Sell a Staffing Agencies business

Owner-operator staffing agencies businesses trade at 2.8x–4.8x SDE for typical $500K–$3M SDE ranges. At $3M+ EBITDA scale the same operators sell at 5x–8x EBITDA. Multiples in this category are ebitda-based and data-sourced from IBBA Market Pulse Q4 2024 + Grant Thornton LMM Report 2025. Where you land in the range is driven by growth trajectory, revenue mix, customer concentration, and management-team depth beyond the owner.

ManpowerGroup, Robert Half, Randstad, and specialty platforms (Kforce, Kelly Services) regularly acquire vertical-specialty staffing agencies as bolt-ons. Active buyer archetypes in commercial services include National strategic, PE roll-up, Family office. Which of these bids for your business depends on scale — sub-$1M SDE is typically individual or search-fund territory, $1-3M SDE opens up PE platforms and strategics, and $3M+ EBITDA gets full LMM buyer attention.

Staffing agencies with vertical specialization (light industrial, healthcare, IT, professional finance) trade at 30-50% premium to generalist agencies — the vertical positioning is what strategic acquirers actually want. Beyond the industry-specific factor, the universal drivers in commercial services are multi-year commercial contracts with clear renewal history; blue-chip customer roster (f1000, healthcare systems, government); certifications: iso 9001, isnetworld, unions where applicable.

Staffing gross margins compress under wage inflation faster than bill-rate increases can pass through; buyers scrutinize your recent margin-trend closely. Buyers in this category also standardly scrutinize contract renegotiation risk on change-of-control and rising labor costs squeezing margin. Addressing these in advance in a well-prepared CIM materially reduces retrade risk during diligence.

Typical transaction range for staffing agencies is $2.0M–$60M in annual revenue. Below that, buyer pool narrows to individual and small-search-fund. Above that, PE platforms and strategics dominate. NAICS code 561320 — buyers screen by NAICS in most deal sources.

From the day you engage a broker to close, expect 6–12 months for a well-prepared business in commercial services. The prep work — financial cleanup, addbacks documentation, key-employee retention agreements, real estate lease sorting — is where 3-6 months of the timeline hides. Starting that early is what separates a full-multiple exit from a discounted one.