National Backup Power E-Commerce Distributor, 27-Year Wisconsin Operation

$27.5M

Revenue

$1.7M

SDE

4.6x

Multiple

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a 27-year-old national e-commerce distributor of backup power equipment: residential, commercial, portable and standby generators plus OEM replacement parts, accessories and complementary power products. Operating from a modest 14,459 square foot leased facility in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, the company sells through three established websites and has served over 160,000 customers with a mixed B2B and direct-to-consumer base. It runs an asset-light model with 18 people (12 full-time, 6 contractors) and carries roughly $3 million in inventory to support 24 to 48 hour fulfillment.

The economics are those of a high-volume, thin-margin distributor: $27.5 million in revenue against $1.74 million of EBITDA, a roughly 6.3 percent margin that is normal for authorized-reseller e-commerce. The real value here is not the margin, it is the authorization. Leading generator OEMs maintain selective distribution networks and cap the number of approved online sellers, so the relationships and manufacturer-trained sales staff act as a genuine barrier to entry that a new Shopify store cannot replicate.

Customer concentration is a non-issue with the largest account under 1.5 percent of revenue, and there is real repeat demand from electrical contractors. The listing is a court-supervised sale explicitly framed as not distress-driven, which matters for how a buyer should price and diligence it. At $8 million against $1.74 million EBITDA, the 4.6x multiple prices in the scarcity of the OEM authorizations and the platform, not just the trailing cash flow.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is anchored by extreme customer diversification, with the largest account under 1.5 percent of revenue across a 160,000-plus customer base. That removes the single biggest blow-up risk in distribution and makes the $1.74 million EBITDA far more durable than a concentrated book would be. Repeat electrical-contractor demand adds a semi-predictable B2B floor under the DTC volume.
The moat is the OEM authorization, not the website. Leading generator manufacturers run selective distribution and cap authorized online sellers, so a new entrant cannot simply buy inventory and undercut on Google Shopping. Combined with manufacturer-trained technical staff and 27 years of relationships, this is a defensible position in a channel that looks commoditized from the outside.
Backup power is a structurally growing, non-discretionary category driven by aging grid infrastructure, more frequent severe weather and rising electricity loads. Generators get bought after outages regardless of the economic cycle, which makes this closer to essential replacement demand than to discretionary e-commerce. Adjacent tailwinds in battery storage and EV charging give the platform a longer runway.
The model is asset-light and relocatable, running $27.5 million through an 18-person team and a single 14,459 square foot leased facility at $16,250 per month. Minimal capex and a court-supervised process create room for a disciplined buyer to acquire a real operating business rather than a fragile arbitrage play. An operator with distribution or e-commerce chops can layer in margin improvements without heavy reinvestment.

How to improve it

Attack gross margin on the parts and accessories mix, which carries far better economics than whole-unit generators. Build out the established generator-parts business with better search merchandising and cross-sell at checkout, since parts buyers return more often and are less price-transparent than machine buyers. A few points of margin shift on $27.5 million of volume moves EBITDA materially.
Formalize the contractor channel into a recurring program with tiered pricing, net terms, and a dedicated account rep. Electrical contractors already drive repeat business, so converting them onto a portal with standing pricing and reorder history turns episodic buyers into a predictable book. This is the single fastest path to adding revenue quality the current model lacks.
Stand up installation and service partnerships to capture demand the company currently sends elsewhere. Referring buyers to a vetted installer network, or white-labeling install through partners, adds a high-margin attach without carrying field labor. It also deepens the OEM relationships that gate the whole business.
Rationalize the three separate websites into a shared backend with unified inventory, pricing and paid-search data. Running three storefronts likely duplicates spend and dilutes SEO authority; consolidating the tech stack cuts cost and sharpens PPC efficiency. Cleaner data also makes the next owner's margin decisions far easier.
Push into EV charging as a deliberate category expansion rather than an afterthought. The same contractor customers and OEM relationships that sell generators are the buyers for chargers, so the customer acquisition cost is effectively already paid. Early positioning in an adjacent growth category adds a second growth engine off the existing platform.
Optimize the $3 million inventory position with tighter SKU-level demand planning to free trapped cash. Distribution profits are made in working-capital efficiency, and shaving slow movers while protecting 24 to 48 hour fulfillment on core SKUs improves cash conversion. Redeploy that capital into faster-turning parts and accessories.

Diligence notes

The court-supervised sale is the central item to understand. Confirm exactly what is being sold (assets, IP, domains, OEM agreements) versus what stays behind, whether the OEM authorizations survive a change of control, and what the timeline and approval mechanics of the court process are. A distributor without transferable OEM authorizations is worth a fraction of the ask.
Verify the OEM authorization agreements in writing, including which manufacturers, exclusivity or territory terms, minimum purchase requirements, and change-of-control clauses. Since the entire moat rests on selective distribution rights, any provision that lets an OEM terminate on sale is a deal-defining risk. Get the manufacturers' consent conditions in front of you before funding.
Reconcile the $1.74 million EBITDA to actual bank and card-processor statements and confirm it is a clean trailing figure, not adjusted. Note the listing discloses EBITDA but not SDE, so pin down owner add-backs, the true management cost to replace both owners, and whether the $16,250 monthly rent and full staff cost are already in the number. Thin 6 percent margins leave little cushion for surprises.
Stress-test the revenue mix and margin by channel, separating whole-unit generators from parts, and B2B contractor sales from DTC. Understand how much revenue is spiky and outage-driven versus baseline, and pull multi-year data to see cyclicality around storm seasons. This tells you whether the trailing year is representative or an outage-inflated peak.
Examine the lease, which expires 01/02/2027, well within a normal hold period. Confirm renewal terms, likely rent increases, and relocation feasibility given the business is marketed as relocatable but benefits from proximity to Wisconsin manufacturers. A forced move could disrupt the 24 to 48 hour fulfillment promise.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →