Plastics processors are valued on adjusted EBITDA, with the multiple driven by program durability. Programs running on company-owned tooling are worth materially more than the same revenue on customer-owned molds.
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Buyers read the tooling schedule before the press list. A program tooled on a mold the customer owns can leave with sixty days of notice, so it does not support the same multiple as a program on a mold the company owns and maintains. Market qualification is the second driver: medical, food-contact, and automotive approvals widen the buyer pool immediately, provided the quality system reflects how the plant actually runs. Resin pass-through terms matter more than owners expect, because a processor that absorbs resin swings out of margin is handing the buyer that risk. Air and wastewater permits follow the plant, not the owner, and a Phase I environmental assessment is standard in this sector.