Illustrative Scenario
Industrial & Commercial Services
How a $28M industrial services provider increased EBITDA by 35% and sold to a strategic acquirer at a 5.5x multiple.
Company Profile
Sector
Industrial cleaning and environmental services
Services
Industrial cleaning, waste management, emergency response
Revenue
$28M
Employees
135 (incl. 95 field operators)
Ownership
Founder-led, 20 years in operation
Exit Timeline
Founder seeking full exit within 12 months
A large industrial services company providing high-pressure cleaning, confined-space entry, waste removal, and emergency spill response to mining, manufacturing, and infrastructure clients. The founder had built the business into a regional leader but was looking for a complete exit to pursue other interests. The business was profitable but operationally complex, with significant safety and compliance obligations.
The Challenges
At $28M in revenue, the business was operating at scale — but its internal systems had not kept pace. Margin compression, compliance risk, and founder dependency were all suppressing the achievable multiple.
Compliance and safety documentation
Operating in high-risk environments required extensive documentation — permits, risk assessments, toolbox talks, incident reports. Most were paper-based or in disconnected spreadsheets. A compliance failure during diligence would have been deal-breaking.
Labour scheduling complexity
With 95 field operators across multiple sites, shift types, and certification requirements, scheduling was a full-time job for three coordinators. Last-minute changes regularly resulted in overtime, unqualified substitutions, or unstaffed shifts costing approximately $520K per year in waste.
Project margin erosion
Large projects (shutdown work, emergency response) were quoted on estimated hours and materials. Actual costs frequently exceeded quotes by 15–20% due to scope creep, poor time tracking, and inconsistent change-order processes.
Founder as the commercial engine
The founder personally managed all tier-one client relationships, negotiated every contract over $100K, and was the sole signatory on procurement. Transitioning this to a management team was essential for any buyer.
Fragmented reporting
Financial data sat across four systems — accounting, payroll, job management, and a custom Access database. Producing a consolidated view of profitability by client, project, or service line took weeks and was error-prone.
What We Implemented
Over 10 months — compressed to meet the founder's preferred timeline — we deployed four major AI and automation initiatives that addressed the core margin and risk issues.
Digital compliance and safety platform
Replaced paper-based safety documentation with a mobile-first system. Permits, risk assessments, and incident reports were captured digitally, time-stamped, and stored in a searchable, auditable database. During buyer diligence, the compliance data room was ready in 48 hours rather than the typical 4–6 weeks.
AI-powered labour scheduling
Deployed an automated scheduling engine that matched operators to shifts based on certification, proximity, availability, and fatigue management rules. Coordinator headcount was reduced from 3 to 1.5 FTEs, and scheduling-related overtime dropped by 62%.
Project cost tracking and change management
Built real-time project cost tracking with automated alerts when jobs approached budget thresholds. Integrated a digital change-order process that required client approval before scope expansion. Average project overruns dropped from 18% to 4%.
Unified reporting and data consolidation
Integrated the four disparate data sources into a single automated reporting layer. Management and prospective buyers could see profitability by client, project, service line, and operator — updated daily rather than monthly.
The Outcome
The business went to market 10 months after engagement, with demonstrably improved margins, a clean compliance record, and consolidated financial data that accelerated buyer diligence.
| Metric | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $28.0M | $29.6M | +5.7% |
| EBITDA | $3.4M | $4.6M | +35% |
| EBITDA Margin | 12.1% | 15.5% | +3.4pp |
| Valuation Multiple | 4.0x (est.) | 5.5x (achieved) | +1.5x |
| Enterprise Value | $13.6M (est.) | $25.3M (achieved) | +86% |
| Project Cost Overruns | 18% avg | 4% avg | -14pp |
| Scheduling-Related Overtime | $520K/yr | $198K/yr | -62% |
In this scenario, the business was acquired at a 5.5x EBITDA multiple, achieving an enterprise value of $25.3M. The compressed timeline was possible because the AI implementations delivered measurable results quickly and the digital compliance platform accelerated the diligence process.
This is an illustrative scenario based on a composite of common operational patterns in industrial services. It does not represent a specific client engagement, and the figures shown are not guaranteed outcomes. Every business is different.
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