Facilities management: who gets 10x and who gets 6x

Why infrastructure services buyers like facilities management assets

FM businesses are often predictable, recurring, regulated and most importantly, operationally essential. That profile fits perfectly into the private equity playbook. Essential services remain resilient through market cycles, offering the stability and downside protection that investors prioritise.

Strategic acquirers and private equity investors have long recognised the value of this model. Consolidators and PE-backed platforms continue to scale FM operations because the model lends itself naturally to operational leverage. Centralised systems, shared back-office functions and standardised processes allow platforms to integrate bolt-on acquisitions efficiently, improve margins and accelerate growth.

As platforms scale, they gain greater purchasing power, deeper subcontractor networks and stronger technology capability, improving their competitiveness in tenders. Larger operators are also better positioned to win multi-site and multi-discipline contracts, creating stickier customer relationships and expanding cross-sell opportunities across hard and soft services.

The result is a flywheel effect - scale supports efficiency, efficiency supports competitiveness, and competitiveness supports further scale. In today’s market, the multiple is no longer paid simply for EBITDA. It is paid for contract architecture, pricing mechanisms and the ability to mobilise and integrate work at scale.

Secondary and tertiary buyouts redefining the landscape

At Heligan, we continue to see strong interest in high-quality FM platforms. At the same time, buyers are increasingly aware that competition for those assets has materially increased. Strategic operators and PE-backed platforms are pursuing the same targets, often with similar investment theses and growth ambitions.

FM remains a fragmented market, and fragmentation continues to attract investment. Many regional operators are still sub-scale and sit naturally within buy-and-build strategies rather than as standalone platforms.

At the same time, the first wave of PE‑backed FM platforms has matured. Many are now entering their second or third ownership cycle and returning to market as larger, more sophisticated businesses, with established integration track records, stronger systems and broader service capability. Together, these factors are creating a new class of scaled FM platforms.

This dynamic is reshaping the competitive landscape. Scaled platforms are now accessible to upper-mid-market investors, while smaller regional businesses are increasingly treated as bolt-on opportunities rather than primary platform assets. 2025 provided clear examples of this shift. OCS, backed by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, acquired EMCOR to accelerate its scale ambitions, while Beech Tree’s sale of Obsequio Group to Warren Equity Partners marked the transition of a developed platform into its next ownership cycle.

This dynamic reached an entirely new level in July 2026 when OCS agreed a recommended £3.1 billion cash acquisition of Mitie, representing a near 47% premium to Mitie's share price and creating a UK-headquartered FM leader with approximately £8.5 billion of combined revenue. While previous M&A activity reflected platforms expanding through a steady stream of bolt-on acquisitions, the OCS-Mitie transaction marks an outright acquisition of a listed market leader by another major platform. It is the clearest indication yet that scale, contract quality, service breadth and technology capability are becoming increasingly decisive competitive advantages within the sector. More broadly, the deal signals the emergence of a genuine national-scale tier of FM operator and redefines the upper limit of strategic ambition in the market.

Why does one FM business get 10x and another get 6x?

Transactions at the top end of the market remain highly competitive, with established platforms continuing to attract premium valuations. For less‑established businesses, buyers are becoming far more aware of the risks associated with smaller or less proven platforms. We consistently see these risks concentrate around a few core areas:

1. Revenue risk remains central. High customer concentration, short-dated or easily terminable contracts and limited inflation pass-through all undermine confidence in forward EBITDA and reduce multiple headroom.
2. Scale is a major driver of value. Larger businesses are more established, carry stronger reputations, offer broader services and serve more diverse customers. This creates downside protection, losing a single customer is far less damaging than it is for smaller operators.
3. Operational dependency is another common pressure point. Founder-led businesses with limited second-tier management, ageing workforces or heavy reliance on outsourced labour attract greater scrutiny, particularly where IR35 exposure or TUPE obligations are poorly documented.
4. Finally, execution and integration risk continues to influence valuation. Weak management information, limited contract-level visibility, aggressive add-backs or undifferentiated, price-led operating models erode buyer confidence and shift value into structure rather than headline price.

Buyer's market or seller's market?

The answer increasingly depends on an asset’s quality. For well-run FM businesses with clear pricing mechanisms, defensible contracts and operational control, conditions remain favourable. Competitive processes are common, and strategic value, not just scale, continues to attract interest.

In effect, FM has split into two markets: premium, contract-rich platforms attracting strong competition, and sub-scale or labour-led operators where valuation is increasingly shaped by structure and risk allocation.

For others, the balance has shifted. Buyers are more selective, diligence is deeper, and valuation is increasingly shaped by structure rather than headline multiples. Earn-outs and deferred consideration are now standard tools where risks are identified. FM no longer rewards size alone. Visibility, resilience and contract quality now carry the premium.

This price sharpening at the top-end of assets has also reshaped buyer behaviour. Investors are widening their field of vision, looking beyond traditional FM and into adjacent Infrastructure Services segments where regulated or government-backed funding is being deployed and competitive tension is less fierce.

As a result, buyers are increasingly targeting subsectors across the broader Infrastructure Services landscape including Energy, Utilities, Transport and Offshore. These areas benefit from committed, long-term funding that underpins multi-year contract awards and provides the forward revenue visibility that has historically made FM attractive, particularly in segments facing less competition from other consolidators.

Will the FM bubble burst in 2026?

No - but the gap between winners and the rest will widen. The very best FM assets will continue to command premium valuations, because buyers will always pay for businesses with visible contracts, resilient margins and operational discipline. 

What will burst in 2026 is the idea that mid‑market operators can achieve the same multiples without a defensible business model. Our message to owners is simple: flip the risk list on its head. Strengthen contract quality, diversify revenue, harden margins, tighten MI, reduce key‑person exposure and build a platform that can be integrated, not rescued. 

The market isn’t collapsing, it’s maturing. Those that tackle the fundamentals early will be the ones that continue to deliver standout valuations when they come to market in 2026 and beyond.