245D Home Care & 144G Assisted Living, 19-Bed Twin Cities MN Provider

$4.7M

Revenue

$1.5M

SDE

5.9x

Multiple

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a long-established home and community-based services (HCBS) operator in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro, running two complementary and separately licensed lines: a 245D licensed home care business (Homemaker, ICLS, IHS, Customized Living) and a 144G licensed assisted living facility with 19 beds. The combination means the business captures revenue both from in-home support services delivered across a geography and from a dedicated residential facility, with the real estate included in the asking price.

The standout asset here is the grandfathered 19-bed license. Minnesota tightened its licensing framework with the 144G assisted living statute, and grandfathered capacity is functionally a regulatory moat: new entrants face a far harder path to the same license posture. That scarcity is why the seller is restricting buyers to existing industry operators who can demonstrate financial qualifications, which is both a diligence signal and a narrowing of the buyer pool.

On the numbers, the business runs $4.71M of revenue and $1.45M of SDE, roughly a 31 percent owner-earnings margin, which is healthy for a labor-heavy care model. The $8.6M ask includes $1.5M of real estate, so the operating business is effectively priced near $7.1M, or about 4.9x SDE on the ops alone. For a recurring, essential-needs care business with a protected license and owned real estate, that is a defensible but not cheap multiple that will live or die on payer mix and staffing stability.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is strong for the category, with $1.45M SDE on $4.71M revenue, about a 31 percent margin. Care businesses with this profitability usually have both stable census and disciplined labor scheduling, which is exactly where margin leaks happen in senior care.
The grandfathered 19-bed 144G license is a real regulatory moat. Minnesota's licensing regime makes new assisted living capacity hard to add, so an existing protected license is scarce inventory that a new competitor cannot simply replicate with capital.
Senior care is about as recession-resistant as it gets. Aging demand does not pause in a downturn, and the dual 245D home care plus 144G facility model diversifies revenue across both in-home and residential services billed on recurring service plans.
Real estate is included at a stated $1.5M, so the buyer controls the physical facility rather than renting it. That removes landlord and lease-renewal risk, supports SBA or conventional financing against the property, and gives the operating business a durable home base.

How to improve it

Audit payer mix and reimbursement in the first 90 days. Understand the split between Medicaid waiver (Elderly Waiver, CADI), private pay, and any managed care, because rate exposure determines both margin durability and pricing power on the private-pay side.
Build a census and occupancy dashboard for the 19 beds plus a utilization view on the home care caseload. Running at or near full facility occupancy while expanding billable home care hours is the fastest path to lifting the $1.45M SDE without new licensing.
Attack staffing and turnover directly, since labor is the single largest cost and biggest risk in HCBS. Lock in PCA and caregiver retention with scheduling tools, referral bonuses, and a documented hiring pipeline to reduce overtime and agency staffing leakage.
Tighten compliance and documentation ahead of any license survey. Clean 245D and 144G records protect the grandfathered status that underpins the entire valuation, so invest early in an EHR or care-management system that enforces documentation standards.
Expand the home care service lines into the existing geography. With ICLS, IHS, Homemaker, and Customized Living already licensed, cross-selling additional authorized hours to current clients grows revenue with minimal incremental fixed cost.
Develop referral relationships with hospital discharge planners, case managers, and county waiver coordinators. A consistent referral engine smooths both facility census and home care intake, reducing the lumpiness that hurts care-business cash flow.

Diligence notes

Verify the grandfathered 144G license status in writing and confirm it transfers to a new owner without triggering re-licensing under current rules. The entire moat and much of the valuation rest on this, so get regulatory counsel and the state licensing agency on record.
Break out revenue and margin between the 245D home care operation and the 144G facility. These are different economic models with different payer exposure, and a buyer needs to know which engine drives the $1.45M SDE and how dependent it is on Medicaid waiver rates.
Scrutinize the SDE add-backs and separate the real estate economics from operations. With $1.5M of RE inside the $8.6M ask, confirm whether a market rent is being charged against operations or whether owned real estate is flattering the reported cash flow.
Investigate staffing dependency, PCA/caregiver turnover, and any reliance on the current owner for clinical or administrative oversight. The buyer-must-be-an-industry-operator requirement signals operational complexity, so quantify what expertise is needed day one.
Confirm census trends and client concentration over the trailing 24-36 months. A facility running near full and a stable home care caseload support the multiple, while declining occupancy or a few large waiver clients leaving would materially change the risk.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →