Metro Deli
& Catering Co.
A cashflow-positive deli with a defensible catering book — and a 6-month lease cliff you cannot ignore.
Deal is workable at $380-410K (2.0-2.1× adjusted SDE) contingent on three closing conditions:
- i. 5-year lease extension with landlord consent and assignment rights (binding letter, not a handshake)
- ii. Convert top 5 catering accounts from month-to-month to 6-month written agreements before LOI
- iii. Non-compete expanded to 15-mi radius, 3-year term, covering both deli and catering
Revenue & SDE · 3-year trend
| Period | Revenue | Reported SDE | DB-Adjusted | GM% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
FY2023 last stable year | $545 | $228 | $196 | 38% |
FY2024 catering volume softening | $520 | $218 | $184 | 37% |
FY2025 owner comp understated $26K | $478 | $215 | $172 | 36% |
LTMLTM through Feb 2026 | $472 | $208 | $168 | 36% |
Addback bridge · LTM
reported → adjustedThe lease-renewal reserve and catering-contract discount together reduce defensible SDE by ~10%— neither is in the seller's numbers. Until the lease extension is signed, the adjusted multiple is the honest one.
Prioritized findings
R-01HighLease expires in 6 months — no renewal clauseLease · source: Lease §14, Landlord letter absent
R-02HighRevenue declining 8% YoYFinancial · source: P&L, customer data absent
R-03MediumOwner compensation below marketFinancial · source: P&L + comp benchmark
R-04MediumNon-compete only 2-mi / 1-yrContract · source: LOI draft §7
R-05Medium3 competing delis within 1 miMarket · source: Field competitive scan
R-06LowCatering contracts are month-to-monthContract · source: Catering client list
Impact × Likelihood
Gaps: the catering client list does not include trailing 12-mo volume by account. Customer-count data for FY24-FY25 was requested but not provided.
- ○ Monthly revenue split: dine-in vs. catering
- ○ Landlord consent-to-assign letter
- ○ Top-10 catering account trailing volume
| Target | Location | Revenue | Multiple | Yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Riverside Deli & Catering 6-yr lease secured | Boulder, CO | $0.55M | 2.2× | 2025 |
Corner Deli Co. No catering book | Fort Collins, CO | $0.41M | 1.9× | 2025 |
Uptown Sandwich & Cafe Strong brunch mix | Denver, CO | $0.62M | 2.4× | 2024 |
Plains Catering Group Revenue decline | Cheyenne, WY | $0.38M | 1.7× | 2024 |
| Metro Deli (this deal) Asking | Metro City | $0.48M | 2.1× (2.5× adj.) | 2026 |
Three agents, two votes to negotiate, one dissent — the dissent is the one that saves you.
v3.2 · sample runUnit economics are tighter than the seller makes them look. The 8% revenue slide is real, and once you apply market-rate owner comp the 2.1× multiple becomes 2.5× on normalized SDE. My floor is $375K; above $410K the revenue trend stops being a rounding error.
I'm the dissent. The lease expires in 6 months with no renewal clause and no landlord consent. Until the buyer has a signed 5-year extension with assignment rights in hand, this isn't a business — it's a kitchen in someone else's building. No price fixes that.
Metro area food service grows 3% a year; two new office towers within 0.5 mi add 400+ workers by Q1 2027. Catering book is defensible. The real headline is that Metro's differentiation depends on that location. If the lease gets fixed, this is a re-accelerator at the right price.
Send me a CIM, get a memo that reads like this one — in 24 hours, free during beta.
Redacted is fine. Past closes are fine. DealBrain reads the CIM, financials, lease, customer data, and major contracts — and produces a due-diligence memo in the same shape as the one above.