Acquisition criteria
What we buy, stated plainly
You should be able to tell in about thirty seconds whether talking to us is worth your time. That is the point of this page.
Revenue
$2M–$10M
Owner earnings (SDE)
$500K–$2M
Geography
Maricopa County and greater Arizona
Ownership
Owner-operated, private, profitable
Our stake
100% of the equity, in most cases
Our answer
Five business days from your numbers
Sectors
Three kinds of business we actively look for
We are broadly industry-agnostic — a good business is a good business. But these are the categories we understand best and move fastest on.
01
Commercial and B2B services
Janitorial and commercial cleaning, commercial painting, facilities maintenance, staffing, security, landscape maintenance contracts
02
Route-based and residential services
Pest control, landscaping and irrigation, pool service, and similar recurring-visit businesses
03
Light manufacturing and distribution
Machine shops, fabrication, specialty distribution, logistics and last-mile
Residential trades — HVAC, plumbing, electrical — are not a focus. We will not turn down a conversation, but those categories are being bid up hard by private-equity roll-ups in Phoenix and we are rarely the highest offer on the table. We would rather tell you that now than waste your quarter.
Good fit
What a business we want tends to look like
- Recurring or repeat revenue rather than one-off project work
- A team that can run day-to-day without the owner in every decision
- Clean, reconstructable books — even if they are not pretty
- An owner who cares where their employees and customers land
Not a fit
What we are not the right buyer for
- Pre-revenue or turnaround situations — we buy profitable businesses, not projects
- Businesses whose value walks out the door with the owner's personal relationships
- Retail storefronts and franchises
None of these are judgements about your business. They are honest statements about where we can and cannot underwrite a price you would be happy with.
If you would prefer to work with a broker, or if we are not the right buyer for your business, we can introduce you to brokers we have worked with before. We would rather you got a good outcome than no outcome.
Where we buy
Maricopa County, and the rest of Arizona
We live here. For an operating business, a buyer who can drive to your yard on a Tuesday morning is worth more than one who cannot.
- Phoenix
- Scottsdale
- Mesa
- Chandler
- Gilbert
- Glendale
- Tempe
- Peoria
- Surprise
- Goodyear
- Avondale
- Buckeye
- Queen Creek
- Fountain Hills
- Paradise Valley
Questions
Common questions
- What size business does 72 North Capital buy?
- Businesses doing roughly $2 million to $10 million in annual revenue, profitable, and owner-operated. Below $2 million the business usually depends too heavily on the owner personally; above $10 million we are competing with private equity on price rather than on terms.
- Do you buy businesses outside Maricopa County?
- Our focus is Maricopa County and greater Arizona. We will look at businesses elsewhere in the state, and occasionally outside it, but proximity genuinely matters for the kind of operating businesses we buy.
- Do you buy HVAC, plumbing or electrical companies?
- We do not rule them out, but they are not our focus. Licensed residential trades are the most competitive acquisition category in Phoenix right now, with private equity roll-ups bidding aggressively, and we are usually not the best-priced buyer at the table.
- Will you buy a business that is losing money?
- No. We buy profitable businesses, not turnarounds. If your business is currently unprofitable, a turnaround specialist or a strategic buyer in your industry is a better fit than we are.
Think you might be a fit?
Start with the valuation tool if you want a number first, or reach out directly. Either way, the first conversation costs you nothing and commits you to nothing.