M&A Multiples Index — SMB & Lower-Middle-Market Valuation Multiples

An open, continuously-updated index of real-world M&A valuation multiples (EV/EBITDA and EV/Revenue), broken out by sub-vertical and enterprise-value bracket. Built and maintained by ExitValue.ai.

Every number below is an aggregate median of disclosed M&A transactions — not an estimate, rule of thumb, or imputed value. Each published cell requires at least 10 disclosed deals (n >= 10). Outliers are excluded (EV/EBITDA outside [0.5, 60.0]; EV/Revenue outside [0.05, 25.0]).

• Coverage: 25,476 unique completed transactions; 13,812 with disclosed EV/EBITDA, 24,645 with disclosed EV/Revenue.
• Published cells: 73 EV/EBITDA + 135 EV/Revenue across 46 sub-verticals.
• Source window: 2018-2026 (deals post-2018, from SEC EDGAR 8-K/S-4 filings, fairness opinions, and verified press releases).
• Last updated: 2026-06-21.

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What multiple does a business in my industry sell for?

These are median EV/EBITDA exit multiples for small-business and lower-middle-market deals (enterprise value up to $100M) — the size range where most owner-operated companies actually transact. p25/p75 show the interquartile spread; n is the number of disclosed deals in the cell.

Sub-vertical	EV bracket	Median EV/EBITDA	p25	p75	n (deals)
Ambulatory surgery center (ASC)	$5M-25M	8.1x	5.5x	11.4x	20
Ambulatory surgery center (ASC)	$25M-100M	9.5x	6.8x	12.2x	11
Dental practice	$5M-25M	7.0x	6.5x	8.3x	10
Durable medical equipment (DME)	<$5M	5.3x	4.3x	7.0x	11
Durable medical equipment (DME)	$5M-25M	5.1x	4.7x	5.8x	13
Electronics	$25M-100M	9.2x	6.8x	16.4x	11
Gaming	$25M-100M	9.1x	5.1x	11.6x	10
Healthcare IT	$5M-25M	9.5x	7.0x	14.4x	10
Home health	<$5M	4.7x	3.9x	6.2x	25
IT services	$5M-25M	7.0x	5.3x	8.6x	13
IT services	$25M-100M	6.4x	4.8x	10.0x	10
Industrial equipment	$25M-100M	8.6x	6.2x	12.1x	19
Medical devices	$25M-100M	12.7x	9.1x	21.9x	14
Oil & gas services	$25M-100M	3.7x	2.2x	7.5x	15
Primary-care practice	<$5M	3.6x	3.4x	4.6x	11
SaaS	$5M-25M	11.1x	8.7x	19.3x	15
SaaS	$25M-100M	15.5x	5.9x	19.1x	11
Specialty medical practice	$5M-25M	5.9x	5.1x	8.2x	15
Wholesale distribution	$25M-100M	6.8x	4.8x	8.7x	17

Larger transactions (enterprise value $100M+)

For reference, the same sub-verticals at larger deal sizes (multiples typically expand with scale):

Sub-vertical	EV bracket	Median EV/EBITDA	p25	p75	n (deals)
Aerospace	>$500M	14.2x	12.9x	16.9x	24
Apparel	>$500M	5.9x	3.8x	10.1x	11
Auto parts	>$500M	8.1x	6.6x	12.6x	14
Consulting	>$500M	13.7x	11.7x	15.8x	13
Consumer products	>$500M	10.1x	8.9x	12.2x	19
Dental practice	>$500M	14.0x	11.9x	15.8x	17
Digital media	>$500M	15.2x	10.1x	29.4x	14
Durable medical equipment (DME)	>$500M	10.3x	9.0x	11.9x	10
Electrical utility	>$500M	12.4x	11.6x	13.8x	16
Electronics	>$500M	18.3x	8.9x	23.5x	14
Enterprise software	>$500M	22.4x	15.3x	30.1x	11
Food manufacturing	>$500M	12.9x	10.2x	17.3x	32
Gaming	>$500M	14.5x	9.6x	20.9x	18
Health tech	>$500M	25.7x	15.7x	34.7x	12
Healthcare IT	>$500M	20.0x	16.6x	25.6x	70
Home health	>$500M	11.6x	10.4x	15.4x	19
IT services	>$500M	11.3x	9.3x	13.5x	17
Industrial equipment	>$500M	13.2x	11.0x	16.8x	30
Laboratory services	>$500M	22.2x	17.4x	29.5x	14
Medical devices	>$500M	15.2x	11.9x	20.6x	52
Mental / behavioral health	$100M-500M	13.5x	10.0x	15.5x	21
Metal fabrication	>$500M	7.8x	6.4x	10.0x	26
Oil & gas services	>$500M	7.5x	5.0x	11.3x	159
Packaging	>$500M	9.9x	7.6x	12.1x	19
Pharmacy	>$500M	18.3x	11.9x	20.9x	21
Physical therapy	>$500M	14.3x	11.2x	15.0x	11
Primary-care practice	>$500M	16.6x	13.1x	18.6x	16
Radio & television	>$500M	8.3x	6.7x	11.8x	16
Restaurant (QSR)	>$500M	11.5x	9.2x	16.0x	22
SaaS	>$500M	27.9x	15.8x	39.6x	37
Specialty contractor	>$500M	9.1x	7.1x	12.6x	14
Specialty medical practice	>$500M	14.3x	9.8x	18.3x	28
Specialty retail	>$500M	6.6x	4.8x	14.8x	25
Trucking	>$500M	6.7x	5.3x	10.2x	10
Veterinary practice	>$500M	18.8x	15.6x	22.0x	15
Wholesale distribution	>$500M	10.7x	8.8x	13.4x	49

Scope note. These are population medians by segment — the citable answer to "what does industry X sell for." They are not a valuation of any specific business. A real exit multiple is adjusted for margins, growth, customer concentration, and owner-dependence; that business-specific calculation lives in the free ExitValue.ai valuation tool. EV/Revenue medians (useful for thin-margin and pre-profit segments) are in multiples.json.

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Files

File	What's in it
multiples.json	Per (sub-vertical × EV-bracket) median + p25/p75 for EV/EBITDA, EV/Revenue. 73 EV/EBITDA + 135 EV/Revenue cells, each n >= 10.
multiples-by-year.json	Per (sub-vertical × year) date-stamped quartiles, 2018-2026. Tracks how multiples move over time.
datapackage.json	Frictionless Data descriptor for the two resources above.
CITATION.cff	Machine-readable citation metadata.

Schema (multiples.json)

{
  "data": {
    "dental-practice": {
      "5m_25m_ev": {
        "ev_ebitda": { "n": 10, "p25": 6.5, "p50": 7.0, "p75": 8.3 }
      }
    }
  },
  "source_window": "2018-2026",
  "min_cell_n": 10
}

p50 is the median. EV brackets: under_5m_ev, 5m_25m_ev, 25m_100m_ev, 100m_500m_ev, over_500m_ev.

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Methodology

Multiples are computed as aggregate quartiles of disclosed transaction multiples within each (sub-vertical × EV-bracket) cell, restricted to post-2018 deals. All metrics are at the time of acquisition, not current state. No values are estimated, imputed, or fabricated — cells without enough disclosed deals (n < 10) are simply omitted rather than filled in.

Full methodology and the live data: https://exitvalue.ai/methodology State of SMB & Mid-Market M&A report: https://exitvalue.ai/research

License

Data licensed CC BY 4.0 — free to use, including commercially, with attribution to ExitValue.ai.

Citation

If you use this dataset in research, reporting, or a product, please cite it (see CITATION.cff):

ExitValue.ai. (2026). M&A Multiples Index — SMB & Lower-Middle-Market Valuation Multiples.
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20398222. https://github.com/nickcals/multiples