Most UK facilities management businesses with EBITDA of £0.5m to £5m sell for between 5x and 8x EBITDA. Technical and compliance specialists, and larger platforms, regularly achieve 9x to 12x. The gap between those two outcomes is rarely luck: it comes down to what you deliver, how your contracts are written, and how well your numbers stand up when a buyer looks hard at them.
FM has become one of the busiest corners of UK mid-market M&A. Private equity is building platforms, trade buyers are consolidating, and the cost of labour has changed the questions buyers ask. This article sets out who is buying, what they are paying, what moves the multiple and where FM deals most often lose value in diligence - whether you are thinking about selling, or about growing by acquisition.
In short
Owner-managed UK FM businesses typically sell for 5–8x EBITDA. Technical and compliance specialists, and larger platforms, regularly achieve 9–12x.
Our analysis of 41 UK and Irish FM deals since 2019 gives a median of 6.7x EBITDA and 0.65x revenue.
Buyers pay more for contracted, recurring revenue, self-delivered technical work and a management team that runs the business without the owner.
Labour costs, TUPE and change-of-control clauses are where FM deals most often lose value in diligence.
Buying smaller businesses at 5–7x EBITDA to build a group valued at 9x or more is open to well-run owner-managed businesses, not just private equity.
Who is buying FM businesses in 2026?
Demand for good FM businesses is the strongest it has been for years. 50 facilities management deals were recorded in the UK and Ireland in Q2 2026, 31% above the long-term quarterly average of 38 (Arrowpoint Advisory). Across H1 2026, private equity was behind 58% of transactions, and more than 86% of PE deals were bolt-ons into existing platforms (Moore Kingston Smith).
Three types of buyer dominate:
PE-backed platforms buying single-service businesses - fire, water hygiene, M&E, lifts, cleaning - to add capability and regional coverage. Most bolt-ons sit in the £5m to £25m revenue range.
Large consolidators such as OCS, which merged with Atalian Servest’s UK, Irish and Asian operations (£650m, 2023), bought FES FM from Forth Holdings (£176m, 2024) and acquired Emcor UK (c.£190m, 2025).
International and US investors entering the UK through a first acquisition, then building around it.
For an owner, that means more potential buyers than ever, but also more sophisticated ones. They know the sector’s risks and will price them.
What are FM businesses selling for?
We analysed 41 UK and Irish FM transactions since 2019 with a disclosed value of £5m to £250m. The median deal was valued at 6.7x EBITDA and 0.65x revenue, with the middle half of deals between 5.5x and 12x EBITDA. Smaller deals (under £50m) had a median of 6.6x; larger platforms traded higher. Cooper Parry’s December 2025 sector review reaches a similar answer: about 8.5x across recent transactions, or about 6.4x after a typical private-company discount.
| Business type | Typical EV/EBITDA | What buyers see |
|---|---|---|
| Cleaning, security and other soft FM | 4–6x | Labour-heavy, competitive retenders, thinner margins |
| Integrated or total FM | 5–8x | Broader relationships, but margin depends on subcontract mix |
| Hard FM: M&E and planned maintenance | 7–10x | Recurring, skilled, harder to replace |
| Compliance specialists: fire, water hygiene, lifts | 8–12x+ | Regulation-driven, non-discretionary demand |
Recent deals with disclosed values show the spread:
| Target | Year | Buyer / investor | Value | EV/EBITDA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maxim FM | 2025 | OCS | £6.6m | 14.1x |
| FES FM (from Forth Holdings) | 2024 | OCS | £176m | 9.6x |
| Nexgen | 2024 | Bidvest Noonan | £42m | 5.5x |
| ECG Facilities | 2024 | Mecsia | £22m | 9.7x |
| Incentive FM | 2022 | Atalian Servest | £28m | 6.7x |
| Orbis Protect | 2021 | Synova Capital | £88m | 12.9x |
| Pareto FM | 2021 | NVM Private Equity | £14m | 5.5x |
| Arcus FM | 2020 | ESO Capital (minority stake) | £44m | 4.6x |
Source: Bayside Advisory analysis of disclosed UK and Irish FM transactions, October 2026. Multiples on deal-year EBITDA where available, otherwise prior year. Ranges by business type are indicative.
The pattern is consistent: buyers pay a premium for technical capability and recurring revenue, and a discount for labour intensity and contract risk. We look at the most contested compliance niche in more detail in Selling a fire and security business.
Five things that move your multiple
Two FM businesses with the same EBITDA can be valued several turns apart. These are the factors buyers weigh most.
Recurring, contracted revenue. Multi-year planned maintenance and service contracts are worth far more than reactive or project work. Buyers will split your revenue by type, so know the split before they do.
Client concentration and contract terms. One client above 15–20% of sales, short notice periods or change-of-control clauses that let clients walk away on a sale will all be priced in.
Service mix and self-delivery. Directly employed engineers delivering compliance and technical work command a premium. Heavy reliance on subcontractors reads as lower margin and less control.
Margin resilience. Fast revenue growth is attractive, but not if margin falls as you grow. Buyers will look at gross margin by contract and ask whether wage increases are passed through.
A business that runs without you. If the owner holds the key client relationships, wins the work and signs off every quote, expect a lower price or more of it deferred. A credible second tier of management is one of the quickest ways to protect value.
Our Exit Readiness Audit scores your business against drivers like these. For owners with a sale in view over the next one to three years, our exit planning work focuses on strengthening them before a buyer tests them.
Labour costs: the first question buyers will ask
Labour is typically half or more of an FM business’s costs, and it has become more expensive on several fronts at once. Employer National Insurance rose to 15% in April 2025. The National Living Wage rose to £12.71 an hour in April 2026, and statutory sick pay is now payable from the first day of absence under the Employment Rights Act, with further changes to follow (Kreston Reeves).
Buyers want to see which contracts allow these costs to be passed on, how much has actually been recovered, and what the margin looks like contract by contract. Owners who can show that evidence clearly hold their price; owners who can’t tend to see it renegotiated late in the process.
Where FM deals lose value in diligence
FM diligence is less about the accounts and more about people and contracts. These are the issues that most often lead to price chips, retentions or delays:
TUPE. Every contract win or loss moves staff. Buyers check that transfers were handled properly, that terms have been harmonised and that any public-sector pension obligations are understood.
Change-of-control clauses. If key clients can terminate or must consent on a sale, buyers will want those consents, or a lower price.
Right to work. Civil penalties are now up to £45,000 per illegal worker and £60,000 for repeat breaches (Shepherd and Wedderburn). A buyer will test your checks.
Minimum wage compliance. Unpaid travel time between sites and uniform deductions are common sources of historic underpayment.
Compliance records. For hard FM: engineer certifications, gas, F-gas, fire and water hygiene records, and incident history.
Subcontractor status. Long-term subcontractors who look like employees create tax and employment risk.
None of these need derail a sale if they are found and fixed early. Found by the buyer, each one becomes leverage. Clean financial reporting and forecasting shortens the process too: buyers move faster when the numbers answer their questions before they are asked.
Growing by acquisition instead
The same market dynamics create an opportunity for FM businesses that want to buy rather than sell. Acquiring small, single-service businesses at 5–7x EBITDA and building a larger, more technical group that would be valued at 9x or more is the logic behind most PE platforms - and it is available to well-run owner-managed businesses too.
The acquisitions that tend to create the most value fall into three groups:
Technical capability. M&E, planned maintenance and compliance specialists that let you self-deliver work you currently subcontract. This usually lifts margin and makes contracts stickier.
Regional density. Businesses in cities where your national clients have sites you can’t serve well today. One consistent provider across an estate is a strong retention argument.
Adjacent services. Front of house, hospitality, specialist cleaning or sector expertise (life sciences, education, critical environments) that deepen existing client relationships.
What separates successful acquirers from the rest:
Fix the core first. Buying businesses on top of a slipping margin multiplies the problem.
Set screening criteria before you look. For example: at least 70% recurring revenue, no client above 15–20% of sales, a directly employed workforce, clean compliance records and an owner willing to stay for 12–24 months.
Plan the funding. Cash, debt capacity (often around 2x EBITDA for a business this size) and deferred consideration all play a part.
Start close to home. The first deal should be the easiest to integrate. Systems, helpdesk and reporting need to absorb it before the second.
Allow for TUPE and client consents in the timetable. They are usually the longest pole in an FM deal.
Our Buy & Build work covers market mapping, target screening, approaches and deal support. Our founders have sat on both sides of the table as investors, advisers and operators, and have run acquisition searches for clients - see our track record.
Frequently asked questions
How are facilities management businesses valued?
Most are valued as a multiple of adjusted EBITDA, typically 5–8x for UK owner-managed FM businesses, then adjusted for net debt and working capital. Adjusted EBITDA strips out one-off costs and normalises owner pay.
What multiple does a cleaning or soft FM business sell for?
Typically 4–6x EBITDA. Businesses with long contracts, low client concentration and margins protected by indexation can achieve more.
Why do hard FM and compliance businesses sell for more?
Their work is recurring, often required by regulation and delivered by skilled engineers who are hard to replace. Buyers see lower risk of losing contracts and more stable margins.
How long does it take to sell an FM business?
Often six to nine months from appointing advisers to completion. The preparation that protects value - contracts, reporting, management depth - is best started one to three years earlier. If you are already talking to a single interested buyer, our bilateral sale support is built for that situation.
Does TUPE apply when I sell my business?
In a share sale, your employees stay employed by the same company, so TUPE does not apply to the sale itself. In an asset sale it does. Either way, buyers will review how TUPE has been handled on your past contract wins and losses.
Talk to us
If you own an FM business and want to understand what it could be worth, what would move that number, or how acquisitions could accelerate your growth, we are happy to talk it through.
All initial conversations are strictly confidential.
About the author: Stephen Murray is a co-founder of Bayside Advisory and a Chartered Accountant. He spent more than ten years in private equity at BGF, YFM and Frontier Development Capital, originating and executing investments and sitting on portfolio company boards.