Multi-Location ABA Therapy Clinics & Specialized Schools, Florida

$5.6M

Revenue

$1.5M

SDE

5.9x

Multiple

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Full Editorial Writeup

The Company is a well-established provider of Applied Behavior Analysis (“ABA”) therapy and specialized...

Earnings quality is strong for the category, with $1.45M of cash flow on $5.6M of revenue, a 26 percent margin in a business where labor is the dominant cost line. Revenue is largely insurance-reimbursed rather than out-of-pocket, which smooths collections and reduces the demand elasticity you see in cash-pay services.
The moat is regulatory and clinical: ABA requires BCBA-credentialed clinicians, payer contracts, and state licensure, all of which take years to assemble. The specialized school component adds switching costs because families rarely move a child mid-program, producing sticky, multi-year relationships.
Market tailwinds are unusually durable here. Autism diagnosis rates continue to climb, all 50 states mandate insurance coverage for ABA, and early-intervention protocols push utilization up, meaning demand grows structurally regardless of the economy.
This is a genuine platform for an operator with capital. The ABA market is highly fragmented with thousands of sub-scale single-clinic operators, so a multi-site business with existing payer contracts and a school model is a credible acquisition base for a tuck-in roll-up strategy.

Audit clinician utilization and billable-hour productivity per BCBA and technician within the first 90 days. In ABA, margin lives or dies on tech-to-BCBA ratios and scheduling density, and small utilization gains flow almost entirely to the bottom line.
Renegotiate and diversify payer contracts, focusing on reimbursement rates and reducing concentration in any single insurer or Medicaid managed-care plan. Rate improvements of even a few percent on a $5.6M base materially lift cash flow with no added headcount.
Build a repeatable intake and waitlist conversion engine. Most ABA clinics leave revenue on the table with slow authorization and onboarding, so tightening the funnel from referral to billable session fills existing capacity before any new hiring is needed.
Attack clinician turnover, the single biggest cost and quality risk in ABA. Implement retention incentives, career-ladder progression from RBT to BCBA, and tuition support, because every departure triggers recruiting costs and disrupts client continuity.
Use the platform to execute tuck-in acquisitions of nearby single-clinic operators. Buying sub-scale clinics at 3x to 4x and folding them onto existing back-office and payer infrastructure creates immediate multiple arbitrage against this 5.86x entry.
Formalize outcome tracking and clinical documentation to strengthen payer relationships and defend against reimbursement clawbacks. Clean, audit-ready records also become a value-add at exit for a strategic or PE buyer.

Scrutinize payer mix and reimbursement risk carefully. Understand the split between commercial insurance, Medicaid, and any managed-care contracts, plus historical claim denial and clawback rates, because ABA has faced audit and rate-pressure scrutiny in several states.
Verify clinician credentials, staffing levels, and turnover history. Confirm the BCBA count, active RBT registrations, and whether key clinical leaders are staying post-close, since the business cannot bill without adequately credentialed staff.
Separate the economics of the clinics versus the specialized schools. Schools may carry different licensing, tuition-versus-insurance revenue, and facility lease obligations, and you need to know which segment drives the $1.45M cash flow.
Investigate lease terms and facility obligations across all locations given the multi-site footprint. Confirm none of the properties are owner-affiliated at below-market rent that would inflate reported cash flow post-sale.
Confirm the age, tenure, and reason for sale, all of which are undisclosed here. Also verify how normalized the $1.45M cash flow is, specifically what add-backs were applied and whether an owner-replacement clinical or executive salary is embedded.

Originally listed on DealStream. View original listing →

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