Skip to main content

Colorado Childcare Business Brokerage

Sell Your Colorado Childcare Center, Preschool, or Private School With Complete Confidentiality

With 37+ years of exclusive early-education transaction experience, SIP and its Colorado-licensed team help owners maximize exit value while protecting staff, enrolled families, and legacy.

Request a Confidential Colorado ValuationCall (888) 881-0118 (Hablamos Español)
  • 37+ YearsEst. 1989
  • 1,000+Centers sold
  • $1B+In closed sales
  • ConfidentialBlind-profile process

Why Selling a Childcare Business in Colorado Requires a Specialist Broker

Selling a licensed child care center in Colorado requires coordinating Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC) licensing for the buyer, new background investigations, Universal Preschool (UPK) agreements, and county CCCAP agreements. General business brokers often overlook these regulatory triggers, risking closing delays or enrollment loss.

A Colorado childcare sale is more than a change of names on the paperwork. Under C.R.S. 26.5-5-316, a change in ownership of a licensed facility requires a new investigation, including fingerprint-based criminal history checks through the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the FBI. That rule sets off a chain of steps the buyer, the lender, and you all have to plan around:

  • CDEC licensing review. The buyer works through the Colorado Department of Early Childhood's licensing process before taking over.
  • A new background investigation. Fingerprint-based CBI and FBI checks, plus a search of the state's child abuse and neglect records.
  • A Universal Preschool agreement. UPK providers must be CDEC-licensed and hold a signed provider agreement with CDEC before CDEC pays for services.
  • County CCCAP agreements. Colorado Child Care Assistance Program payments run through fiscal agreements between the provider and each county.

SIP has focused on childcare and private-school transactions since E.T. and Pam Strickland founded the firm in 1989, and our Colorado broker, Robert L. Johnson, is an active center owner. We build these steps into the purchase agreement and closing schedule from the start, so licensing and funding deadlines are planned for, not discovered late.

How We Value Colorado Daycares, Preschools & Educational Real Estate

A defensible price starts with the right earnings measure and a clear view of the real estate. We work through both with you before your business goes to market.

SDE or EBITDA

Owner-operated centers are usually valued on seller's discretionary earnings (SDE): profit with the owner's salary, benefits, and one-time or personal expenses added back, because the buyer will usually step into the owner's role. Larger centers and multi-site groups with a director and management team in place are usually valued on EBITDA, the measure multi-unit operators and investors use to compare acquisitions.

Leased Facility or Fee-Simple Property

In a leased center, much of the value rides on the lease: the term remaining, renewal options, rent, and whether the landlord will consent to an assignment or a new lease for the buyer. When you own the building outright (fee simple), the real estate is valued separately from the business, and the two can be sold together or separately.

Keep the Building, Become the Landlord

Owners who want ongoing income can sell the business, keep the real estate, and sign the buyer to a new triple-net (NNN) lease, under which the tenant pays property taxes, insurance, and maintenance on top of rent. The rent you set works on both sides: it is an expense in the business's earnings and the income that sets the building's value as an investment.

Multiples vary widely: two Colorado centers with similar revenue can be valued very differently once enrollment, staff tenure, licensing history, Universal Preschool and CCCAP participation, and the lease are taken into account. How our confidential valuation works

Navigating Colorado CDEC Licensing, Universal Preschool & CCCAP Transitions

What changes hands in a Colorado childcare sale, what doesn't, and who signs off.

Who licenses the new owner

The Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC) licenses child care centers. Under C.R.S. 26.5-5-316, a change in ownership of a licensed facility requires a new investigation of the new owner, and the buyer works through CDEC's licensing process before taking over. We confirm the current steps with CDEC early, so the closing date reflects them.

Background investigations

Colorado requires fingerprint-based criminal history checks using Colorado Bureau of Investigation and FBI records, plus a search of the child abuse and neglect records the state maintains, for new owners and newly hired employees. Starting the buyer's checks early keeps them off the critical path.

Universal Preschool (UPK)

To deliver UPK, a provider must be licensed by CDEC and have a signed Universal Preschool provider agreement with CDEC, and CDEC doesn't pay for services provided before the agreement is executed. Planning the buyer's agreement into the closing schedule protects funded preschool hours for enrolled families.

CCCAP

Families in the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP) are paid for through fiscal agreements between the provider and each county. If CCCAP families are part of your enrollment, we raise the buyer's county agreements early.

Visit the Colorado Department of Early Childhood

General information, not legal advice. Agencies update their forms and rules, so confirm current requirements with your licensing office.

Statewide Representation Across Every Major Colorado Market

SIP's Colorado-licensed broker and broker associate represent sellers across the state. CDEC licenses child care centers statewide, so the same rules apply in every market.

  • Denver Metro

    • Denver
    • Aurora & Arapahoe County
    • Lakewood & Jefferson County

  • Boulder & Northern Colorado

    • Boulder
    • Fort Collins & Loveland
    • Greeley

  • Southern Front Range

    • Colorado Springs
    • Castle Rock & Douglas County
    • Pueblo

  • Mountains & Western Slope

    • Grand Junction
    • Durango
    • Mountain resort communities

Don't see your area? Our Colorado team works statewide; call (888) 881-0118.

Colorado Childcare Sellers: Common Questions

Private. Confidential. No Obligation.

Request a Confidential Colorado Valuation

Tell us about your Colorado center and what you are considering. Your inquiry is confidential and puts you under no obligation.

Robert L. Johnson, Broker at School Investment Properties, childcare business brokerage

Broker | Multi-State

Robert L. Johnson

Robert has owned and operated several centers in the Southeast and currently owns a center in Monroe, Georgia. That operating experience helps bring the right buyer and seller together and keep a sale moving through closing.

Meet our team

Also licensed in Colorado

  • Marianne AnzalduaBroker Associate

Prefer to call?

(888) 881-0118

Hablamos Español

Headquarters: 3309 Northlake Blvd, Suite 107, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33403

Please do not submit tax returns, financial statements, legal documents, employee records, family information, or other sensitive files through this form. Initial conversations can begin with high-level, non-sensitive information.