Gurnee Physical Therapy Practice Sale | Illinois Broker
A physical therapy practice in Gurnee is priced on adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings after a buyer compares this book to Waukegan — not on a statewide rumor multiple. Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. The statewide physical therapy practices playbook is on the industry hub; this page is the Gurnee file. Confidential sale. No upfront listing fee.
Confidential • No upfront fees • Illinois statewide
Gurnee market
Selling a physical therapy practice in Gurnee
A physical therapy practice in Gurnee is priced on adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings after a buyer compares this book to Waukegan — not on a statewide rumor multiple. Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. The statewide physical therapy practices playbook is on the industry hub; this page is the Gurnee file.
Gurnee is the Lake County tourism interchange: Gurnee Mills, Six Flags Great America, and I-94 outlets — visitor traffic on top of a residential village.
Outlet and theme-park seasonality belongs in the recast. Franchise and mall landlords control more leases here than in Libertyville’s downtown. Great Lakes Naval Station is nearby payroll, not this village’s identity. A household HVAC book and a Mills-adjacent restaurant are two sales.
Gurnee has about 31,295 residents in Lake County, inside the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area. Nearby markets buyers already compare this book to include Waukegan, Libertyville, Round Lake. That comparison changes who shows up: a buyer who will drive from Waukegan is not the same buyer who will fly in from a coastal platform.
Planning facts
Typical multiple
4x–7x EBITDA
Typical timeline
6–15 months
SBA eligible
Often — confirm
County
Lake County
Population
31,295
Metro
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Nearby comps
Waukegan, Libertyville, Round Lake
Closing clock
Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago
DuPage, Lake, Kane, Will, McHenry, Kendall, and neighboring collar shops sell on household density and the I-88, I-90, I-94, and I-55 corridors.
There is no Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. Buyers still compare this suburb to the next one on the same highway.
Gurnee demand for physical therapy practices is the customer list and the license path — not the Census population figure. About 31,295 residents is context for who already lives in the trade area. It is not a sale price.
Physical Therapy Practice in Gurnee
What a Gurnee buyer will underwrite on this physical therapy practice
A physical therapy practice in Gurnee is a personal license plus a panel that will still drive here after the seller leaves. Parking, payer mix, and who can own the clinical entity are Illinois rules; the trade area is Gurnee versus Waukegan, Libertyville, Round Lake. We will not invent a ZIP premium.
Physical Therapy Practices statewide typically plan around 4x–7x EBITDA and a 6–15 months process when books and the lease are ready. That is a planning range, not a price for this Gurnee shop. Buyers here usually argue payer mix, patient volume, referral source diversity, licensed pt count.
Closing clock for this Gurnee file: Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. License path: IDFPR physical-therapist licenses are personal. The industry hub teaches the statewide rule. This URL is the Gurnee application of it.
In a suburb like Gurnee, pt professionals, pe-backed groups, hospital systems are the names that usually appear on the NDA list. A buyer who will drive from Waukegan is not the same buyer who will fly in from a coastal platform.
Buyer pool
Who buys a physical therapy practice in Gurnee
Split buyer pool: North Shore and Libertyville businesses attract SBA and strategics who want household income; Waukegan and industrial I-94 businesses attract operator and logistics buyers. Great Lakes Naval Station and tourism along the lake change seasonality for some retail and hospitality books.
Illustration: a two-clinic orthopedic PT practice in the western suburbs with a selling clinical director, two employed PTs, and 40 percent of referrals from a single sports-medicine group. Not a closed sale.
A physical therapy practice whose customers already sit in Waukegan, Libertyville, Round Lake is a larger business than one that stops at the Gurnee city limit. Tell the truth about the route. Buyers will map it.
SDE recast
How a buyer will read the books on this Gurnee physical therapy practice
PT buyers recast visits and therapist productivity after a market-rate clinical director. Pull the selling PT’s evaluation volume if they are leaving, and isolate any employer or IME contract that is personal. Medicare cap and modifier discipline belongs in the recast, not in a footnote. A 4x–7x EBITDA band assumes referrals survive the name on the door.
Illustration only — not a quote for any Gurnee shop. A physical therapy practice whose tax return shows $205,000 of net profit is not worth $205,000 × a rumor multiple.
Add back the owner’s $85,000 W-2 and payroll tax, $13,000 of discretionary benefits, $3,500 of accepted one-time cost, and $12,000 of personal expenses that a buyer will not run. Then subtract $18,000 of replacement labor if the owner still diagnoses, sells, or closes the books.
Adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings are $300,000. At the planning range 4.0x–7.0x, enterprise value is $1,200,000 to $2,100,000. Mid-range 5.50x is $1,650,000 before debt, working capital, holdback, and tax. A Gurnee buyer will argue the multiple after they ride with the staff and read the lease.
At 5.50 times $300,000 of seller’s discretionary earnings, enterprise value is $1,650,000 before debt, working capital, holdback, and tax. That is the planning conversation. It is not a listing-site guess.
SDE line items
Reported net profit (tax return, not the marketing P&L)
+ Interest expense
+ Income taxes (not payroll, sales, or property tax)
+ Depreciation and amortization
+ Owner W-2, bonuses, and payroll taxes on the owner
+ Discretionary owner benefits that a buyer will not keep (auto, personal travel, family on payroll with no role)
+ Accepted one-time or non-recurring expenses
− Market-rate replacement labor for owner work that will not transfer
= Seller’s Discretionary Earnings (SDE)
Illustration recast for a Gurnee physical therapy practice — not a quote
Net profit
$205,000
Owner W-2
$85,000
Benefits
$13,000
One-time
$3,500
Personal
$12,000
Replacement labor (subtract)
−$18,000
Recast SDE
$300,000
Planning EV at 5.50x
$1,650,000
Recast Seller’s Discretionary Earnings, then apply a planning multiple for physical therapy practices.
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.
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1x3.0x8x
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.
Lake County closings use state CBS-1 plus municipal licenses (Waukegan, Gurnee, Libertyville, and North Shore villages each differ). No Chicago 45-day notice unless you also have a Chicago location. Lake County health and contractor registrations are common diligence items for food and trades.
IDFPR physical-therapist licenses are personal. Clinic ownership and use of “physical therapy” in the trade name are regulated. Medicare and commercial enrollments are change-of-ownership filings. Illinois direct-access rules still leave a referral-heavy book in many orthopedic corridors. The clinic’s IDFPR and payor numbers do not automatically follow the assets.
Labor and lease
What has to keep working on Monday after close in Gurnee
For a physical therapy practice in Gurnee, the first labor question is: Referral diversity beyond one surgeon.
I-94 is the spine. Route density is real between Buffalo Grove and Gurnee and thinner toward the Wisconsin line. Leases in outlet and tourism corridors can be franchise- or landlord-controlled. Winter lake-effect operations matter for home services.
Lake mixes Fortune-campus remnants, naval payroll, and bedroom suburbs. Do not price a Waukegan industrial book like a Libertyville professional practice.
Diligence
What a serious physical therapy practice buyer will open
Levers that move the multiple in this vertical: Referral diversity beyond one surgeon; Staying licensed PTs and a non-seller clinical lead; Clean Medicare and commercial billing file; Visit productivity a platform will not immediately cut; Lease economics on a high-build-out clinic.
Have these ready before anyone hears the name of the Gurnee business: Visits per therapist per day and cancellation/no-show rates; Referral-source concentration (one surgeon vs a panel); Payer mix, Medicare share, and any audit history; Licensed PT vs PTA mix and who is staying; Lease, build-out, and equipment (tables, modalities, gym); Employer, cash-pay, or wellness add-ons that are real contracts.
Buyer tool
SBA payment sketch for a Gurnee physical therapy practice 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.
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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 Gurnee physical therapy practice for sale
Recast this Gurnee physical therapy practice. Start with the tax return. Add owner pay. Subtract replacement labor if the seller still does the work a Gurnee buyer must hire. Do not treat a spike year as the new normal.
Name who can operate on Monday. List every credential that lets this physical therapy practice pull a permit or see a patient in Gurnee, and whether that person stays. Personal licenses do not transfer with the assets.
Tell the truth about the Gurnee 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 Gurnee limit.
Open the lease and the labor file. Remaining term and assignment in Lake County. Whether the crew can run without the seller living eight minutes away.
Calendar the notices that apply here. Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. Start them at letter of intent, not the week of funding.
Read the statewide playbook, then talk. The Illinois physical therapy practices hub is the statute and recast teaching. This page is the Gurnee file. Confidential consult — no upfront listing fee.
Continue
Related Gurnee and physical therapy practices pages
Questions about physical therapy practices in Gurnee
Answers for owners and buyers in Lake County, including local closing steps.
Illinois physical therapy practices typically sell for 4x–7x EBITDA. Payer mix, patient volume, referral source diversity, and licensed therapist count are the primary value drivers.
Buyers include PE-backed PT platforms, hospital systems, larger independent PT groups, and individual licensed therapists. PE consolidation in physical therapy has been especially active over the past five years.
Heavy dependence on one or two referring physicians is a risk factor for buyers. Practices with diversified referral bases — multiple physicians, PCP networks, and direct-access patients — are worth more.
Yes. Physical therapy practices are SBA-eligible businesses. Individual buyers frequently use SBA 7(a) financing for acquisitions.
Most PT transitions include 30–90 days of active involvement by the selling therapist to support referral relationship continuity. Longer transitions are sometimes structured for practices with complex referral networks.
Most Gurnee asset sales file Illinois Form CBS-1 at least 10 business days before closing. Lake County does not use Chicago’s 45-day city notice unless the business also operates there. Municipal licenses and the lease still need their own calendar.
Buyers in Gurnee are often SBA owner-operators and neighboring operators along the same corridor. Larger recurring books can draw a platform. They will compare this suburb to the next town in Lake County.
No. The planning multiple for physical therapy practices is a statewide starting point, not a Gurnee appraisal. Buyers in Lake County still adjust seller’s discretionary earnings, then argue the lease, licenses, labor, and owner dependency.
Service Area
Physical Therapy Practice Brokerage Near Gurnee
We serve physical therapy practices owners and buyers across Lake County and the surrounding region.