How to sell a low voltage business: the steps, the documents, the timeline and what hurts the price

Part of the Low voltage guide: buying, selling, valuation and who is buying.

To sell a low voltage business, show a buyer clean books, a clear split between repeat work and one-off projects, and a team that runs jobs without you. Then run a quiet sale to several buyers at once. This guide is for owners of structured cabling, network, audiovisual, camera and access control companies who want to sell in the next one to two years. It adds the sector detail to our guide on how to sell a business. The wider picture is in buying or selling a low voltage business.

Step 1: What financials does a buyer want to see?

A buyer wants three years of filed tax returns that match your profit-and-loss statements. Add monthly P&Ls and a balance sheet for this year. Lenders read the tax returns, so the two must agree.

Then make the earnings clear. Small firms are priced on SDE, which is profit plus your salary and the personal costs you run through the company. Larger firms are priced on EBITDA, with a manager's pay left in the costs. Every add-back needs a receipt and a one-line reason. Our guide to adjusted EBITDA shows what counts.

Low voltage firms have one more job: work in progress. Cabling and AV jobs often run for months. Bill ahead or behind, and the profit in a given year looks wrong. Ask your CPA to show over- and under-billings on each open job, so a buyer can trust the margin.

Step 2: How do you split service revenue from project revenue?

Split revenue into three lines, for each of the last three years, with the gross margin on each.

Most firms book all of this in one sales account. A buyer then sees one number and assumes it is all project work. Split it, and show how many service customers renewed each year. Two firms with the same profit can get very different offers once the split is clear.

Step 3: How do you document customers, contracts and backlog?

Build one customer list. For each top customer, show how long they have used you, what they spent each year, and whether there is a master service agreement. Mark which work came direct and which came through a general contractor.

Next, list the backlog: signed work not yet done. Give the expected margin on each job, not just its size. Buyers test backlog hard, because a big backlog at thin margins is worth less than it looks.

Then read every service contract for an assignment clause. Many need the customer's consent before the contract moves to a new owner. Know that before a buyer asks.

Watch the share of revenue from any one customer or builder. Over 20 to 25% from one source makes a buyer price in the risk of losing it. Our page on customer concentration explains how buyers measure it.

Step 4: Which licences and certifications go with the business?

Low voltage work is licensed in many states, and the rules differ. Often the licence sits with a person, not the company. That is the biggest sector risk in a sale.

California is a clear example. The state licence board has a separate C-7 Low Voltage Systems class for systems that are energy limited and do not exceed 91 volts. The board's C-7 page also says low voltage fire alarm systems are not included. So a firm that also does fire alarms needs more than one licence.

Make a register: each licence, whose name it is under, its expiry date, and which jobs depend on it. Add the training certificates your technicians hold, including any maker certifications you need to sell or service certain camera, access control or AV brands. If the key licence is yours and you plan to leave, put a qualified manager in place before you go to market. Licensing is state law, so have a lawyer check the transfer path in your state.

Step 5: How do you value a low voltage business?

Value it on a multiple of SDE or EBITDA. The share of repeat revenue, the size of the firm and how much it relies on you set where in the range you land.

We track asking prices from 15+ business-for-sale marketplaces. Our October 2026 data has only 5 low voltage listings, which is too few to publish a sector figure. So we use a public benchmark instead.

The IBBA and M&A Source Market Pulse is a quarterly survey of business brokers and M&A advisors about deals they closed. The Q4 2025 highlights give average multiples across all industries:

Read it as a ladder, not a quote. A larger firm with a project manager and a strong service book sits higher. A small, bid-driven firm run by its owner sits lower.

Step 6: How do you find buyers without telling staff and customers?

Three kinds of buyer look at low voltage firms. Private equity firms and independent sponsors build platforms. IT, security and electrical companies buy to add services. Individual buyers use an SBA loan for smaller firms.

The IBBA's release on the Q4 2025 survey says individual buyers made 44% of lower middle market acquisitions in 2025, and private equity about one fifth. Recent buyers in this trade are named in our post on who is buying security businesses.

Keep it quiet. Start with a one-page teaser with no name. Ask for an NDA, then share the confidential information memorandum with the numbers from Steps 1 to 4. Do not post the business where your technicians will see it. A lead tech who hears a rumour may leave, and may take a client with them.

Step 7: What happens between the letter of intent and closing?

The letter of intent sets the price, the structure and a window, often 30 to 90 days. In that time the buyer checks everything and you stop talking to other buyers. In this trade, diligence has four extra parts.

1. Job costing. The buyer compares bid margins with real margins on past jobs. Big gaps raise questions about the backlog.
2. Contracts. Service agreements are read for assignment and change-of-control clauses.
3. Licences and people. Who holds each licence, which techs are certified, and who plans to stay.
4. Warranty and callbacks. Open warranty work and repeat callbacks on past installs are costs the buyer will carry.

If something turns up, expect the price or the terms to move. That might mean a bigger seller note, an earn-out tied to results, or an escrow for a known issue. Buyers like sellers who stay. In the ComNet Communications deal, the press release said the CEO and his team would stay to lead the business.

Step 8: What documents do you need, and how long does it take?

Here is the file a prepared seller hands over, in the order it is needed.

These are ranges we see, not promises. Preparing the books and lists takes two to six months. Marketing to a signed letter of intent takes three to six months. Diligence to closing takes 30 to 90 days. So 12 to 24 months from deciding to sell to closing day is normal.

How do advisors and brokers charge, and what hurts the price?

Most sell-side advisors and business brokers are paid mainly at closing, as a percentage of the price. Some add a monthly retainer or an upfront fee for marketing. Before you sign, ask three things: the fee on the price you expect, what you owe if the deal fails, and how long the tail runs after the agreement ends.

Five things lower offers most for low voltage firms:

• Owner dependence. If you hold the licence, win the bids and run the big jobs, a buyer is buying a job with a hole in it.
• Project-heavy revenue. Bid work through general contractors is lumpy and goes to the lowest price.
• One big customer or builder. Over 20 to 25% from one source is a risk buyers price in.
• Messy job costing. If you cannot show profit by job, buyers assume the worst.
• Staff who will leave. Certified techs and project managers are hard to replace.

Fix what you can in the year before the sale. For tax questions, such as an asset sale versus a stock sale, talk to a CPA and a lawyer first. Owners who want a second opinion on value or timing can book a free call or read what we do on the sell page. I have advised buyers and sellers of small and mid-sized businesses since 2016, and these are the questions that decide most deals.