What the biggest contractors in America tell us about your business
These five public companies aren’t your peers, they’re what an exit looks like at scale. Their financials offer useful reference points when you match business mix, financial periods and accounting definitions.
Historical snapshot · Market data: April 2026 · Revenue and growth checked against SEC facts; other fields have separate limits
Five issuers; sum of stated annual periods with different fiscal ends
$27.6B
Retained Backlog / RPO
FIX, EME and IESC only (3 of 5 contractor issuers); APG and LMB not reported. Retained backlog and remaining performance obligations have different definitions and periods.
19.7x
Median EV/EBITDA
5 positive historical April 2026 references
8
Deals & Events Tracked
Selected retained transaction references
Industry Scorecard
5 public contractors, side by side
Company
Revenue
Growth
Gross Margin
EBITDA Margin
Backlog
EV/EBITDA
Rev/Employee
FIXComfort Systems USA
$9.1B
+29.5%
24.1%
16%
$11.9B
33.9x
$401K
EMEEMCOR Group
$17.0B
+16.6%
19.3%
11.2%
$13.3B
19.6x
$386K
APGAPi Group
$7.9B
+12.7%
31.4%
13.2%
N/A
19.7x
$273K
LMBLimbach Holdings
$647M
+24.7%
26.2%
12.6%
N/A
15.5x
$431K
IESCIES Holdings
$3.4B
+16.9%
25.5%
13%
$2.4B
20x
$328K
EBITDA definitions differ. EME: Level operating-income-plus-operating-D&A proxy, including the $144.9M UK disposal gain. Excluding only that gain gives about 10.3% of revenue, a sensitivity rather than issuer adjusted EBITDA. FIX, APG, LMB and IESC use issuer-adjusted EBITDA in the contractor edition; retained EV/EBITDA builds are not independently reproduced.
What this means for you
Public trading multiples are a reference point, not a ceiling on private transactions. For illustration, a private contractor with $5-30M in revenue might be screened at 4-8x EBITDA, but that is a planning range here, not a sourced transaction percentile or valuation promise. Match the earnings definition, debt, size, concentration and recurring-revenue mix. Strategic value, deal terms and expected returns can move an actual price above or below the comparison.
Operating Benchmarks
How these companies manage cash, spend, and overhead
Revenue and margins only tell half the story. These are the numbers that show how efficiently a contracting business actually runs, how fast they collect, how much they spend on trucks and equipment, and how much operating cash remains after cash capital spending. When a PE firm or buyer looks at your books, these are the metrics they dig into.
Metric
FIX
EME
APG
LMB
IESC
108 days
91 days
72 days
75 days
60 days
37 days
33 days
35 days
57 days
N/A
1.21x
1.22x
1.50x
1.44x
1.71x
11.3%
7%
8.4%
6.5%
6.5%
1.7%
0.7%
1.2%
0.6%
2%
41.8%
34.6%
8.9%
20%
34.6%
9.7%
10.1%
24.4%
16.9%
14.1%
Apply these numbers to your business
Collection Speed (DSO)
DSO expresses receivables relative to revenue, in days. It is not a measured time from job completion to payment; growth, unbilled work and retainage can change the interpretation.
Comparison and operating check
The retained public DSO references are balance-to-sales ratios, not days past contractual terms. The Level Index collection-rate cohort measures a different outcome, with median 85.1% and n=464. Compare your own invoice dates, due dates, disputes and cash receipts before setting a collection target.
In an illustrative $10M-revenue business, reducing comparable DSO from 90 to 60 days releases about $822K of working capital once. If that cash replaces borrowing at an assumed 10%, interest falls by about $82K per year. That's money you already earned, it's just stuck in someone else's bank account.
Supplier Payment Speed (DPO)
Payables relative to the stated cost denominator, expressed in days. This ratio is not measured vendor invoice age; compare actual due dates, disputes, discounts and supply continuity.
Comparison and operating check
Test the timing mismatch in your own cash forecast: vendor deposits, payroll and tax may fall due before customer milestones or retainage release. A balance-sheet ratio cannot identify which specific payment creates the gap.
DSO and DPO are receivable and payable ratios with different sales and cost denominators. Inventory days and actual contract timing are also needed to assess the cash conversion cycle. The retained DPO references span 33-57 days and DSO references 60-108 days. They use different denominators and do not establish payment intent or invoice age.
Cash Actually Generated (FCF Margin)
Annual operating cash flow minus cash PPE spending, divided by revenue. This excludes financing cash flows, lease-financed additions and other capitalized costs; it is not owner-distributable cash.
Comparison and operating check
The selected issuers' historical operating-cash-flow-minus-cash-PPE ratios span 6.5-11.3 cents per revenue dollar. For your business, reconcile operating cash, cash capital spending, financing and distributions before comparing the measure.
Separate cash generated by operations from cash released by slower supplier payment or faster collection. A buyer can test earnings-to-cash conversion; these observations do not quantify a resulting valuation discount.
Equipment & Vehicle Spend (CapEx)
What percentage of your revenue goes to buying trucks, tools, equipment, and building out your shop. Think of it as your reinvestment rate.
Comparison and operating check
A contractor can over-invest in new trucks before the workload justifies them, or under-invest by deferring required replacements. Test replacement schedules, lease obligations and catch-up spending separately from historical cash PPE.
These public companies spend just 0.6-2.0% of revenue on equipment. A higher ratio may reflect fleet mix, timing or maintenance needs; it does not alone prove over-investment or a pricing adjustment.
Short-Term Liquidity (Current Ratio)
Can you pay all the bills due in the next 12 months? Take everything you own that's cash or can become cash quickly, and divide by everything you owe short-term. Above 1.0 means reported current assets exceed current liabilities; it does not prove liquidity at each due date.
Comparison and operating check
The retained 1.2x bank and 1.5x bonding figures are planning screens, not approval rules. Cash availability, receivable quality, claim timing, covenants and lender requirements determine actual capacity.
Public contractors maintain 1.2-1.7x. This historical range does not establish an approval rule for bonding companies, banks or buyers. It's one of the first numbers a buyer checks.
Return on Closing Book Equity (ROE)
ROE compares income with reported book equity. These retained ratios use period-end equity and issuer-specific ownership bases; they are not owner cash-on-cash returns or standardized average-equity ratios.
Comparison and operating check
Reconcile owner contributions, distributions, related-party items and the stated income/equity ownership basis. A closing-book-equity ratio is not owner investment return.
Public MEP contractors generate 9-42% ROE. Book-equity ROE is not directly comparable with investment-market returns. Separate operating earnings, book capital, shareholder distributions and the ownership basis.
Overhead Rate (SG&A)
Everything that isn't a direct job cost: your office rent, admin staff, insurance, accounting, sales team, management salaries. As a percentage of revenue.
Comparison and operating check
No verified private size-band overhead distribution is reproduced here. Reconcile SG&A and job-cost classification before comparing rates; moving supervisor costs between accounts can change the rate without changing total profit.
EMCOR runs 10% overhead on $17B. APi Group’s historical 24% SG&A reference has a different business mix and expense-classification basis; the difference is not attributed to inspection infrastructure here. The 'right' number depends on your model, but knowing it matters.
Click any row to see what the metric means for your business and a planning reference to test against your own books (not a measured private-company distribution).
The cash conversion gap
DSO uses credit revenue as its denominator; DPO uses comparable cost or purchases. Subtracting the two day counts does not establish financed dollars, and a full cash-conversion cycle also needs inventory days. Build the funding requirement from comparable receivables, inventory and payables balances, then forecast actual receipt and payment dates. As a separate illustration, 15 fewer DSO days on $10M annual credit sales means about $411K less receivables at the same sales level; at an assumed 8% annual financing rate, that would reduce carrying cost by about $33K per year if the balance reduction persists. It is a sensitivity calculation, not a verified savings 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 Companies15-34x EBITDA
PE Platform Companies8-12x EBITDA
Private Contractors4-8x EBITDA
Small / Owner-Operator2-5x SDE
Public Companies (15-34x EBITDA)
Retained April 2026 references: FIX 33.9x, IESC 20.0x, EME 19.6x, APG 19.7x, LMB 15.5x; EV builds are not independently reproduced, these observations do not isolate liquidity, scale or diversification as valuation causes. They are historical reference observations, not a ceiling on private value.
PE Platform Companies (8-12x EBITDA)
Unverified 8-12x planning scenario for professionalized contractors at $50M-$500M revenue. Management depth, contract quality and earnings normalization require company-specific diligence.
Private Contractors (4-8x EBITDA)
Unverified 4-8x planning scenario for owner-operated contractors at $5M-$50M revenue, not an observed transaction range. The separate size-tier scenarios use different assumptions; neither predicts an offer.
Small / Owner-Operator (2-5x SDE)
Unverified 2-5x SDE planning scenario under $5M revenue. Seller's discretionary earnings and EBITDA have different normalization bases; buyer financing and replacement-owner costs must be modeled separately.
What drives the gap between public and private multiples
Size & Scale
Larger companies have more customers, more locations, and more management depth. A $10M contractor losing its owner is an existential risk. A $500M contractor losing a branch manager is Tuesday.
Liquidity Premium
Public shares and a negotiated private-company sale have different liquidity. A private sale timetable depends on diligence, financing and approvals; these selected multiples do not measure a liquidity premium.
Recurring Revenue Mix
APi's retained recurring-revenue mix and dated public multiple do not establish a private contract premium. Review renewal dollars, cancellation rights, service delivery costs and the change from billed to earned revenue before calling the book predictable.
Financial Reporting Quality
Public-company filings provide audited statements and separately defined backlog or segment disclosures. For a private company, test whether job costs, WIP and revenue recognition reconcile to the general ledger. Missing evidence creates diligence questions; this page does not measure a valuation discount.
Customer Concentration
Test the largest customer as a share of revenue and receivables, then inspect cancellation rights, disputes and replacement demand. Concentration is a diligence question; these selected multiples do not measure its price effect.
Management Depth
Test who approves pricing, schedules crews, collects cash and owns customer relationships during an owner absence. Document replacement costs and authority; this page does not measure an owner-dependence discount.
Multiple arbitrage: why PE keeps buying contractors
A retained, unreproduced reference count lists 800+ contractor acquisitions since 2022. The following is an illustrative financing and valuation scenario: PE buys your company at 5-6x EBITDA, bolts it onto a platform with better systems and management, and exits the combined entity at 10-12x. The value creation isn't magic, it's the gap between private contractor multiples and platform multiples. In a 5x-to-10x illustrative exit scenario, the multiple doubles; debt, dilution, transaction costs, integration and a lower exit multiple can offset that apparent gain.
Private contractor multiple ranges by revenue tier (planning screens)
Revenue Tier
Planning Multiple
Typical Buyer
Key Drivers
Under $5M revenue
2-5x SDE / 3-6x EBITDA
Individuals, SBA loans, search funds
Owner dependence, customer concentration, local market position
$5M-$15M revenue
5-8x EBITDA
Lower middle-market PE, strategic add-ons
Management team quality, recurring revenue %, margin stability, clean financials
$15M-$50M revenue
6-10x EBITDA
PE platforms, strategic acquirers
Service agreement book, geographic density, end-market mix, backlog quality
$50M+ / platform
8-12x+ EBITDA
Large PE, public company strategics (FIX, EME)
Scale, diversification, management depth, audit-ready financials, data center/healthcare exposure
Company Profiles
Inside each company’s financials
FIX
Comfort Systems USA
The largest pure-play MEP contractor in the U.S., and the most acquisitive. Commercial and industrial mechanical contracting across 170+ locations.
$9.1B
Revenue
16%
EBITDA Margin
33.9x
EV/EBITDA
22,700
Employees (approx.)
Why contractors should care
FY2025 revenue grew 29.5%: same-store activity contributed 26.1 percentage points and acquisitions contributed 3.4 points. Acquisition price and forecast earnings must be separated from organic growth. Operator test: reconcile backlog delivery dates, crew capacity, change orders and WIP before treating booked work as cash or comparing a private company with this issuer.
“We continue to experience persistent demand and strong pipelines. Given the strength and excellence of our workforce, we are optimistic about our prospects for 2026.”
Brian Lane, CEO, FY2025 Earnings Release (Feb 2026)Retained historical quote; exact wording has not been independently checked.
EME
EMCOR Group
The largest specialty contractor in the U.S. by revenue. Electrical construction, mechanical construction, building services, and industrial services nationwide.
$17.0B
Revenue
11.2%
EBITDA Margin
19.6x
EV/EBITDA
44,000
Employees (approx.)
Why contractors should care
EMCOR's Miller Electric announcement supplies $865M cash price and about $80M buyer-estimated calendar-2024 adjusted EBITDA, yielding about 10.8x price/estimated earnings. That is not a full enterprise-value build or an SMB valuation benchmark. Operator test: separate acquired backlog from earned revenue and compare forecast labor, delivery dates and change-order recoverability before treating the announced price as a comparable for your company.
“We are executing well across numerous sectors where demand for our services persists, bolstered by long-term underlying secular trends.”
Tony Guzzi, CEO, FY2025 Earnings Release (Feb 2026)Retained historical quote; exact wording has not been independently checked.
APi Group
Safety and specialty services platform built through 500+ acquisitions. Fire protection, HVAC, and specialty contracting with a heavy recurring revenue model.
Limbach Holdings
Mid-cap MEP contractor focused on owner-direct relationships. A mid-cap public MEP reference with about $647M FY2025 revenue, larger than a private $50-100M contractor. Compare the owner-direct contract mix and its collection terms, not scale alone.
M&A Deal Tracker
The consolidation wave is real
Major contractor acquisitions since 2024. Who’s buying, what they’re paying, and what it means for the industry.
Buyer
Target
Deal Value
Multiple
Date
EMCOR Group
Miller Electric Company
Large electrical contractor acquisition. Southeast-focused, heavy data center/industrial exposure.
Cash purchase price, customary adjustments; not stated enterprise value. Earnings basis: Buyer estimate for calendar 2024 adjusted EBITDA. Selected transaction, not a private-company valuation benchmark; an announced price is not a complete enterprise-value build.
$865M
10.8x price / estimated EBITDA
Feb 2025
APi Group
Elevated Facility Services
Elevator/escalator services platform. Primary releases disclose consideration and revenue, not deal EBITDA; no recurring-revenue premium is established.
Approximate consideration, subject to customary adjustments. Earnings basis: Not disclosed in captured primary releases; corporate 13/60/80 target is not deal EBITDA. Selected transaction, not a private-company valuation benchmark; an announced price is not a complete enterprise-value build.
$570M
Not disclosed
Jun 2024
Comfort Systems USA
Summit Industrial Construction
Specialty industrial mechanical contractor. Modular construction and process piping.
FY2025 filing total purchase price: cash, notes, contingent consideration and working-capital adjustment. Earnings basis: Annualized forecast at February 2024 announcement, not trailing audited EBITDA. Selected transaction, not a private-company valuation benchmark; an announced price is not a complete enterprise-value build.
$359.8M
9-10.3x price / forecast EBITDA
Feb 2024
Quanta Services
Cupertino Electric
Premier electrical infrastructure contractor. Technology, renewables, and data center work.
Approximate upfront cash/stock consideration; excludes maximum contingent earnout. Earnings basis: Calendar 2024 forecast adjusted EBITDA. Selected transaction, not a private-company valuation benchmark; an announced price is not a complete enterprise-value build. Contingent earnout maximum: $200M; excluded from the upfront ratio. Maximum nominal payout is a separate sensitivity, not observed consideration.
$1540M
8.8-9.9x price / forecast EBITDA
Jul 2024
Quanta Services
Dynamic Systems
Turnkey mechanical and process infrastructure. Semiconductor, healthcare, data center end markets.
Approximate upfront cash/stock consideration; excludes maximum contingent earnout. Earnings basis: Calendar 2025 forecast adjusted EBITDA. Selected transaction, not a private-company valuation benchmark; an announced price is not a complete enterprise-value build. Contingent earnout maximum: $216M; excluded from the upfront ratio. Maximum nominal payout is a separate sensitivity, not observed consideration.
$1350M
7.9-9x price / forecast EBITDA
Jul 2025
Comfort Systems USA
J & S Mechanical
Commercial/industrial mechanical contractor in the Mountain West.
FY2025 filing total purchase price: cash, notes, contingent consideration and working-capital adjustment. Earnings basis: Annualized forecast at February 2024 announcement, not trailing audited EBITDA. Selected transaction, not a private-company valuation benchmark; an announced price is not a complete enterprise-value build.
$120.6M
8-10.1x price / forecast EBITDA
Feb 2024
Goldman Sachs Alternatives
Sila Services (from MSCP)
Residential HVAC/plumbing/electrical platform. Majority acquisition; management retains a minority stake. Primary release does not disclose financial terms.
Financial details not disclosed; management retains a minority stake. Earnings basis: Not disclosed in captured primary release. Selected transaction, not a private-company valuation benchmark; an announced price is not a complete enterprise-value build.
Terms not disclosed
Not disclosed
Nov 2024
Comfort Systems USA
Century Contractors
Mechanical contractor, Charlotte NC area.
FY2025 filing total purchase price: cash 73.1, notes 5.5, contingent consideration and working-capital adjustment. Earnings basis: No denominator captured; no EBITDA multiple calculated. Selected transaction, not a private-company valuation benchmark; an announced price is not a complete enterprise-value build.
$84.2M
Not disclosed
Jan 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
Retained backlog and RPO need separate delivery tests
Retained FY2025 references are $11.9B FIX backlog and $13.3B EME remaining performance obligations. These have different definitions; the recorded 31% EME year-over-year comparison is not independently reproduced here. Operator test: match delivery dates, crew capacity, material deposits and cancellation rights before treating a pipeline as earned revenue or fundable cash. These selected references do not establish a demand ranking.
Test agreement economics separately from project economics
The retained APi inspection/service/monitoring share is 54%; the historical 40%-in-2021 comparison is not independently reproduced. Limbach retains a 75% owner-direct reference. Owner-direct revenue is not necessarily recurring subscription revenue. Reconcile the definition and contract profitability before making a valuation comparison.
Sources: APG Q4 FY2025 earnings call; LMB FY2025 earnings release
An announced deal price is not a disclosed EBITDA multiple
The Miller announcement supports about 10.8x cash purchase price divided by the buyer's calendar-2024 adjusted EBITDA estimate. APi disclosed approximately $570M consideration and $220M annual revenue for Elevated, but no deal EBITDA in the captured primary releases; APi's corporate 13/60/80 target is not a deal denominator. Comfort Systems named four major FY2025 acquisitions. The linked eight-transaction dataset distinguishes consideration, forecast periods and contingent earnouts; it is not a private-company multiple distribution.
Sources: EMCOR IR; APG IR; FIX FY2025 10-K acquisition footnotes
Data centers reshaping contractor economics
IES Holdings has heavy data center exposure; the retained April 2026 table records 20.0x EV/EBITDA. These selected observations do not isolate a valuation premium caused by data centers. EMCOR, Comfort Systems, and Limbach all called out data center demand as a growth driver. These selected companies do not isolate a data-center valuation premium. Test end-customer concentration, cancellation rights and the cost to deliver backlog.
Test crew capacity before treating backlog as deliverable
The retained Comfort Systems headcount reference increased from 18,300 to 22,700; its source and period are separate from a measured productivity gain. For an owner, test backlog against qualified crew capacity, delivery dates and hiring costs. A larger backlog does not prove that it can be staffed profitably.
Sources: FIX FY2025 10-K (employee count); industry earnings commentary across all 5 companies
Get the historical Level Market Monitor report
Company profiles, operating benchmarks, M&A deal tracker, valuation bridge, and illustrative private contractor multiple ranges. 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 multiples are retained April 2026 references, with enterprise-value builds and EBITDA definitions not independently reproduced. Private contractor multiple ranges are Level planning scenarios, not a verified distribution of disclosed transaction multiples. 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. Company forward-looking statements reflect company guidance. Private multiple ranges and Level scenarios are planning assumptions, not predictions. Any analyst estimates have their own source limits. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
SEC Filings Referenced
FIX Annual period ended 2025-12-31; SEC filing dated 2026-02-19
EME Annual period ended 2025-12-31; SEC filing dated 2026-02-26
APG Annual period ended 2025-12-31; SEC filing dated 2026-02-25
LMB Annual period ended 2025-12-31; SEC filing dated 2026-03-02
IESC Annual period ended 2025-09-30; SEC filing dated 2025-11-21
Frequently Asked Questions
Why should a $10M contractor care about companies doing $9B or $17B in revenue?
These selected public companies provide historical reference points for financial diligence. Size, contract mix, risk and reporting quality affect whether a comparison is useful. The public reference does not establish your ceiling or floor, and it does not tell you what to change to close the gap.
What EBITDA multiple can a private contractor realistically expect?
It depends on size and quality. Under $5M revenue: 3-6x EBITDA. $5-15M: 5-8x. $15-50M: 6-10x. $50M+ platforms: 8-12x+. The biggest drivers are recurring revenue percentage, customer concentration, management depth, and financial reporting quality. These are unverified planning scenarios. Service mix and clean books alone do not establish an achievable offer.
What is multiple arbitrage and why does it matter?
In an illustrative scenario, $1M of EBITDA multiplied by 5x gives $5M, versus $10M at an assumed 10x platform multiple. These assumptions do not establish the value of your company. Debt, dilution, integration costs and a lower exit multiple can offset the apparent gain. A retained, unreproduced reference count lists 800+ contractor acquisitions since 2022; this page does not establish why they occurred.
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 contractors understand the capital markets context around their industry. We are not a registered investment advisor. Financial references combine historical public filings, separately dated market observations and transaction estimates, with field-specific evidence limits.