Established Commercial Electrical Contractor, 50-Year NYC Operation

$6.4M

Revenue

$1.3M

SDE

4.5x

Multiple

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a commercial and institutional electrical contractor operating in New York City since 1973, with over five decades of continuous operating history. The company delivers a full stack of electrical work: installation, repair, and maintenance, plus participation in larger commercial construction and infrastructure projects. It runs lean out of a small leased 1,730 square foot footprint with 17 full-time employees, which tells you the value sits in licensed labor and customer relationships rather than real estate or heavy fixed assets.

The business generates $6.4M in revenue and $1.3M in cash flow, a healthy roughly 20 percent owner-earnings margin for a trades contractor. The mix spans ongoing service work and project-based jobs, which gives it a blend of steadier maintenance revenue and lumpier construction income. Operating in the NYC commercial and institutional market means dense repeat demand, high barriers to entry (master electrical license and fire alarm license required), and customers who cannot defer safety-critical electrical work.

At $5.9M (4.45x cash flow) with seller financing on the table, this is positioned as a platform acquisition for an existing electrical or construction operator, or an entry for a qualified, licensed buyer. The 50-year brand, licensed workforce, and established trade relationships are the real assets here. The obvious watch item is key-person and licensing risk, since the business legally requires a master electrician to operate.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is strong for a trades business, with $1.32M in cash flow on $6.4M revenue, a roughly 20 percent margin that holds up well against typical electrical contractor comps. The dual revenue model of recurring service work plus larger projects smooths some of the lumpiness that plagues pure project contractors.
The moat is regulatory and relationship-driven: operating in NYC requires a master electrical license and a fire alarm license, which gates out casual competitors and protects pricing. Fifty years of continuous operation and established customer and vendor relationships are extremely hard to replicate quickly.
Commercial and institutional electrical work is genuinely recession-resistant because code compliance, safety systems, and facility maintenance cannot be deferred regardless of the economic cycle. Institutional clients (schools, hospitals, government, large facilities) tend to be stable, creditworthy, and sticky.
This is a clean operator advantage play: the asset-light footprint (1,730 sq ft, $5,000 monthly rent, no real estate or heavy equipment to buy) means almost the entire purchase price buys cash flow and goodwill rather than tied-up capital. Seller financing over 36 months at 6 percent reduces the equity check and signals seller confidence in the earnings.

How to improve it

Lock down the licensing bottleneck immediately by identifying which employees hold the master electrical and fire alarm licenses, and putting a retention or qualified-individual agreement in place before close. The entire business legally depends on this, so securing it protects the whole investment in the first 90 days.
Shift revenue mix toward recurring maintenance and service contracts, which carry higher margins and far more predictability than one-off construction projects. Packaging annual preventive-maintenance agreements for existing institutional clients could convert lumpy project work into a stable base.
Build a formal estimating and project-management system if the business still runs on the owner's head and relationships. Documenting bidding, job costing, and scheduling makes the business transferable and reveals which job types actually drive the margin.
Expand the sales function beyond owner-sourced relationships by adding a dedicated business development hire to pursue institutional RFPs, property managers, and general contractors. A 50-year brand with no proactive sales engine is leaving organic growth on the table.
Review labor utilization and billing rates across the 17-person crew, since in NYC skilled electrician hours are the core revenue lever. Tightening scheduling, reducing idle time, and benchmarking rates to market could meaningfully lift margin without adding headcount.
Pursue tuck-in acquisitions of smaller NYC electrical shops whose owners are also retiring, using this as a platform to consolidate licensed labor and customer bases. The fragmented trades market and the acquirer's established license and back office make roll-up economics attractive.

Diligence notes

Verify who holds the required master electrical and fire alarm licenses and whether that person is the departing owner, a staying employee, or a contractor. If the license walks out the door at close, the business cannot legally operate, so this is the single most important diligence item.
Dig into revenue concentration and the split between recurring service work and project revenue over the last three to five years. A few large institutional contracts could represent significant concentration risk, and project-heavy years can inflate a single year's cash flow.
Scrutinize work-in-progress, open contracts, backlog, and any outstanding bonding or warranty obligations, since construction contractors carry liabilities that do not show up cleanly in cash flow. Confirm the backlog supports the forward revenue the price assumes.
Confirm the quality and tenure of the 17 full-time employees, including union status, prevailing wage exposure, and wage trends in the NYC electrical trades. Labor availability and cost is the binding constraint on this business's ability to grow and maintain margin.
Validate the $1.32M cash flow with tax returns and bank statements, and identify all owner add-backs given the modest 1,730 sq ft facility and lean overhead. Confirm the reported margin is sustainable and not boosted by deferred maintenance, underpaid family labor, or a one-off project year.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →