Pest control business acquisitions sit in a 3.0×–5.5× SDE band. Top-of-band placement is structural — recurring service route density, chemical license depth, and renewal rate documentation.

Renewal rate is the most contested data point in pest control diligence — and the most important. Sellers frequently cite aggregate customer count without providing the cohort analysis that reveals true annual renewal rate. The correct document request is a year-by-year cohort table: accounts active at start of year, accounts renewed, accounts lost, new accounts added. Any seller who cannot produce this within 48 hours of a serious LOI is carrying an information risk that should be priced into the structure, not the multiple.

State license re-examination requirements are a closing risk, not a post-close operational risk. In California, Texas, Florida, and Illinois, the new qualifying agent may be required to pass a state examination — not just file a transfer application. This process takes 30–120 days depending on examination availability. Buyers who do not verify this at the LOI stage are routinely surprised at commitment when the lender's legal review surfaces the requirement.