Selling your optometry practice?
Your recall list is worth more than you think.

The honest version

What optometry practices actually sell for

Most optometry practices trade in the range of 4–6x adjusted EBITDA, with multi-doctor practices reaching 5–7.5x. The difference between the bottom and the top of that range is rarely about revenue — it is about how predictable that revenue is.

The range is wide because the same business is worth different amounts to different buyers. In this sector you are usually looking at three:

• Vision-care platforms — multi-location operators built specifically around optometry and ophthalmology; the most active acquirers in the space.
• PE-backed consolidators — paying up for practices with strong recall systems, a healthy optical dispensary, and associate ODs who intend to stay.
• Private OD buyers — typically for smaller, single-doctor practices, usually with more financing contingency and a slower path to close.

Which of those is at your table changes your number far more than anything on your equipment list.

What moves the number

The four things buyers actually underwrite

• Recall system strength. A disciplined, automated recall process converts a practice from one that hopes patients return into one that reliably brings them back — and buyers price that predictability highly.
• Optical dispensary margin. Frame and lens sales are usually the most profitable part of the practice; dispensary capture rate and margin are scrutinized closely.
• Managed-care mix. Vision plan and medical insurance exposure caps the ceiling on pricing power; a practice too dependent on discounted panels is priced accordingly.
• Associate OD coverage. A practice that runs on more than one set of hands is worth more than one entirely dependent on the selling doctor.

A note on timing that costs owners real money: buyers normalize earnings across managed-care and seasonal patterns and look for two to three years of clean, consistent financials. Cleaning up the books the year you decide to sell is far too late — the work needs to be done before the numbers you are selling on are created.

The process

Why a quiet, competitive process beats the first offer

Most owners in this sector are approached directly, unsolicited, by a consolidator or a platform buyer. That approach is flattering and it is also the single most expensive letter you can accept, because a buyer negotiating against nobody has no reason to move on price or on terms.

We run the opposite process. Buyers are qualified and under confidentiality agreement before they learn whose business it is. Nothing is listed, advertised, or published. Your staff, your customers, and your competitors learn nothing until you decide they should — and several credible buyers are considering the same opportunity at the same time.

The result is not only a better number. It is better terms: what happens to your team, how long you stay, how the earn-out is structured, and what happens to any real estate.

Common questions

Optometry practice owners ask us these first

What is my optometry practice worth?

Most optometry practices sell for between 4 and 6 times adjusted EBITDA, with multi-doctor practices reaching 5 to 7.5 times. The highest multiples go to practices with a strong recall system, a healthy optical dispensary, and associate ODs who intend to stay. A confidential valuation will give you a confidential range in writing, based on what buyers are paying now — not an appraisal.

Who buys optometry practices?

Three groups: vision-care platforms built around optometry and ophthalmology, private-equity-backed consolidators, and private OD buyers for smaller practices. Each prices recall systems, dispensary margin, and managed-care mix differently, which is exactly why competition among them matters.

How do I sell my optometry practice without my staff or patients finding out?

By never listing it. We run a confidential process in which qualified buyers sign confidentiality agreements before they learn which practice is for sale. Nothing is advertised, and you decide when and how your team and patients are told.