M&A activity snapshot
Commercial cleaning is large, labor-heavy, and still mostly owned by small operators. Census counted 67,799 janitorial services establishments in 2023, and 41,548 of them had fewer than five employees. By Axia's arithmetic on the same Census file, that is about 61% of establishments. The same Census file shows only 83 establishments with 1,000 or more employees.
No major data provider publishes a janitorial-only deal count, so the clearest signal is platform formation. In September 2025, Rainier Partners invested in Kleen-Tech Services, a janitorial provider operating in more than 30 states. In January 2026, Inspirit Equity made a majority acquisition of Sizemore, Inc., which then signed an agreement to acquire Carlson Building Maintenance, a Midwest cleaner serving retail and grocery customers.
Lincoln International's deal log for the sector shows the same pattern. Its Q2 2026 update lists GI Partners acquiring HES Facilities Management and Boyne Capital acquiring H&B Facility Services, both commercial cleaning providers.
Who is buying
PE-backed platforms are the main buyer of independent cleaners. Some are already large: The Facilities Group passed $700 million in annual revenue after acquiring United Service Companies, less than four years after it began consolidating. Greenbriar invested in it, describing the janitorial and facilities maintenance sector as highly fragmented.
Public strategics buy for geography and service mix. ABM, the largest U.S. public operator, lists GCA Services Group (2017) as the largest acquisition in its history. Acquisitions remain a modest part of its growth: ABM's FY2025 revenue grew 4.6%, of which 3.8% was organic and 0.8% from acquisitions.
Sponsor-to-sponsor secondaries happen once a platform reaches scale. Cerberus agreed to acquire Kellermeyer Bergensons Services from affiliates of GI Partners in 2019, a sign that a scaled janitorial platform can trade more than once.
What buyers look for
Contract structure. Janitorial work is typically won by competitive bid under monthly fixed-price, square-foot, cost-plus, and work-order arrangements. Buyers want multi-year contracts with price escalators, termination notice periods, and a clean rebid history.
Labor economics. Direct labor represented 68% of ABM's total revenue in 2025. A small swing in wages or hours worked moves margin more than any other line, so buyers check how contracts pass wage increases through to clients.
Staffing stability. Hiring never stops in this trade. BLS projects about 321,800 openings for janitors and building cleaners each year, most of them replacing workers who leave. A company that can document lower turnover than its local market has a real advantage in diligence.
Union exposure. At ABM, about 45% of employees were covered by local collective bargaining agreements. Buyers map a target's union and non-union contracts by market before they set price.
What makes a strong company
A cleaning company that commands a premium typically shows:
- Contracts concentrated in sticky end markets (healthcare, education, industrial, grocery) rather than month-to-month office accounts, with no single client dominating revenue.
- Margins at or above large-company benchmarks. ABM's Business & Industry segment earned a 7.7% operating margin in FY2025.
- Documented wage-and-hour compliance. ABM lists claims for violations of wage and hour requirements among its employment risks; a buyer will audit timekeeping, overtime, and classification.
- State-specific registrations kept current. California requires janitorial employers to register with the Labor Commissioner and renew annually, plus biennial in-person harassment prevention training for workers.
- Supervisors and account managers who hold client relationships, so the business does not depend on the owner.
Valuation and deal structure
There is no reliable public multiple series for private janitorial companies. Ranges quoted on broker marketing sites do not trace back to a named dataset, so this page does not repeat them.
Public data gives a ceiling for reference. ABM traded at 9.9x EV/LTM EBITDA as of June 30, 2026, and the Lincoln Facilities Services Index was valued at 16.8x. The index covers a broad set of facilities-services companies, many with higher-margin technical services, so it overstates what a cleaning-only business earns. Small, owner-run cleaners usually trade well below either figure, and price rises with scale, contract term, and margin.
Structure follows the risk buyers see. Because janitorial contracts can be rebid, buyers often tie part of the price to retaining key accounts after close, through earnouts or seller rollover into the platform's equity. These are common PE deal tools rather than janitorial-specific, sourced terms, so treat them as items to expect in negotiation, not as standards.
Outlook
Expect more platform formation and add-ons through 2027. Lincoln reports it remains optimistic that facilities services M&A will continue to stay strong in the second half of 2026, and the sponsors behind Kleen-Tech and Sizemore are building by acquisition.
Labor will stay the main variable. Janitorial employment is near record levels, with 1,086.7 thousand people employed in janitorial services in August 2026 (preliminary), and ISSA reports more than 11,000 member companies, organizations, and individuals in the broader cleaning trade. Owners who can show stable crews, compliant payroll, and multi-year contracts are the ones platforms will pay up for over the next 12-24 months.
Own a commercial cleaning business and want a data-backed view of value before you talk to anyone? Run the valuation tool or start at the Business & Facility Services overview. See also: how off-market deals are sourced.