Municipal Wastewater Contractor, Florida Utility Construction Firm

$23.8M

Revenue

$9.7M

SDE

3.9x

Multiple

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a Florida-based heavy civil contractor that self-performs municipal wastewater and utility construction work. The company runs its own field force organized into crews under experienced superintendents and foremen, supported by an in-house office, shop, and fabrication facility with an equipment yard. On roughly $23.8M of revenue it throws off $9.7M of cash flow, a 41% margin that is unusually strong for civil construction and signals real self-perform capability rather than a paper-thin subcontracting shell.

The headline asset is a $37M contracted backlog, which represents more than 18 months of revenue already booked with public-sector clients. Municipal wastewater is about as non-discretionary as construction gets: water and sewer systems must be built and maintained regardless of the economic cycle, and the customers are cities and utility districts with tax and rate-base funding rather than fickle private developers. That combination of contracted visibility and essential end-market is what makes this a defensible earnings base.

Leadership depth is a selling point. Below the founder sits a second-generation vice president and a senior field bench with decades of experience, and the owner has committed to a six-month transition plus an open-ended estimating role if the fit is good. The business is positioned for a strategic acquirer building a Florida water/wastewater platform, or a financial buyer who wants a documented earnings stream and can install or retain estimating leadership over time.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is exceptional for this category, with $9.7M of cash flow on $23.8M of revenue equal to a 41% margin. That level of profitability in civil construction usually means genuine self-perform capability, disciplined estimating, and pricing power on public bids rather than low-margin pass-through work.
The $37M contracted backlog is the real prize, giving a buyer more than 18 months of booked revenue on day one. Public-sector wastewater contracts are funded by tax and utility rate bases, so this is visibility you can actually underwrite rather than a hopeful pipeline.
Municipal wastewater is about as recession-proof as construction gets, since cities cannot defer sewer and water infrastructure the way private developers pause condos. Demand is regulatory and population-driven, insulating the earnings base from the discretionary swings that sink most contractors in a downturn.
The 3.9x cash-flow multiple is cheap for a business with contracted backlog, essential end-markets, and a second-generation VP already running the field. A strategic in water/wastewater could pay this and still see immediate accretion given the entrenched public-sector relationships.

How to improve it

Lock down the estimating function before the owner's open-ended commitment quietly ends. Estimating is the single point of failure here, so document the bid methodology, build a pricing playbook, and cross-train the two 2026 office staff so the win-rate does not walk out the door with the founder.
Convert the second-generation VP and senior field bench into equity or long-term retention agreements within the first 90 days. This bench is what makes the business runnable post-close, and losing them to a competitor would gut the operation, so tie them in with earnouts, stock, or aggressive comp.
Negotiate the facility lease or purchase on hard terms rather than accepting market rent by default. The owner controls the shop, fabrication space, and equipment yard personally, so quantify the true occupancy cost and consider buying to control this chokehold asset and capture the real estate spread.
Diversify the public-sector customer base beyond any concentrated municipalities. Backlog is only as strong as the counterparties behind it, so pursue adjacent counties, water districts, and utility authorities to reduce reliance on a handful of relationships the founder personally built.
Push into higher-margin adjacent civil work like lift stations, force mains, and treatment plant rehab where self-perform crews command premium pricing. The existing field force and fabrication capability are underutilized assets that can bid larger, more complex packages with the same overhead.
Build a repeatable bidding cadence and CRM around municipal RFP calendars. Public work is predictable if you track it, so systematize which agencies bid when, pre-qualify early, and staff estimating to increase bid volume without sacrificing the disciplined margins that make this business special.
Formalize equipment maintenance and replacement scheduling to protect the fleet value and avoid surprise capex. Heavy civil runs on iron, so a documented fleet condition and capex plan both protects margins and strengthens your position when refinancing or reselling.

Diligence notes

Scrutinize the $37M backlog contract by contract: verify signed agreements, retainage terms, change-order history, and completion percentages. Backlog is the entire thesis, so confirm these are firm municipal contracts with funded budgets rather than letters of intent or contingent awards.
Stress-test the 41% cash-flow margin against the industry norm, which is far lower for civil contractors. Understand exactly what is in the $9.7M number, including owner add-backs, equipment depreciation treatment, and whether the facility is currently rent-free while owned personally by the seller.
Assess the estimating dependency directly, because the founder's estimating role has no end date and only two office staff assist as of 2026. If win-rate collapses without him, the backlog burns off and no new work replaces it, so quantify how transferable the bidding function truly is.
Confirm bonding capacity, surety relationships, and licensing that transfer with the sale. Public wastewater work requires performance bonds and specific contractor licenses, so verify the buyer entity can maintain the bonding line and prequalifications needed to keep bidding after close.
Evaluate the facility lease-versus-buy economics and the equipment yard condition. The shop, fabrication space, and equipment are central to the self-perform model, so appraise the fleet, review the offered lease terms, and price the purchase option to understand true fixed costs.
Investigate customer and geographic concentration within the public-sector base. Ask how many municipalities drive revenue and backlog, whether relationships are personal to the founder, and how competitive the local bidding environment is for future awards in this Florida market.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →