Commercial & Industrial Electrical Contractor, 37-Year Sarasota County Florida

$22.7M

Revenue

$1.8M

SDE

3.8x

Multiple

Subscribe Free

Read the full deal writeup

Get Free Access

Already a member? Sign in

Full Editorial Writeup

This is a fully staffed commercial and industrial electrical contractor operating in Sarasota County, Florida, one of the fastest-growing construction corridors in the state. Founded in 1988, the company has nearly four decades of continuous operating history in the same market, with the estimating bench, project management, field crews, and subcontractor depth already in place to bid and deliver large-scale commercial work including highrise construction. This is positioned as an operating platform rather than a break-fix service shop, meaning the buyer inherits an institutional capability to win and execute meaningful project volume.

The labor model is the clever part. Roughly 65 W-2 electricians form the core field capacity, supplemented by approximately 125 additional electricians supplied through three long-standing subcontractor relationships. That structure lets crew count flex up or down by project without carrying idle payroll, which is how the business generates $22.7M in revenue on lean fixed overhead. Margins in sub-heavy commercial construction are thin by design, so this is an asset-light volume play rather than a high-margin niche.

At $6.9M against $1.835M of SDE, the deal prices at roughly 3.76x, with CPA-reviewed financials, percentage-of-completion schedules, and corporate returns available in diligence. Earnings are stated to support both conventional and SBA-eligible financing. The seller is retiring and will support a structured transition, including a qualifying agent path for a buyer without an in-house electrical license, which lowers the barrier for a financial buyer or an out-of-state consolidator.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is anchored by nearly four decades of continuous operation and repeat general contractor relationships, with CPA-reviewed financials and percentage-of-completion schedules available for diligence. At $1.835M SDE on $22.7M revenue the business runs an intentionally thin roughly 8 percent margin, which is normal for sub-heavy commercial electrical and means the earnings are volume-driven rather than one-time project spikes.
The moat is real and specific: licensing, labor availability, estimating capability, safety systems, bonding, and entrenched customer relationships all create high barriers to entry in a fragmented market. Competitors cannot simply spin up 190 electricians and an established GC rolodex overnight, which protects the franchise from new entrants during normal cycles.
The Sarasota corridor is one of Florida's fastest-growing construction markets, with demand driven by commercial construction, institutional expansion, infrastructure, modernization, and redevelopment. Florida's sustained population inflows give this contractor a long runway of local project pipeline that many mature Rust Belt contractors would envy.
The flex-labor model is an operator's dream: 65 W-2 electricians plus 125 on-demand subcontractor electricians means crew count scales with backlog without carrying idle payroll. On a $1,473 per month lease with only $670K of FF&E, this is a genuinely asset-light way to run eight-figure construction volume.

How to improve it

Expand bonding capacity immediately, since larger bonds unlock bigger and more institutional projects that carry better margins and more predictable schedules. A well-capitalized buyer can post stronger collateral than a retiring founder, turning the balance sheet into a bidding weapon within the first quarter.
Install a second and third licensed leader beyond the qualifying agent so the business is not hostage to a single license holder. This de-risks the transition and lets the company open a second geographic branch or run parallel large projects without stretching one qualifier too thin.
Tighten margin capture by building centralized purchasing and standardized financial controls across projects, since thin commercial-electrical margins reward disciplined procurement and material cost management. Even 100 to 200 basis points of margin improvement on $22.7M of revenue drops meaningful dollars straight to SDE.
Add complementary service lines such as data and low-voltage cabling, service and maintenance contracts, or emergency generator installs to layer higher-margin recurring revenue on top of the project business. Recurring service revenue smooths the cyclicality inherent to new-construction electrical.
Use the platform as a roll-up base by acquiring smaller local electrical or mechanical contractors and folding them into the existing estimating and PM infrastructure. The fragmented market and high barriers to entry make bolt-on acquisitions cheaper and faster than organic geographic expansion.
Formalize and diversify the subcontractor relationships beyond the current three, since 125 of the 190 electricians flow through just three subs. Concentration in labor supply is a single point of failure, and adding vetted backup crews protects delivery capacity when one relationship tightens.
Push project management maturity with better software for scheduling, change orders, and percentage-of-completion tracking so backlog visibility and cash timing improve. Cleaner WIP reporting also strengthens the story for future lenders and any eventual exit.

Diligence notes

Scrutinize the work-in-progress and percentage-of-completion schedules closely, since revenue and earnings recognition on active jobs at closing can hide margin fade, cost overruns, or underbilled positions. Confirm that active backlog at closing is genuinely profitable and not front-loaded billing masking future losses.
Stress-test the subcontractor concentration: 125 of 190 electricians come through only three subcontractor relationships. Verify contract terms, pricing stability, and whether those subs are tied to the departing owner personally, because losing one could cut delivery capacity by a third overnight.
Validate the licensing and qualifying agent path in detail with Florida's licensing board, since the entire operation depends on holding the correct electrical contractor license. Confirm exactly how a buyer without an in-house license bridges the gap and how long the qualifying agent arrangement remains binding.
Examine customer concentration among the repeat general contractors and commercial end-users, because a heavy dependence on one or two GCs would materially change the risk profile. Ask for revenue by customer over the last three to five years to see how durable those relationships really are.
Assess cyclicality and cash flow through the last two downturns, since commercial and industrial new construction is discretionary and interest-rate sensitive. Understand how the thin-margin volume model performs when the Florida construction pipeline slows, and what the fixed cost floor looks like in a lean year.
Confirm key personnel retention beyond the seller, including the estimating bench and project managers, since the listing says they are expected to remain but expectations are not commitments. Secure employment agreements or retention packages for the people who actually win and deliver the work before closing.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →