Commercial Drywall & Framing Contractor, Florida Specialty Trade

$13.2M

Revenue

$1.7M

SDE

6.2x

Multiple

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a Florida-based specialty construction contractor focused on commercial and multi-family framing, drywall, and related interior build-out work. It serves developers, general contractors, and construction professionals across the state, and claims involvement in several high-profile South Florida developments. The pitch centers on an asset-light model with scalable labor and experienced project management rather than owned heavy equipment.

The headline is backlog visibility. As of the stated date the company reports $23.4 million under contract plus $31.8 million in awarded contracts through the end of 2027, totaling $55.3 million in current and future work against trailing revenue of roughly $13.2 million. That ratio of booked work to current revenue is the entire investment thesis, and it is also the thing a buyer must verify before writing a check.

The business is being marketed to strategic construction groups, trade consolidators, and private equity as an immediate-scale platform in a fragmented specialty trades market. At a $10.695M ask on $1.73M of cash flow, this is a 6.19x multiple on a labor-heavy, project-based contractor, which is a full price for the category and leans hard on the backlog story to justify itself. Note the explicit exclusion of SBA buyers, which signals the seller expects an all-cash or institutional structure.

Why we like it

The reported backlog is unusually deep: $23.4M under contract plus $31.8M awarded through 2027 against roughly $13.2M in trailing revenue. If those contracts are firm and margin-protected, the next 18 to 24 months of revenue is largely pre-sold, which is rare in project-based construction.
The asset-light structure means the multiple is not inflated by owned fleet or real estate, and capital is not trapped in depreciating equipment. A buyer is paying for relationships, project management capability, and backlog rather than yellow iron, which keeps incremental growth capital-efficient.
Florida commercial and multi-family construction has strong structural demand from population inflows and housing undersupply. A contractor already embedded with developers and GCs on high-profile South Florida projects has distribution that is hard and slow for a new entrant to replicate.
The seller is willing to stay on through a structured earnout, which both de-risks continuity and aligns incentives. In a relationship-driven trade where the owner often holds the GC connections, that continuity is essential and the earnout keeps the seller motivated to convert backlog into collected cash.

How to improve it

Audit and contractualize the backlog in the first 30 days: confirm which of the $55.3M is signed with enforceable terms, deposits, and realistic margins versus loose letters of intent. The valuation lives or dies here, so turn the pipeline into a scheduled, risk-weighted revenue forecast before closing.
Institutionalize the GC and developer relationships away from the seller. Document the top accounts, introduce the buyer and key PMs into every active relationship during the earnout window, and build a formal business-development function so revenue does not walk out with the founder.
Tighten job-costing and gross-margin tracking by project. In framing and drywall, labor overruns and change-order leakage silently destroy margin, so implement real-time cost-to-complete reporting and a disciplined change-order process to protect the backlog's profitability.
Build a repeatable crew-scaling and subcontractor playbook. Growth is gated by qualified labor, so systematize recruiting, training, and crew productivity metrics so the business can staff the awarded work without blowing budgets or schedules.
Pursue tuck-in acquisitions of smaller regional framing and drywall subs. The market is fragmented, the platform already has PM infrastructure, and bolting on crews and backlog at lower multiples is a direct path to compounding earnings and geographic expansion.
Expand adjacent interior trades to deepen wallet share per project. Adding services like acoustical ceilings, metal stud framing packages, or finishing lets the company bid larger scopes to the same GCs it already serves, increasing revenue per relationship.

Diligence notes

Scrutinize the backlog claim line by line. Demand signed contracts, scope, pricing, deposit status, and start dates for the $23.4M under contract, and treat the $31.8M in future awards as softer until proven with executed agreements. A backlog that is mostly verbal or contingent would collapse the thesis.
Examine customer concentration and the South Florida project exposure. If a handful of developers or GCs drive most of the backlog, a single delayed or cancelled development could wipe out a large share of projected revenue, so map revenue by customer and by project.
Pressure-test margins and working capital. Construction contractors live and die on cash flow timing, retention, and pay-when-paid terms, so review AR aging, retainage balances, bonding capacity, and how much working capital the buyer must inject to fund the ramp in backlog.
Verify the labor model and classification. An asset-light contractor running on crews and subs needs clean worker classification, insurance, workers comp, and no outstanding labor or lien liabilities, so review the subcontractor agreements and any pending claims.
Understand why the seller is exiting and what the earnout truly covers. Clarify reason for sale, the seller's remaining role, and how much of the purchase price is deferred into the earnout, since the no-SBA stance and earnout structure suggest the seller wants paper tied to backlog conversion.
Confirm the revenue and cash flow figures with tax returns and reviewed financials. A 6.19x multiple on $1.73M of cash flow is a premium price for a project-based trade, so normalize for owner compensation, one-time project wins, and verify the $13.2M revenue is recurring capacity rather than a backlog-driven spike.

Source

Originally listed on BusinessBroker.net. View original listing →