Business Services & B2B M&A Advisory
Managed IT, professional services, outsourcing, staffing, and facilities. We advise founders and shareholders selling services companies, and the corporates, funds, and family offices acquiring them. $10m to $100m+ in enterprise value, on outcome-based pricing.
LePrince Group advises on mid-market M&A in business services and B2B, including managed IT, professional services, outsourcing, staffing, and facilities, on both the sell-side and buy-side, globally.
The deepest pool of repeat buyers in the mid-market.
Business services is where mid-market M&A is most active and most reliable. Recurring and contracted revenue makes these companies underwritable, private equity has built dozens of buy-and-build platforms across managed IT, professional services, outsourcing, staffing, and facilities, and a generation of founders is reaching the point of succession. The result is a sector where serious buyers compete for quality, and where a well-run process has real tension behind it.
Managed services in particular has become one of the most consolidated corners of the market, with serial acquirers completing hundreds of transactions a year. For an owner, that depth of demand is leverage. For an acquirer, it means the best companies never reach an open listing, which is exactly why origination matters.
The value drivers in a services business.
Valuation in this sector is mostly a function of revenue quality. These are the levers buyers actually price.
Recurring and contracted revenue
The share of revenue under contract, and its renewal history, is the single biggest multiple driver. The spread between a project-based and a recurring-revenue services business is often the largest valuation gap in the sector.
Client concentration and retention
A book where no client dominates and net retention is strong de-risks the deal. Concentration above roughly a fifth of revenue in one client gets priced, hard.
Owner independence
Buyers pay for a business that runs without its founder. Documented delivery, a second layer of management, and client relationships held by the team, not the owner.
Talent depth and utilization
In a people business, the bench is the asset. Certified, retained, well-utilized teams carry the valuation; key-person risk discounts it.
We sell the revenue quality, not just the revenue.
Preparing a services company for sale means making its recurring base undeniable: contract schedules, renewal and retention history, client-level margin, and a delivery model a buyer can see working without the founder. That is the work we do before a single buyer is approached, and it is why our mandates carry a price we can defend in diligence.
The buyer universe here is broad: platform-building sponsors, strategic consolidators, and family offices building service portfolios. We run them in parallel. A competitive field is what finds the ceiling.
Origination where the best companies never list.
For acquirers, the constraint in business services is not capital, it is access. The strongest companies sell through relationships, not listings. We originate against a clear thesis, qualify revenue quality before you spend diligence money, and structure terms, including earnouts and retention mechanics, so the value you underwrite is the value you receive.
Frequently asked questions.
What multiple does a business services company sell for?
It depends primarily on recurring revenue mix, scale, and client concentration. Recurring-revenue services businesses typically command meaningfully higher EBITDA multiples than project-based peers of the same size; the recurring mix is usually the single biggest lever. We give every prospective client a specific, evidence-based valuation before taking a mandate.
Who buys business services and B2B companies?
Private equity platforms and their add-on programs, strategic consolidators, and increasingly family offices building long-hold service portfolios. The buyer pool in this sector is among the deepest in the mid-market.
How do you value a managed services or recurring-revenue business?
On the quality and durability of its revenue: contracted versus project income, renewal history, net retention, client concentration, and margin by client. We value it the way a buyer will, before we ever take the mandate.
Can you sell a founder-dependent services company?
Often yes, but usually after preparation. Reducing owner dependence is one of the highest-return pieces of pre-sale value creation, and it can change the multiple as well as the buyer pool.
How long does it take to sell a business services company?
Most mid-market sale processes take six to twelve months from preparation to close. Companies with clean contracts and documented delivery move faster and hold their price better in diligence.
You won't find our deals online. That is the point.
We do not publicise mandates, name clients, or announce transactions. The best outcomes are reached quietly, and confidentiality protects the seller, the process, and the price.
Confidential by default
A sale is the client's business, not our marketing. The market learns only what serves the client.
Selective by mandate
We take a limited number of companies and turn the rest down. Selectivity is the product, not a constraint on it.
Vetted and verified
If we represent a company, it is proven to be one of the best in its category, with a clear opportunity for the right buyer.
Selling or acquiring a services company?
Every conversation starts with the LePrince Read: an honest, evidence-based view of what the business is worth and whether it would sell. Confidential, and yours to keep.
We take a limited number of mandates. Request a conversation if:
- Your company is in the $10m to $100m+ enterprise value range
- You operate in or adjacent to our four sectors
- You want an honest read, not a flattering one