Industrial Crating Business With Its Real Estate, Upstate South Carolina, Seller Carrying at 3% With Both Owners Staying On

The part that makes this rare

A twenty year amortization at three percent, from a seller who then goes to work for you.

The seller is carrying a substantial part of the purchase price at three percent simple interest, amortized over twenty years, with the balloon seven years out. Twenty year paper at three percent is not something a lender writes on a small industrial business, and the long amortization is what keeps the monthly number small enough that the operating business can carry it without being run for the note.

It is secured through a holding company and operating company structure rather than an ordinary second mortgage. The real estate sits in a property company and the trade sits in an operating company, and the seller takes a first priority security interest in the operating company plus a second position lien against the real estate, evidenced by a recorded note and deed of trust. That keeps the first position lender in a clean position on the property while still giving the seller real remedies, and it gives the seller installment sale treatment rather than a taxable event at closing.

Both owners stay, and they are paid to bring work in

This is a relationship business. A small number of large industrial manufacturers place repeat orders, and those relationships belong to the two people selling. An agreement already drafted alongside the offer has both of them staying on after closing for an initial two years, extendable to three by agreement, in a role focused specifically on business development and customer relationships.

The compensation is structured so it matters to them. A modest combined base salary, a commission on the gross profit of business each of them personally originates, and an annual bonus tied to year over year growth in earnings. In a relationship business, an outgoing owner who is paid on what they bring in is worth more than a training period.

At a glance

What we can show you before you sign.

Industry	Industrial crating and export packagingCustom wooden crates, skids and on site packaging, ISPM-15 compliant for international shipping
Location	Upstate South CarolinaExact town and address disclosed after NDA. Serves North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia
Purchase price	$2,900,000
What is included	The business and the real estateA site of a little over seven acres with an air conditioned office and warehouse building, fenced yard, laydown space and direct access to a major road
Asking price	Bought under the ask
Seller financing	Three percent simple interest, twenty year amortization, seven year balloon
Monthly seller payment	Fixed, principal and interest
Cash to seller at closing
First position financing	Commercial loan, twenty five year amortization
2025 revenue	Per the statements
2025 seller's discretionary earnings	Seller attested worksheet
Inventory	Included in the price at cost
Equipment and fixtures	Includes an unerected metal building already paid for
Independent appraisal	Third party USPAP appraisal of the real estate. In the package
Employees	Seven, five full timeStaff are not aware the business is for sale
Owner's role	Sales and deliveriesRoughly fifty hours a week, and both owners stay on after closing
Legal structure	South Carolina LLCAsset sale contemplated. Real estate is held in a separate entity by the same owners
Earnest money	Deposited after the inspection period, contingent on appraisal
Closing structure	Two stageAll cash first close, then the installment sale leg opens under escrow instructions
Special licensing	ISPM-15 certificationRequired to heat treat and mark wood packaging for export. Modest monthly cost, transferable subject to confirmation

The business

Custom crating and export packaging for industrial manufacturers.

The trade itself is straightforward and genuinely useful. Custom wooden crates, skids and on site packaging for industrial manufacturers who need equipment to survive a container ship, built to the ISPM-15 standard that international shipping requires. The customers are large, they reorder, and the work is project based at a healthier margin than volume packaging. The owners have never had to advertise beyond word of mouth and a website.

The full three year run of statements plus the 2026 interim year is released to you rather than a summary, along with the seller attested earnings worksheet.

The package includes three years of monthly statements, the 2026 interim figures, the seller attested earnings worksheet and an independent appraisal. As with any acquisition, buyers should complete their own due diligence.

Where the upside is

The expansion is costed, and an independent appraiser has already valued the finished property.

The strongest levers here are a building that is already paid for and not yet standing, and a third party appraisal of what finishing it is worth.

Erect the building that is already boughtA metal expansion building sits on the equipment schedule, purchased and unerected. The deal deck puts the cost of completing it and the associated equipment package at roughly a hundred and twenty thousand dollars, and the independent appraisal separately values the property upon completion at a meaningful premium to its as-is value. The premium is comfortably more than the cost.
Buy the ground the business stands onThe real estate comes in the price and is held today by a separate entity owned by the same people, so the related party arrangement between the two ends at closing. There is a full USPAP appraisal in the package rather than a broker's opinion.
Refinance the receivablesThe business funds itself through invoice factoring, and the factoring cost is the single largest add-back in the earnings worksheet. A buyer who can replace that with an ordinary bank line converts a large recurring expense into margin. The full factoring ledger for three years is in the package so you can size it exactly.
Keep the people who own the relationshipsBoth owners stay for two to three years and are paid a commission on what they personally originate, so the customer relationships stay with the business through the transition.
Widen the territoryThe business already serves three states from one site with no sales function beyond the owners. Adding product lines and territory is the seller's own stated answer to how they would grow it if they were not selling.

Senior financing terms will be set by the lender. We recommend building your own model from the statements and the appraisal.

Who this fits

Who this fits.

A packaging or logistics operator adding a capability. The seller's own view of the ideal buyer, and the right one. Crating and skids bolt onto an existing shipping or packaging business, and an acquirer with their own customer base fixes the revenue question directly.

Buyers who want long, cheap paper. Three percent simple interest over a twenty year amortization with the balloon seven years out. No lender writes that on a business of this size, and the long amortization is what keeps the payment serviceable.

Buyers who value third party evidence. An independent USPAP appraisal and three years of monthly statements give a documented starting point for your own diligence.

Buyers who want a clean asset purchase. The transaction is contemplated as an asset purchase, with the business delivered free of its existing debt at closing. The debt schedule is available in the package.

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