Similar businesses sell at 1.2x to 4.7x SDE. Compare live listings and connect with sellers.
National transaction benchmarks for lumber business businesses.
Under $500K
Over $2M
A variety of factors can cause businesses to trade outside this range, including earnings quality, operational transferability, key-person risk, growth trajectory, and geography, so a listing priced above or below the typical multiple usually reflects real differences in the underlying business.
Cofounder & CEO
Key diligence, valuation, financing, and transition considerations for buyers evaluating lumber business acquisitions.
Underwrite the property and machinery separately from the operating business. About 28 percent of these businesses own their real estate, and sawmills, kilns, and millwork equipment represent substantial tangible value. Get independent values for the real estate and equipment so you know how much you are paying for an operating business versus a collection of hard assets.
Normalize earnings across a commodity cycle, not a single year. Lumber and wood-product prices are notoriously volatile, and a strong trailing year can reflect a price spike rather than a durable business. Look at three to five years of earnings through the cycle before you anchor on a multiple near 3.2 times earnings.
Scrutinize how inventory is valued and how exposed it is to price moves. Wood inventory can be significant and is exposed to both price declines and deterioration. Understand the inventory accounting, turnover, and aging, and whether the business is long inventory into a falling market.
Map whether revenue comes from contractors, retail, or industrial accounts. A wood-products business serving diversified contractor and industrial customers is steadier than one dependent on a few builders whose volume tracks local construction. Get revenue by customer and by segment and understand the local construction exposure.
Verify environmental and safety standing for any milling or treating operation. Sawmilling, drying, and especially wood-treating operations carry environmental, air-quality, and safety obligations, and treating chemicals add contamination exposure. Review permits, inspection history, and any remediation issues.
Plan to finance the hard assets, since sellers carry less here. Only about 14 percent of these sellers advertise financing, which fits an asset-heavy category where buyers often use real-estate and equipment-backed lending. Build your financing around the appraised value of the property and machinery.
Answers to common buyer questions for this market.
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