Practice area
Structural pest control businesses
Pest control is the closest thing in the trades to a subscription business: scheduled, recurring, and largely non-discretionary once a customer is on a route. That is precisely why the national buyers continue to acquire.
What a buyer is paying for
Not revenue. In this trade specifically, price is driven by the share of work that recurs without being sold again.
Route density
Revenue per drive-hour is what a national acquirer is actually buying. Two hundred accounts in one suburb are worth considerably more than four hundred dispersed across a metro.
Contract mix and renewal rate
Termite renewals and scheduled commercial contracts are priced differently from one-off treatments. Firms that can evidence the split are paid for it.
Licensed applicators who remain
The business cannot operate without a certified applicator. Who holds the license, and whether they remain, is a diligence question in every transaction.
The market, measured
The state file names the licensed operator on every record, together with the date the license was first issued. That makes it possible to identify long-established, owner-operated businesses from public data alone: the firms most likely to be facing a succession decision rather than a growth decision.
Measured July 2026
Figures drift as the market changes. We re-measure quarterly rather than quoting a figure once and repeating it.
Who this practice serves
- A commercial license holder with an established recurring route, rather than a single-operator seasonal business.
- Route density in one or two metros rather than accounts dispersed across the state.
- An owner who has been approached by a national buyer and wants to know whether the figure was competitive.
If you have already received an approach, bring the offer to us before signing anything. A letter of intent usually carries an exclusivity clause, and once it is executed the seller’s leverage is largely gone.