Full-Service Plastic Injection Molding & CNC Manufacturer, 36-Year Kentucky Shop

$2.0M

Revenue

$500K

SDE

3.0x

Multiple

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a full-service plastic injection molding and CNC manufacturer based in Kentucky, established in 1989 with a 36-year operating history. The business runs 18 precision injection presses (25 to 500 tons) alongside an in-house CNC machine shop, 3D printing, insert molding, heat-staking, assembly, and tool build/maintenance. It positions itself as a true one-stop shop, taking customer 3D models from quoting through mold-building, production, secondary operations, assembly, shipping, and ongoing Just-in-Time production without leaning on outside vendors.

The customer base spans medical equipment, aerospace, defense, robotics, automotive, food service, industrial goods, consumer goods, and appliances. That diversification across regulated, sticky end markets is the real asset here, medical and defense molders in particular tend to build multi-year relationships once they qualify a supplier and lock in tooling. The company has invested in a modern ERP and an AI-driven web-based quoting system that lets customers self-upload parts for automated quotes, which is unusual for a shop this size.

At $2M revenue, $500K SDE, and $340K EBITDA, the business sells for $1.5M (3x SDE) with $1M in FF&E and $250K inventory included. The seller is exiting to fund a larger acquisition, not retiring, and financing is available with $500K minimum down. The listing explicitly claims the business can be run absentee with 12 tenured full-time employees and low turnover, which is worth pressure-testing but attractive if true.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is anchored by $500K SDE on $2M revenue, a 25% margin that is healthy for a job shop, plus $250K inventory and $1M of FF&E included in the price. The 3x multiple is reasonable for manufacturing, and the seller carry with $500K down means you can control this asset without exhausting your cash on the equity check.
The moat is switching cost and qualification. Once a medical or defense customer has qualified a molder and paid for tooling that lives on your floor, they do not casually move that business. A full end-to-end shop with in-house tooling, CNC, and JIT production is genuinely hard for customers to replicate or replace.
End-market diversification is the standout tailwind. Serving medical, aerospace, defense, robotics, and industrial goods means no single downturn in one vertical sinks the business, and defense and med device demand tend to be resilient through recessions. Reshoring of plastics and precision manufacturing is a real multi-year secular push.
There is genuine operator upside baked in. Management flags doubling revenue by filling unused press capacity and adding roughly $30K/month by automating labor. With 18 presses and only 12 employees, the capital equipment is already in place, so incremental volume drops disproportionately to the bottom line.

How to improve it

Audit press utilization within the first 90 days and identify the highest-margin idle capacity. If revenue can double on existing equipment as claimed, the fastest lever is a focused sales push to fill presses on second and third shifts rather than buying new machines.
Push the AI web quoting tool harder as a lead-generation and conversion engine. Most small molders quote slowly and lose fast-turn work, so a self-service instant-quote portal is a real differentiator, invest in marketing spend and track quote-to-order conversion as a KPI.
Pursue and document formal quality certifications if not already held, specifically ISO 9001, AS9100 for aerospace, and ISO 13485 for medical devices. These certifications are gate-keepers to higher-margin regulated work and materially increase the value of the business at your eventual exit.
Execute the automation initiative that management estimates adds $30K/month. Robotic part removal, automated inspection, and lights-out running on long production jobs cut direct labor and improve consistency, model the capex payback and prioritize the presses running the highest-volume contracts.
Build customer concentration transparency and then de-risk it. Identify the top 5 accounts by revenue and margin, formalize supply agreements or blanket POs where possible, and cross-sell secondary operations like assembly and heat-staking into accounts currently buying molding only.
Since the listing claims absentee-run potential, verify the management layer and lock in the key operator or plant manager with retention incentives before close. A molding shop is only truly absentee if there is a competent GM, otherwise budget for a hire in year one.
Renegotiate or extend the facility lease early. At $17K/month on 20,000 SF the rent is manageable, but you want lease certainty before investing in automation, and if the landlord is the seller or related party, clarify that relationship.

Diligence notes

Scrutinize the absentee-owner claim against reality. A 12-person molding shop with in-house tooling usually depends on the owner or a lead toolmaker for quoting, engineering, and customer relationships. Map exactly who does what and confirm the business does not walk out the door with the seller.
Verify customer concentration and contract terms. Medical, aerospace, and defense are attractive but often concentrated in a few programs, request a revenue-by-customer breakdown for three years and confirm whether relationships are contractual or purely PO-based and re-quoted each cycle.
Reconcile the $500K SDE and $340K EBITDA to tax returns and bank statements. The $160K gap between SDE and EBITDA is owner add-backs, confirm each add-back is legitimate and that reported margins are not inflated by deferred maintenance on 18 aging presses.
Assess the true condition and remaining life of the equipment. FF&E is listed at $1M with presses ranging 25 to 500 tons and some described as upgraded, but molding presses and CNC machines require real capex, get an independent equipment appraisal and a maintenance/repair history.
Confirm quality system status and any regulatory qualifications. Selling into medical and defense usually requires certifications and validated processes, verify what the company actually holds versus what the marketing copy implies, because gaps here limit growth and buyer pool at exit.
Validate the AI quoting system and ERP as real, transferable assets. Confirm whether the software is proprietary and owned, licensed, or dependent on the seller, and test whether the AI quoting tool actually generates quotes and traffic or is aspirational marketing language.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →