What exactly do you do when you sell my business?

Everything. We start by commissioning a certified valuation so your price is defensible, then we prepare your financials and confidential marketing package, get the listing positioned for SBA financing, quietly market it to vetted buyers, negotiate offers, and manage due diligence, financing, and closing. You keep running your business. We run the sale.

Why does a certified valuation matter so much?

Because it's what keeps your deal alive. For every business we represent, we commission a certified valuation from an independent NACVA-credentialed appraiser. We don't prepare it ourselves, and we never guess. That independent, defensible number is what makes your asking price stand up to buyers, banks, attorneys, and the IRS, makes your listing SBA-ready, and keeps your sale from collapsing in due diligence.

What kinds of businesses do you work with?

Profitable, established businesses with real, provable cash flow, across virtually every industry. We sell healthy going concerns at full value. We don't handle asset liquidations or distressed fire-sales.

What if my business isn't profitable yet?

Then selling probably isn't the right move yet. Growing is. We can help you build a stronger, more valuable business first.

How does SBA pre-qualification help me sell?

It lets qualified buyers acquire your business with as little as 10% down, which expands your buyer pool, creates more competition, and improves your odds of a clean close. (Pre-qualification is a preliminary lender assessment, not a financing guarantee.)

Is my information kept confidential?

Completely. We market discreetly to vetted buyers under NDA. Your employees, customers, and competitors won't know your business is for sale.

Where do you operate?

We're based in El Paso and we represent businesses across all of Texas.

How much is my customs brokerage worth?

Licensed, diversified brokerages commonly trade between roughly 4 and 6 times owner's discretionary earnings, and larger firms are often valued on an EBITDA multiple that lands higher. Recurring importer accounts, licensed staff, service breadth, and compliance history determine where you land. Only a certified independent valuation survives a lender's underwriting.

Why would a national buyer pay a premium for an El Paso company?

Because presence at these crossings, licensed capability, and long-standing importer relationships cannot be built quickly. Strategic buyers acquire what they cannot replicate, and El Paso is one of the few places that capability exists at scale.

What happens to my broker license and bond?

Licensing and permits do not simply transfer — the acquiring entity must hold qualified licensing in its own right, and bonds are underwritten to the new ownership. Both belong in the closing schedule from the start. Confirm requirements with your own counsel.

One importer is most of my revenue. Can I still sell?

Yes, but expect the price and structure to reflect the risk, often with a portion tied to that relationship continuing. Adding several mid-sized accounts beforehand typically returns far more than it costs.

Can a buyer finance this kind of acquisition?

Qualified buyers can access SBA 7(a) financing up to $5 million, and larger transactions move to conventional or strategic structures. All require clean, reconciled financials and a defensible independent valuation. SBA pre-qualification is a preliminary, non-binding lender assessment, not a loan commitment.

Will my importers or competitors find out?

Not from us. Your company is marketed blind — capability, market, and financial profile only — to vetted buyers who sign a non-disclosure agreement before they learn your name.

How to Sell a Customs Brokerage or Freight Forwarding Company in El Paso, TX (2026 Guide)

How to Sell a Customs Brokerage or Freight Forwarding Company in El Paso, Texas

There is no market in the United States where a cross-border logistics business is worth more than this one. Buyers — including national forwarders and Mexican and Asian logistics groups — pay for recurring importer accounts, entry volume, and licensed capability at the busiest commercial crossings in North America.

4×–6×

Typical multiple of earnings for a licensed, diversified brokerage

$1M+

Range where these businesses commonly transact in El Paso

100%

Confidential — importers, staff, and competitors never know

Why El Paso brokerages command premium prices

El Paso–Juárez moves an extraordinary share of U.S.–Mexico trade, and maquiladora manufacturing keeps importer relationships sticky for decades. Strategic buyers cannot manufacture a border presence — they have to buy one. That scarcity is your leverage.

Recurring importer accounts and entry volume

Annual entry counts, revenue per entry, and account tenure are the asset. Importers rarely switch brokers, which is exactly why buyers pay for the book.

Licensing and permitted capability

Licensed brokers on staff, national permit status, bonded and FTZ capability, and IATA or OTI authority all determine what a buyer inherits versus what they must build.

Client diversification and mode mix

Many mid-sized importers beat one large maquiladora relationship. Adding forwarding, trucking, warehousing, or drayage revenue broadens both margin and the buyer pool.

Compliance record and systems

Audit history, classification accuracy, C-TPAT status, and a modern brokerage platform tell a buyer the revenue is durable and defensible.

What is my El Paso brokerage worth?

Move the slider. This uses owner's discretionary earnings (SDE) — your net profit plus your salary, personal expenses run through the business, interest, depreciation, and one-time costs. Businesses at this size are frequently valued on EBITDA instead, which usually produces a higher multiple.

Owner’s discretionary earnings (SDE)

$180,000 / year

$40K$1.2M

Which of these are true today?

Illustrative Range

Estimated enterprise value

$693,000 – $1,098,000

That’s roughly 3.9× to 6.1× your owner’s earnings, before any real estate you own.

Every box you check is a lever you can still pull before you list. Owners who fix the books and the lease first routinely land at the top of their range instead of the bottom.

Illustration only — not an appraisal or an offer.

The six steps that get a customs brokerage or freight forwarder sold — in that order.

Build an institutional-quality financial package

Three years of P&Ls, tax returns, and balance sheets, reconciled, plus revenue and margin by client and service line, annual entry volume, revenue per entry, account tenure, receivable aging, and duty-advance exposure.

Commission an independent, certified valuation

Not a broker's opinion, and never a strategic acquirer's opening number. We commission a certified valuation from an independent NACVA-credentialed appraiser — the caliber of report banks, buyers, the IRS, and courts rely on.

Solve licensing and key-person dependence

If the company operates on your personal license, the buyer's ability to operate depends on you. Licensed brokers on staff convert that dependence into transferable value.

Fix what diligence will find

Licensing and permit status, bond adequacy, compliance and audit history, duty advances and client credit exposure, powers of attorney documentation, client agreements, software licensing, lease term, and unpaid taxes.

Market it confidentially to strategic and financial buyers

No word to your importers, your staff, or the brokerage two doors down. We market blind on capability and financial profile to vetted, financially verified buyers — including national and cross-border strategics — under NDA.

Negotiate, survive diligence, and close

Offers, escrow, quality-of-earnings review, licensing and bond transition, client consents and power-of-attorney handling, key-employee retention, working-capital treatment, and funding. We stay on it through closing.

Six mistakes that cost customs brokerage or freight forwarder owners real money.

Letting a strategic acquirer diligence you for free

National forwarders approach owners directly and ask for client and margin detail early. Staged disclosure under NDA protects the book you may still own next year.

Depending on one maquiladora account

Concentration is the largest discount in this category, because a single plant decision can move most of your revenue. Diversifying is worth more than another year of growth.

Operating on the owner's license alone

It caps who can buy you and what they will pay. Licensed staff is the difference between selling a company and selling your credentials.

Ignoring duty advance and credit exposure

Advancing duty for clients ties up cash and creates risk buyers price carefully. Documented credit discipline protects your number.

Weak compliance documentation

Classification accuracy and audit history are examined closely. Gaps create indemnity demands and holdbacks against your proceeds.

Selling into a single-buyer conversation

Border capability is scarce and strategically valuable. One quiet offer almost never reflects what a competitive process produces.

Customs Brokerage or Freight Forwarder owners we represent across El Paso, West Texas, and southern New Mexico

Whether your customs brokerage or freight forwarder sits on the east side, downtown, out in the valley, or across the state line in Doña Ana County, the sale process is the same: verified financials, an independent certified valuation, and a confidential, competitive market of qualified buyers. We meet owners at a time and place of their choosing.

Find out what your brokerage is actually worth.

One confidential conversation with a partner — not a coordinator. We will tell you where your numbers put you today, what would move the multiple, and whether now is your moment.

Confidential — nothing is shared or listed without your written consent.

A reply within one business day, usually the same afternoon.

No fee, no obligation, and no pressure for the first conversation.