Guide to Selling a School & Community-Based ABA Practice in Missouri

Deciding to sell your ABA practice is one of the most significant professional steps you will ever take. In Missouri, the market for school and community-based services is active, with strong interest from buyers. This creates a real opportunity. However, a successful sale depends on careful preparation, strategic timing, and a clear understanding of your practice’s true value. This guide provides the insights you need to navigate the process.

Market Overview

The current environment for selling an ABA practice in Missouri is favorable for owners. Demand from buyers, particularly private equity groups, has been high. These groups are actively looking to partner with established practices to build larger platforms. This trend indicates that well-run practices are seen as valuable assets.

Strong Buyer Demand

Nationally, the behavioral health sector has seen a surge in M&A activity. Autism services are a key focus. Sophisticated buyers are drawn to the recurring revenue streams from therapy sessions and the essential nature of the services you provide. They see the potential for growth and are willing to pay for well-managed operations.

The Missouri Landscape

Missouri presents a unique operating environment. Your practice’s value is tied to its compliance with state-specific regulations. This includes staff licensure through the Division of Professional Registration (LBA, PLBA) and adherence to MO HealthNet guidelines for school-based services. Buyers will look closely at how well you navigate these rules, including any billing limitations like the Medicaid lifetime cap for ABA services.

Key Considerations for a Successful Sale

When a buyer evaluates your practice, they look beyond the high-level numbers. They are buying your operations, your reputation, and your future potential. Focusing on these areas beforehand can significantly strengthen your position. Here are four key areas to prepare:

1. Showcase Clinical and Regulatory Excellence. Demonstrate that all your practitioners are fully licensed and in compliance with Missouri and BACB guidelines. Organized documentation of your clinical supervision, ethical standards, and positive client outcomes is a powerful asset.
2. Highlight a Stable Team and Referral Network. Low staff turnover is a sign of a healthy practice culture. Buyers value a stable, experienced clinical team of BCBAs and RBTs. Similarly, document your strong, consistent relationships with local school districts and community referral sources. This proves your practice is deeply integrated into the community.
3. Present a Clear Financial Story. Your financials need to be clean, organized, and easy to understand. Go beyond simple profit and loss. Be prepared to explain your revenue streams, how you manage rising labor costs, and the efficiency of your billing and collections processes. This transparency builds buyer confidence.
4. Define Your Growth Potential. What are the opportunities for a new owner? Map out potential for expansion, whether it’s opening a new location in an underserved Missouri county, adding new service lines, or increasing capacity at your current sites. A clear growth plan makes your practice more attractive.

Market Activity

You may not see many public announcements for sales of practices just like yours in Missouri. Most transactions in this space are private. However, the national trends tell a clear story. The behavioral health market recovered strongly through early 2024, continuing a period of intense M&A activity. Private equity firms have been the primary drivers, completing the vast majority of deals in the autism services sector over the last several years.

This high level of activity creates a competitive environment. It means there are multiple potential buyers for a quality practice. This competition is good for sellers, but it also means you will likely be dealing with experienced, professional buyers. To get the best outcome, you need to run a structured process that creates a sense of competition and allows you to negotiate from a position of strength. Thinking about a sale in 2-3 years? That is the perfect time to start preparing. Buyers pay for proven performance, not just potential.

The Sale Process at a Glance

Selling your practice is a multi-stage journey. Each step has its own purpose and potential challenges. Understanding this roadmap helps you prepare for what is ahead and avoid common pitfalls, especially during the critical due diligence phase where many deals encounter issues.

What Is Your Practice Really Worth?

Many owners wonder how a buyer will determine the value of their practice. It is not based on a percentage of revenue or the value of your equipment. For sophisticated buyers, the starting point is a metric called Adjusted EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization). This figure represents the true cash flow of your business. It is calculated by taking your reported profit and adding back owner-specific expenses, like an above-market salary or personal vehicle costs.

This Adjusted EBITDA is then multiplied by a “multiple” to arrive at an enterprise value. That multiple is not a fixed number. It is influenced by factors like your practice’s size, its reliance on you versus a team of providers, its growth rate, and the stability of its revenue from school contracts and diverse payers. A multi-site practice with a strong team often receives a higher multiple than a solo practice. Understanding how to calculate and frame your Adjusted EBITDA is perhaps the single most important step in achieving a premium valuation.

Planning for Life After the Sale

The moment you sign the closing documents is a beginning, not just an end. A successful transaction plan accounts for what happens on day one under new ownership and for years to come. It is important to consider these questions early in the process, as the answers will shape the type of buyer you look for and the structure of the deal itself.

Here are three key areas to plan for:

1. Your Future Role. Do you want to continue working as a clinician for a few years, transition into a leadership role, or exit completely? Deals can be structured to accommodate your preference. An “earn-out,” for example, might provide you with additional payments based on the practice’s future performance.
2. Your Team’s Security. You have built a dedicated team, and their futures are important. The right partner will be one who values your staff and has a plan to retain and support them. This should be a key point of discussion when evaluating potential buyers.
3. Your Legacy and Financial Future. An equity rollover, where you retain a minority stake in the new, larger company, can offer a “second bite at the apple.” This allows you to benefit from the future growth you help create. It is a powerful way to align your interests with the new owner and potentially see a significant return down the road.