You want to sell your staffing agency? Then it's good to know what the takeover market in the field of staffing agencies looks like. Despite the corona crisis, the need for a flexible shell will continue to exist. Furthermore, it is causing certain work to change or even disappear altogether, making retraining and job-to-job coaching for flex workers increasingly important for staffing agencies, for example.
The major parties in the staffing industry are on an acquisition hunt, mainly to buy market share. In this way they think they can find an answer to the increasing margin pressure and price competition. Due to the increasing importance of ICT, takeovers in the temporary employment sector are increasingly looking at the synergy between the various parties' back offices and automated systems. Still, the staffing sector remains a peoples business. The cultural fit between two broadcasters is and remains the most important success factor for the success of a merger or acquisition.
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 staffing agencies belong, an indicative EBITDA multiple range of 4.6 to 5.5 is currently in place, 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).
Do the calculation
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.
Download report
Staff shortages are putting the brakes on growth in the flex industry, according to ING. There is strong growth for the cyclical flex industry, in which stricter regulations limiting flexibility.
In figures, the number of staffing agencies in 2024 looked as follows(CBS):
With this online training from Brookz you are optimally prepared to largely sell your business yourself: 25 Powerpoint videos, a comprehensive valuation report, legal model contracts, handy templates, checklists and expert support. Plus 50% discount on listing your business on Brookz!
To Brookz Academy
A number of trends and developments will inevitably cause changes over the next few years, but also offer the staffing industry many growth and acquisition opportunities:
There is a structural shift from permanent to flexible employment contracts. Employers are increasingly reluctant to hire permanent employees. This is due in part to increasingly complex labor legislation and the associated risks. However, the main driver of flexible employment relationships is the need for employers to allow personnel costs to move with the market and their own revenue potential.
Online platforms automate recruitment and selection using algorithms. They also take over administrative tasks such as scheduling, time registration and invoicing. This makes them cheaper and faster than current players in the long run. Technological innovations are also making automatic "matching" ever better. Platforms such as Deliveroo and Uber (transportation), Temper (hospitality work) and LinkedIn (recruitment) show how platforms are already taking over partial tasks from the flex industry.
Temping agencies are more often choosing to fill the flex needs of clients broadly. To this end, they offer additional services such as payrolling or secondment. The emphasis is coming to lie on offering more different services, in order to be able to completely unburden clients in this way.
