Having it ready shortens everything that follows.
- Monthly income statements for the last three years and year to date
- Monthly balance sheets for the same period
- Revenue and gross profit by service line
- Owner adjustments: personal, one-time and non-recurring expenses, and owner pay above or below market
- Customer type and end-market mix
- A list of business entities, including real estate, with ownership
- An organizational chart
- Your top five competitors
How we are paid
Aligned with a higher price, not a faster deal.
Most of our compensation comes from a success fee when your deal closes, with an initial engagement deposit credited toward it. Our fee scale rises with the value of the transaction, so our incentive is to push your price and proceeds as high as they can go.
Older fee models reward brokers for closing the first deal that comes along. Ours rewards the outcome you actually want.
A pay-for-performance model: the higher the deal value, the better we both do.
How we structure engagements
Common questions
What owners ask first.
Will my employees or competitors find out?
Not unless you decide. Outreach starts blind, and buyers sign a mutual NDA before they learn who you are.
Do I have to sell if I start?
No. Many owners begin with a valuation to understand their options. Nothing is committed by asking.
When should I start preparing?
Earlier than feels necessary. Clean financials and a team that runs without you take time, and they are what buyers pay for.
Who are the buyers?
Private equity platforms and their add-ons, family offices, strategic buyers, and in some cases us. We help you weigh fit, not just price.
What is a quality of earnings report?
An independent review of your financials. On larger deals or messier books we recommend one, because it lets us defend your value in diligence.
What if my business is smaller?
Below the size premium buyers look for, the best path is often to grow first. Our operating partnership and acquisitions team are built for exactly that.
Start a conversation
Start with a private conversation.
Tell us where you are and what you are weighing. First conversations are confidential and carry no obligation.
- Confidential from the first message
- A reply from an operator, not a sales team
- No obligation, no pressure