What Consolidators Actually Look At During Due Diligence

The collision repair industry is consolidating fast. In January 2026, Boyd Group completed a $1.3 billion acquisition of Joe Hudson's Collision Center, adding 258 shops across 18 states to bring their total to 1,301 locations. Caliber is bigger still. And according to Focus Advisors, more than 130 private equity firms have either entered collision repair or are actively evaluating it.

If you own a shop, that activity matters to you. Even if you never plan to sell. Because what buyers are looking for in diligence tells you exactly where your business is strong and where it is exposed.

Revenue Is Not the Whole Story

The first thing most shop owners lead with is revenue. "We do $4 million a year." Buyers care about that number, but not the way you think. They want to know if it is growing or declining. They want to know how concentrated it is. What they are not doing is paying a multiple on your top line.

What they care about is what's left after the bills. Specifically, what's left after they remove everything that belongs to you personally as the owner. That's Adjusted EBITDA. It is the number a buyer will build their entire model around. If you don't know yours, you're walking into the most important financial conversation of your career without your most important piece of information.

Revenue Concentration and Trajectory

Buyers look at your revenue two ways: where it comes from, and which direction it is heading.

If a single insurance company accounts for 60% or more of your volume, that is concentration risk. What happens to the business if that relationship changes after the sale? A diversified shop, with volume spread across multiple carriers and some customer-pay work, is a more stable asset.

Trajectory matters just as much. A shop doing $3 million and growing 15% year over year is a more attractive acquisition than a $4 million shop that has been flat for three years. Buyers are buying the future, not just the present. If your revenue is declining, they will price that risk in heavily.

Your Books Tell a Story

Buyers will spend more time in your financials than anywhere else. And the quality of those financials matters as much as what they show.

Books that are only closed out at tax time, commingled personal and business expenses, cash-basis accounting. These are all red flags in diligence. They make a buyer's team work harder to verify the numbers. And the harder they have to work, the more skeptical they become. The shops that command premium valuations have clean, accrual-basis financials, monthly P&Ls, and a clear separation between owner expenses and business expenses.

Lease Terms Can Change the Math Entirely

A buyer modeling your acquisition is thinking 10 to 15 years forward. If your lease expires in 18 months with no renewal options, that is a serious problem in their model.

If your lease is coming up, renewing it now with a long term and renewal options is one of the most valuable things you can do for your eventual exit.

Key-Man Dependency

If the shop doesn't run without you, a buyer is going to price that in.

If your techs call you when a car has a problem, if DRP reps deal directly with you, if you're the one who knows where everything is, you're not just selling a business. You're selling a job. Buyers will either discount heavily, require a long earnout, or walk.

None of This Means You Have to Sell

These five factors, Adjusted EBITDA, revenue concentration, financial reliability, lease terms, and key-man dependency, are the same factors that determine whether your business is healthy and durable.

Work on them because they make your business better. If a sale ever makes sense, you'll be ready. If it never does, you'll have a stronger operation.

I put together a one-page worksheet that walks through all five numbers. Comment "numbers" below and I'll send it over.

Sources

Boyd Group press release, January 9, 2026. Focus Advisors H1 2025 M&A Report. CCC Intelligent Solutions.