Municipal Engineering & Aquatic Design Firm, 47-Year Arkansas Practice

Full Editorial Writeup

This is a multidisciplinary engineering and architecture firm based in Little Rock, Arkansas, with nearly 50 years of operating history serving municipal clients across the state. The firm offers an integrated stack of planning, engineering, architecture, aquatics, and construction administration, positioning itself as a one-stop solution for public-sector work. Its distinctive niche is aquatic and recreation design, with an extensive portfolio of aquatic centers, community centers, sports complexes, and recreation facilities.

The business runs lean with 7 full-time employees out of a 3,500 square foot leased office at roughly $2,500 per month. On $1.8M of revenue it throws off $998K of owner cash flow, a 55% SDE margin that is exceptional for a professional services shop and speaks to strong billing rates, low overhead, and principal-level delivery. A meaningful share of revenue comes from Master Service Agreements and recurring municipal engagements, which gives the top line more predictability than a typical project-based engineering firm.

The seller frames this as a planned succession and has committed to staying actively involved for 3 to 5 years, an unusually long runway that de-risks the relationship and knowledge transfer central to any principal-led firm. At a $4M ask against $998K of cash flow, the deal prices at roughly 4x, which is defensible if the earnings survive the seller's eventual exit and the MSA relationships prove transferable.