Profitable Water & Sewer Contractor with $2.2M Equipment Fleet

Turnkey platform: licensed, union-affiliated, and growth-ready

Missouri, MO

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Overview

Year Established
1971
EBITDA
$745,281
Employees
17 full time
Inventory
$10,000 (Included in asking price)
FFE(Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment)
$2,256,323 (Not included in asking price)

Business

Description

A rare opportunity to acquire one of the most established and respected underground utility contractors in the St. Louis metropolitan market. With 38+ years of continuous operation, five intact production crews, approximately $2.2 million in owned equipment, and a five-year median Owner Cash Flow of roughly $947,000, this is a mature, cash-generating platform.

The Company installs water services, sanitary sewer laterals, conduit, and related underground infrastructure for the region's leading residential homebuilders and electrical contractors, and has expanded into commercial and multi-family trenching. Authorized contractor for the area's principal water utility and metropolitan sewer district and licensed across five Missouri counties plus a major municipal jurisdiction - an authorization base a new entrant would need years to assemble.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (2021-2025, from tax return normalizations)

• Revenue: $2.SM - $3.8M

• EBITDA: $337K - $759K, reaching a 29.9% margin in the most recent year

• Owner Cash Flow (SDE): $571K - $977K; 5-year median approximately $947K, 5-year average approximately $823K

• Minimal leverage: liabilities of $263,815 against assets of $1,505,772 as of 12/31/2025 (17.5% debt-to-asset ratio)

• Shareholders' equity growth of 156% over the five-year period

RESILIENCE, PROVEN

The most recent fiscal year tested this model and it held. A temporary disruption in work orders from the largest builder relationship cut revenue to a five-year low - yet disciplined cost management delivered the highest Owner Cash Flow in Company history, the strongest EBITDA margin on record, payoff of outstanding equipment financing, and retention of all five crews. That relationship has since been restored and the Company entered the current year building backlog. Labor is structured as a variable cost that moves with revenue, a natural hedge against volume swings.

WHAT MAKES IT DEFENSIBLE

• Licensing, water district authorization, and sewer district contractor status across the operating territory

• Grandfathered union operating-engineer status and long-standing laborer union relationships that a new entrant cannot replicate; several major customers require or strongly prefer union labor

• Customer relationships measured in decades - the anchor builder relationship spans 36 years

• Deep local knowledge of soil, geology, inspectors, and engineering standards

• Fleet that would cost $2M+ and years of lead time to rebuild

• A service immune to automation and AI displacement

PEOPLE AND CULTURE

Five Foreman-led crews operate largely unsupervised, supported by a full-time mechanic performing 90%+ of maintenance in house and a part-time material manager. Employee tenure is exceptional, with no voluntary resignation of a key employee in several years, and two high-potential successors already in Foreman roles.

THE UPSIDE

The Company has never employed a salesperson, never run a marketing campaign, and never had a website until recently. Every dollar of revenue came from reputation and referral. The owner estimates 100% of jobs personally and openly describes himself as the capacity constraint. Adding a dedicated estimator/business developer and one production crew could reasonably target $1M+ in incremental revenue without a proportionate cost increase - and adjacent markets in commercial, multi-family, basement excavation, and municipal infrastructure repair remain essentially untapped as federal water infrastructure funding continues to flow through 2035.

IDEAL BUYER

An experienced construction, utility, plumbing, or excavation operator ready to step into an owner-operator role, or a strategic acquirer seeking instant licensed capacity, a productive field team, and a pathway to the dominant homebuilder in one of the Midwest's most active construction markets.

Qualified buyers must execute an NDA, submit a background summary, and demonstrate financial capacity. Contact the advisor to begin.

Growth Prospects

Growth has been deliberately constrained by a single owner-operator, leaving ready-to-execute levers: add an estimator/business developer to pursue builders not currently served ($400K-$800K upside); add one production crew ($500K-$700K per crew on $80K-$150K of equipment); expand commercial and multi-family utility work; add basement excavation to sell footings-through-utilities into existing relationships; and pursue municipal repair work as infrastructure funding flows. Management believes the business can double in five years.

Sale

Reason for Selling

Retirement

Training/Support

Seller provides a minimum 30-day onsite training and consultation period, with additional transition support negotiable - he is motivated to see the buyer succeed. Includes transfer of estimating, scheduling, and site-condition knowledge, introductions to all key customers, suppliers, and associations, full diligence access, and a non-compete.

Premises

Facilities

Included: approximately $2.2M (purchase cost) of equipment - 13 work trucks, 15+ trailers, 11+ excavators and loaders, a boring machine, locating systems, and extensive specialty tooling, much of it 2022-2024 vintage and maintained in house. Also included: name, brand, and goodwill; all licenses and authorizations; accounting system and customer/vendor records; a labor supply agreement; and five material caches. Real estate is excluded; the equipment yard is leased at favorable terms and that lease is expected to transfer. Buyer arranges office space.

Location

Missouri, MO

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