Larger companiesConstruction companies

How do I sell a larger construction company? General and commercial contractors

You sell it to a buyer who can carry your bonding and finish your backlog. Under about $20,000,000 in sales that's often a nearby contractor or your own managers. Above it, private equity funds and bigger builders bid, and from $200,000,000 the sale runs in rounds. Each size below has its own answer.

Construction

14 min read

Figures: IRS tax year 2023Census 2022TagniFi through March 2026Market Pulse through Q2 2026Read November 12, 2026

Legend Atty · Founder, BridgeBook

Published November 12, 2026

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What profit do building contractors keep?

The short answer: building contractors filing as S corporations kept 4.8%^[1] of sales as business profit in tax year 2023, by our math on IRS figures for every size. That's the thinnest of the three construction rows. Census counted 36,962^[2] construction firms with $10,000,000 to $99,999,999 in sales in 2022.

Business profit on tax returns: 4.8%^[1]Builders filing as S corporations, all sizes, tax year 2023
Before interest, depreciation and amortization: 5.9%^[1]By our math, with equipment-sale gains
Construction firms your size: 36,962^[2]Employer firms, $10,000,000 to $99,999,999 in sales, 2022, all kinds of construction
Where our figures stop: $50,000,000Of sale price. Past it, this page shows other publishers’ figures

Read the first figure as every building contractor filing as an S corporation, losses included, as a share of what they took in. It comes before the owners' own income tax. The row counts 225,007 returns, and the average one took in far less than $10,000,000, so a builder your size is far bigger than the typical filer.

The second figure is our math: business profit with interest, depreciation and amortization added back. It's close to EBITDA, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, the profit a larger buyer prices. The IRS withholds one of this industry's equipment-sale lines, so the figure keeps those gains in.

The last three rows of Exhibit 1 come from another IRS table. It sorts S corporations in every industry by business receipts, which this page calls sales.

Exhibit 1

Building contractors beside the rest of construction and the size bands, tax year 2023

Band is sales

Building, site work, specialty trade and all construction S corporations, and S corporations by size of sales, tax year 2023: business profit on tax returns and the figure before interest, depreciation and amortization.
Industry or size	Business profit on tax returns	Before interest, depreciation and amortization
Construction of buildings all sizes	4.8%	5.9%*
Heavy and civil engineering construction and land subdivision all sizes	7.4%	11.1%*
Specialty trade contractors all sizes	8.0%	10.4%*
Construction all sizes	6.7%	8.4%
$10,000,000 to $50,000,000	7.3%	9.1%
$50,000,000 to $250,000,000	6.1%	8.0%
$250,000,000 or more	5.9%	8.2%

* Includes gains on selling equipment, which the IRS doesn't publish for this industry.

Sorted by business receipts, which this page calls sales. Before interest, depreciation and amortization = (business profit + interest + depreciation + amortization − net gains on selling equipment) ÷ total receipts, by our math on IRS figures.^[1]^[3]

Source: IRS Statistics of Income, Tax Year 2023^[1]; IRS Statistics of Income, Tax Year 2023, released September 2026^[3]. Industry rows cover every size of company. Size rows are all industries.

Site work and the trades keep more of each sale before interest, depreciation and amortization. Here's how a civil construction company sells and how a trades contractor sells.

What does a builder earn and sell for at each size?

At the building rate of 5.9%, a made-up builder earns $590,000 on $10,000,000 of sales and $17,700,000 on $300,000,000. Our calculator prices commercial construction on its own range, not the all-industry one. We print it only for companies that would sell for up to $50,000,000, so the two largest sizes get none.

Exhibit 2

Seven made-up builders at the IRS building rate of 5.9%

Band is sales

Seven made-up building contractors: sales, the IRS size row for that size, EBITDA at the building rate, and what our calculator puts on it
Sales	IRS size row	EBITDA at 5.9%	Our calculator
$10,000,000	9.1%	$590,000	$1,789,419 to $2,863,070
$20,000,000	9.1%	$1,180,000	$3,584,955 to $5,566,539
$30,000,000	9.1%	$1,770,000	$6,039,768 to $9,435,653
$50,000,000	8.0%	$2,950,000	$10,325,000 to $16,225,000
$100,000,000	8.0%	$5,900,000	$20,650,000 to $32,450,000
$200,000,000	8.0%	$11,800,000	Not printed
$300,000,000	8.2%	$17,700,000	Not printed

Source: IRS Statistics of Income, Tax Year 2023^[1]; IRS Statistics of Income, Tax Year 2023, released September 2026^[3]. Made-up examples. The rate is building construction S corporations of every size. Ranges are our calculator's commercial construction range, checked November 2, 2026, printed only up to a sale price of $50,000,000.

Builders run under the size row at every size, which is why this page prices them at their own rate. The size row is every S corporation that size, in any industry.

How do I sell a construction company with $10,000,000 in sales?

At this size the price can fit under one SBA loan, so buyers include individuals, nearby contractors and your own managers. A made-up example at the IRS building rate of 5.9%: it earns about $590,000 a year, and our calculator puts that at $1,789,419 to $2,863,070.^[1]

IRS size row, all industries: 9.1% before interest, depreciation and amortization, sales of $10,000,000 to $50,000,000
Our commercial construction range: Reaches this example

The IRS puts all S corporations with $10,000,000 to $50,000,000 in sales at 9.1% before interest, depreciation and amortization. Builders of every size run at 5.9%, so you keep less of each dollar than most companies your size.

Under $1,000,000 of owner's earnings our calculator prices on SDE, seller's discretionary earnings: profit plus the owner's own pay. A buyer can borrow up to $5,000,000^[4] on one SBA 7(a) loan, a bank loan the U.S. Small Business Administration backs. A builder priced in this range fits under it.

Bonding comes up early. Your surety, the company that guarantees your bonds, decides whether to keep backing the company under a new owner. A buyer who can't get bonded can't bid your next bonded job.

Booked calls with a dedicated advisor start at $700,000 of yearly profit. At the building rate this made-up company sits under it, so the free valuation is the first step.

Across every industry: what a company with $10,000,000 in sales is worth.

How do I sell a construction company with $20,000,000 in sales?

Often to a larger builder in your region, or to a private equity fund adding you to a builder it owns, with more than one bidding. A made-up example at 5.9%: about $1,180,000 a year, which our calculator puts at $3,584,955 to $5,566,539.^[1]

IRS size row, all industries: 9.1% before interest, depreciation and amortization, sales of $10,000,000 to $50,000,000
Our commercial construction range: Reaches this example

Between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000 of owner's earnings, our calculator blends owner's earnings with EBITDA. At this size the made-up builder is in that zone, so it's priced on a blend of owner's earnings and EBITDA.

A private equity fund, which buys companies with its investors' money, often comes in through a builder it already owns. You'd be an add-on: a company bought to join one the fund owns. In PitchBook's count, about three of every four U.S. buyouts in the second quarter of 2026 were add-ons^[5].

Our commercial construction calculator asks how much signed backlog you carry, against one year of revenue. The answers are more than 12 months, 6 to 12 months, or less than 6. Backlog is signed work you haven't done yet. Only contracts a buyer can take over count.

Across every industry: what a company with $20,000,000 in sales is worth.

How do I sell a construction company with $30,000,000 in sales?

To a contractor or fund in your field, or to a search fund, an investor who buys one company to run. A made-up example at 5.9%: about $1,770,000 a year, which our calculator puts at $6,039,768 to $9,435,653.^[1]

IRS size row, all industries: 9.1% before interest, depreciation and amortization, sales of $10,000,000 to $50,000,000
Our commercial construction range: Reaches this example

That range sits under what the same profit would bring on our all-industry range, $6,853,968 to $9,892,339. In our calculator's notes, builders close below the all-industry figure because their revenue comes job by job, on thin margins.

Search funds can bid at this size. In 2024 and 2025 they paid a median $16,000,000^[6] for the companies they bought, Stanford reports. A builder at this range sits under that.

Buyers here read your work-in-progress schedule: a job-by-job list of contract value, cost to date and billing. It shows whether you've billed ahead of the work or behind it. Our view: a schedule your controller updates every month answers most first questions.

Across every industry: what a company with $30,000,000 in sales is worth.

How do I sell a construction company with $50,000,000 in sales?

To buyers who price your EBITDA and want proof of your backlog, your job margins and your bonding before they sign. A made-up example at 5.9%: about $2,950,000 a year, which our calculator puts at $10,325,000 to $16,225,000, priced on EBITDA.^[1]

IRS size row, all industries: 8.0% before interest, depreciation and amortization, sales of $50,000,000 to $250,000,000
Our commercial construction range: Reaches this example

The IRS starts its next band at $50,000,000, so a builder with exactly that much in sales counts in the $50,000,000 to $250,000,000 row. Companies there kept 8.0% before interest, depreciation and amortization, against 9.1% one band down. At 5.9%, a builder is still under both.

From here our calculator prices on EBITDA alone. In its notes, the top of the commercial range needs three things. They're a year or more of signed backlog, project managers and estimators, and bonding a buyer can carry over.

Expect the buyer to hire accountants to rebuild your profit job by job. That's a quality of earnings report, an outside test of whether your profit holds up. PKF O'Connor Davies writes that it has long been standard in deals with company values of $10,000,000 to $1,000,000,000^[7].

At this size the money tied up in running your jobs starts to move the price. A contractor's holds two things most companies don't. One is retainage, the part of each bill a customer keeps until the job ends. The other is billing ahead of or behind the work. Here's how a sale settles that money.

What the peg means

Working capital is the money tied up in running the business day to day. It's what customers owe you, plus inventory, minus the bills you owe. You and the buyer agree on a normal amount of it that the business hands over at closing. That agreed amount is called the peg, or the target. If the business has less than the target on closing day, the price goes down by the gap. If it has more, the price goes up by the difference.

A made-up example

What customers owe you: $3,000,000
Plus inventory: $2,500,000
Minus the bills you owe: $1,800,000
Working capital on closing day: $3,700,000
The target (the peg): $4,000,000
Short of the target: $300,000
Price in the letter: $40,000,000
Price at closing: $39,700,000

Had it come in $300,000 over the target, the price would have been $40,300,000. Some deals set a small band around the target where the price doesn't move.

The target is usually an average of your last 3 to 12 months^[8], Lincoln International says. Agree how retainage and billing ahead of the work count before you sign the letter of intent. That's the buyer's written offer, signed before its full checks. The working capital peg, step by step.

Across every industry: what a company with $50,000,000 in sales is worth.

How do I sell a construction company with $100,000,000 in sales?

To a fund buying its first company in your field, a larger builder entering your region, or a fund adding you to one it owns. A made-up example at 5.9%: about $5,900,000 a year, which our calculator still prices, at $20,650,000 to $32,450,000.^[1]

IRS size row, all industries: 8.0% before interest, depreciation and amortization, sales of $50,000,000 to $250,000,000
Our commercial construction range: Reaches this example

Thin margins keep a builder this size inside our figures: at 5.9%, the made-up company's range tops out at $32,450,000. A site work or trades company with the same sales earns more at its own IRS rate. That's enough to push its price past $50,000,000, where our figures stop.

A platform is the first company a fund buys in a field. An add-on is bought to join it. At this size you could be either, and the answer changes who you'd report to.

Exhibit 3

Construction deals in TagniFi's table, by company value

Band is company value

Other publishers' figures, not ours

Other publishers' figures by size: TagniFi.
Company value	Multiple of EBITDA	Statistic	Buyers	Period	Publisher
$10,000,000 to $50,000,000, construction	5.3x	Median	All buyers	Twelve months to March 31, 2026	TagniFi^[9]
$50,000,000 to $200,000,000, construction	6.6x	Median	All buyers	Twelve months to March 31, 2026	TagniFi^[9]

These figures come from outside reports, not from BridgeBook's own data: each one counts different deals in its own way, so read them as a guide to the market, not as a price for your company.

Source: TagniFi, Twelve months to March 31, 2026^[9].

TagniFi's construction rows mix builders with trades and site work. Read them as context, never as a price for you.

Funds often ask you to keep a stake. In GF Data's 2024 count, 63.6%^[10] of private equity deals of $10,000,000 to $500,000,000 used rollover equity, part of the price kept as shares. It averaged 14.5% of the price. How rollover equity works.

Across every industry: what a company with $100,000,000 in sales is worth.

How do I sell a construction company with $200,000,000 in sales?

In rounds: a short list of buyers sends price ranges, then the best few send letters of intent. A made-up example at 5.9%: about $11,800,000 a year. That's past where our own figures stop, companies that sold for $50,000,000, so we don't put one on it.^[1]

IRS size row, all industries: 8.0% before interest, depreciation and amortization, sales of $50,000,000 to $250,000,000
Our commercial construction range: Ends at a $50,000,000 sale price

A builder earning $11,800,000 would sell for more than $50,000,000, past where we print figures of our own. Exhibit 4 shows other publishers' figures instead, with the rows nearest that profit marked. None of them is a price for you.

Exhibit 4

Other publishers' figures for company values of $50,000,000 and up

Band is company value

Other publishers' figures, not ours

Other publishers' figures by size: GF Data and TagniFi.
Company value	Multiple of EBITDA	Statistic	Buyers	Period	Publisher
$50,000,000 to $100,000,000	8.7x	Average	Private equity, platform buyouts	Through the third quarter of 2025	GF Data^[11]
$100,000,000 to $250,000,000Near yours	10.0x	Average	Private equity, platform buyouts	Through the third quarter of 2025	GF Data^[11]
$100,000,000 to $500,000,000	9.8x against 7.0x under $100,000,000	Average	Private equity, platform buyouts	Through the third quarter of 2025	GF Data^[11]
$50,000,000 to $200,000,000Near yours	9.0x	Median	All buyers	Twelve months to March 31, 2026	TagniFi^[9]
$200,000,000 to $500,000,000	11.4x	Median	All buyers	Twelve months to March 31, 2026	TagniFi^[9]
$50,000,000 to $200,000,000, construction	6.6x	Median	All buyers	Twelve months to March 31, 2026	TagniFi^[9]

These figures come from outside reports, not from BridgeBook's own data: each one counts different deals in its own way, so read them as a guide to the market, not as a price for your company.

Source: GF Data, Through the third quarter of 2025^[11]; TagniFi, Twelve months to March 31, 2026^[9].

Public engineering and construction companies earned 8.0%^[12] of sales as EBITDA in NYU Stern's data as of January 2026. They're far larger companies, and their figure sits above the building rate on this page.

Escrow is part of the price held back after closing to pay any claims. In SRS Acquiom's 2024 deals, the median escrow was 10.0% of deal value without reps and warranties insurance^[13]. That's a policy that pays the buyer if a promise in the contract proves wrong. With it, the median was 0.35%. On each $100,000,000 of price, that's $10,000,000 held back against $350,000, our arithmetic.

Across every industry: what a company with $200,000,000 in sales is worth.

How do I sell a construction company with $300,000,000 in sales?

To big builders, to private equity funds that already own large companies, or to your own employees through an employee ownership plan. A made-up example at 5.9%: about $17,700,000 a year, which only outside reports describe at this size.^[1]

IRS size row, all industries: 8.2% before interest, depreciation and amortization, sales of $250,000,000 or more
Our commercial construction range: Ends at a $50,000,000 sale price

The IRS has one last band for $250,000,000 or more in sales, and exactly $250,000,000 counts in it. Its 8.2% before interest, depreciation and amortization comes from companies that averaged $715,078,611 in sales. It says more about giant companies than about a builder your size.

Other publishers' bands are wide. These are their rows nearest $17,700,000 of EBITDA, and we turn none of them into a price for you.

Exhibit 5

Other publishers' figures near $17,700,000 of EBITDA

Band is company value

Other publishers' figures, not ours

Other publishers' figures by size: GF Data and TagniFi.
Company value	Multiple of EBITDA	Statistic	Buyers	Period	Publisher
$100,000,000 to $250,000,000Near yours	10.0x	Average	Private equity, platform buyouts	Through the third quarter of 2025	GF Data^[11]
$50,000,000 to $200,000,000Near yours	9.0x	Median	All buyers	Twelve months to March 31, 2026	TagniFi^[9]
$200,000,000 to $500,000,000Near yours	11.4x	Median	All buyers	Twelve months to March 31, 2026	TagniFi^[9]

These figures come from outside reports, not from BridgeBook's own data: each one counts different deals in its own way, so read them as a guide to the market, not as a price for your company.

Source: GF Data, Through the third quarter of 2025^[11]; TagniFi, Twelve months to March 31, 2026^[9].

An ESOP is one more way out at this size. It's a trust that buys the company for its employees. The National Center for Employee Ownership says companies with fewer than 20 to 30 employees and $1,000,000 of EBITDA^[14] aren't good candidates. You're well past that.

An ESOP can't pay more than the fair market value^[14] an appraiser sets, so compare it with what outside buyers offer. Here's who buys a company your size and a company with $300,000,000 in sales.

Across every industry: what a company with $300,000,000 in sales is worth.

What do buyers check first in a builder?

Whether next year's work is signed, bonded and run by people who stay. This is what buyers ask for, in the order they usually ask.

Backlog: each signed job, its value, what's left to do and whether the contract can move to a new owner.
The work-in-progress schedule for the last three years, and how close finished jobs came to their bid margin.
A letter from your surety on your bonding limits, and what it would need from a buyer.
Your project managers, superintendents and estimators: who they are and whether they'd stay.
Your biggest customers, and how much of your revenue each one brings.

Check your license early. In many states a builder's license names one qualifying person. If that's you, a buyer will want to know who qualifies it after you leave.

What moves the price of a construction company?

Profit first, then how sure the next year looks. Our commercial construction calculator asks two questions after your sales and profit: your signed backlog, and how much revenue comes from your biggest customer.

For the biggest customer it offers less than 15%, 15% to 30% or more than 30% of revenue. Repeat work from one developer is a strength until it's a big share of your year. Then a buyer prices in the chance it stops.

Margin works the same way. The rate on this page is every builder together. A builder who beats it on finished jobs, year after year, has a stronger case than one with a single good year.

What we'd look at first

Bring these four to a first call with a dedicated advisor. They're what we'd open first in a builder's books.

How far each finished job's margin moved from its bid, over the last three years.
Today's backlog and when each job ends.
Your surety letter and your bank line.
Who would run the company the day after you leave.

Then your advisor shows you where the sold-deal data puts a builder with your profit or, past its reach, what other publishers report. That number is often lower than an owner hopes, because it's the one a buyer's accountants will test.

Questions about selling a construction company

How do I sell a construction company with $10,000,000 in sales?

How do I sell a construction company with $20,000,000 in sales?

How do I sell a construction company with $30,000,000 in sales?

How do I sell a construction company with $50,000,000 in sales?

How do I sell a construction company with $100,000,000 in sales?

How do I sell a construction company with $200,000,000 in sales?

How do I sell a construction company with $300,000,000 in sales?

What profit margin do building contractors make?

Building construction S corporations reported 4.8% as business profit in tax year 2023, and about 5.9% before interest, depreciation and amortization, by our math on IRS figures for every size. The second figure includes gains on selling equipment, because the IRS withholds one of this industry's equipment-sale lines.

Does backlog raise the price of a construction company?

Signed backlog a buyer can take over makes next year easier to count on. Our commercial construction calculator asks for it against one year of revenue.

Will my bonding move to a buyer?

Not by itself. Your surety, the company that guarantees your bonds, decides whether to keep backing the company under its new owner. Talk to it before you sign a letter of intent.

Next for a builder your size: what a company sells for, by revenue, what a quality of earnings report tests and what you take home from the price.

Where these numbers come from

The sold-deal data behind our calculator: IBBA and M&A Source Market Pulse, closed deals. Our figures checked November 2, 2026.

IRS Statistics of Income, Corporation Income Tax Returns Complete Report (Publication 16), Table 6.1, Form 1120-S by major industry. Tax Year 2023. Read November 12, 2026.
U.S. Census Bureau, Statistics of U.S. Businesses 2022, by enterprise receipts size. 2022, released April 10, 2025. Read November 12, 2026.
IRS Statistics of Income, Corporation Income Tax Returns Complete Report (Publication 16), Table 3.2, Form 1120-S by size of business receipts. Tax Year 2023, released September 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) loans. Opened November 12, 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
PitchBook, Q2 2026 US PE Breakdown. Second quarter of 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
Stanford Graduate School of Business, Search Funds Keep Offering a Proven Path to Ownership. Purchases in 2024 and 2025. Read November 12, 2026.
PKF O'Connor Davies, Quality of Earnings Goes Mainstream. September 15, 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
Lincoln International, Bridging the Gap Between Target and Closing Net Working Capital in M&A Deals. Modified May 12, 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
TagniFi, PowerComps Middle Market Update for the first quarter of 2026: Quality Over Quantity. Twelve months to March 31, 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
GF Data (ACG), GF Data Highlights Fourth Quarter, 2024. Full year 2024. Read November 12, 2026.
GF Data, The Size Premium Returns to 2.8x: How Employee Ownership Helps Smaller Platforms Compete. Through the third quarter of 2025. Read November 12, 2026.
Aswath Damodaran, NYU Stern, Operating and Net Margins, Margins by Sector (US). Data as of January 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
SRS Acquiom, 2025 M&A Deal Terms Study. Deals closed 2019 to 2024. Read November 12, 2026.
National Center for Employee Ownership, How an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) Works. Opened November 12, 2026. Read November 12, 2026.

Percentages are BridgeBook's arithmetic on the IRS dollar figures.

Outside figures are other publishers', named and dated, and they don't feed our calculator. How we use outside figures

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