Sell a business in Houma–Thibodaux
We represent Houma and Thibodaux business owners with $1 million to $25 million in annual revenue. The Structured Sale™ runs every qualified buyer at your business at the same time, so the offer you accept reflects what the company is actually worth to that buyer.
You will know exactly what the market thinks in under 30 days.
Selling a business in Houma or Thibodaux, in plain terms
To sell a business in Houma or Thibodaux, work with an M&A advisor who runs a structured, competitive process and understands the local industrial economy. Duran Advisors represents owners with $1 million to $25 million in annual revenue across oilfield services, marine, fabrication, heavy construction, hospitality, and professional services, runs the Structured Sale™, and gives you a verified read on market value in under 30 days.
A real sale is a competition, not a listing. Most business brokers working the Bayou Region sign owners to a listing agreement, post the business on a few public sites, and hope a single buyer shows up. We do the opposite. We run a structured process that drives qualified buyers, including strategic acquirers from Houston, Lafayette, and beyond, to make offers at the same time. Then we close. Competition is the only ethical way to get paid what your business is actually worth, to the particular buyer making the offer.
The Houma–Thibodaux business market right now
The Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux metro has 85,100 jobs across 3,949 business establishments, an unemployment rate of 3.5 percent versus 4.4 percent nationally, and a heavily industrial mix anchored by oilfield services, marine fabrication, heavy engineering construction, and machinery manufacturing. Roughly 307 new businesses opened against 250 exits in 2023.
85,100
Total jobs in the Houma–Thibodaux metro
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Jan 2026
3,949
Business establishments
U.S. Census BDS, 2023
$80.7M
SBA 7(a) lending into Terrebonne Parish, last 20 years
SBA 7(a) program records
3.5%
Unemployment, well below the 4.4% national rate
BLS, December 2025
An industrial economy with real assets
The Houma–Thibodaux economy runs on industrial work. The largest single industry segment by employment is oil and gas support services at 4,049 jobs across 105 establishments, followed by industrial machinery manufacturing (2,546 jobs across 39 establishments), transportation equipment manufacturing including shipyards and marine fabrication (2,451 jobs across 32 establishments), and heavy engineering construction (1,938 jobs across 49 establishments). Specialty trade contractors number 315 firms, fabricated metal manufacturers number 69, and electrical, plumbing, and HVAC contractors number 143. This is a market where the businesses being sold often have real estate, equipment, inventory, certifications, and long-cycle customer contracts.
Houma–Thibodaux vs. U.S. unemployment, 2020 to 2025
Monthly unemployment rate, percent
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics
Business establishment turnover, seller-favorable
The Census Bureau's Business Dynamics Statistics put the metro at 3,949 establishments in 2023, with 307 openings against 250 exits. That 7.65 percent opening rate against a 9.84 percent exit rate is the signature of a market where more business owners are exiting than starting up new ones. Translation for sellers: the buyer pool that is looking is looking now, and the deals that get done get done. Construction had the highest opening rate at 12.95 percent, administrative services followed at 13.22 percent, and health care opened 36 firms against 22 exits.
SBA buyer financing in Terrebonne Parish
Terrebonne Parish businesses have received $80.7 million in SBA 7(a) lending over the past 20 years. The top financed categories tell you which businesses banks underwrite with confidence in this market.
Top 5 SBA-financed industries in Terrebonne Parish, last 20 years
Total 7(a) loan dollars, millions
Source: SBA 7(a) loan program records, Terrebonne Parish, transactions since 2007
Active SBA lenders working the parish over the past five years include Live Oak Banking, New Millennium Bank, Newtek Small Business Finance, First Western SBLC, and b1BANK. The practical read for a seller: hotels, oilfield service businesses, restaurants, and equipment-heavy operations all have a working SBA channel, and we know which lender categories move quickly on which deal types.
What the market data means if you are selling
The numbers above tell us four things that matter at the closing table in Houma and Thibodaux.
The owner demographic is at peak sale age
Population is down 3.7 percent over five years, but the more important read for sellers is what is happening to the established business owner base. Many were 40 to 50 years old during the 2000s oilfield buildout. They are 60 to 75 now. The exit-rate spike above the opening rate is one signal of that cohort starting to move. Owners who are ready to transition are the supply side of the market we represent.
Industrial businesses trade to strategic buyers
The largest local employment categories are oil and gas support services, industrial machinery manufacturing, marine and transportation equipment, and heavy engineering construction. Buyers for these companies are rarely individual main-street operators. They are private equity sponsors, family offices, and strategic acquirers, often from Houston, Lafayette, or out of state. Reaching that buyer pool requires a structured process, not a listing on a broker website.
Hospitality is the largest SBA-financed local category
Hotels and motels in Terrebonne Parish have received $16.16 million in SBA lending across just six loans, the largest single category by dollar volume. Limited-service restaurants follow with $6.25 million across 13 loans. If you own a hotel, a restaurant, or a restaurant group in the Bayou Region, there is buyer demand and there is lender capacity. The numbers also tell you these are larger-ticket deals than a generalist broker is used to closing.
The buyer composition is bigger than the local market
For middle-market industrial businesses, the buyer pool is not Houma or Thibodaux. It is the Gulf Coast and national strategic acquirer base. The right advisor reaches that pool with a confidential, organized process and an industry-credible Confidential Information Memorandum.
The Structured Sale™ in Houma and Thibodaux
We run the same process on every engagement. Three steps, every time, no exceptions.
Research and Prepare
We come to the business in Houma, Thibodaux, or wherever you operate, often after hours for confidentiality. We tour the operation, talk through your objectives, and assemble the package: a Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM), a blind teaser, a financial summary, a Matterport 3D scan if there is a physical location or fabrication yard, an ideal-buyer profile, and a data room. Valuation is performed under NACVA Professional Standards, then we walk you through the findings before anything goes to market.
Market
We execute a formal marketing program across industry relationships, direct outreach to strategic buyers in Houston, Lafayette, and beyond, social, paid, and our proprietary buyer database. Every buyer signs an NDA before they see the blind teaser. Qualified buyers are screened against financial statements before they receive the CIM. Serious prospects move to a Buyer/Seller meeting, in person or by video conference. We then evaluate LOIs against the buyer profile and your goals.
Close
The offer is accepted, due diligence runs with us facilitating the buyer's questions, the closing attorney coordinates the definitive agreement, we do a walk-through at the business directly before closing, and you get the check at signing. Buyer and seller go to the business together to begin transition.
The 30-day promise
You will know exactly what the market thinks in under 30 days. That is not a marketing line, it is the structural difference between a real sale process and a listing. The 30-day clock starts when we go to market: after the valuation and the Confidential Information Memorandum are prepared, every qualified buyer hears about your business at the same time. Within 30 days of that launch you have full market consensus. If the business is polished, you have multiple competing offers. If it needs work, you have zero offers and a clear list of issues to fix. Either answer is fast. Most spray-and-pray brokers take roughly 12 months to reach the same read because they list the business and wait for one buyer to walk in. We have closed multi-million-dollar businesses in 90 days from first contact to close, and most Structured Sale™ engagements wrap inside six months.
The mechanism is competition. Before they face competition, a buyer is only trying to pay you the minimum they think will get the deal done. When they have competition, they will pay you what the business is actually worth to them, for fear of losing the deal to another buyer who will pay more because the business is really worth more.
Industries we have closed in Houma and Thibodaux
Across 15+ years and roughly 290 engagements, our practice has touched more than 75 distinct industries in the Gulf South. We are generalists by design. Fifty percent of the businesses we represent in any given year are in industries that are new to us, and we work them with the same process. In the Bayou Region specifically, our deepest repeated experience falls in these categories.
- Architecture, engineering, and surveying firms
- Distribution and wholesale (industrial supply, building materials)
- Electrical, mechanical, plumbing, and HVAC contractors
- Fabricated metal product manufacturing
- General and specialty trade construction
- Healthcare offices (physician, dental, outpatient practices)
- Heavy engineering construction
- Hotels, short-term lodging, and hospitality groups
- Industrial machinery manufacturing
- Logistics, trucking, and warehousing
- Marine services, vessel operations, and shipyards
- Oilfield services and oil and gas support operations
- Professional services (legal, accounting, advisory)
- Restaurants and hospitality groups
A note on oilfield and marine deals
Oilfield service, marine fabrication, and shipyard transactions look nothing like a Main Street sale. Buyers are private equity, family offices, and strategic operators, often from Houston, Lafayette, or Texas Gulf Coast hubs. Deals turn on backlog quality, customer concentration, equipment value, certifications, and key-employee retention. We have closed engagements in these categories and we know what holds them together in due diligence, including the issues that quietly kill them.
Why local Gulf South representation matters
National brokers and franchise business brokers have one product: a listing. They sign an owner to a listing agreement, throw it up on a bunch of websites, spend almost no money on it, and hope to find one buyer before the listing agreement expires. We call that spray and pray. It is not how serious sales get done, and it is especially not how a Bayou Region industrial business gets sold for what it is actually worth.
We are different in four specific ways.
A senior advisor leads every engagement, end to end. Duran Advisors' SOP requires the lead advisor in every room: every initial meeting in Houma or Thibodaux, every buyer meeting, every LOI review, every closing. No junior hand-offs.
We work the Gulf South as one market. From the New Orleans office we cover New Orleans, the New Orleans North Shore, Baton Rouge, Houma–Thibodaux, and South Mississippi. The strategic buyer pool, the lender relationships, and the deal data we use to value a business in Houma are the same ones we use across the region. Houston and Lafayette acquirers are part of that buyer pool too.
We cooperate with your other advisors. Most professional service advisors create friction with other advisors out of fear of losing the client. We do not have wealth management, tax preparation, or estate planning on our team, so there is no conflict. We work with your CPA, your attorney, and your wealth advisor as one team. That is Coordinated Advisor Collaboration.
We run a structured process, not a listing. Qualified buyers compete, the offer reflects what the business is actually worth, and you stay informed in real time.
What it takes to sell, and what to get ready
The Structured Sale™ moves fast once we have what we need. To get your Houma or Thibodaux deal ready for market, we will want six documents:
- Three years of profit and loss statements, plus year-to-date
- Three years of tax returns
- Three years of balance sheets, plus a current balance sheet
- An itemized list of all furniture, fixtures, and equipment (FF&E), including vessels, vehicles, and yard equipment if applicable
- A value of inventory
- A legal description of any real estate, plus maps, plats, recent appraisals, or a copy of the lease
That is the package. You give us the documents, we build the valuation under NACVA Professional Standards, we walk you through the findings, and the engagement letter follows. From there we move to the CIM, buyer screening, and the marketing program.
If your books are not in shape yet, the same engagement can run as a value-improvement program first. We have an Exit Planning practice for owners who want to fix the underlying drivers of value before going to market.
Frequently asked questions about selling a business in Houma or Thibodaux
How long does it take to sell a business in Houma or Thibodaux?
We have closed multi-million-dollar businesses in 90 days from first contact to closing. The typical Structured Sale™ runs three to nine months. We prepare the valuation and the Confidential Information Memorandum first, then go to market. Within 30 days of that launch you have full market consensus, then we move into LOI evaluation and due diligence. Close timing depends on due diligence findings and buyer financing.
How much is my Houma or Thibodaux business worth?
Fair market value depends on profitability, growth, customer concentration, owner dependence, industry, contract backlog, equipment value, and your specific buyer pool. Most Bayou Region businesses with $1 million to $25 million in revenue trade between two and six times normalized EBITDA, with adjustments. Industrial and marine deals can sit higher with strong contracts and certifications. A defensible number comes from a valuation under NACVA Professional Standards.
Business broker vs. M&A advisor in the Bayou Region, which do I need?
A franchise business broker fits Main Street businesses under roughly $500,000 in revenue. An M&A advisor fits the Upper Main Street and Lower Middle Market, roughly $1 million to $25 million in revenue. That is where we focus. Oilfield, marine, fabrication, and heavy construction deals in this range are too sophisticated for a generalist broker and too small for the bulge-bracket M&A firms in Houston.
Do you have a Houma office?
No. We are based in metro New Orleans and cover Houma, Thibodaux, and the surrounding parishes as part of our Gulf South footprint. The buyer pool, lender relationships, and comparable sales data we use are the same across all five regions we serve. Most owners we represent see us at the business itself, not at our office.
How do you keep the sale confidential in a small community?
Every buyer signs a Non-Disclosure Agreement before they see the blind teaser. The teaser does not name the business and does not share identifying photographs. The CIM only goes to qualified buyers who have cleared financial screening. Most owners never have employees, customers, or competitors find out the business is for sale until after closing.
Do you handle oilfield service and marine fabrication deals?
Yes. Oilfield service, marine vessel operations, shipyard, and fabrication deals are a core part of our Bayou Region practice. Buyers for these companies are primarily private equity sponsors and strategic acquirers from Houston, Lafayette, and out of state. We know the buyer pool, the typical deal terms, and what kills these transactions in due diligence.
What does it cost to sell a business in Houma or Thibodaux?
We charge a modest engagement fee at signing to cover the valuation and CIM, then a success fee at closing. The structure varies by deal size and complexity. There is no listing fee that runs whether the business sells or not. We share the full fee structure on the first call so there are no surprises later.
When should I start preparing to sell?
Twelve to thirty-six months before you want to be at the closing table is the sweet spot. That gives time to clean up books, reduce owner dependence, document recurring revenue or contract backlog, and fix value drivers a buyer will pay for. If the business is already ready, the Structured Sale™ can run inside six months.
Ready to start?
Two ways to begin: get a no-cost initial conversation about what your business is worth, or read more about how the Structured Sale™ works.
Duran Advisors M&AMI · CM&AA · CM&AP · CEPA · CVGA · Certified Value Builder™ · CAIM · CMSBB · IBBA Past Educator · 15+ years of M&A experience · ~290 engagements across the Gulf South