Texas Commercial Landscaping & Grounds Maintenance Company

$5.5M

Revenue

$1.9M

SDE

4.5x

Multiple

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a Texas-based commercial landscaping operation running two complementary engines: recurring grounds maintenance under active monthly contracts for corporate campuses, government facilities, shopping centers, and event venues, plus commercial landscape construction where the company bids and wins complete landscape packages for general contractors and developers on new builds. Roughly 90% of revenue is commercial, which means the customer base is institutional and contract-driven rather than residential and one-off. The business operates across some of the fastest-growing metro markets in the country, which is a real tailwind for both recurring and project revenue.

The defining feature, and the biggest risk, is a single anchor relationship. Approximately 50% of total revenue comes from one nationally recognized corporate customer with rigorous safety, quality, security, and vendor performance standards. The company has served this client for roughly five years, earned the customer's #1 contractor recognition, and been trusted with some of the largest projects in the client's broader US operations. That tenure and approval process create a genuine barrier to entry, but 50% concentration in one account is the number that will drive every conversation about price and structure.

The operation is professionally managed with 29 full-time employees under an operations manager, superintendents, and division managers, and ownership is not required in the field. A roughly $1M fleet and equipment package is included in the asking price. 2025 actuals were $5.47M revenue and about $1.9M adjusted EBITDA at a 69% gross margin, with 2026 projecting to roughly $7.6M revenue and $2.0M+ EBITDA on about 39% growth. The seller is retiring but the owner and full management team have agreed to remain post-close under negotiated compensation.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is strong on paper: $1.87M adjusted EBITDA on $5.47M of 2025 revenue is a 34% EBITDA margin, with a 69% reported gross margin. Half the revenue is recurring monthly maintenance invoiced year round, which smooths the lumpier construction side and gives real visibility into next year.
The moat is the anchor relationship, and it cuts both ways. Five years of tenure, formal #1 contractor recognition, and passing a demanding vendor approval process for a national corporate client create a genuine barrier to entry that a new competitor cannot replicate quickly. That same relationship is also the single largest concentration risk in the deal.
Market tailwinds are legitimate here. Texas metros are among the strongest population and commercial construction markets in America, which feeds both the recurring maintenance book and the GC-facing landscape construction bidding pipeline. The company is already winning construction work it does not fully chase, which points to white space rather than a saturated market.
Operator advantage is unusually clean for a sub-$10M services deal. A full management layer of operations manager, superintendents, and division managers is already in place, ownership is not required in the field, and the entire senior team plus owner will stay post-close for a wage. A buyer inherits a running org rather than a job.

How to improve it

Diversify the anchor account concentration immediately. Roughly 50% of revenue from one customer is the number that caps valuation and threatens the whole enterprise if lost, so the first 90 days should map every existing corporate campus, shopping center, and government relationship and build a named-account pipeline to bring that single customer below 30% of revenue over 24 months.
Convert more one-off construction wins into recurring maintenance. The company already bids and wins landscape packages for GCs and developers, and every finished project is a warm lead for a monthly maintenance contract on that same site. Institute a standard handoff where construction completion triggers a maintenance proposal, growing the recurring base at near-zero acquisition cost.
Formalize and lengthen maintenance contracts. Push the recurring book toward multi-year terms with annual escalators tied to a cost index, which raises retention, protects margin against wage and fuel inflation, and materially increases the contractual value a future buyer will pay for.
Build a real bid and estimating discipline on the construction side. With 69% gross margins reported, understand exactly which project types drive that and standardize estimating so crews stop chasing low-margin work. Track win rate and margin by project type to concentrate bidding on the profitable GC relationships.
Secure or replace the equipment yard arrangement. The laydown yard is owner-held and only available at market rent, and the two small offices are on cooperative but informal terms. Lock in long-term leases or acquire a yard so operations are not exposed to a landlord relationship that walks out the door with the seller.
Add a light CRM and dispatch layer for the recurring routes. With 29 employees across multiple metros and division managers per market, standardized scheduling and route density optimization can lift crew utilization and margin without adding headcount. This also makes the maintenance book more transferable and less dependent on individual manager memory.
Formalize retention agreements with the operations manager and division managers before close. The listing says they will stay for a wage, but a buyer paying 4.55x EBITDA needs signed retention and non-compete terms, because this deal is only manager-run if those managers actually stay.

Diligence notes

Verify the anchor customer contract in detail: term length, renewal mechanics, termination-for-convenience clauses, pricing, and whether the relationship survives a change of control. At 50% of revenue with a nationally recognized client that runs rigorous vendor approval, confirm the buyer will be re-approved and that the contract does not reset or require re-bidding on ownership transfer.
Reconcile the revenue and EBITDA story carefully. 2025 shows $5.47M revenue with $1.8M net income and roughly $1.9M adjusted EBITDA, while 2026 YTD through August is already $5.05M with a projection of $7.6M. Confirm the adjustments in adjusted EBITDA, understand the 39% growth assumption, and separate recurring maintenance revenue from lumpier construction revenue since they carry very different multiples.
Stress-test the construction versus maintenance revenue split. Construction is project-based and does not recur, so a buyer should know exactly what percentage of the $5.47M and the projected $7.6M is durable monthly maintenance versus one-time build work. The blended multiple looks reasonable only if the recurring share is substantial and growing.
Confirm the fleet and equipment condition and title. The $1M package is included in the price and includes a telehandler, skid steers, mini excavator, and multiple trailers, so verify these are owned free and clear, assess remaining useful life and near-term replacement capex, and make sure the equipment value is not inflating the headline multiple beyond the operating economics.
Assess management depth and owner dependence. Ownership claims to be out of the field, but confirm who actually holds the anchor customer relationship and the key bidding relationships with GCs. If those sit with the departing owner rather than the retained managers, the concentration risk and continuity risk are worse than the listing implies.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →