Midwest Building-Supply Distributor Sold for $2.65M, 20% Over Asking
Rachel Horner
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3 min read
About the Business
Industry: Building & Construction Supply – B2B Distribution & E-commerce
Location: Midwest
Size: $4M–$4.5M in annual revenue, 1,400+ repeat contractor customers
Sale price: $2,650,000 (asking price: $2,200,000)
Listing to signed LOI: 65 days
Signed LOI to close: 159 days
The Challenge: Retiring on Their Own Terms
Over 16 years, the owners built a gutter-supply distributor that now makes more than half its sales online and ships directly from suppliers, with no warehouse to run. They weren’t under pressure to sell, but they wanted to retire while the business was strong, choose the next owner, and step back gradually.
“Baton was the only firm out of dozens who approached us that continued to follow up with me/us until the time was right for us to get really serious about listing our business for sale.”
65 Days to a Signed LOI: How Baton Turned Heavy Demand Into a Premium Price
What happened at every stage
Valuation: Baton set the asking price at $2.2M, about 3.9 times cash flow.
Buyer Outreach: In the first two months, 194 buyers viewed the listing and 94 opened the data room. The owners met with 28 of those buyers.
Offer Selection and Negotiation Support: Twelve early offers, three of them at full asking price, turned into 18 letters of intent. Instead of taking the first full-price offer, the Baton advisor sent final counters to five finalists, and the winning offer came in at $2.65M, 20% above asking.
Diligence and Closing Support: Baton worked through an SBA lender review, a lease assignment, and a mid-process SBA rule change that meant re-signing the letter of intent. The new LOI was countersigned in two days with no change to price or terms.
The Results
The buyer, an engineer with years of building-supply experience and family in neighboring home-supply businesses, now runs the company full-time. Through Baton’s competitive process, the business:
Sold for $2,650,000, 20% over its $2.2M asking price
Received 18 letters of intent in under two months
Closed with $2,350,000 in cash at closing (an SBA 7(a) loan plus buyer equity) and a $300,000 seller note, with no earnout
What’s next for the owners?
The owners are working through a six-month step-down transition, putting in fewer hours each month before heading into retirement.
Advice and Lessons for Future Sellers
Sell from a position of strength. Because the owners didn’t need to sell, they could hold out for the right price and buyer.
A strong first offer isn’t always the best offer. A structured final round added $450,000 over asking.
Choose the buyer, not just the number. The owners picked someone they trusted to carry on what they built.