Roofing and Construction, 50-Year New Jersey Contractor

$14.2M

Revenue

$1.4M

SDE

7.3x

Multiple

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a 50-year-old New Jersey roofing and construction company that installs, replaces, maintains, and inspects roof systems across residential, commercial, and industrial markets. The service portfolio runs beyond basic re-roofs to include new installations, repairs, preventative maintenance contracts, and official inspection reports. To handle complex commercial jobs the company also runs its own crane services and custom sheet metal fabrication, which meaningfully widens the range of work it can capture and self-perform rather than subcontract out.

The company partners with major manufacturers to offer roofing materials backed by 10 to 35-year warranties, which supports pricing and repeat trust on the commercial side. With roughly $14.2 million in revenue and $1.38 million in cash flow off a 25-person full-time team, this is a real operating business with scale, not a solo owner-operator outfit. It operates from a corporate office and a separate 10,000 square foot warehouse, both of which are included in the sale price.

The roofing market is highly fragmented, with even the largest national commercial contractors like CentiMark and Tecta America each holding under 2.5% share. That fragmentation, combined with an established brand, crane and sheet metal capabilities, and a mature commercial footprint, is what makes this a credible platform in a durable trade. The asking price of roughly $10 million includes about $2.35 million of real estate and nearly $7 million in FF&E, which is critical context for the 7.26x headline multiple.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is anchored by $1.38M of cash flow on $14.2M of revenue, a business that has survived five decades and multiple recessions since 1973. Roofing demand is driven by leaks, storm damage, code inspections, and warranty work, all of which are non-discretionary for property owners who cannot let a roof fail.
The moat comes from self-performing capabilities most small roofers lack: in-house crane services and custom sheet metal fabrication let this company bid and win complex commercial and industrial jobs. That vertical integration plus a 50-year reputation and manufacturer warranty relationships create real barriers versus the thousands of one-truck competitors.
Market tailwinds are strong and durable. The industry is extremely fragmented with the largest national players under 2.5% share each, and new commercial construction roofing alone is estimated at $23.7 billion in 2026, giving a well-capitalized operator room to consolidate smaller shops and grow service territory.
There is a clear operator advantage because current growth levers are underexploited. The seller flags adding maintenance contracts, workforce development, and service area expansion as low-capex growth, meaning a hands-on buyer can compound this without heavy reinvestment.
The price includes hard assets that de-risk the downside: roughly $2.35M of owned real estate and $6.99M of FF&E and equipment are in the asking price. A meaningful portion of the ~$10M is collateralized value, not pure goodwill, which improves financeability and recovery in a bad scenario.

How to improve it

Push preventative maintenance contracts hard in the first 90 days. Every commercial roof installed is a candidate for a recurring inspection and maintenance agreement, which converts one-time project revenue into predictable annual cash flow and raises the exit multiple.
Build a systematic storm and emergency-response funnel. Roofing spikes after weather events, so standing up rapid dispatch, insurance claim support, and inspection reporting captures high-margin repair work competitors miss and deepens customer relationships.
Invest in workforce development and crew capacity, which the seller flagged as a growth lever. Skilled labor is the binding constraint in roofing, so an apprenticeship pipeline and retention plan let the company take on more concurrent jobs and expand territory without acquisition.
Tighten job-level margin tracking and estimating discipline. On $14.2M of revenue, small improvements in material waste, crane utilization, and bid accuracy flow directly to the bottom line, and a modern estimating and project management system pays for itself quickly.
Use the fragmented market to run a tuck-in acquisition strategy. Buying smaller local roofers for their customer lists and crews, then folding them into this company's crane, sheet metal, and back-office infrastructure, is a proven path to compound cash flow.
Monetize the crane and sheet metal capabilities as standalone revenue lines. If those assets are underutilized between roofing jobs, renting crane time or bidding sheet metal fabrication work for other contractors adds high-margin revenue off owned equipment.
Rebuild digital lead generation and local SEO. A 50-year-old contractor often underinvests online, so a modern site, review generation, and paid local search can lower customer acquisition cost and reduce dependence on referrals and repeat relationships.

Diligence notes

Break revenue into new construction versus re-roof versus maintenance versus repair. New commercial construction is cyclical and lumpy, so understanding what share is contract-backed recurring maintenance versus project-dependent work is the single most important thing to verify before trusting the 7.26x multiple.
Reconcile the headline multiple against the asset stack. The $9,999,000 price includes ~$2.35M real estate and ~$6.99M FF&E, so calculate the multiple on operating goodwill alone and confirm the equipment values are current market, not depreciated book or inflated seller estimates.
Assess owner dependence and the 4-week training window. A 50-year retirement sale often hides deep owner relationships with key commercial customers, manufacturers, and estimators, so map who holds the accounts and whether four weeks of transition is realistically enough.
Verify customer concentration and backlog quality. Confirm no single commercial customer or general contractor drives an outsized share of revenue, and review signed backlog, bonding capacity, and pipeline to ensure the trailing numbers are repeatable next year.
Diligence the labor force and licensing. With 25 full-time employees in a trade constrained by skilled labor, confirm crew tenure, foreman retention risk, workers comp and safety history, and that all roofing and crane operation licenses and certifications transfer cleanly.
Examine working capital and receivables. Commercial roofing carries progress billing, retainage, and slow-paying GCs, so scrutinize AR aging, lien history, and warranty liabilities on 10 to 35-year manufacturer warranties to understand real cash conversion.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →