Florida Fiber Optic & Underground Utility Contractor

$1.3M

Revenue

$947K

SDE

4.2x

Multiple

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a Florida-based underground utility construction firm specializing in fiber optic infrastructure. The company handles the full stack of underground fiber work: directional boring, trenching, handhole installation, and related concrete pours. It serves telecommunications and infrastructure customers through competitively awarded projects, meaning it lives and dies by the bid table. Roughly 80% of revenue comes from trench and underground work, with the remaining 20% from boxes and concrete.

The operation runs with an experienced crew and in-house project management, so it can carry a job from bid through completion without outsourcing the brains of the operation. The sale includes about $384,500 in equipment and $98,000 in other business assets, which matters for a trade where boring rigs and support gear are the cost of entry.

What makes this listing interesting is the forward book: the seller reports roughly $7.4 million in new 2026 contracts against trailing revenue of $1.32 million. If that pipeline is real, contracted, and executable with existing crews, the business is being sold on the cusp of a 5x+ revenue jump. If it is a book of letters of intent and verbal nods, the asking price looks aggressive. That single fact is the whole deal.

Why we like it

Earnings quality looks unusually strong on paper, with $946,716 of cash flow on just $1.32M of revenue, a 72% owner-earnings margin that is rare in construction. That margin almost certainly reflects a lean owner-operator structure and should be stress-tested for how much is true profit versus the owner personally doing high-value work like bidding and project management.
Fiber optic and underground utility work is about as recession-resistant as construction gets, because broadband buildout, 5G backhaul, and municipal infrastructure spending are driven by long-cycle telecom capex and public funding rather than consumer discretionary demand. Projects are awarded competitively and tend to continue through downturns, especially with federal broadband dollars still flowing.
The reported $7.4M in new 2026 contracts is roughly 5.6x trailing revenue, which if genuine transforms this from a small local contractor into a meaningfully larger platform overnight. A buyer who can staff and finance that backlog inherits a growth ramp most small-cap deals never offer.
The equipment package ($384,500 in gear plus $98,000 in other assets) means the operational capacity to do the work is already in place, lowering the capex needed on day one. In a specialized trade with real barriers around boring rigs and skilled crews, owning the tools and the people is a durable advantage over pure brokers of the work.

How to improve it

Immediately validate and lock down the $7.4M 2026 backlog with signed contracts, notice-to-proceed dates, and crew capacity planning, because the entire investment thesis rests on converting that pipeline into billed revenue. Build a week-by-week production schedule to confirm the existing crew can physically execute it or quantify the hiring and equipment needed to do so.
Transition the bidding and project-management function off the seller by documenting the estimating methodology and hiring or promoting a dedicated estimator in the first 90 days. The 72% margin likely depends heavily on the owner's judgment, and de-risking that single point of failure is the highest-value move a buyer can make.
Diversify the customer base beyond the current telecom and infrastructure accounts by pursuing municipal, electric utility, and private broadband provider contracts. Concentration in a handful of awarding entities is the biggest fragility in a competitively-bid model, and widening the funnel protects revenue if one relationship cools.
Pursue available federal and state broadband funding work (BEAD and similar programs) which is injecting billions into underground fiber across rural and underserved areas. Positioning the company to prequalify for these awards could extend the backlog well beyond 2026.
Build a working-capital and bonding facility before closing, because scaling from $1.32M to a multi-million dollar backlog requires financing payroll, equipment, and materials ahead of progress payments. Undercapitalization is the classic way fast-growing contractors run themselves into the ground even with a full order book.
Add directional boring capacity and crews to shift revenue mix toward the higher-skill, higher-margin boring work rather than open-trench installation. Boring commands premium pricing in congested or environmentally sensitive corridors and differentiates the company from commodity trenching competitors.
Implement job-costing software and crew productivity tracking to protect margins as the business scales, since the current margin may be partly a function of a small, tightly-managed operation. Visibility into cost per foot and per job is essential once headcount and job volume multiply.

Diligence notes

The $7.4M in 2026 contracts is the single most important item to verify: obtain the actual contract documents, confirm they are signed and binding versus awarded-pending or verbal, and check whether they are fixed-price or subject to renegotiation. A buyer paying $3.95M against $946K of cash flow is really paying for this backlog, so its reality determines whether the multiple is 4.17x or dramatically higher.
Scrutinize the 72% cash flow margin by separating true business profit from compensation for owner labor on bidding, project management, and field supervision. If the owner is personally doing $300K+ of work that must be replaced with hires, the post-acquisition cash flow is materially lower than the headline $946,716.
Investigate customer concentration and the nature of the competitively-awarded relationships, since losing one or two awarding entities could gut revenue. Request a revenue-by-customer breakdown for the last three years and confirm whether the 2026 backlog is spread across clients or dependent on a single source.
Verify the condition, age, and ownership status of the $384,500 equipment package, including whether any boring rigs or trucks are leased, financed, or nearing replacement. In an equipment-intensive trade, deferred capex hidden behind the headline asset value can quickly erode the margin story.
Confirm the company's licensing, bonding capacity, insurance, and safety record (EMR, OSHA history), because utility construction involves locate-and-damage liability, right-of-way permits, and prevailing-wage compliance on public work. Any history of utility strikes, claims, or lapsed bonding capacity could cap the company's ability to bid larger jobs.
Review years in business, which the listing leaves blank, along with crew tenure and key-person risk, since an experienced crew is central to executing the backlog. Determine whether foremen and skilled operators will stay post-sale and whether non-compete or retention arrangements can be put in place with the seller and key staff.

Source

Originally listed on BusinessBroker.net. View original listing →