Gulf Coast · Texas
Texas City business brokers and M&A advisors
Texas City owners who want experienced business brokers on their side can hire MDR & Associates, which represents the seller only and runs each sale on competing offers. Texas City sits on the southwest shore of Galveston Bay, ten miles from Galveston and 37 from Houston, and is home to the Galveston Bay Refinery and a deepwater port. An advisor from our firm will meet you at your office or another discreet location.
A port founded by Minnesota investors, built out by refining
Investors from Minnesota, the Myers brothers among them, founded Texas City in the 1890s, and the Texas City Improvement Company was organized in 1893. The first ship arrived in 1904 and growth followed quickly. Refineries came in the early 1900s, expanded during World War II, and were joined by a petrochemical complex after the war. Today the Galveston Bay Refinery ranks as the second-largest in Texas, and the Port of Texas City is the third-largest port in the state. The 2020 census counted 51,898 residents.
Interstate 45 and State Highway 146 tie the city to Houston and the rest of the bay, and a levee system limited the damage from Hurricane Ike in 2008. For a company that supports the refinery, the port or the petrochemical plants, that mix of heavy industry and highway access shapes the buyer pool: industrial service firms and private equity groups already working around the bay and the Houston area. Our distribution page is a good starting point for supply and logistics companies.
Texas City at a glance
- CountyGalveston County (part in Chambers County)
- Metro areaGreater Houston (Houston–Galveston)
- Companies we sell$3M–$100M
- Typical transaction3–9 months
- Fee if we do not closeNone
Long payment terms and the working capital question
If your largest customers are refineries or terminal operators on long payment terms, a good deal of cash sits in receivables. In a sale that becomes part of the negotiation over working capital, the level of receivables, inventory and payables the buyer expects to find in the business at closing. Sellers who do not understand this can give back part of the price without noticing. We set a fair working capital target from your monthly history and negotiate it in the letter of intent, before due diligence starts.
Running a Texas City sale, step by step
We treat the first meeting as a working session: free, private and focused on what the company earns and what you want next. An opinion of value follows. Buyers get the blind profile first and details only after an NDA and a financial profile. See our Gulf Coast page and Houston page for the wider market.
What we sell in and around Texas City
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 Texas City owners ask before they sell
Answered in full by the advisors who run the sales. Every Houston answer.
The process
How a Texas City 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 Texas City
Questions owners in Texas City ask
Does Texas City's industrial history make buyers more cautious about my company?
Buyers of industrial companies anywhere look hard at safety, insurance and environmental compliance, and near large refineries they look harder. A clean record is an asset worth showing. We gather incident logs, training records and insurance history before marketing so buyers see the facts early and do not treat the unknown as risk.
Can I sell only part of my Texas City company now and the rest later?
Sometimes. Some private equity buyers purchase a majority stake and leave the owner with a minority share that is sold later, possibly at a higher value if the company grows. That structure carries risk as well as upside, so we explain the trade-offs and compare it with a full sale before you decide.
Talk to an advisor about your Texas City company
Four fields, a reply the same business day, and nothing shared with anyone. If you would rather talk, call (855) 637-2776.