This page is for owners of companies in Richmond and across the metro who are wondering what the business is worth and what a sale would look like. One thing sets this market apart: the city's major-employer list runs from MCV Hospital and Virginia Commonwealth University to the City of Richmond, its public schools and the Federal Reserve Bank, Richmond. For many local suppliers, the customer is a hospital or a public body.
Fixed fees. No exclusives. No success fees.
No single sector dominates the business count: retail, professional services, health care, other services and construction sit close together. A seller here usually has more than one kind of buyer to weigh, and the right one depends on which of those sectors the company serves.
Retail trade has the most business locations in the metro, 4,066, followed closely by professional, scientific and technical services with 3,963 and health care and social assistance with 3,879. Other services and construction come next. By employees, health care stands out with 84,869, against 71,721 in retail.
Richmond city's list of major employers has two clusters. In health care and research: MCV Hospital, MCV Physicians, Virginia Commonwealth University, HCA Virginia Health System and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. In public institutions: the City of Richmond, Richmond City Public Schools and the Federal Reserve Bank, Richmond. Dominion Resources and Costar Realty Information Inc complete it.
That shapes the small-business base. Contractors, IT firms, staffing agencies, janitorial and food service companies sell to hospitals and public agencies through bids, approved-vendor lists and multi-year contracts. Those contracts can be valuable, but each one comes with a rebid date a buyer will want to see.
Of the metro's 33,589 employer locations, 5,425 are mid-size, and that's where most companies in the $3–100M range are found.
U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns (share computed)2023
Because the economy is spread across several sectors, the buyer depends more on what a company does than on where it is.
A firm selling to hospitals or the university is a natural target for larger health care service companies and contractors that want the same customer relationships. Public-sector vendors attract buyers that already hold government contracts and know how to win rebids.
Retail and consumer service businesses, the biggest group by count, usually draw individual buyers and search funds. Those buyers want clean books and a manager in place, and they often borrow part of the price from a bank.
Professional-services and construction firms draw private-equity platforms adding regional locations, and larger competitors buying a team.
With a median age of 38.8, the metro has a working-age bench of managers who could buy in over time. Management buyouts come up where there's a strong second tier, though they take longer to finance than a sale to an outside buyer.
A contract with a city agency, a school system or a federal facility can run for years, but it ends on a rebid date. Buyers look at when each contract expires, how it was won and whether it can be assigned to a new owner.
With 84,869 people in health care and social assistance, many suppliers depend on a hospital system. Buyers ask how many contacts the company has there and whether the work runs under a master agreement or on purchase orders.
Across the metro's 4,066 retail locations, value often turns on the lease. A buyer checks how many years are left, whether it can be assigned and what rent increases are built in.
A business that needs its owner every day is harder for an individual or a search fund to finance. A documented operation and a manager with real authority widen the field of buyers.
Virginia's rules on sales tax, unemployment insurance and pass-through income shape an asset sale in particular. Each statement below is shown with its source at the Department of Taxation or the Virginia Employment Commission.
Virginia exempts an occasional sale from sales and use tax, and that includes the sale of all or substantially all the assets of a business. The exemption does not apply when the sale is one of a series large enough to require a sales tax registration.
What it changes in a sale
This lowers the cost of an asset sale compared with states that tax equipment and fixtures changing hands. It also takes one point of negotiation off the table when the price is allocated across assets.
A business that sells out files a final Virginia sales and use tax return and pays within 15 days. The buyer withholds enough of the purchase money to cover the seller's unpaid sales tax until the seller produces a receipt or a no-tax-due certificate from the Tax Commissioner; a buyer that does not withhold becomes personally liable for it.
What it changes in a sale
A buyer usually holds back part of the price until the seller shows the sales tax account is settled. Filing the final return promptly and getting the certificate keeps that money from sitting in escrow.
A new employer that acquires a business takes over its unemployment insurance history and tax rate unless it waives the transfer within 60 days of the acquisition. Only an arm's-length transaction can waive it.
What it changes in a sale
The buyer decides whether to take on the company's unemployment insurance history. A clean record with a low rate is worth having; a poor one is a reason for the buyer to waive it within the window.
Owners of a Virginia pass-through entity report their shares of its income and gains on their own returns. The entity can instead elect to pay Virginia income tax at the entity level, and its eligible owners then claim a refundable credit for the tax paid on their behalf.
What it changes in a sale
If the entity elects to pay at the entity level, tax on a sale's gain is paid by the company and credited to the owners. How that election is handled in the year of sale affects what reaches each owner.
This is general information, not tax or legal advice. Your attorney and CPA should confirm how it applies to your sale.
The metro's sectors are evenly spread, so the likely buyer isn't obvious. A fixed-fee range of value compares what a strategic buyer, a private-equity platform and an individual would pay.
Public-sector and hospital contracts are easier to value when they're laid out clearly: term, rebid dates, renewals. A written profile puts all of that in front of buyers in one document.
Buyers that already serve the same hospitals or agencies may approach an owner directly. A second read of each offer checks the price, the terms and anything tied to contract renewals.
A buyer prices a Richmond company on earnings it can count on after the owner leaves: contract terms, customer spread, staff and the lease. A supplier with multi-year agreements at a hospital or public agency can draw a strategic buyer willing to pay more than an individual. Saltaire's range of value opinion sets out a range with the reasoning, for a fixed $1,000.
Virginia exempts an occasional sale from sales and use tax, including the sale of all or substantially all of a business's assets, unless the sale is one of a series large enough to require registration. Separately, the seller files a final sales tax return within 15 days, and the buyer withholds enough to cover unpaid sales tax until a certificate arrives. This is general information, not tax or legal advice; confirm the details with your CPA.
Usually larger companies that already hold contracts with the same city, school or federal customers and want more of that work, plus private-equity platforms in facilities, IT and staffing. They look closely at contract terms, rebid dates and whether the contracts can be assigned. A record of winning rebids carries real weight.
No. Each module is priced on its own and agreed in writing, half paid up front. You can buy a valuation, read it and decide on nothing else. There's no exclusive and no success fee.
That's what the call is for.
Saltaire Partners works with owners in Richmond and across Virginia from the New York metropolitan area. Calls are by video or phone.
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Which module fits, if any. Sometimes the answer is none yet.
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