$3.7M
$718K
3.5x
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Located in Metro Atlanta, this property restoration and remediation franchise has been in business since 1999 providing residential and commercial...
Why we like it
- Earnings quality is strong for a services business, with $717.7K of adjusted EBITDA on $3.66M of revenue for roughly a 20 percent margin. Restoration work is heavily driven by insurance claims, which softens the collections risk and reduces the customer's price sensitivity compared to out-of-pocket discretionary spend.
- The moat is real and hard to replicate: 27 years of operating history in Metro Atlanta plus a national franchise brand means embedded relationships with insurance adjusters, property managers, and referral sources. Restoration is a trust and speed business, and reputation compounds over decades.
- The demand is fundamentally recession-resistant. Water damage, fire, mold, and storm events happen regardless of the economy, and property owners cannot defer emergency mitigation the way they defer a kitchen remodel. This is need-based, non-discretionary revenue.
- The market tailwind is location: Metro Atlanta is one of the fastest-growing metros in the US, with an expanding base of residential and commercial property that continuously generates restoration demand. A growing property stock means a structurally growing addressable market for the buyer.
How to improve it
- Audit the insurance carrier and Third-Party Administrator relationships and pursue preferred-vendor or program status with additional carriers. Being on more approved-vendor lists drives a steady, lower-cost stream of job referrals and reduces reliance on any single source.
- Build out a commercial-focused sales function targeting property managers, facility managers, and multi-family operators. Commercial accounts deliver larger jobs and recurring relationships, and they smooth out the lumpiness of residential emergency work.
- Tighten job-level margin tracking and implement software to measure gross margin per job type (water, fire, mold, reconstruction). Restoration profitability leaks fast on labor and equipment utilization, and granular visibility lets you reprice or drop low-margin work.
- Invest in a 24/7 rapid-response capability and market it hard. In emergency services, the first company on site wins the job, so measurably faster response times directly convert to higher close rates and captured revenue.
- Expand the reconstruction/rebuild side of the business to capture the full job value. Many restoration operators mitigate the damage then hand off the rebuild; keeping that work in-house materially increases revenue per claim.
- Systematize online reviews and local SEO to dominate emergency search terms in the territory. When a homeowner's basement floods at 2am, they search and call the top result, so review volume and search ranking are direct revenue drivers.
- Cross-train and add crews to lift capacity during peak-loss events like storms and freezes. Restoration revenue spikes with weather events, and the operators who can staff up fastest capture the surge instead of turning jobs away.
Diligence notes
- Scrutinize the franchise agreement in full: royalty rate, marketing fees, territory protections, remaining term, transfer fees, and renewal terms. These directly reduce net owner economics and constrain a buyer's flexibility, and the stated 3.52x multiple must be evaluated after franchise obligations.
- Break down revenue by source and concentration, specifically the share of jobs coming through insurance claims versus direct-pay, and whether any single carrier, TPA, or referral partner drives an outsized portion of volume. Losing a preferred-vendor designation could materially dent revenue.
- Verify the $717.7K adjusted EBITDA by reviewing the add-back schedule and normalizing for owner compensation, one-time storm-event windfalls, and any non-recurring large losses. Restoration revenue can be lumpy year to year, so request three to five years of financials to assess the true baseline.
- Assess the operational dependency on the current owner and key technicians. Restoration relies on certified staff (IICRC certifications, licensed estimators) and adjuster relationships, so confirm those transfer with the business and are not personal to the seller.
- Confirm equipment condition and adequacy: drying equipment, moisture meters, vehicles, and containment gear. Underinvestment here creates a hidden capex liability that would erode the effective purchase multiple soon after close.
Source
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