Commercial Fencing & Security Contractor, 20+ Year Tampa Specialty Builder · Accredited

Published NOV 5, 2026

Commercial Fencing & Security Contractor, 20+ Year Tampa Specialty Builder

Tampa, Florida

$3.8M

Revenue

$506K

SDE

3.4x

Multiple

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Andy

Ben Sampson

Full Editorial Writeup

This is a Tampa-based specialty contractor that has been operating since 2002, serving the commercial construction, infrastructure, and perimeter security markets. The business goes well beyond traditional fencing: it combines in-house steel fabrication, automated gate systems, electronic access control, CCTV integration, and installation under one roof. Roughly 85 to 90 percent of revenue comes from commercial customers, including general contractors, developers, municipalities, property managers, and infrastructure clients.

The company runs on a team of about 15 full-time employees out of a 7,500 square foot industrial facility (leased, not included), with a fleet of 9 to 10 vehicles and roughly $450k in saleable inventory. At $3.84M in revenue and $506k in cash flow, it carries a healthy ~13 percent owner-earnings margin for a project-based contractor. A reported $2.5M project pipeline provides near-term visibility into bookings.

The seller is retiring and the business is priced at $1.7M, a 3.36x cash flow multiple. Worth noting: 2025 saw temporary margin compression from imported material cost spikes on fixed-price contracts, after which management re-worked estimating and sourcing. The vertical integration (fabrication plus automation plus security integration) is the real differentiator versus commodity fence installers, and it opens doors into higher-margin access control and gate automation work.

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How to improve it

Launch recurring service and maintenance agreements on gates, access control, and CCTV systems the company already installs. Converting the installed base into annual service contracts would add predictable, higher-margin revenue and materially improve the quality of earnings and future exit multiple. This is the single biggest lever to de-risk the project-based revenue model.
Fix the estimating and sourcing discipline that caused the 2025 margin hit. Implement material cost escalation clauses and shorter price-lock windows on fixed-price commercial contracts so future import cost spikes pass through to customers rather than eating gross margin. Standardize a quoting process that bakes in current steel and import pricing.
Push the electronic security and access control mix, which carries higher margins than commodity fencing installation. Cross-sell CCTV and access control into the existing GC, developer, and property manager relationships, and train the sales function to lead with the integrated security pitch rather than fencing. This shifts the revenue mix toward differentiated, less competitive work.
Add fabrication capacity and a second shift if the $2.5M pipeline and bidding volume support it. In-house steel fabrication is the differentiator, so freeing up throughput there directly expands the number of jobs the company can take on. Measure fabrication utilization and bottlenecks in the first 90 days.
Build a formal commercial sales and bidding engine rather than relying on owner relationships. Hire or assign a dedicated estimator and business developer to systematically pursue municipal, infrastructure, and property management RFPs. This reduces key-person risk as the retiring owner exits and keeps the pipeline full.
Explore geographic expansion beyond the Tampa market into adjacent Florida metros where commercial and infrastructure construction is active. The existing fabrication and crew base can serve a wider radius with modest incremental overhead. Target markets with strong municipal and developer spend first.
Pursue complementary bolt-on acquisitions of smaller fence or security integration shops to add crews, relationships, and route density. The listing explicitly frames the business as a consolidation platform, and small contractors sell cheap. Each tuck-in adds revenue while spreading fabrication and admin overhead.

Diligence notes

Dig into the 2025 margin compression in detail: get monthly gross margin by job before, during, and after the import cost spike, and confirm the rebound is real and sustained in the trailing twelve months. Verify that the estimating and pricing fixes are actually in place on currently bidding work. A one-time hit is fine; a structural margin problem is not.
Scrutinize the $2.5M pipeline for quality and reality. Separate signed contracts from verbal commitments and bids, confirm deposit terms, and check how much of it converts within the next 12 months. Also assess customer concentration across the commercial base, since a few large GCs or developers could carry outsized weight.
Validate the included asset values, specifically the ~$450k of saleable inventory and ~$501k of FF&E, plus the 9 to 10 vehicle fleet. Confirm the inventory is current and not aged or obsolete steel, and verify the equipment and vehicles are owned free and clear with no liens. These assets underpin a large share of the $1.7M price.
The 7,500 SF facility is leased at $12,600 per month and is not included, so review the lease term, renewal options, and assignability to a new owner. A short or non-assignable lease on a facility housing fabrication is a real operational risk. Confirm the rent is at market and model it fully into go-forward cash flow.
Assess key-person dependency given the retiring owner and the role relationships play in winning commercial work. Map which customers, estimators, and fabricators the business actually depends on, and confirm licensing (Florida specialty contractor licenses) transfers cleanly or that a qualifying individual stays or is hired. Lock down a transition and non-compete with the seller.
Normalize the SDE to confirm the $506k cash flow figure, backing out owner compensation, true replacement cost of the owner's role, and any one-time or personal expenses. For a $1.7M ask at 3.36x, the quality of that cash flow number determines whether this is a 3x deal or effectively higher once a GM salary is added.