M&A activity snapshot
Beauty and personal care service chains split into two M&A markets with very different prices. Haircut and waxing systems are mostly franchised and change hands at modest multiples. Med spas are a private-equity roll-up category with higher multiples and a fragmented base: an advisor writing for the American Med Spa Association (AmSpa) notes that greater than 90% of med spas remain independently owned.
The franchised chains are large. Great Clips reports over 4,400 salons, 100 percent franchised, owned by more than 700 franchisees. Regis franchised or owned 3,941 locations as of June 30, 2025, including 3,647 franchised salons. European Wax Center operates 1,047 locations, of which 1,042 are franchised.
Recent sponsor activity sits at the franchisor level. General Atlantic agreed to take European Wax Center private at an implied equity value of approximately $330 million, and Transom Capital closed its acquisition of WellBiz Brands, a franchisor of five membership-based brands with more than 700 locations.
Med spas are the faster-growing pool. AmSpa's 2024 report counted more than 100,000 employees across more than 11,000 med spas in the U.S.
Who is buying
PE-backed med spa platforms. AmSpa's 2025 review names Alpha Aesthetics (Thurston Group), Advanced MedAesthetic Partners (Leon Capital), and Well Labs+ (backed by Camino Partners) among the platforms drawing attention. The same review says private equity groups "are not simply buying locations; they are buying scalable platforms."
Franchisors buying franchisees. Regis bought Alline Salon Group, its largest franchisee, adding $83 million of revenue and $5.8 million of EBITDA across 314 salons. Buybacks like this are the exit route for many multi-unit haircut franchisees.
Multi-brand franchisor platforms and salon-suite operators. Sponsors also buy the franchisor or real-estate layer. TSG Consumer Partners acquired the parent of Sola Salons, which had 645 units renting salon suites to stylists at the time of the 2022 deal.
Multi-unit franchisees. Operators with three or more units in one system buy out smaller franchisees in the same brand, subject to franchisor approval.
What buyers look for
Recurring visits come first. AmSpa's 2025 review lists membership programs, subscription skincare, and repeat injectable visits as the source of "annuity-like revenue streams," and notes med spas are largely cash-pay with limited reimbursement risk. In waxing, European Wax Center grew its share of transactions on prepaid or unlimited Wax Passes to approximately 62% in 2025.
Licensed labor is the capacity constraint. All states require barbers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists to be licensed, and training requirements differ by state: California cut its cosmetology program minimum from 1,600 hours to 1,000 hours effective January 1, 2022. Buyers check provider tenure, license status, and whether stylists are employees, commission staff, or booth renters.
Med spa diligence centers on compliance. Buyers now ask about scope of practice, injectable supervision, and MSO structures, particularly in states like California. A Texas Medical Board case behind House Bill 3749 found a med spa's medical director was based more than 100 miles away and had only visited the practice three times, the kind of oversight gap that kills deals.
What makes a strong company
A beauty or personal care chain that commands a premium typically shows:
- Three or more locations with centralized booking, payroll, and standard operating procedures. AmSpa's review says operators with three to eight or more sites and centralized administrative functions attract the most competitive interest.
- A membership or prepaid program carrying a large share of visits.
- Provider retention that does not depend on the owner, with every license current.
- For med spas, a signed medical director agreement, documented protocols, and an ownership structure that fits the state's corporate-practice rules.
- Four-wall profit reported by location. In the Regis deal, Alline's 4-wall EBITDA was $11.1 million on $83 million of revenue.
Valuation and deal structure
The multiple depends on the service line. Regis paid 3.79x trailing EBITDA in initial consideration, or 4.31x including a potential $3 million earnout, for a 314-salon haircut franchisee. For med spas, the AmSpa review reports 3x to 6x EBITDA under $4 million of revenue, 5x to 8x at $4 million to $20 million, and 7x to 12x above $20 million.
Do not borrow beauty products multiples for a service business. Capstone's beauty sector data, which averaged 14.9x EV/EBITDA in 2025 year to date, covers brands and products, not salons or spas.
Structure is heavy on rollover. Most 2025 med spa deals fell between about 60% cash at close with 40% rollover equity and 80% cash with 20% rollover, with holdbacks and earnouts common. Franchisee sales add a franchisor approval step and often a transfer fee under the franchise agreement.
Outlook
Expect med spa consolidation to continue, with early PE platforms moving toward their own sales. The AmSpa review expects buyers to keep favoring scalable, multi-site operators and cleaner compliance records. Labor supply should help: BLS projects employment of barbers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists to grow 7 percent from 2025 to 2035.
In franchised hair and waxing, unit counts are flat to shrinking at legacy systems, so most transactions will be franchisee-to-franchisee or franchisor buybacks. Owners with membership revenue and documented location-level profit will have the most options in the next 12-24 months.
Own a salon, spa, or med spa group and want a market-data starting point? Run the valuation tool, or see the broader Consumer & Retail M&A overview. For how platforms find add-ons, read off-market deal sourcing channels.