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Alton, Madison County

Alton Catering Company for Sale

A catering company in Alton is priced on adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings after a buyer compares this book to Edwardsville — not on a statewide rumor multiple. Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). Missouri buyers still close an Illinois company on Illinois notices. The statewide catering companies playbook is on the industry hub; this page is the Alton file. Confidential sale. No upfront listing fee.

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Alton market

Selling a catering company in Alton

A catering company in Alton is priced on adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings after a buyer compares this book to Edwardsville — not on a statewide rumor multiple. Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). Missouri buyers still close an Illinois company on Illinois notices. The statewide catering companies playbook is on the industry hub; this page is the Alton file.

Alton is the Mississippi bluff city in Madison County — riverboats and meeting-of-the-rivers tourism, older industry, and a downtown that faces the river, not I-270’s warehouses.

Flood, bluff geotech, and seasonal tourism belong in diligence. Hospital and river industry are the year-round books. Buyers from St. Louis and Jersey County already know the climb up the bluff. Do not price this like Edwardsville’s SIUE households or Granite City’s steel.

Alton has about 26,798 residents in Madison County, inside the St. Louis area. Nearby markets buyers already compare this book to include Edwardsville, Jerseyville. That comparison changes who shows up: a buyer who will drive from Edwardsville is not the same buyer who will fly in from a coastal platform.

Planning facts

Typical multiple
2x–3.5x SDE
Typical timeline
6–12 months
SBA eligible
Often — confirm
County
Madison County
Population
26,798
Metro
St. Louis
Nearby comps
Edwardsville, Jerseyville
Closing clock
Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). Missouri buyers still close an Illinois company on Illinois notices
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Madison County demand

Metro East demand

Madison, St. Clair, and nearby Metro East shops sit in the St. Louis MSA. Some buyers live in Missouri and still have to close under Illinois notices and licenses.

State CBS-1 plus municipal licenses. Do not assume a Missouri process covers an Illinois entity.

Alton demand for catering companies is the customer list and the license path — not the Census population figure. About 26,798 residents is context for who already lives in the trade area. It is not a sale price.

Catering Company in Alton

What a Alton buyer will underwrite on this catering company

Food and liquor in Alton close on the lease and the local board as often as they close on prime cost. Madison County health and — if the room pours — local-control liquor are Alton clocks, not a statewide multiple. Neighbors already compare this room to Edwardsville, Jerseyville.

Catering Companies statewide typically plan around 2x–3.5x SDE and a 6–12 months process when books and the lease are ready. That is a planning range, not a price for this Alton shop. Buyers here usually argue corporate account contracts, event calendar bookings, equipment, staff stability.

Closing clock for this Alton file: Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). Missouri buyers still close an Illinois company on Illinois notices. License path: County health-department food licenses, commissary approval, and — if they pour — liquor catering permits that are municipal and ILCC issues. The industry hub teaches the statewide rule. This URL is the Alton application of it.

Alton is a regional market. The first serious call is often an owner-operator from Edwardsville, Jerseyville, not a platform that needs $2 million of earnings to pay for diligence. SBA 7(a) and seller financing usually matter more here than a headline multiple.

Buyer pool

Who buys a catering company in Alton

St. Louis capital is as important as Chicago capital. PE and strategics who already buy in St. Louis County will look across the river. SIUE (Edwardsville) creates a campus-adjacent buyer story that Granite City does not share.

Illustration: a commissary-based caterer in Evanston with two corporate cafeterias, a weekend wedding book, and a seller who still plates every 150-person event. Not a closed sale.

A catering company whose customers already sit in Edwardsville, Jerseyville is a larger business than one that stops at the Alton city limit. Tell the truth about the route. Buyers will map it.

SDE recast

How a buyer will read the books on this Alton catering company

Catering recasts on contracted corporate and venue calendars, not a single wedding season. Add back owner-chef compensation, then isolate one-off galas and any restaurant cross-subsidy. Deposit timing can make a trailing twelve look richer than the production calendar. If the seller still plates every event, subtract a chef de cuisine.

Illustration only — not a quote for any Alton shop. A catering company whose tax return shows $116,000 of net profit is not worth $116,000 × a rumor multiple.

Add back the owner’s $75,000 W-2 and payroll tax, $12,000 of discretionary benefits, $1,000 of accepted one-time cost, and $9,000 of personal expenses that a buyer will not run. Then subtract $3,000 of replacement labor if the owner still diagnoses, sells, or closes the books.

Adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings are $210,000. At the planning range 2.0x–3.5x, enterprise value is $420,000 to $735,000. Mid-range 2.75x is $577,500 before debt, working capital, holdback, and tax. A Alton buyer will argue the multiple after they ride with the staff and read the lease.

At 2.75 times $210,000 of seller’s discretionary earnings, enterprise value is $577,500 before debt, working capital, holdback, and tax. That is the planning conversation. It is not a listing-site guess.

SDE line items

  1. Reported net profit (tax return, not the marketing P&L)
  2. + Interest expense
  3. + Income taxes (not payroll, sales, or property tax)
  4. + Depreciation and amortization
  5. + Owner W-2, bonuses, and payroll taxes on the owner
  6. + Discretionary owner benefits that a buyer will not keep (auto, personal travel, family on payroll with no role)
  7. + Accepted one-time or non-recurring expenses
  8. − Market-rate replacement labor for owner work that will not transfer
  9. = Seller’s Discretionary Earnings (SDE)
Illustration recast for a Alton catering company — not a quote
Net profit$116,000
Owner W-2$75,000
Benefits$12,000
One-time$1,000
Personal$9,000
Replacement labor (subtract)−$3,000
Recast SDE$210,000
Planning EV at 2.75x$577,500

Recast Seller’s Discretionary Earnings, then apply a planning multiple for catering companies. Replacement labor is subtracted. This is a planning tool, not an appraisal.

Recast SDE—
Planning enterprise value—

Before debt, working-capital peg, holdback, and tax. Educational only.

Enter your annual Seller's Discretionary Earnings (SDE) — your net profit plus owner's salary and any personal expenses run through the business — to estimate a range.

$
1x 3.0x 8x
Estimated Value Range — to —

This is an estimate for planning purposes only. Actual value depends on lease terms, asset quality, customer concentration, and current market conditions. Request a professional valuation for a precise number.

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Madison County closing

Licenses and closing steps for a Alton sale

Madison County (Edwardsville, Alton, Granite City, Collinsville, Pontoon Beach) uses Illinois CBS-1. Metro East businesses often have Missouri customers, employees, or landlords. Granite City industrial and Alton riverfront add environmental and flood diligence. No Chicago 45-day notice.

County health-department food licenses, commissary approval, and — if they pour — liquor catering permits that are municipal and ILCC issues. Chicago shared-kitchen and off-site catering rules are specific. Licenses follow the commissary and the named operator. A garage prep space that was tolerated for the seller will not be tolerated for the buyer.

Labor and lease

What has to keep working on Monday after close in Alton

For a catering company in Alton, the first labor question is: Multi-year corporate or institution contracts.

I-55, I-70, I-270. Cross-river labor and licensing (Missouri contractor or professional licenses) must be mapped. Granite City steel-adjacent books are not Edwardsville professional-service books.

Illinois side of the St. Louis MSA. Price in St. Louis buyers, Illinois licenses, and a river.

Diligence

What a serious catering company buyer will open

Levers that move the multiple in this vertical: Multi-year corporate or institution contracts; A kitchen lead who is not the seller; Legal commissary and transferable health file; Venue relationships on paper; Mix that is not 80 percent Saturday weddings.

Have these ready before anyone hears the name of the Alton business: Forward booking calendar and deposit vs remaining performance; Corporate standing-order accounts versus wedding-only demand; Commissary lease, health file, and vehicle wrap/hot-box condition; Staffing model: W-2 kitchen vs event-day 1099 servers; Venue relationships and whether they are personal to the seller; Liquor-catering permissions if alcohol is in the package.

Buyer tool

SBA payment sketch for a Alton catering company buyer

Most Illinois owner-operator acquisitions use SBA 7(a). This is a payment sketch, not an approval.

SBA 7(a) loans are the most common financing for business acquisitions. Estimate your monthly payment and required down payment based on the purchase price.

$
%
%
yrs
Down Payment Required —
Loan Amount —
Est. Monthly Payment —

This calculator provides estimates for planning purposes only. Actual SBA loan terms depend on your credit profile, the specific lender, and current market conditions. Contact us to connect with SBA-approved lenders in Illinois.

Sale steps

How to prepare a Alton catering company for sale

  1. Recast this Alton catering company. Start with the tax return. Add owner pay. Subtract replacement labor if the seller still does the work a Alton buyer must hire. Do not treat a spike year as the new normal.
  2. Name who can operate on Monday. List every credential that lets this catering company pull a permit or see a patient in Alton, and whether that person stays. Personal licenses do not transfer with the assets.
  3. Tell the truth about the Alton trade area. Map customers against neighboring towns. Buyers will. A book that already covers those towns is larger than a book that stops at the Alton limit.
  4. Open the lease and the labor file. Remaining term and assignment in Madison County. Whether the crew can run without the seller living eight minutes away.
  5. Calendar the notices that apply here. Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). Missouri buyers still close an Illinois company on Illinois notices. Start them at letter of intent, not the week of funding.
  6. Read the statewide playbook, then talk. The Illinois catering companies hub is the statute and recast teaching. This page is the Alton file. Confidential consult — no upfront listing fee.
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Questions about catering companies in Alton

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