Precision Tool & Die and Metal Stamping Shop, 27-Year West Michigan Operation

$3.8M

Revenue

$991K

SDE

3.0x

Multiple

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a 27-year-old precision tool & die and metal-stamping operation in Kent County, Michigan, that designs and builds sheet-metal stamping dies, die details, and weld fixtures. The work is backed by a full in-house CNC machining shop running modern mills, a multi-axis lathe, wire EDM, a tryout press, and surface grinding, with an equipment package valued at roughly $765,000 included in the deal. The shop operates out of an assignable 6,000 sq ft leased facility and runs with a tenured crew of diemakers, CNC programmers, and machinists.

The financial profile is genuinely strong for a shop this size. Trailing-twelve revenue is about $3.8 million with cash flow (SDE) near $991,000 and EBITDA of $772,000, implying net margins above 22% and SDE margins north of 36%. Those are well above typical tool & die benchmarks and reflect lean operations, though they also warrant a hard look at how owner compensation and any one-time factors feed into the SDE figure.

What makes this notable is the deliberate end-market shift. Historically tool & die shops in West Michigan skew heavily automotive, which is cyclical and capital-sensitive. This business is actively pivoting toward defense, heavy-truck, and appliance customers, which de-risks the revenue base and broadens the buyer appeal for a strategic acquirer or an SBA-backed operator with manufacturing experience.

Why we like it

Earnings quality looks real on paper: $991k SDE and $772k EBITDA on $3.8M revenue puts net margins above 22% and SDE margins above 36%, far above typical tool & die norms. The gap between SDE and EBITDA ($219k) suggests meaningful owner add-backs, so the true buyer earnings depend on how dependent output is on the retiring owners.
The business carries a tenured crew of diemakers, CNC programmers, and machinists that stays with the company, which is the real moat in a trade starving for skilled labor. Bench depth like this reduces key-person risk and is extremely hard to recreate from scratch, making this harder to replicate than the equipment alone.
The deliberate diversification away from automotive toward defense, heavy-truck, and appliance work meaningfully de-risks a revenue base that is normally hostage to the auto cycle. Defense and heavy-truck tooling tend to carry stickier qualification requirements and higher switching costs once you are an approved supplier.
The deal is engineered to be financeable: SBA 7(a)-friendly, lender stress-tested for a low-cash buyer, with seller financing available and $765k of equipment included at a 3.02x multiple. For an industry-capable operator, that is a clean entry point into an established platform with modern CNC capacity already in place.
At 27 years the shop has blue-chip tier-one and OEM relationships and real operating history, not a startup story. That track record plus 2026 trending strong gives a buyer a running start rather than a turnaround.

How to improve it

Add a second shift against the existing equipment base to lift utilization without major capex, which the listing explicitly flags as available capacity. Running the CNC mills, EDM, and grinding equipment longer hours is the fastest way to convert fixed-cost absorption into incremental margin.
Formalize and accelerate the defense and heavy-truck diversification by chasing supplier qualifications and approved-vendor status at a handful of target primes. These relationships raise switching costs and smooth out automotive cyclicality, directly protecting the revenue base a buyer is paying for.
Build a documented sales and quoting function, since 27-year shops often run entirely on owner relationships and reactive quoting. A dedicated estimator plus a CRM and systematic follow-up on quotes can expand wallet share with existing blue-chip accounts and win new ones.
Attack the key-person risk head-on by documenting die-design standards, machine setups, and quoting logic, then cross-training programmers so no single departure (including the retiring owners) breaks the shop. This protects margin continuity and makes the next exit cleaner.
Negotiate a longer or extended lease on the 6,000 sq ft facility before close, since the real estate is leased and assignable. Locking in favorable terms removes a landlord-renewal risk and preserves the ability to add a second shift in the same footprint.
Introduce recurring or program-based work where possible, such as annual maintenance and refurbishment contracts on existing stamping dies for key OEM accounts. Repeat tooling service revenue would reduce the project-by-project nature of the current book.
Review pricing on legacy accounts that have been quoted the same way for years. In a shop running 36% SDE margins there is room, but there may also be underpriced long-tenured customers whose rates have not kept pace with input and labor inflation.

Diligence notes

Reconcile the SDE bridge in detail: the $219k gap between $991k SDE and $772k EBITDA needs to be broken out line by line, with special attention to owner compensation and whether both owners work in the business. If replacing the owners costs more than the add-backs assume, true buyer cash flow is lower than headline.
Pull a multi-year customer concentration schedule, not just the diversification narrative. The listing touts a shift toward defense, heavy-truck, and appliance, but verify what percentage of current revenue still sits with one or two tier-one automotive accounts and how durable the new work actually is.
Confirm the 2026 momentum with a backlog and open-order report plus signed POs. Tool & die revenue is lumpy and project-based, so a single strong year or a handful of large die builds can inflate the trailing twelve and overstate run-rate earnings.
Verify the condition, age, and remaining useful life of the $765k equipment package, including the CNC mills, multi-axis lathe, wire EDM, tryout press, and surface grinding. Confirm it is owned free and clear with no liens or leases, and assess near-term replacement capex that is not reflected in SDE.
Scrutinize the labor picture: get the crew roster with tenure, age, wage rates, and roles, since the entire moat rests on retaining diemakers and programmers in a tight skilled-trades market. Understand retirement exposure within the crew and whether retention or stay bonuses will be needed post-close.
Review the facility lease terms, assignability mechanics, remaining term, and renewal options directly, since the real estate is not included. Confirm the landlord will consent to assignment to an SBA buyer and that rent will not step up materially on transfer.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →