M&A activity snapshot
This category covers two different businesses that sell to the same customers. Cleared staffing places security-cleared professionals (engineers, analysts, IT staff) on government programs. Government security services provides guards and protective officers for federal facilities. They share a buyer universe and a regulatory system, but their margins and multiples differ.
Cleared staffing M&A is thin and rarely priced in public. One 2026 deal with a disclosed price is small: DHI Group, owner of ClearanceJobs, bought a Colorado government staffing firm for about $5.5 million, including a $0.5 million revenue-based earnout. No advisory firm publishes a deal count or multiple specific to cleared staffing.
Guard services is more active. Capstone Partners counted a nine-deal, 150% jump in uniformed guard transactions in 2025, as recurring government contracts drew acquirers. Capstone's sector report also notes that law enforcement staffing shortages put uniformed guard services at the front of physical security dealmaking. For the wider GovCon market, see the Government Contracting & Defense Services overview.
Who is buying
GovCon services primes buy cleared headcount to staff programs they have already won. Public government services companies are the natural acquirers of cleared staffing firms with defense and intelligence customers.
Security guard consolidators buy regional guard companies. Allied Universal and MES Service Company made multiple bolt-on acquisitions in 2025. On federal work, incumbents such as Constellis hold large task orders: its subsidiary Triple Canopy won a $95 million task order for protective security officers at FDA headquarters, a site it has guarded since 2018.
Cleared-talent platforms. DHI Group's purchase extends a job-board business into placement. ClearanceJobs generated $54,889 thousand of revenue in 2025 and averaged 967,000 monthly users.
PE-backed security platforms add on guard and security businesses. In 2025, PE firms increased their add-on transactions in the uniformed guard segment while private strategics renewed bolt-on strategies.
What buyers look for
A cleared bench. Clearance time is the main barrier to entry. An initial industry Top Secret clearance takes 243 days end to end: 20 days for initiation, 97 for the investigation and 126 for adjudication. Investigations alone have sped up: the fastest 90% of investigations took 44 days for Secret and 57 days for Top Secret in Q2 FY2026. Adjudication is now the bottleneck.
Clearance level mix. Higher clearances command more pay and more value. Average cleared total compensation hit a record $126,125 in 2025, and polygraph holders averaged $149,875. A staffing firm's bill rates and margins depend on where its people sit on that ladder.
A facility clearance. A contractor cannot apply for its own facility clearance; it must be sponsored by a government contracting activity or a cleared contractor. That makes an existing clearance hard to replicate. DCSA oversees more than 12,500 cleared facilities.
Guard contract quality. For security services, buyers look at incumbency, recompete record and performance. Oversight is tight: GAO's covert tests found FPS contract guards detected prohibited items in only 14 of 27 attempts, and buyers ask how a target would perform in the same tests.
What makes a strong company
A cleared staffing or security services firm that commands a premium typically has:
- A high share of staff with Top Secret or polygraph clearances, not only Secret.
- Its own facility clearance, with clean DCSA reviews and no open findings.
- Placements on long-running programs, with the firm as prime or a key subcontractor.
- For guard firms, multi-year federal task orders with recompete wins on record, and documented training and supervision.
- No single program or facility that makes up a dominant share of revenue.
- Recruiting that works without the founder: a pipeline of cleared candidates and low turnover.
Labor economics differ sharply between the two halves of this category. Private security guard and patrol employers paid an average of $40,347 in 2025, against $49,698 across all temporary help services and $126,125 for cleared professionals. The BLS figures cover each industry as a whole, not only government work.
Valuation and deal structure
There is no published multiple for cleared staffing deals, so buyers use proxies, and owners should label them as such:
- Capstone's HR and staffing sector averaged 9.4x EV/EBITDA and 2.2x EV/revenue from 2022 to early 2025. HR-services deals averaged 17.2x and pull that average up; pure staffing sits below it.
- Capstone's security sector has averaged 11.8x EV/EBITDA and 2.2x EV/revenue since 2021. That set includes systems and fire/life-safety businesses, which carry higher multiples than guard-only companies.
- Public government services companies traded at a median 9.0x CY2026 estimated EBITDA at June 30, 2026. These are much larger, diversified businesses.
Earnouts are common at the small end. DHI paid $5.0 million in cash at close, with $0.5 million payable if revenue thresholds are met in 2026.
Structure also follows the clearance rules. A stock sale keeps the facility clearance with the entity, but a change of ownership or control must be reported. A foreign buyer triggers FOCI review. Set-aside holders must recertify within 30 calendar days of a change in control.
This is market data, not a valuation of any business. For a starting range on your own company, use the valuation tool.
Outlook
Clearance timelines are likely to keep cleared labor scarce over the next 12-24 months. Adjudication is the slow step, and DCSA reported a rise in investigative inventory in Q3 FY2026, driven by more initial vetting since February. That supports the value of firms that already hold cleared staff.
Small-business status could change. SBA has proposed raising the 561320 size standard from $34 million to $150 million, and the 561612 standard from $29M to $186M. If finalized, larger buyers could acquire set-aside holders without the target losing small status.
Demand from defense and intelligence programs supports the cleared side. Guard services will keep consolidating, as long as recurring federal contracts keep attracting buyers.
Own a cleared staffing or security services firm and want a starting point before talking to buyers? Run the valuation tool. For how buyers source in niche verticals, see why vertical-specific buyers outperform generalists.