You want to sell your cleaning company? Then it's good to know what the takeover market in the field of cleaning companies looks like. Starting a cleaning company is relatively easy and does not require a high investment. In the takeover market, the "big five" may well take over these relatively small businesses.
Many big players, such as CSU, ISS and Asito, are trying to expand their customer base through acquisitions. The sector also saw the first time a venture investor (co-)owned a facilities management company in October 2016. Amsterdam Bencis Capital Partners then took a majority stake in Arnhem EW Facility Services. This trend is expected to continue and the "big five" will continue to stir in the acquisition market.
There are many ways to value a business. A common method of expressing the value of a business is "a factor x gross annual profit." This factor is also called multiple and another designation for gross annual profit is EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest Taxes Depreciation and Amortization).
In business services, the industry to which cleaning companies belong, an indicative range of EBITDA multiple of 4.6 to 5.5 is currently applied, according to the Brookz Takeover Barometer. The average EBITDA multiple across all SME sectors is 4.90.
The valuation of a business is often the starting point for negotiations between buyer and seller. The outcome of these negotiations is the final sales price. So valuation and price are two different quantities. Besides valuation, the price is also determined by possible scarcity in the market, bargaining power of the parties, the strategic value of the business for the buyer and possible synergy effects for the buyer (cost savings, purchasing advantages).
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Do you want to buy a business or sell a business in the business services sector? With this Brookz Sector Monitor, we want to present buyers and sellers with facts, figures and an outlook that provide insight into the number of transactions, the value development of businesses and the latest trends and developments in the business services sector. Because in every buying or selling process, thorough preparation gives peace of mind, overview and structure.
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The cleaning industry is a fighting market with often low margins. There are some big players and many small players. Therefore, the cleaning industry is characterized by small scale. Over 90% of cleaning companies have fewer than five employees. There are increasing numbers of new entrants to this low-threshold market, which means competition is fierce and clients are looking critically at value for money.
In figures, the number of cleaning companies in 2024 looked as follows(CBS):
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A number of trends and developments will inevitably cause changes over the next few years, but also offer the cleaning industry many growth and acquisition opportunities:
Due to the global pandemic, cleaners were in extremely high demand to maintain or bring hygiene up to standard. As the number of consolidations increased, so did additional opportunities. Opportunities such as increasing frequency (performing cleaning maintenance more often in jointly used areas), extra cleaning (performing extra cleaning of contact points and daily used surfaces) and deep cleaning (a customized plan to clean and disinfect the entire building).
The cleaning market is highly saturated, making cleaning a commodity. Entrepreneurs are therefore making the strategic choice between specialization or service expansion. When choosing to expand, cleaning is often supplemented with services such as security and catering; creating an all-round facility management organization.
To mitigate rate pressure, the industry is increasingly bringing the value of cleaning to customers' attention. Consider, for example, the increasing emphasis on the aspect of hospitality and the experience of employees and visitors. Furthermore, thinking along with the client about the cleaning method and form of contract leads to a higher appreciation of the cleaning company.
The use of new technologies is strengthening the value proposition; cleaning companies are becoming all-round facility service providers. In particular, big data use can provide clients with relevant management information, such as insight into the use of rooms or facilities. Collaboration with IT is therefore becoming essential. For example, cleaning and IT businesses can develop apps that allow you to reserve a parking space, adjust room temperature or order coffee.
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