A vending or ATM route in Ontario isn't a location — it's a bundle of third-party site-placement agreements plus the machines themselves. There's no real estate and usually no lease to assign; the entire diligence exercise is confirming each placement agreement can actually move to a new owner, one site at a time.
Part of Retail & Consumer — see the family overview.
Every figure below is a typical Canadian deal-market pattern, not a valuation — use it to sanity-check what you're being told.
| Metric | Typical benchmark | Use this to |
|---|---|---|
| Route size drives the number |
| Sanity-check where a listed route should sit before you get attached to the asking number. |
| Valuation convention | Priced as a multiple of verified seller's discretionary earnings, not the number of machines or sites on paper.† | Apply the multiple to earnings you've verified yourself, not to a headline site count. |
| Assignability is the value driver | A route's real value sits in how many of its site-placement agreements are genuinely assignable to a new operator — a large route with mostly personal, non-assignable agreements is worth far less than the site count suggests.† | Weigh assignability site-by-site — it's the single biggest factor separating a strong route from a weak one at the same headline size. |
| Machine age and service history | Machine condition, service records, and any financing or lien position affect both ongoing revenue reliability and what a buyer is actually taking on.† | Get machine service history and lien status verified before valuing the route around its current uptime. |
| Deposit norms | A deposit tied to the purchase price is customary at offer stage, ahead of financing being arranged.† | Budget the cash you need at offer stage, before financing is discussed. |
Site-placement agreements are frequently personal to the seller, or require the site owner's own consent before they can move to a new operator — confirming assignability, site by site, is the core diligence task in this category, not a formality alongside it.
Where the route includes ATMs, cash-handling and anti-money-laundering registration requirements apply on top of the ordinary business sale, and continuity of that registration needs its own review.
Machines financed or leased typically carry a registered lien, and a route sale isn't complete until each machine's lien status is confirmed and, where needed, paid out at or before closing.
The same sequence underlies almost every vending or atm route deal — what changes from deal to deal is how long each step takes, and which one becomes the bottleneck.
Reaching an agreement
The offer sets price and key terms — for a vending or atm route it should build in the conditions that actually matter from day one, not just financing.
usually 1–2 weeks†The APS fixes price, structure — asset or share — and closing date, plus the reps, warranties, and holdbacks that protect you if diligence turns up something different than promised.
1–3 weeks to negotiate†Site-placement agreement assignability, Machine inventory & PPSA, ATM network/AML registration (if applicable), Cash-handling protocols, Route service records all start moving at once, on separate clocks — this is usually where vending or atm route deals are won or lost.
often the critical path†Getting to closing
Corporate, PPSA lien, and litigation searches confirm what you're actually buying; we chase down licence standing and records the seller doesn't always have to hand.
2–4 weeks, in parallel†Funds, keys, and signed documents change hands, alongside any inventory count and interim authorizations that bridge the gap until final transfers are confirmed.
1 day, once conditions are met†We track final licence confirmation and the staff transition through to completion — nothing is left for you to chase once the deal is done.
1–2 week tail†This is the first real decision in almost every vending or atm route deal — and it changes what you're buying, what you're taking on, and how it's taxed.
| Question | Asset purchase | Share purchase |
|---|---|---|
| What you buy | The route's assets — the machines, and the site-placement agreements that let them operate at each location. | The shares of the corporation itself — everything it owns, and everything it owes. |
| Seller's liabilities | Generally stay behind with the seller's existing corporation. | Generally come with the company, known and unknown. |
| Site-placement agreements | Reviewed and assigned individually — many require the site owner's own consent, and some are personal to the seller and can't be assigned at all. | Generally carry forward with the corporation without separate assignment, though a change-of-control clause may still apply. |
| ATM network/AML registration (if applicable) | A fresh registration or transfer in the buyer's name, where the route includes ATMs. | Stays with the corporation, but the buyer's own eligibility for registration is still confirmed. |
| Machine inventory & PPSA | A lien search identifies anything registered against financed or leased machines, paid out at or before closing. | A lien search still applies, but payout timing is negotiated as part of the share deal. |
| Tax angle | Buyer gets a stepped-up cost base on the assets purchased. | Seller may access the lifetime capital gains exemption on qualifying shares. |
| Typical use in a vending or ATM route deal | The default for most route sales, given how site agreements are typically held. | Uncommon — occasionally used where a hard-to-reassign agreement favours keeping the corporation intact. |
The route's assets — the machines, and the site-placement agreements that let them operate at each location.
The shares of the corporation itself — everything it owns, and everything it owes.
Generally stay behind with the seller's existing corporation.
Generally come with the company, known and unknown.
Reviewed and assigned individually — many require the site owner's own consent, and some are personal to the seller and can't be assigned at all.
Generally carry forward with the corporation without separate assignment, though a change-of-control clause may still apply.
A fresh registration or transfer in the buyer's name, where the route includes ATMs.
Stays with the corporation, but the buyer's own eligibility for registration is still confirmed.
A lien search identifies anything registered against financed or leased machines, paid out at or before closing.
A lien search still applies, but payout timing is negotiated as part of the share deal.
Buyer gets a stepped-up cost base on the assets purchased.
Seller may access the lifetime capital gains exemption on qualifying shares.
The default for most route sales, given how site agreements are typically held.
Uncommon — occasionally used where a hard-to-reassign agreement favours keeping the corporation intact.
We tell you which structure fits — before you sign anything.
Different lists depending on which side of the deal you're on — both matter for how smoothly closing goes.
No open-ended hourly surprises — the cost is confirmed in writing before any work begins.
| Type of work | Fee | How it's confirmed |
|---|---|---|
| Straightforward purchase or sale | Starting from $3,388.87 Our charges · taxes included | Confirmed in writing once we see the agreement. |
| Larger or more complex deal | Quoted to scope | Short call → fixed written quote before any work begins. |
| Searches, filings & third-party fees | At cost | Itemized on your invoice, not marked up. |
A modest route of a handful of vending machines or ATMs with straightforward, assignable site agreements — one buyer, one seller.
Start my file →A larger multi-site route with mixed agreement types, an ATM component requiring network re-registration, or a route bundled with a related service business.
Book a consultation →Not sure which you are? That's our job to figure out, not yours. As a rough guide, most deals under a couple of million dollars are the first kind — above that, you're usually in Mergers & Acquisitions territory.
†Typical patterns across Canadian deals — not a quote or advice; every deal is confirmed on its own facts.
That gets identified during diligence, site by site, before you close — some agreements are personal to the seller or need the site owner's own consent. Where a site genuinely can't transfer, that's reflected in the price or excluded from the deal, not discovered afterward.
Usually not in the traditional sense — there's typically no real property or storefront lease involved. The site-placement agreements are the functional equivalent, and they get the same careful review a commercial lease assignment would get.
Yes — where the route includes ATMs, cash-handling and anti-money-laundering registration requirements apply on top of the ordinary business sale, and that registration needs to be confirmed or re-applied for in the buyer's name.
Machine service records, cash-collection logs, and site-by-site reconciliation are reviewed against what's claimed, since there's no lease or storefront traffic to sanity-check the numbers against the way there would be with a fixed-location business.
That's negotiated as part of the deal — a lien search identifies what's registered against each machine, and payout is typically arranged at or before closing so the buyer takes the machines free and clear.
| Resource | Official link |
|---|---|
| Personal Property Security Registration (PPSR) Equipment lien searches | Visit www.ontario.ca |
| FINTRAC — anti-money-laundering guidance ATM operator registration requirements | Visit fintrac-canafe.canada.ca |
| Interac ATM network participation | Visit www.interac.ca |
Where we close vending or atm route deals
Tell us about your vending or atm route deal — we'll point you the right way and confirm the cost in writing before any work begins.