Welcome to the week. We are tracking a decade-long healthcare partnership turning into an acquisition, a 26-year-old dog house manufacturer selling to a strategic buyer, a $1.57 million landscaping business listed at 3.7x EBITDA, and a franchisor buying back two stores from its first franchisee.

Aria Care Partners buys Precision Mobile Care

Aria Care Partners, an Overland Park, Kansas provider of onsite dental, vision, hearing, and podiatry services to skilled nursing facilities, acquired Precision Mobile Care on September 1. The Utah company operates mobile dental teams that serve residents in over half of the state's skilled nursing communities. The two had partnered for a decade, with Aria providing dental insurance to residents of PMC's client facilities. It is Aria's third acquisition this year. Terms were not disclosed.

Translation, if you own one: Strategic partnerships can become acquisition pipelines. Precision Mobile Care worked with Aria for ten years before being acquired, giving the buyer years to understand the business, its customers, and how well it fit the larger platform.

Source: Aria Care Partners Acquires Precision Mobile Care of Utah 

Escalade buys ASL Solutions, the insulated dog house maker

Escalade, the Nasdaq-listed sporting goods manufacturer behind Goalrilla hoops and Bear Archery, acquired the assets of ASL Solutions, a Ste. Marie, Illinois maker of insulated dog and cat houses founded in 2000. The deal was an asset purchase. Escalade took the brands (Dog Palace, DP Hunter), the rotational molding capability, and the product lines and folded them into its US Weight Group division.

Translation, if you own one: a specialized product can be worth more when it gives a larger buyer an entry into a new category. ASL brought Escalade an established pet-products brand, a differentiated insulated-dog-house line, and rotational-molding capabilities that Escalade could integrate into its broader manufacturing and distribution network.

Source: Escalade Announces Acquisition of ASL Solutions

Twin Cities landscape design firm asks $800K on $1.57M revenue

A boutique residential landscape design and garden maintenance company in Minneapolis is listed for sale at an asking price of $800,000. The business reports $1.57 million in gross revenue and $214,295 in EBITDA, so about 3.7x EBITDA or 0.5x revenue, with $360,000 of equipment included. Established in 2007, it employs 19 people (6 full-time, 13 part-time) and operates on a mix of recurring garden maintenance and higher-margin design and installation for smaller city-lot properties.

Translation, if you own one: businesses that combine high-ticket project work with recurring service revenue can be especially attractive to buyers. The project side brings in customers, and larger checks and the maintenance side extends customer lifetime value, smooths cash flow, and creates repeat opportunities for future projects. It is the same model buyers like in HVAC, pool service, pest control, and other home-service businesses.

Source: Twin Cities Landscape Design + Maintenance  

Riko's Pizza buys back its first franchisee's two Long Island stores

Riko's Pizza, the Connecticut tavern-pizza chain, agreed to acquire its two Long Island franchise locations in Merrick and Levittown, New York, converting both to corporate-owned. The deal closed August 31. The seller was Riko's first-ever franchisee, who opened Levittown in 2020, and the buyback ends a six-year run. After the deal, Riko's operates eight corporate and five franchised locations, with a new corporate store planned in Holbrook for 2027.

Translation, if you own one: a franchise can create a second exit path beyond selling to another individual operator. Riko’s first franchisee spent six years proving the concept across two Long Island locations before the franchisor bought both stores back and converted them to corporate ownership. For strong franchise locations, the brand itself can become a natural strategic buyer because it already knows the unit economics, operating history, and local demand.

Source: Riko's Pizza to Acquire Merrick and Levittown Restaurants

The Federal Reserve meets September 15-16. The federal funds target range has remained at 3.50%-3.75% since December, while the July decision to hold passed 9-3, with all three dissenters supporting a 25-basis-point increase. Markets had also been assigning a meaningful probability to a September hike.

This matters for SBA 7(a) acquisition loans because many are variable-rate and priced off the prime rate. Lenders negotiate the spread within SBA limits, so the exact rate varies by deal. A 25-basis-point increase would add about $2,500 of annual interest on a $1 million outstanding balance.

For buyers under LOI, it is worth having the lender rerun debt-service coverage at a rate 25 basis points above the current quote. That becomes more relevant for loans receiving an SBA loan number on or after October 1, when SOP 50 10 8.1 raises the minimum historical DSCR to 1.25x for certain acquisition structures.

A Minnesota gas station owner who turned a struggling convenience store into a food destination and hidden speakeasy, generating nearly $5 million a year from one property and showing how multiple businesses can stack revenue on the same footfall.