You want to sell your dry cleaning business? Then it's good to know what the acquisition market in the dry cleaning field looks like. The dry cleaning industry went through a tough time during the pandemic, but has now almost recovered due to the recovery of the tourism industry.
The number of acquisitions in this sector is quite stable.
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 the retail sector, the sector to which dry cleaners belong, an indicative range of EBITDA multiple of 1.9 to 3.0 is currently used, 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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Want to buy a business or sell a business in the retail 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 retail sector. Because in any buying or selling process, thorough preparation provides peace of mind, overview and structure.
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This sector has a lot of self-employed people, and therefore the number of businesses with one employed person is relatively high.
In numerical terms, the number of dry cleaners 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 dry cleaners many growth and acquisition opportunities:
In the US this trend has been going on for years, but in the Netherlands this is far from being a cut-and-dried business. Daily-use hotel rooms involves booking hotels for just a few hours. For dates, prostitution in style or for a good workplace away from home, this option is gaining popularity. This trend creates more work for dry cleaners because the linen package needs to be changed several times on a daily basis.
In many businesses, a three-piece suit is now only a requirement for the CEO, and even this is declining. And with that, the demand for chemical cleaning of ties and suits is also decreasing. Moreover, synthetic fabrics are less wrinkle prone and do not require dry cleaning treatment to get nice and clean. As a result, dry cleaners are best off targeting the larger businesses, rather than individuals, to develop their business.
