3-Location Collision Repair MSO, Los Angeles Franchise Body Shops

$11.9M

Revenue

$1.0M

SDE

6.8x

Multiple

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a three-site collision repair portfolio (an MSO, or multi-shop operator) spread across distinct submarkets in the Los Angeles metro, totaling roughly 27,500 square feet of leased space. In 2025 the group generated $11.86M in revenue against $1.02M of EBITDA, an 8.6% margin that is typical for volume collision work where insurance carriers hold real pricing leverage. The sale is business-only, with all three sites operating under a nationally recognized collision repair franchise brand.

The operational moat here is real and specific. Each location carries OEM certifications and Gold Class-level industry certification, and the portfolio holds Direct Repair Program (DRP) relationships with multiple major insurance carriers. Those DRP agreements are the lifeblood of a modern body shop: they route steady claim volume to the shop rather than requiring the operator to chase individual customers, which is why collision repair behaves more like a referral-fed annuity than a walk-in retail business.

The LA supply picture strengthens the case. Land scarcity, permitting complexity, and zoning constraints make new collision locations genuinely hard to stand up in the metro, so the incumbent footprint has durable value. The seller is retiring, and full financials plus specific addresses are gated behind an NDA, so the headline numbers need verification before anyone leans on the 6.83x EBITDA multiple.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is anchored by insurance DRP relationships rather than discretionary consumer demand, which means claim volume flows in from carriers on a repeatable basis. At $11.86M revenue and $1.02M EBITDA the business is scaled enough to support a real management layer, though the 8.6% margin signals the carrier pricing pressure inherent to this model.
The moat is structural, not marketing spin. OEM certifications and Gold Class credentials at each site plus multi-carrier DRP status are expensive and slow to replicate, and LA land scarcity, zoning, and permitting make new competing shops extremely difficult to open. That combination protects the referral pipeline these three shops already own.
Collision repair is genuinely recession-resistant because accidents happen regardless of the economy and repairs are largely funded by insurance, not household discretionary budgets. Vehicle complexity keeps rising with ADAS and EV platforms, pushing more work toward OEM-certified shops like these and away from uncertified independents.
For an operator, three sites in distinct submarkets is a ready-made platform to professionalize: centralized parts procurement, shared estimating, and cross-shop labor balancing all become available on day one. The franchise brand provides national marketing and vendor pricing that a single-shop buyer could never negotiate alone.

How to improve it

Attack cycle time and touch time within the first 90 days, since faster repairs directly increase throughput per bay and improve DRP scorecard rankings that determine future claim assignments. Small gains in vehicles-out-per-week compound across three locations without adding fixed cost.
Renegotiate parts procurement across all three shops as a single volume account with OEM and aftermarket suppliers, and audit gross profit on parts versus labor. Consolidated buying on $11.9M of revenue should recapture margin points that a retiring owner running shops semi-independently likely left on the table.
Deepen and expand DRP relationships by pursuing additional carrier programs and pushing for higher tiers within existing ones. Every incremental DRP slot is a recurring referral channel, and carrier concentration risk shrinks as the roster of paying carriers widens.
Invest in ADAS calibration capability in-house rather than sublet, capturing a fast-growing, high-margin revenue line that most independents outsource. As newer vehicles require calibration on nearly every repair, owning this step improves both margin and cycle time.
Build a real management scorecard per location covering severity, cycle time, CSI, and gross margin, then install shop-level managers accountable to those metrics. This de-risks the transition from a retiring owner and creates the operating rhythm needed to run three sites without the founder present.
Explore adding a fourth or fifth location or a tuck-in acquisition using the existing franchise brand and DRP infrastructure as the acquisition engine. Given LA's barriers to new construction, buying an existing certified shop is often faster and cheaper than greenfield expansion.

Diligence notes

Confirm the true bottom line: the listing discloses EBITDA of $1.02M but not SDE, and you need to understand what owner compensation, add-backs, and normalized management costs sit inside that figure. At a 6.83x EBITDA multiple for a business-only sale, every add-back assumption materially changes the real price paid.
Scrutinize DRP concentration and contract terms carrier by carrier, because DRP agreements can be terminated or re-tiered at the carrier's discretion. If one or two carriers drive the majority of referral volume, that is the single largest risk to the earnings base and must be priced accordingly.
Review all three leases in detail, since this is a leased-facility sale in a high-cost LA market where landlord renewal terms and rent escalations could compress margin. Verify remaining term, renewal options, and whether any location faces relocation risk that would forfeit the hard-won zoning position.
Examine the franchise agreement's transfer terms, royalty structure, and remaining term, because the national brand, marketing support, and vendor relationships are central to the thesis. Understand what fees flow to the franchisor and whether the brand relationship survives a change of ownership cleanly.
Validate the OEM and Gold Class certifications are current and transferable, and assess technician retention, since certified collision techs are scarce and the value of the shops depends heavily on keeping skilled staff through the ownership change. Map key employee comp and any flight risk tied to the retiring owner's relationships.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →