M&A Advisory for A/E Firms
Professional guidance for buying and selling A/E firms
Whether you are buying or selling an architecture, engineering, or land surveying firm, we are the M&A advisors who work exclusively in your industry. We understand professional licensing, project-based revenue, and the client relationships that drive value.
Generic business brokers do not. We do, and that focus is what gets deals valued correctly, financed, and closed.
Why A/E Firms Need Specialized Advisors
Project revenue and goodwill are valued differently
Generic brokers do not understand professional licensing requirements, project-based revenue, or the client relationship dynamics that drive value in A/E firms. We work exclusively with architecture, engineering, and land surveying businesses.
We understand billing cycles, cash flow, and overhead rates, and how to properly value firms with significant goodwill. That is the difference between a deal that closes at full value and one that stalls in due diligence.
Our Process
A four-stage process from planning to close
Pre-sale planning
We prepare your firm for sale or acquisition to ensure maximum value: valuation against A/E benchmarks, a Banker's Analysis Report, an offering summary, and a readiness assessment.
Strategic marketing
For sellers, targeted outreach to our proprietary database of A/E buyers built over years at industry conferences. For buyers, our Buyer's Broker Program locates firms that match your criteria.
Expert negotiations
An initial offer is just the beginning. Negotiations and due diligence can run for months. We act as your fiduciary advisor and protect your interests throughout.
Financing solutions
Our commercial lending backgrounds let us speak the banker's language. We arrange SBA financing and other structures under the current SBA program so your deal reflects the latest rules.
For Sellers
What we do on the sell side
Valuation and analysis
A professional Opinion of Value using industry multiples, a Banker's Analysis Report comparing you to similar firms, and the value drivers to improve before you sell.
Confidential marketing
Targeted outreach to pre-qualified A/E buyers, custom video presentations of your firm's strengths, and a confidential process that protects employees and clients.
Transaction management
Offer evaluation and negotiation strategy, due diligence coordination, and closing support through documentation.
For Buyers
What we do on the buy side
Buyer representation
Target identification against your acquisition criteria, market and opportunity assessment, and seller approach with initial negotiations.
Acquisition financing
SBA loan structuring and application support, bank relationship management, and deal structuring for optimal terms.
Due diligence support
Financial analysis and risk assessment, regulatory compliance review, and integration planning.
Insider buyouts
Key employees buying the firm they work for, structured so the owner is paid at closing and the buyers come in with as little as 5 percent down.
Partner and shareholder buyouts
Funding a departing partner's exit with a bank rather than the installment schedule written into the partnership agreement, so they are paid at closing.
Confidential feasibility checks
Before you approach anyone, we confirm privately whether the firm's size, profitability, and cash flow make a buyout financeable, and roughly what it is worth.
Where the Buyers Actually Are
The strongest buyer is usually already in the building
Roughly 87 percent of engineering firms have fewer than 20 employees. Firms that size rarely attract a competitive field of outside acquirers, and the ones that do arrive discount hard for everything they cannot see from the outside.
The people who can see everything are the key employees and junior partners already doing the work. They know the clients, the projects, and the risks, so their due diligence is lighter, the transition is shorter, and lenders view the deal as less risky than an outside purchase.
The obstacle is almost never willingness on either side. It is that neither side knows the deal is financeable. Owners assume selling internally means carrying the note themselves for years, and employees assume they could never afford it. Both assumptions are wrong once a bank is in the structure.
Partner and Shareholder Exits
Your partnership agreement is not the only way to fund a partner's exit
Most partnership agreements say a retiring partner is paid monthly over a period of years, because when they were drafted that was the only funding source anyone could see: the firm's own future cash flow.
We have watched owners take a third-party sale purely because they wanted their money at closing and believed selling to their own partners meant waiting years for it. A bank-financed partner buyout pays the departing partner at closing and leaves the remaining partners owning the firm outright.
The buyout does not change. The funding mechanism does, and the partners have to agree to it with their attorney documenting the change.
Starting the Conversation
Somebody has to raise it first
The single most common reason a good internal transition never happens is that neither side brings it up. The owner does not want to look like they are heading for the exit, and the employee or junior partner does not want to look disloyal. So the years pass and eventually an outside offer arrives.
The best planning window is 3 to 4 years before the owner wants to retire. If you are on either side of that conversation and have not started it, that is the work in front of you, and it is a smaller conversation than it feels like.
The Banking Difference
Why banks trust the deals we bring them
There is a third path beyond selling to strangers or carrying the note yourself. The Step-Up Legacy Plan lets your employees preserve your legacy while a bank ensures your financial security.
We prepare loan packages that get approved, maintain strong relationships with SBA-preferred lenders, understand A/E cash flow patterns, and know how to value goodwill in professional services. That is why our deals move.
Industries We Serve
Architecture, engineering, and land surveying
We focus exclusively on the three disciplines we know best, so we understand exactly what makes each kind of firm valuable.
Architecture firms
Residential and commercial design firms, landscape architecture practices, and planning and urban design consultancies.
Engineering companies
Civil, structural, and mechanical engineering, environmental and geotechnical consulting, and transportation and infrastructure firms.
Land surveying businesses
Boundary and topographic surveying, construction staking and layout, and geographic information systems (GIS).
Common Questions
What buyers and sellers ask us first
- How long does it take to sell an A/E firm?
Selling to key employees usually takes 3 to 6 months. Selling to an outside third party is normally 6 to 12 months from listing to closing, influenced by location, size, type of work, market conditions, and buyer financing.
- What is my business worth?
Value is based on the cash flow your business generates for the owner, the size of your firm, and the type of work you perform. Firms in this industry generally value at 5 to 7 times EBITDA, or 2 to 4 times Seller's Discretionary Earnings for smaller owner-operated practices.
For acquisition lending, banks place the greatest weight on normalized historical cash flow and demonstrated debt service capacity. Projections may support the analysis, but they ordinarily do not replace documented historical performance. It is highly recommended that you have a professional value your business.
- How much money do I need to buy a business?
Less than most buyers assume. An SBA acquisition loan calls for a 10 percent equity injection, and for a key employee buying the firm they already work for the deal is structured so their own cash in the deal can be as little as 5 percent. Working capital helps, and the banks we work with frequently include it in the acquisition loan.
- Should I sell to an outside buyer or to my own people?
It depends on what you actually want, and most owners have not been given a fair comparison. Owners frequently go to a third-party sale purely because they want cash at closing and assume an internal transition means being paid in installments for years. With bank financing, a sale to your employees or your junior partners also pays you at closing, and the firm stays with the people you trained.
- I am a partner, not an employee. Does this work for me?
It works better. Because you already own part of the firm, lenders can treat your existing stake as part or all of the equity injection, which can reduce or eliminate the additional cash you need to bring. The departing partner is paid at closing rather than monthly over the years your partnership agreement contemplates.
- How do I bring this up with the owner without damaging the relationship?
Privately, framed around the owner's future rather than a price, and as a question rather than an offer. Most owners of firms in this size range have no succession plan, and the question lands as relief far more often than as disloyalty. It is worth confirming the numbers with an advisor first so you are opening a real conversation rather than a hypothetical one.
- Is bank financing available for purchasing a business?
Yes, in most cases. We work only with architecture, engineering, and land surveying businesses, and we have relationships with banks that want to finance our clients.
- Are there benefits to using bank financing?
Absolutely. The bank puts more money into the transaction than either the buyer or seller, and conducts extensive due diligence through specialists. The bank also requires an outside third-party valuation, which aligns the buyer's interest with the bank's and lets the seller get paid at closing.
- Do I need an attorney?
We strongly recommend hiring an attorney experienced in business transitions rather than a generalist. We compare it to having a podiatrist work on your heart. Both are doctors, but their expertise is in entirely different areas.
- Should I buy a business or start one?
Buying an established firm gives you immediate cash flow from existing customers, trained staff, proven systems, and a documented operating history. A startup has none of that, which is also why it is a far harder story to take to a bank.
- What is goodwill?
Goodwill is the value of the business beyond its physical assets. If a firm is worth $1,200,000 and its physical assets are valued at $500,000, the excess value of $700,000 is goodwill.
Getting Started
Ready to discuss your goals?
Whether you are considering selling your firm, buying the one you work for, or buying out a partner, we give honest, unbiased advice with no pressure. The best time to start planning is 3 to 4 years before you want to retire.