Gulf Coast · Texas
Houston business brokers and M&A advisors
MDR & Associates works as business brokers and M&A advisors for Houston owners who want to sell a profitable company confidentially and on the best terms competition can produce. We represent the seller only, from the first opinion of value to the day funds are wired. Our advisors come to you, at your place of business or somewhere discreet anywhere in the metro.
Energy, the port and the medical center: who buys Houston companies
Houston's economy grew out of Spindletop. The 1901 oil discovery pulled the petroleum industry into the region, the Houston Ship Channel opened in 1914, the Texas Medical Center formed in 1945, and NASA's Johnson Space Center arrived in 1961. Today the Port of Houston ranks first in the United States for international waterborne tonnage, the medical center is the largest medical complex in the world with more than 120,000 employees, and Phillips 66, ConocoPhillips, Occidental Petroleum, Halliburton and ExxonMobil have their headquarters in the Houston area. Aerospace, manufacturing and petrochemicals round out the base of a city that counted 2,304,580 residents in 2020.
Around those giants sit thousands of privately held companies that owners eventually sell: fabricators and machine shops, valve, pipe and industrial supply distributors, logistics firms, engineering and staffing businesses, and the HVAC, plumbing and roofing companies that serve homes across Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties. Strategic buyers, many of them already in Houston, buy to add capacity or customers. Private equity groups buy to build platforms. Individual buyers moving to Texas buy smaller, owner-run firms. A well-run sale puts all three in front of your company at the same time.
Houston at a glance
- CountyHarris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties
- Metro areaGreater Houston
- Companies we sell$3M–$100M
- Typical transaction3–9 months
- Fee if we do not closeNone
Selling a company in Houston when revenue follows the oil price
Many Houston companies earn more when crude is high and less when it falls. Buyers know this, and some will anchor their offer on your weakest year. We counter with a financial recast that shows normal earnings across the cycle, separates energy revenue from work for the port, healthcare, municipal or residential customers, and explains what you did in the last downturn to protect margins. A company that held onto its people and its customers through a slump is telling buyers something valuable.
Distribution companies draw steady interest in a city whose port handles more international waterborne tonnage than any other in the country. Buyers look at supplier agreements, inventory turns and how many customers would follow a new owner. Our distribution practice, and sales such as U-Fix-It Appliance Parts, shape how we present those points.
Confidentiality matters even in a metro area of more than seven million people. Industries here are close-knit, and your competitors, lenders and key employees often know one another. Buyers see a blind profile first and must sign a confidentiality agreement and complete a financial profile before they learn your name.
How we run a Houston engagement
It starts with a free, confidential discovery meeting and an opinion of value, a low-to-high range drawn from three years of your financials. If we take the engagement, we prepare a confidential marketing package and a professionally produced HD video, then go to our own database of individual buyers, capital groups and private equity groups before placing any blind ad. Our ten-step process shows every stage, and a principal of the firm is in every negotiation.
We aim for several letters of intent at the same time, because competition sets the price, and we present each offer to you in person. We work alongside your transaction attorney and CPA, and we are paid a success fee only if and when the company sells. Most sales take three to nine months. To set a meeting, use our Houston contact page; we also serve owners across the wider Gulf Coast region.
What we sell in and around Houston
Industry decides the buyer, the multiple and the diligence. These are the four sectors we work in most.
Manufacturing
Equipment, real estate, backlog and customer concentration decide what a manufacturer is worth.
How buyers value itHome Services
Plumbing, HVAC, roofing, landscaping and other home service companies — where repeat customers, crews and technicians decide the price.
How buyers value itDistribution & Wholesale
Inventory, working capital and supplier agreements decide what a distributor is worth.
How buyers value itBusiness Services
Recurring revenue and owner dependence separate a two-times business from a six-times business.
How buyers value itStraight answers
Questions Houston owners ask before they sell
Answered in full by the advisors who run the sales. Every Houston answer.
The process
How a Houston sale runs
Ten steps in four stages, typically three to nine months. Click any step to see it in full.
- Prepare
- Go to market
- Negotiate
- Close
We also work with owners near Houston
Questions owners in Houston ask
Do I have to drive to Frisco to meet MDR & Associates about selling my Houston company?
No. Our corporate office is at 1518 Legacy Dr., Suite 220, in Frisco, but advisors come to Houston owners. We meet at your office, a private conference room or another discreet spot. Much of the early review of three years of financials can happen through secure file sharing before we sit down together.
Will a Houston energy services company sell in a down oil market?
It can, but the price depends on how the cycle is presented. Buyers want earnings across good and bad years, proof that you kept customers during the last slump, and a clear view of revenue from outside oil and gas. We recast the numbers to show that picture, and several competing offers help protect the value.
Which buyers are most interested in Houston manufacturing and distribution companies?
Typically three groups: strategic buyers already serving the energy, petrochemical, port or medical markets who want your customers or capacity; private equity groups building larger platforms; and individuals with capital looking for an established Texas company. We approach all three through our own buyer database so they compete for your business.
Talk to an advisor about your Houston company
Four fields, a reply the same business day, and nothing shared with anyone. If you would rather talk, call (855) 637-2776.