What the biggest facility services companies tell us about your business
These five public companies aren’t your peers, they’re what an exit looks like at scale. PE firms use their financials as the starting comp set when they value your cleaning business.
Historical snapshot · Market data: April 2026 · Revenue and growth checked against SEC facts; other fields have separate limits
Five public facility services companies, side by side
Company
Revenue
Growth
Gross Margin
EBITDA Margin
Backlog
EV/EBITDA
Rev/Employee
ABMABM Industries
$8.7B
+4.6%
12.3%
5.7%
N/A
9.5x
$77K
CTASCintas Corporation
$10.3B
+7.7%
50%
28.1%
N/A
31.5x
$220K
ROLRollins Inc.
$3.8B
+11%
52.8%
22.7%
N/A
30.5x
$171K
HCSGHealthcare Services Group
$1.8B
+7.1%
12.8%
5.2%
N/A
12.5x
$51K
ARMKAramark
$18.5B
+6.4%
10.3%
6.3%
N/A
13.9x
$67K
What this means for you
A janitorial contractor cannot copy a Cintas margin without copying its route density, product mix and capital model. ABM and Aramark include complex facility contracts; Rollins adds pest-control routes. Check wage escalation, site-level staffing, lost contracts and cash collection before using this mixed comp set. Retained private multiple ranges are planning scenarios, not observed sale prices.
Operating Benchmarks
How these companies manage labor, cash, and overhead
Revenue and margins only tell half the story. These are the numbers that show how efficiently a facility services business actually runs, how fast they collect, how much they spend on equipment, and how much operating cash remains after the stated cash capital-spending measure, before debt service and owner distributions. When a PE firm or buyer looks at your books, these are the metrics they dig into.
Metric
ABM
CTAS
ROL
HCSG
ARMK
56 days
42 days
35 days
68 days
52 days
28 days
25 days
18 days
22 days
35 days
1.18x
0.95x
0.68x
1.60x
1.08x
1.8%
17%
17.3%
7.6%
2.3%
0.9%
4%
0.7%
0.3%
2.6%
9.1%
38.7%
38.3%
11.6%
10.4%
8%
27.5%
33.5%
6.2%
4.5%
Apply these numbers to your business
Collection Speed (DSO)
Average accounts receivable divided by comparable credit sales, multiplied by days in the period. It is a balance-to-sales ratio, not days past contractual terms. Keep earned but unbilled work and invoice-to-payment age separate.
Comparison and operating check
The retained public DSO references use different definitions and are not a verified private distribution. Compare invoice due dates, customer disputes and payment dates within your own ledger; reconcile the scope before comparing companies.
At an illustrative $3M in revenue, a 20-day comparable DSO reduction releases about $164K in working capital once. If it replaces borrowing at an assumed 10%, it avoids about $16K in yearly financing cost.
Labor Cost as % of Revenue
The single biggest cost in a cleaning business. Includes wages, payroll taxes, workers' comp, and benefits for cleaning staff. This is where cleaning businesses live or die.
Comparison and operating check
No matched private or public labor-cost distribution is reproduced here. Compare site-level paid hours and fully burdened labor with the quoted scope; uniform rental, dietary services and janitorial work have different cost structures.
Illustratively, one percentage point on $3M revenue is $30K before tax if revenue and other costs remain unchanged. Overtime coverage, service quality and replacement costs can offset a wage reduction.
Contract Retention Rate
Renewed eligible contracts divided by contracts eligible to renew, on a stated period and count basis. Separately measure retained recurring dollars and contribution margin.
Comparison and operating check
No verified private retention distribution is supplied. A business can renew nine of ten contracts and lose most of its recurring dollars if the lost contract was its largest. Freeze the renewal population before calculating the rate.
The historical 0.5-1.0x-per-five-point and 93% versus 80% retention examples are unverified valuation scenarios, not measured price premiums. Test contract duration, customer concentration, renewal economics, labor escalation and actual offers together before assigning value.
Cash Actually Generated (FCF Margin)
Matched annual operating cash flow minus cash capital spending on the stated tag basis. This excludes lease-financed additions and some other capitalized costs; it is not cash available to an owner after debt service or distributions.
Comparison and operating check
For a matched annual cash-flow comparison, Matched cash-PPE free cash flow gives different outcomes across these models: Rollins is about 17.3% and Cintas 17.0%; ABM is about 1.8%. These selected ratios do not establish that capital efficiency caused the difference.
Cash generation helps assess financing needs. Deduct debt service, taxes, owner distributions and capital additions outside the stated tag before calling it available owner cash; this ratio does not measure a valuation premium.
Overhead Rate (SG&A)
Everything that isn't a direct cleaning cost: office rent, admin staff, sales team, management, insurance, accounting. As a percentage of revenue.
Comparison and operating check
The retained public SG&A references have different service and classification bases. There is no matched private size-band distribution here. Allocate site supervision consistently before comparing central overhead.
A central-overhead percentage can fall when costs are moved into site labor without changing total profit. Reconcile the classification and identify what remains necessary to deliver contracts before treating it as a saving.
Revenue Per Employee
Total revenue divided by total employees. Shows how efficiently your workforce generates revenue. In cleaning, this is largely a function of billing rates, route density, and labor utilization.
Comparison and operating check
ABM generates about $77K per reported employee, on approximate period-end headcount. HCSG generates $51K. Cintas generates $220K because their model leverages capital equipment. No comparable private productivity distribution is supplied.
Part-time staffing, reported headcount timing, subcontractors and capital equipment can change this ratio without changing worker productivity. Use paid hours and matched site revenue for a labor decision.
Return on Closing Book Equity (ROE)
Reported NetIncomeLoss divided by closing book equity. It is not owner cash return or market investment performance, and it differs from income divided by average equity.
Comparison and operating check
Many cleaning company owners can't cleanly calculate ROE because they mix personal and business finances. Cintas’s matched income divided by closing book equity is 38.7%. The retained ABM book-equity ROE reference is about 9%, with a different ownership and denominator basis from owner cash return. A 10% book-equity reference is a planning screen, not a comparable or guaranteed market investment return.
Review normalized owner compensation and the equity basis separately. A small closing-equity denominator, distributions or leverage can raise ROE without improving contract operations.
Click any row to see what the metric means for your business and the operating checks to run on your own cleaning business.
The cash collection gap
Dated DSO references span 35-68 days; DPO references span 18-35 days. DPO measures supplier payables, not the payroll funding cycle. These balance-sheet ratios are not measured invoice payment ages. Many private cleaning companies face the same mismatch: you pay crews weekly but collect from commercial clients monthly or net-45. At illustrative $3M annual credit sales, a 30-day DSO improvement releases about $247K in working capital once. If it replaces borrowing at an assumed 8%, the annualized interest sensitivity is about $20K while the reduced receivable and borrowing balances persist. This is a scenario, not a verified collection result.
The Valuation Bridge
From public multiples to your exit number
Use public company valuations as one reference point, then examine the adjustments and return requirements a buyer would apply.
Public Companies9.5-31.5x EBITDA, historical EV bases unreproduced
PE Platform Companies7-12x EBITDA
Regional Cleaning Companies4-7x EBITDA
Small / Single-Location2-4x SDE
Public Companies (9.5-31.5x EBITDA, historical EV bases unreproduced)
CTAS, ROL, ABM and ARMK have different service mixes, capital models and margins. These retained April 2026 references do not isolate why their multiples differ and are not private-company valuations.
PE Platform Companies (7-12x EBITDA)
Professionalized cleaning platforms at $30M-$200M revenue with management depth, diversified contracts, cross-selling capabilities, and technology-enabled operations.
Regional Cleaning Companies (4-7x EBITDA)
Owner-operated companies at $3M-$30M revenue. Multiple depends heavily on contract retention rates, labor management, and customer concentration. The typical PE add-on target.
Small / Single-Location (2-4x SDE)
Under $3M revenue. Valued on seller's discretionary earnings (SDE). Buyer pool is individuals, SBA loans, and owner-operators looking to scale. Owner is typically the primary salesperson and supervisor.
What drives the gap between public and private multiples
Contract Retention
Measure opening contracts, eligible renewals, cancellations and retained annualized dollars separately. A count-based renewal rate is not retained revenue. This comparison supplies no verified private-company retention distribution or valuation uplift.
Revenue Predictability
Review contract duration together with termination rights, payment terms and wage escalation. A long contract can lock in a loss when the price cannot follow its cost. These contractual tests do not assign a measured multiple premium.
Labor Management
Reconcile direct wages, payroll taxes, workers' compensation and benefits to the site schedule. Separate productive cleaning, travel and absence coverage. No private labor-cost distribution or achievable margin improvement is measured by these public profiles.
Customer Concentration
Top-three clients above 50% of revenue raise concentration risk; a 1-2x discount is an unverified planning scenario, not a measured rule. ABM serves thousands of clients across industries. More clients do not automatically reduce risk if their contracts depend on the same customer segment, payer or decision maker.
Service Bundling
Test incremental labor, materials and supervision for each added service against its incremental billing. A larger invoice does not prove a better contribution margin or lower customer churn.
Financial Reporting Quality
Reconcile contract revenue, earned-but-unbilled work, site payroll and subsequent collections before diligence. Cash-basis books and incomplete site costing require different adjustments. This comparison does not measure private reporting prevalence or a reporting-quality discount.
Multiple arbitrage: why PE keeps buying facility services companies
Illustrative multiple arithmetic: $500K EBITDA at 5x gives $2.5M enterprise value; the same EBITDA at an assumed 10x contributes $5M before debt, integration costs, dilution and any earnings changes. These assumed multiples do not establish an achievable sale price or explain the separately retained acquisition count. The bridge bands and revenue-tier table are separate planning scenarios, not observed transaction distributions.
The largest U.S. facility services company. Janitorial, HVAC, electrical, parking, and landscaping services across 350+ offices serving commercial, industrial, and government clients. FY 2025 revenue crossed $8.7B, a record year with $1.9B in new sales bookings.
$8.7B
Revenue
5.7%
EBITDA Margin
9.5x
EV/EBITDA
113,000
Employees (approx.)
Why cleaning company owners should care
ABM is an $8.7B facility-services group, not a scaled-up janitorial shop. Business & Industry is about 47% of the retained segment revenue mix, rather than a measured janitorial share. Manufacturing, aviation, education and technical services make the consolidated margin a poor direct target for a cleaning contract. Operator test: reconcile scheduled site hours to paid hours and the contract invoice, including supervisor time and coverage for absences. A profitable-looking contract can lose money when the extra shifts sit in overhead.
“Our fourth quarter results capped an outstanding year for ABM, marked by record full year revenue of $8.7 billion and a record $1.9 billion in new sales bookings. All segments delivered organic revenue growth, led by 10% in Technical Solutions and 8% in Aviation.”
Scott Salmirs, CEO, FY2025 Earnings Release (Dec 17, 2025)Retained historical quote; exact wording has not been independently checked.
CTAS
Cintas Corporation
The gold standard in uniform rental and facility services. Cintas serves over 1 million businesses with uniforms, first aid, fire protection, and restroom supplies, the ultimate recurring revenue machine.
$10.3B
Revenue
28.1%
EBITDA Margin
31.5x
EV/EBITDA
47,000
Employees (approx.)
Why cleaning company owners should care
The retained April 2026 Cintas reference is 31.5x EBITDA, with an unreproduced enterprise-value basis. Its uniform rental and facility-services model differs from a janitorial contract; the retained 82% segment share is not a measured recurring-revenue or retention rate. Operator test: read the price escalator, termination right and scope-change clause together. A three-year agreement with fixed prices and rising wages can be less durable economically than a shorter agreement with enforceable repricing. This public multiple does not establish a contract premium for your company.
“We are a growth company at scale. Our runway for growth is long. We have over 1 million customers, and there are over 16 million businesses in North America.”
Todd Schneider, CEO, FY2025 Earnings Release (Jul 2025)Retained historical quote; exact wording has not been independently checked.
Rollins Inc.
Parent company of Orkin, one of the large global pest control operators. Rollins is the recurring-revenue template for service businesses, over 2.8 million customers and 850+ locations across residential, commercial, and termite services.
Healthcare Services Group
The largest outsourced housekeeping and dietary services provider to healthcare facilities in the U.S. Serves approximately 2,800 facilities with environmental services (janitorial) and food/nutrition management.
M&A Deal Tracker
The consolidation wave is real
Major facility services acquisitions since 2024. Who’s buying, what they’re paying, and what it means for the industry.
Buyer
Target
Deal Value
Multiple
Date
Rollins Inc.
Fox Pest Control
Large pest-control acquisition in this retained transaction list. Route-based recurring revenue model directly comparable to commercial cleaning.
Retained transaction reference. A disclosed price is not a disclosed EBITDA multiple. Unless a calculation and primary source are shown, the multiple and target financial estimates have not been independently reproduced. Earnouts, assumed debt and forecast periods can change the ratio.
~$340M
~15-17x
2024
GDI Integrated Facility Services
Ainsworth Inc.
Canadian janitorial/facility services platform. Technical services + janitorial bundling strategy.
Retained transaction reference. A disclosed price is not a disclosed EBITDA multiple. Unless a calculation and primary source are shown, the multiple and target financial estimates have not been independently reproduced. Earnouts, assumed debt and forecast periods can change the ratio.
~C $460M
~9-10x
2024
Atalian Group
OCS Group
Merger of two European facility services giants creating $5B+ combined platform.
Retained transaction reference. A disclosed price is not a disclosed EBITDA multiple. Unless a calculation and primary source are shown, the multiple and target financial estimates have not been independently reproduced. Earnouts, assumed debt and forecast periods can change the ratio.
~$2B (estimated)
~10-11x
2024
TEAM Group
Multiple regional janitorial companies
PE-backed (Huron Capital) cleaning platform executing aggressive tuck-in acquisition strategy across the Midwest.
Retained transaction reference. A disclosed price is not a disclosed EBITDA multiple. Unless a calculation and primary source are shown, the multiple and target financial estimates have not been independently reproduced. Earnouts, assumed debt and forecast periods can change the ratio.
Undisclosed
~6-8x
2024-2025
Marsden Holding
Multiple facility services acquisitions
One of the largest privately held facility services companies in the U.S. Continuing roll-up strategy across janitorial, security, and building maintenance.
Retained transaction reference. A disclosed price is not a disclosed EBITDA multiple. Unless a calculation and primary source are shown, the multiple and target financial estimates have not been independently reproduced. Earnouts, assumed debt and forecast periods can change the ratio.
Undisclosed
~5-7x
2024-2025
Cintas Corporation
UniFirst Corporation (proposed)
Hostile bid for #2 uniform rental company. Would create dominant uniform + facility services platform. UniFirst rejected offer.
Retained transaction reference. A disclosed price is not a disclosed EBITDA multiple. Unless a calculation and primary source are shown, the multiple and target financial estimates have not been independently reproduced. Earnouts, assumed debt and forecast periods can change the ratio.
$5.3B
~12-13x
Jan 2025
Private Equity (various)
Regional cleaning platforms
Over 30 PE-backed acquisitions in janitorial/facility services in the original historical observation window, whose exact coverage has not been reproduced. Most are add-ons to existing platforms at 5-7x EBITDA.
Retained transaction reference. A disclosed price is not a disclosed EBITDA multiple. Unless a calculation and primary source are shown, the multiple and target financial estimates have not been independently reproduced. Earnouts, assumed debt and forecast periods can change the ratio.
Typically $20-100M
~5-8x
2024-2025
Sources and verification limits are linked with each company and deal. Values may be disclosed or reported; a multiple labeled implied is a calculation rather than necessarily a buyer disclosure. Check the price and earnings basis in the source before treating it as a transaction comp. “N/A” or “Not disclosed” means the terms were not publicly disclosed here.
Historical results and operator tests
What the dated results can help you test
Contract duration and contract economics are different tests
The retained April 2026 table records Cintas at 31.5x, Rollins at 30.5x, ABM at 9.5x and Aramark at 13.9x, with unreproduced EV bases. Those differences do not measure a retention premium. Check cancellation notice, wage pass-through and renewed gross profit alongside renewal counts.
Labor cost management is the margin differentiator
Cintas, ABM and HCSG report different consolidated service mixes. Their margins do not isolate route density or training as a cause. Compare the priced site schedule with actual paid hours, overtime, absence cover and supervisor allocation before diagnosing a labor problem. A bid can meet its hourly target and still miss its contract gross profit.
Over 30 PE-backed acquisitions in janitorial and facility services in the original historical observation window, whose exact coverage has not been reproduced. Cintas bid $5.3B for UniFirst. Rollins spent $310M on 17+ acquisitions in 2025. The fragmented nature of the cleaning industry ($70B+ in the U.S.) makes it a prime target for PE roll-up strategies.
Bundled invoices can hide different service margins
Cintas and Aramark illustrate different bundled service models. Test contribution by service within a site, shared labor allocation and each contract change. Additional services can increase invoice value while reducing total contribution; these selected public companies do not measure a bundling premium.
An automated timesheet still needs a coverage reconciliation
An automation that copies a timesheet successfully has not proved that every site is covered. Reconcile scheduled shifts, submitted timesheets, approved payroll and invoice scope by site and date. Review exceptions for split shifts, travel and replacement workers before changing staffing. This is an operator control, not a measured technology-driven margin gain.
Sources: ROL FY 2025 earnings call; CTAS investor day presentations
Get the full report: Level Cleaning & Facility Services Benchmarks, historical sources and planning examples
Operating benchmarks for private cleaning companies. Historical sources and planning examples for DSO, gross margin, labor cost ratios and EBITDA margins, and historical public-company references for private-business diligence. Free PDF.
Q1 2026. Snapshot last updated: April 2026. Financials come from filings and earnings releases; fiscal periods and adjusted earnings definitions vary. Market valuations are historical snapshots, and the report does not promise current prices or automatic quarterly updates.
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Methodology & Sources
Financial Data
Annual revenue and growth have been checked against the linked historical SEC facts. Each profile states its financial period. Other retained margins, headcounts, ratios and quotes have independent evidence limits. This review does not make the April 2026 market-price snapshot current.
Valuations & Multiples
EV/EBITDA values are retained April2026 historical references with unreproduced EV builds and EBITDA definitions. Private ranges are Level planning scenarios, not a verified transaction distribution. Multiples are point-in-time estimates.
Disclaimer: The Level Market Monitor is for educational and informational purposes only. Level is not a registered investment advisor, broker-dealer, or valuation firm. The information presented does not constitute investment advice, financial advice, or a recommendation to buy or sell securities. All forward-looking statements reflect company guidance and public analyst estimates, not Level projections. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
SEC Filings Referenced
ABM Annual period ended 2025-10-31; SEC filing dated 2025-12-19
CTAS Annual period ended 2025-05-31; SEC filing dated 2025-07-28
ROL Annual period ended 2025-12-31; SEC filing dated 2026-02-12
HCSG Annual period ended 2025-12-31; SEC filing dated 2026-02-13
ARMK Annual period ended 2025-10-03; SEC filing dated 2025-11-25
Frequently Asked Questions
Why should a $3M cleaning company care about companies doing $10B in revenue?
Use them to ask better questions about service mix, site profitability and cash generation. A uniform-rental public company and a local cleaning contractor have different capital needs and buyer pools. The retained multiples do not establish your sale range or the cause of the gap.
What EBITDA multiple can a private cleaning company realistically expect?
Under $3M revenue: 3-5x EBITDA. $3-10M: 4-7x. $10-50M: 6-9x. $50M+ platforms: 8-12x+. The biggest drivers are contract retention rate, labor cost as a percentage of revenue, customer concentration, and whether you have multi-year contracts or month-to-month agreements. These are unverified planning bands, not observed prices or a promise for a company with a given retention or margin.
Why do Cintas and Rollins trade at 30x+ when ABM trades near 9-10x?
This table does not isolate the cause. Service mix, capital intensity, margins, growth and the dated market observation all differ. The EV calculations and exact retention rates are not reproduced here. Use the contrast to examine contract economics rather than assign a private valuation premium.
How often is this data updated?
This is a retained April 2026 market snapshot, reviewed October 7, 2026. Market prices and deal status have not been refreshed to the review date. Annual revenue and specifically listed financial fields are checked against historical SEC facts. Other ratios, quotes, market prices and estimated deal multiples have independent evidence limits. Market valuations reflect publicly available data at the time of update.
Is this investment advice?
No. The Level Market Monitor is for educational purposes, helping cleaning and facility services business owners understand the capital markets context around their industry. We are not a registered investment advisor. Reported filing financials and historical April 2026 market observations have separate bases. Deal estimates, private planning ranges and operating reference points are not all verified filing facts.