Defense Businesses for Sale.

The contracts and clearances are what attract buyers initially, but what actually holds its value is a cleared leadership team that's been running programs for years and a contract pipeline with renewals already exercised.

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A clay model of a defense contractor's engineering and assembly facility in Huntsville, with the owner looking over the operation.

Active Listings

$3.8M

Median Asking Price

Rejigg lists 21 defense businesses for sale. The median asking price is $3.8M.

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Featured Defense Businesses

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What to know

What to know about buying a defense business

How defense businesses are valued

Asking prices are set as a multiple of earnings: 3x–8x annual profit, depending on contracts, team depth, and how much runs without you.

Where you land in that range depends on the strength of your contracts, how deep your team is, and whether the business keeps running when you're not in the office.

A team with security clearances
Signed contracts with years of work ahead
Direct relationships with government agencies
Certifications and compliance already in place

What buyers of defense businesses look for

Mid-size defense contractors looking to add your capabilities or agency relationships
Technology companies that want to break into government work with your track record and clearances
Companies from related fields looking to expand into defense services
Experienced operators looking for a well-organized business with steady government revenue

The first questions buyers ask:

Contract Transfer. Which contracts require novation or customer consent, and what does that do to the close timeline?
Clearance Continuity. What facility clearance level do you have, who runs security day to day, and what changes when ownership changes?
Funded Backlog. When you say “backlog,” how much is actually funded task orders versus IDIQ (Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity) ceiling and unexercised options?

Closed deals

Rejigg defense deals closed

Across 42 closed deals on Rejigg, the median time from first pitch to close is 177.5 days.

See all Rejigg deal data

Due diligence

What to Look For

Practical guidance from hundreds of real acquisition conversations.

Contract Pipeline Quality

Ask the seller to walk you through each active contract showing what's funded, what's committed but not yet funded, and when things come up for renewal.
A clean pipeline with renewals already exercised is one of the strongest signals you'll find in a defense acquisition.
Understand the difference between funded work you can count on and options that still need to be exercised.

Cleared Team Depth

Get excited about clearances that are spread across the leadership team, not concentrated in one or two people.
Ask about clearance levels, how long staff have been sponsored, and what the continuity plan looks like during an ownership transition.
A bench of cleared leaders who've been managing programs for years is the asset that separates the strongest defense acquisitions from the rest.

Prime vs Sub Relationships

Prime contractor relationships give you direct access to the government client, which is far more durable than a subcontractor position.
Subcontractor positions can be restructured or cut when a prime decides to bring work in-house.
Ask which programs the company leads versus supports, and how long each prime relationship has been in place.

Financial Organization

Approved accounting systems, quality certifications, and compliance documentation already in place are worth getting excited about.
These took years to build and are what allow a defense company to compete for certain contract types.
Ask which certifications exist and whether any are due for renewal in the next 12 months.

Management Team Continuity

Ask how long the leadership team has been in place and which contracts each person manages.
Defense businesses where a president, finance director, and project leads have been running things for years are worth significantly more than founder-dependent operations.
Find out who handles operations when the owner is out and how that has worked in practice.

Valuation

What Should You Expect to Pay?

3x-5x

SDE

Owner-dependent, smaller programs

5x-8x

EBITDA

Deep management team, multi-year funded contracts

The spread comes down to contract strength, how deep the cleared team is, and whether the management team runs the business without the owner's daily involvement.

What drives a premium

Majority of staff hold active security clearances at multiple levels

Multi-year funded government contracts with documented renewal history

Prime contractor status with direct government agency relationships

Approved accounting system and quality certifications already in place

SBA Loan Calculator

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For buyers

Make your next conversation count

A listing starts the conversation. These tools help you check the fit, understand the financials, and decide what to ask next.

Prepare for the first owner call

Clarify what is for sale, who runs the business, and what the owner wants from a transition.

Prepare your buyer introduction

Check the numbers behind the asking price

Explore financing scenarios, debt payments, and the cash a business needs to keep operating.

Try the SBA loan calculator

Turn interest into a clear next step

Use the diligence checklist and LOI templates to organize requests and prepare a proposal.

Explore the deal templates

Find a business worth a closer look

Keep your industry and location in focus. Explore matching businesses or get new listings as they arrive.

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Thinking About Selling?Read our owner's guide to selling a defense business, with valuation tips, buyer expectations, and step-by-step advice.

Read the Owner's Guide

Defense Business Acquisition

How do I contact the owner of a business I found on Rejigg?

Create a free Rejigg account; owners, and the brokers who run some sales, only hear from buyers through the platform. Open the listing to see the full profile: city, team size, financials, what is for sale, and the reason for selling. Sign Rejigg's standard Fee & Confidentiality Agreement for that business; it is the same form for every deal. Verify your phone, then send your pitch from the listing. Replies, meetings, and documents all run through Rejigg.

Can I email Rejigg to get introduced to an owner?

No. Rejigg does not forward emails to owners or brokers, so a note to support@ or hello@ with a listing link will not reach them. Create a free account, open the listing, sign the agreement for that business, verify your phone, and send your pitch; that reaches them in a few minutes.

Which contracts require novation or customer consent, and what does that do to the close timeline?

Buyers are trying to confirm you can keep performing and invoicing while ownership changes. They also want to spot contracts where a formal novation process could add months. On subcontracts, they want to know whether the prime can block assignment of the subcontract and leave your biggest programs in limbo after close.

What facility clearance level do you have, who runs security day to day, and what changes when ownership changes?

A facility clearance can be a hard gate because without it, you cannot staff or bid certain work. Buyers want to see that your security program runs on process, not on one person. They also want to understand whether the buyer’s ownership and governance will trigger extra review or a pause in access.

When you say “backlog,” how much is actually funded task orders versus IDIQ (Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity) ceiling and unexercised options?

Buyers are underwriting what revenue is still real 60 to 90 days after close. In GovCon, contract ceilings and awarded values can look huge on paper while the funded work is much smaller. They want a task-order view that shows what is funded today and how often options and funding actually show up in your world.

What’s your recompete and option-year calendar for the next 24–36 months, and who owns each capture effort?

In GovCon, recompetes and option-year decisions are dated events that can change next year’s revenue fast. Buyers want to see the cliffs early, not learn about them halfway through diligence. They also want confidence you run capture with owners, budget, and a plan, not just hope that incumbency carries you.

Can you walk through your margin by contract type, like a program manager would?

Buyers want to understand how profit is created and protected on time-and-materials, firm-fixed-price, and cost-type work. They are looking for where overruns tend to happen and whether your pricing assumptions match reality. Repeatable margin usually shows up as tight staffing control, clean timekeeping, and fast change control when scope moves.

How do you set indirect rates, how often do you true-up, and have you ever been surprised by actuals?

Indirect rates shape both competitiveness and profitability in GovCon. Buyers are testing whether you price with discipline and adjust fast when actuals move. Surprises here can show up as margin compression, pricing that stops winning, or compliance exposure if unallowable costs get mixed into billings.

Defense Businesses for Sale.

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