Union General Contractor, 85-Year Northern Indiana Builder

$21.0M

Revenue

$1.5M

SDE

3.8x

Multiple

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is an 85-year-old union general contractor operating across Northern Indiana and Southern Michigan, building and renovating schools, municipal buildings, parks facilities, housing, churches, senior living, and commercial structures. The bulk of revenue comes from public bid work, with the remainder negotiated private jobs from repeat clients and architects who recommend the firm. The company self-performs core carpentry trades with its own union crews and farms out specialty work to subcontractors, keeping a lean office cost structure that lets it undercut larger union competitors on overhead.

The financial profile is steady: roughly $21 million in revenue and $1.5 million in SDE in 2025, with trailing-twelve-month revenue above $23 million through August 2026. Revenue has held above $20 million in each of the last three years, and statements are CPA-reviewed, which is unusual rigor for a business this size. The standout feature is a signed backlog north of $40 million, roughly two years of work already booked, so a buyer inherits a full schedule rather than a cold start.

Operationally the business runs on two project manager/estimators, a controller, an office manager, and ten working superintendents leading scalable union carpenter crews. The sale is an asset deal that includes an equipment fleet (track loaders, telehandlers, a lift, survey instruments), company trucks, the trade name, websites, estimating records, and the contracted backlog. The three owners are retiring on a staggered schedule, with one committing to stay three to five years, which de-risks the transfer of client, architect, and crew relationships that carry this business.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is grounded in a $40M+ signed backlog equal to about two years of revenue, and CPA-reviewed statements add credibility rare at this size. A buyer is underwriting work already won rather than a pipeline that has to be rebuilt, which is the single biggest risk in buying a contractor.
The moat is the combination of 85 years of relationships with school corporations, cities, counties, and architects, plus self-performing union carpenter crews that are genuinely hard to assemble from scratch. Bonding capacity and a reputation with public owners function as real barriers to entry for newer competitors.
Public-sector construction spending has held up better than private work into 2026, and schools, municipal buildings, and senior living are need-to-build categories that survive downturns. Essential public infrastructure is about as recession-resistant as construction gets.
The operator advantage is a lean office structure that wins bids on overhead against larger union shops, combined with a seller willing to stay three to five years. That handover window gives a disciplined buyer real time to inherit relationships before the key people walk.

How to improve it

Push harder into construction management and design-build delivery, where one project is already underway. These delivery models carry higher margins than hard-bid public work and reduce exposure to lowest-bidder pricing, so formalizing a design-build practice could lift the blended margin meaningfully.
Build a steadier negotiated private and repeat industrial service line, which the owners themselves flag as underdeveloped. Negotiated and service work smooths the lumpiness of public bid cycles and improves cash flow predictability between large project awards.
The company does almost no advertising today, so a modest, targeted business development effort aimed at architects and public owners in adjacent counties is pure upside. Expanding the bidding radius leverages the existing crew and overhead base without proportionally growing fixed cost.
Reduce key-man risk by documenting estimating methods, bonding relationships, and client contacts during the owner transition. With three owners leaving on a staggered schedule, codifying how bids are priced and who holds each relationship protects the backlog that justifies the price.
Evaluate adding a second project manager/estimator bench behind the current two, since estimating capacity directly caps how much work the firm can bid and win. Thin estimating staff is often the real ceiling on a contractor's growth, not crew availability.
Negotiate a longer-term lease or purchase option on the owner-affiliated office, shop, and warehouse, currently leased month-to-month. A month-to-month arrangement with a selling-owner entity is a continuity risk that should be locked down at or near closing.

Diligence notes

Verify the $40M+ backlog contract by contract: scope, signed status, margin at bid, completion timelines, and any change-order or penalty exposure. A backlog number is only as good as the margins embedded in it, and public bid work can carry thin spreads, so confirm the booked gross profit, not just revenue.
Scrutinize bonding capacity and the surety relationship, because the business cannot bid public work without it and bonding often depends on the retiring owners' personal credit and history. Confirm a buyer can step in and maintain or increase the bonding line before committing.
Examine the gap between $1.3M EBITDA and $1.5M SDE against a $21M revenue base, since a sub-7% margin is tight and leaves little room for a bad project. Normalize owner compensation across three departing owners and confirm what management cost the business must absorb to replace them.
Review the union labor agreements, wage escalators, and pension/multiemployer plan obligations, including any potential withdrawal liability. Union contractor deals can carry unfunded pension exposure that is invisible on the P&L and can dwarf the purchase price if mishandled.
Assess customer and project concentration within the backlog and recent revenue, since a few large school or municipal jobs could represent most of the earnings. Confirm no single owner relationship is the sole reason a repeat client stays, given the staggered departures.
Confirm the condition, age, and ownership of the equipment fleet and trucks included in the asset sale, and whether any are leased or financed. Verify the facility transfer terms from the owner-affiliated entity so the shop and warehouse are not lost after the owners exit.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →