Question 1

What is my aerospace supplier worth?

Accepted Answer

Aerospace suppliers sit at the top of the manufacturing multiple range because approvals take years to earn. The offsetting factor is program concentration, which buyers model directly against each platform's remaining life. AS9100 registration, NADCAP special-process approvals, customer supplier approvals, and a clean first-article and corrective-action history are the assets. A shop with those and older equipment consistently out-prices a better-equipped shop without them. The concentration analysis is what sets the final number: buyers build a program schedule with platform, position, rate history, and remaining production life, and they price the revenue accordingly. Change of control brings notification requirements, including to the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls where ITAR registration applies, and prime customers re-approve the supplier under the new entity documents. Sellers who map that sequence before diligence keep control of the closing schedule.

Question 2

Who actually buys a $5M to $20M manufacturing company?

Accepted Answer

Four buyer types: strategic acquirers in the same or an adjacent industry, private equity platforms and their portfolio companies, family offices, and individual buyers backed by search funds or SBA financing. Each pays for something different. A strategic buyer pays for capacity, customers, a certification, or a geography they lack, and can often justify the highest price because of synergy. A private equity platform pays for a stable earnings stream and management continuity, and usually wants the owner to stay or to roll over equity. A family office pays for a long hold and frequently offers the most flexible structure. An individual buyer with SBA or search-fund backing pays less but closes deals other buyers pass on, and is frequently the best outcome for a smaller company with an owner willing to stay through a transition. Charlotte has an unusual density of all four, which is the single biggest structural advantage of selling a manufacturing company here.

Question 3

Do ISO, AS9100, and IATF certifications transfer when a company is sold?

Accepted Answer

The registration follows the legal entity and the site, so a stock sale generally preserves it while an asset sale requires the registrar and the customers to recognize the new entity. The mechanics are administrative but the timing is not trivial. In an asset purchase the buyer typically needs a transfer audit or a new certification against the existing quality system, and customers who approved the supplier will re-approve under the new entity. In a stock purchase the certificate stays with the entity, though notifications are still required and customers still re-approve. In aerospace and defense the customer approvals matter more than the registrar's certificate, and prime customers set their own re-approval timelines, which is why the sequence of notification, audit, and re-approval gets written into the purchase agreement rather than left to chance. A production interruption caused by a lapsed approval is the outcome both sides are trying to avoid.

Question 4

What happens to ITAR registration when the company changes ownership?

Accepted Answer

ITAR registration is entity-specific and a change of ownership requires notification to the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, with advance notice where the transaction involves a foreign person. The notification requirements are procedural and well established, but they carry real timing consequences: an acquisition involving foreign ownership triggers a longer process and can involve additional review, and prime customers will not accept shipments from an entity whose registration status is unresolved. The practical steps are to identify early whether any prospective buyer has foreign ownership, to confirm the registration is current and the technology control plan is real rather than nominal, and to schedule the notifications alongside closing rather than after it. Buyers active in defense supply do this routinely; a first-time buyer may not know to, which makes it the seller's advisor's job to raise it.

Question 5

My revenue depends on one aerospace program. Can I still sell?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and program concentration is structural in aerospace rather than a management failure. Buyers price it by modeling the platform's remaining production life and rate, so the honest schedule is what protects the valuation. Build the schedule before you go to market: each platform, your position and part numbers, the rate history, the published or expected production outlook, your share, and the competitive situation. Then be explicit about what diversification exists, including approvals that let you quote work you have not yet won. Buyers who are active in aerospace are comfortable with concentration they can model and uncomfortable with concentration that is presented vaguely. Where the platform is mature and rates are declining, the realistic conversation is about the value of the approvals and the capacity rather than the current revenue, and there are buyers specifically looking for approved capacity to feed with their own programs.

Aerospace & Defense Suppliers in Charlotte, NC

Aerospace & Defense Suppliers in Charlotte

Aerospace & Defense Suppliers in Charlotte: what a Mecklenburg County company sells for, and who buys one

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Aerospace & Defense Suppliers in Charlotte, NC

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Aerospace & Defense Suppliers in Charlotte

Aerospace & Defense Suppliers in Charlotte: what a Mecklenburg County company sells for, and who buys one

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