How active is Individual / Owner-Operator in specialty contractor acquisitions?

16 disclosed individual / owner-operator acquisitions of specialty contractor businesses analyzed (6 from 2018+). Run the ExitValue.ai calculator to see what this buyer pool would pay for your specific business.

Who are the most active individual / owner-operator buyers of specialty contractor businesses?

Top recent acquirers by deal count: F5 Finishes, Inc. (2 deals), SafeSpace Global Corporation (1 deals), McGrath RentCorp (1 deals), Bateman Litwin N.V. (:BNLN) (1 deals), LMI Aerospace, Inc. (:LMIA) (1 deals), Stantec Inc. (1 deals).

BUYER POOL ANALYSIS

Selling a Specialty Contractor to Individual / Owner-Operator buyers

Owner-operators, SBA-financed independent buyers, and smaller management buyouts. Pricing reflects what an individual can finance (typically 10-25% down + SBA 7(a)) and operate hands-on. Below typical PE engagement size.

Quick answers

How many disclosed transactions?: 16 deals total (6 from 2018+), filtered to Individual / Owner-Operator acquirers of specialty contractor businesses.
Most active buyers: F5 Finishes, Inc. (2) · SafeSpace Global Corporation (1) · McGrath RentCorp (1) · Bateman Litwin N.V. (:BNLN) (1) · LMI Aerospace, Inc. (:LMIA) (1) · Stantec Inc. (1)
What would this buyer pool pay for my business?: Run the ExitValue.ai calculator to see your specialty contractor priced against the 16 disclosed individual / owner-operator transactions in this segment. The engine surfaces the specific multiples that apply to your size, margin, and growth profile.

Recent disclosed deals

Individual / Owner-Operator acquisitions of specialty contractor businesses with named target and named acquirer.

Year	Target	Acquirer
2024	Glass 8 Holdings, LLC	SafeSpace Global Corporation
2021	Design Space Modular Buildings Inc.	McGrath RentCorp
2019	Contract Carpet Systems Incorporated	F5 Finishes, Inc.
2019	D.S. Baxley, Inc.	F5 Finishes, Inc.
2007	Applied Process Technology International, LLC	Bateman Litwin N.V. (:BNLN)
2007	D3 Technologies, Inc.	LMI Aerospace, Inc. (:LMIA)

What this buyer pool prices for

Individual buyers - owner-operators, SBA-financed independents, smaller management buyouts - price for what they can finance (typically 10-25% down with SBA 7(a) loans up to $5M deal value) and operate hands-on. Pricing is below PE / strategic because the buyer is taking the owner-operator role, not stepping in as institutional capital. Owner-dependency and seasonality matter more here than to a PE buyer.

Methodology note

Deal flow shown reflects disclosed M&A transactions in the ExitValue.ai database, filtered to specialty contractor businesses acquired by individual / owner-operator buyers. Deal counts shown reflect deals with disclosed financials only - total transaction count for this buyer pool is typically 2-3x larger. The valuation engine reveals the specific multiples that apply to your business when you run the calculator above. Full methodology

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Engine-grounded estimate. Comparable individual / owner-operator deals on the full results page.