Gulf Coast · Texas
Sour Lake business brokers and M&A advisors
If you plan to sell a business in Sour Lake, MDR & Associates can represent you as your M&A advisor, from the first estimate of value to the day funds are wired. The town sits at the crossing of State Highways 105 and 326 in southern Hardin County, and we meet owners there in person, at their business or somewhere private.
Where Texaco began
Settlement here dates to about 1835, when Stephen Jackson received a 4,428-acre land grant from the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas. Oil changed everything in 1901: shortly after the strike at nearby Spindletop, Sour Lake became a short-lived boomtown, and the Texas Company, formed in 1903 and later known as Texaco, traces its origins to these fields. The Sour Lake oilfield produced about 90,000,000 barrels up to 1948 and is described as the oldest continuously producing oil field in the world.
Today it is a small town of 1,773 people (2020 census) in the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area. Highway 105 runs 14 miles east to the U.S. 69 freeway near Beaumont and 46 miles west to Cleveland; Highway 326 goes 18 miles north to Kountze and 7 miles south to U.S. 90 at Nome.
Sour Lake at a glance
- CountyHardin County
- Metro areaBeaumont–Port Arthur
- Companies we sell$3M–$100M
- Typical transaction3–9 months
- Fee if we do not closeNone
A small-town sale needs a wide buyer search
In a town this size, the right buyer is rarely next door, and the wrong conversation with a neighbor can leak. That is why we reach out to our own database of individual buyers, capital groups and private equity firms before anything else, and use blind listings on the big business-for-sale sites only if they are needed. Each buyer proves funding and signs a nondisclosure agreement before seeing details. Our guide to how we sell your business explains each part.
Getting a number before you decide
Many owners want to know what the company is worth before they commit to anything. The valuation snapshot gives a quick online range, and a free discovery meeting gives a fuller opinion of value once we have seen three years of financials. For companies with $3 million to $100 million in revenue, value is most often three to seven times adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, corrected for owner items), depending on growth, customer mix and how well the business runs without you. Owners closer to Houston can also read our Houston page.
What we sell in and around Sour Lake
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 Sour Lake owners ask before they sell
Answered in full by the advisors who run the sales. Every Houston answer.
The process
How a Sour Lake 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 Sour Lake
Questions owners in Sour Lake ask
Is my Sour Lake company too small for MDR?
We work with profitable companies that have roughly $3 million to $100 million in annual revenue and two to three years of records that reconcile. If your business is below that range, the discovery meeting will tell you so honestly. We also decline engagements where we do not believe we can sell for maximum value.
Do buyers still care about oilfield history in Sour Lake?
History alone does not set a price; current earnings do. If your company serves energy customers, buyers will ask how concentrated those accounts are and how revenue moved in down years. If it serves households or other businesses, they will focus on repeat work and staff. Either way, clean three-year financials carry the most weight.
Talk to an advisor about your Sour Lake company
Four fields, a reply the same business day, and nothing shared with anyone. If you would rather talk, call (855) 637-2776.