Industry up 11 percent in March, per Blair/PCO M&A Specialists index

The William Blair/PCO M&A Specialists Pest Index is a proprietary compilation of the monthly sales for 158 different U.S. pest control companies across 36 states. For March, increased 11 percent year-over-year in March, in line with the long-term average growth rate of 11 percent.

“The total pest index has decelerated two months in a row, primarily due to a slowdown in the Residential Pest Index,” William Blair Equity Researcher Tim Mulrooney said in the news release. “However, we continue to characterize the overall market as healthy, showing double-digit year-over-year growth on top of two years (2021 and 2022) of unprecedented growth.”

The March result was primarily due to an acceleration in the residential pest and commercial pest indices:

• The Residential Pest Index increased 12 percent year-over-year.
• The Commercial Pest Index increased 16 percent year-over-year.
• The Termite Index increased 5 percent year-over-year.
• The Bed Bug Index increased 3 percent year-over-year.
• The Mosquito Index increased 12 percent year-over-year.

View the full report and the archive of past reports at SellMyPCOBusiness.com.

So far in 2023, the industry was up 12 percent in February and 17 percent in January, per the index. As of February, the index remains slightly above the long-term historical average growth rate of 11 percent.

About the William Blair/PCO M&A Specialists Pest Index

The William Blair/PCO M&A Specialists Pest Index tracks the monthly performance of 158 privately held pest control companies across 36 states with combined annual 2022 revenue of $538 million. The purpose of the report is to track the monthly performance of several different U.S. pest markets, including residential, commercial and termite. It does not include residential door-to-door companies. Dan Gordon, CPA, who is a partner in PCO Bookkeepers & M&A Specialists, is also Pest Management Professional’s financial columnist.