Seller guide

How to sell an ABA, behavioral health or pediatric therapy practice in the Rio Grande Valley

A guide for RGV ABA, pediatric therapy and pediatric home health owners: who buys, value drivers, TDLR and HHSC rules, and how to prepare to sell.

Take the readiness scorecard →Call (956) 658-1446

By Spencer Gareiss, Delta BrokersLast reviewed November 12, 2026

Quick answer

Buyers pay for clinical capacity and clean Medicaid billing. Start by documenting your BCBA and therapist roster, authorizations, payer contracts and three years of financials. Confirm every clinician holds the right TDLR license and that any home health service is licensed by HHSC. Then run a confidential, competitive process with platform, regional and local buyers at the same time.

Who buys aba and pediatric therapy businesses in the Valley

  • National ABA and pediatric therapy platforms backed by private equity, which want licensed BCBAs, a waitlist and payer contracts in place.
  • Pediatric home health and private duty nursing companies that want therapy and nursing referrals, field staff and managed care contracts in South Texas.
  • Regional Texas providers adding a Valley location, who value trained RBTs and referral relationships.
  • Out-of-market buyers making their first Valley acquisition, for whom an established clinic is faster than opening one.
  • Clinician-owners, often a BCBA or therapist who already works in the market, usually with bank or SBA financing.

What raises your price

  • A deep, stable clinical roster: licensed behavior analysts, assistant behavior analysts and RBTs, or PT, OT and speech therapists, with low turnover.
  • Clinical leadership that is not the owner, so care quality does not depend on one person.
  • Payer contracts in good standing with Texas Medicaid health plans and commercial insurers, with current authorizations.
  • Utilization you can show: authorized hours versus delivered hours, cancellation rates and waitlist size.
  • Clean documentation and billing that would survive a health plan audit.
  • Center-based and home-based services that are each licensed correctly, including HHSC licensing for pediatric home health.
  • A clinic lease with room to grow.

What lowers your price

  • Owner as the only BCBA or the main treating therapist.
  • Unlicensed staff using restricted titles, or supervision ratios that do not match payer rules.
  • High clinician turnover or reliance on a few key staff with no retention plan.
  • Unresolved recoupments, audits or authorization problems with health plans.
  • A payer mix concentrated in one health plan with no backup contracts.

How deals are priced

An investment bank's 2025 benchmarks put behavioral health add-on deals at roughly 3x to 9x EBITDA and scaled platforms at about 9x to 15x, with ABA and autism services at the higher end of the sector (FOCUS Investment Banking). These are banker estimates, and small deals vary widely. A single-site practice where the owner is the main clinician usually prices near the low end.

Pricing sources: FOCUS Investment Banking: Behavioral Health EBITDA Multiples (2025 Update); FOCUS Investment Banking: Behavioral Health Valuation Benchmarks

Licensing and closing risks

  • Behavior analysts and assistant behavior analysts must be licensed by TDLR, which requires a current BACB or QABA certification. Licenses run two years, so check renewal dates across your team (TDLR Behavior Analyst program).
  • Texas Medicaid added ABA services for children and youth with autism for dates of service on or after February 1, 2022, through the Texas Health Steps program. Buyers will review authorizations and who delivered each billed code (Superior HealthPlan provider notice).
  • Pediatric home health and private duty nursing agencies are licensed by HHSC as Home and Community Support Services Agencies. Those licenses do not transfer, so the buyer needs its own through a change of ownership (26 TAC 558.23).
  • Payer contracts generally need re-credentialing or assignment approval when ownership changes, so plan that timing early.
  • Prescribed pediatric extended care centers are separately licensed by HHSC, so treat any PPECC as its own licensing workstream.

Sale-readiness scorecard

Answer eight yes or no questions. Your score and the items to fix first update as you go. Nothing you click is saved or sent anywhere.

  1. Could the practice run for 90 days without you treating patients?

    Owner dependence cuts price.

  2. Is every clinician's TDLR or board license current and tracked?

    Gaps stop billing.

  3. Do you track authorized versus delivered hours by payer?

    Utilization shows revenue quality.

  4. Are your financials on accrual and CPA reviewed?

    Clean numbers support a higher multiple.

  5. Has an internal billing and documentation audit been done in the last year?

    Audit exposure is a top diligence item.

  6. Do you have contracts with more than one Medicaid health plan or commercial payer?

    Payer concentration reads as risk.

  7. Do key BCBAs and therapists have stay agreements?

    Buyers are paying for your clinical team.

  8. Does your clinic lease have several years left or renewal options?

    Short leases deter buyers.

0 of 8 ready (0 answered)

Answer the questions above to see where you stand.

Your preparation checklist

  1. 24 months out: build a roster of every clinician with license type, TDLR or board license number and expiration date.
  2. Recruit or promote a clinical director so the practice does not depend on you.
  3. Move to accrual accounting and get a CPA review of the last two to three years.
  4. Build a report of authorized hours, delivered hours and cancellations by payer and month.
  5. Run an internal documentation and billing audit, and fix problems before a buyer finds them.
  6. Collect every payer contract and note any change of control or assignment terms.
  7. Confirm your lease term and renewal options.
  8. Put retention bonuses or stay agreements in place for key BCBAs and therapists.
  9. If you run pediatric home health, confirm your HHSC license and branches are current.
  10. 6 to 12 months out: build a confidential buyer list across platforms, regional providers and clinician-owners, then go to market.

How long a sale takes

As a planning assumption, most practice sales take about 6 to 12 months from going to market to closing. Payer credentialing and any HHSC change of ownership often set the closing date, so start those conversations as soon as you sign a letter of intent.

The Rio Grande Valley angle

Hidalgo County grew from about 872,753 residents in 2020 to 921,549 in 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau estimates via FRED), and the Valley is a young, family-heavy market. Platforms have opened ABA centers in McAllen and nearby cities, and buyers have completed pediatric therapy and home health deals here recently. Families still face waitlists, which is why an established local team with capacity is valuable.

Thinking about selling? Start with a free, confidential consultation

Talk with a Delta partner about your aba and pediatric therapy business. We will tell you plainly what buyers will look at, what your business may be worth, and what to fix first. No obligation, and nothing you share leaves us.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Delta Brokers is a business brokerage, not a law firm or CPA firm. Rules, agency practice and market multiples change, and small deals vary widely; confirm every requirement with the agency named and with your own attorney and CPA before you act. Last reviewed November 12, 2026.

Sources

Sources reviewed November 12, 2026
  1. FOCUS Investment Banking: Behavioral Health EBITDA Multiples (2025 Update)
  2. FOCUS Investment Banking: Behavioral Health Valuation Benchmarks
  3. TDLR: Apply for a Behavior Analyst License
  4. Superior HealthPlan: New Medicaid benefit for ABA services, effective 02/01/2022
  5. 26 TAC 558.23, Change of Ownership (Cornell LII)
  6. U.S. Census Bureau via FRED: Resident Population in Hidalgo County, TX
  7. Coleman Report: SBA procedural notice on citizenship and residency requirements for 7(a) and 504 loans (Feb 2026)

Related guides

Closing-risk guides:

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Who buys ABA clinics in the Rio Grande Valley?
Mostly private equity backed ABA and pediatric therapy platforms, regional Texas providers adding a Valley location, and clinician-owners. Several platforms have opened Valley centers on their own, so an established clinic with licensed BCBAs and payer contracts can be a faster way for them to grow here.
Does the buyer need its own TDLR license?
Licenses belong to individual clinicians, not the business. TDLR licenses behavior analysts and assistant behavior analysts, so what the buyer really needs is for your licensed staff to stay. That is why retention agreements and a clinical director who is not you matter so much in this sector.
How do Medicaid contracts affect the sale?
They are often the core of the value. Buyers review each health plan contract, your authorizations and any recoupments. Ownership changes usually require re-credentialing or plan approval, which takes time, so plan early and keep billing clean while the deal is pending.
What is my ABA practice worth?
Banker benchmarks for 2025 put behavioral health add-ons at roughly 3x to 9x EBITDA, with scaled platforms higher. Where you land depends on clinician depth, payer mix, utilization and how much the practice depends on you. Small deals vary widely, so a real valuation starts with your adjusted financials.
Can a buyer use an SBA loan to buy my business?
Often, and SBA loans are common for smaller deals, but the rules changed. Since March 1, 2026, SBA 7(a) and 504 loans require every direct and indirect owner of the borrower to be a U.S. citizen or U.S. national living in the U.S., so green card holders can no longer use SBA financing (Coleman Report on the SBA notice). Platforms usually pay with their own capital, but clinician-owners often rely on SBA or bank loans. Delta's guide on the SBA citizenship rule and your buyer explains what this means for your buyer pool.
What does Delta Brokers charge, and are you my lawyer or CPA?
Delta Brokers is a veteran-owned sell-side M&A firm in McAllen. Our fee is tied to the sale of the business only, and we never earn real estate commissions. We are not a law firm or a CPA firm, so you will still want your own attorney and tax advisor. Our job is to prepare the business, find and qualify buyers, create competition, and manage the process to closing.