Sectors

Who buys companies in your sector

Valuation tables tell you what a business is worth. They do not tell you who would buy it, which is the question that decides whether a sale happens at all. These pages are built from every transaction on file since 2014, naming the acquirers, how often each has bought, and what was disclosed about price.

59 sectors · 10,208 transactions · 7,656 named acquirers

Internet Software and Services

781 transactions · 570 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 11.4x
Median deal size: $75m

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Information Technology

779 transactions · 605 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 8.5x
Median deal size: $89m

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Life Science

614 transactions · 397 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 17.5x
Median deal size: $114m

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Software

573 transactions · 433 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 10.1x
Median deal size: $65m

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Financial Services

568 transactions · 366 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 8.9x
Median deal size: $99m

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Business Services

463 transactions · 369 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 10.0x
Median deal size: $63m

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Medical Products

398 transactions · 264 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 10.6x
Median deal size: $100m

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Consumer Products

319 transactions · 234 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 8.2x
Median deal size: $70m

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Manufacturing

268 transactions · 206 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 8.2x
Median deal size: $111m

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Healthcare Services

254 transactions · 190 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 9.6x
Median deal size: $112m

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Food

242 transactions · 151 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 8.4x
Median deal size: $130m

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Technology Hardware

217 transactions · 180 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 10.8x
Median deal size: $85m

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Oil/Gas Exploration

205 transactions · 170 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 4.7x
Median deal size: $310m

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Machinery

200 transactions · 152 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 8.1x
Median deal size: $102m

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Energy Services and Equipment

194 transactions · 170 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 7.1x
Median deal size: $141m

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Communications

185 transactions · 145 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 7.4x
Median deal size: $135m

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Digital Media

181 transactions · 124 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 8.3x
Median deal size: $39m

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Building Materials

177 transactions · 118 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 8.2x
Median deal size: $117m

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Retail

175 transactions · 145 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 6.4x
Median deal size: $101m

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Chemicals

172 transactions · 126 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 8.9x
Median deal size: $153m

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Transportation

170 transactions · 116 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 8.9x
Median deal size: $81m

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Metals/Mining

167 transactions · 130 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 8.1x
Median deal size: $75m

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Electrical Equipment

163 transactions · 134 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 9.1x
Median deal size: $73m

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Insurance

158 transactions · 111 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: n<5
Median deal size: $154m

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Distribution

157 transactions · 129 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 8.4x
Median deal size: $73m

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Media

151 transactions · 123 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 8.6x
Median deal size: $85m

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Marketing

146 transactions · 128 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 6.0x
Median deal size: $38m

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Automotive

142 transactions · 117 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 7.3x
Median deal size: $152m

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Semiconductors

124 transactions · 93 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 16.8x
Median deal size: $120m

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Leisure

111 transactions · 89 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 7.2x
Median deal size: $118m

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Packaging

102 transactions · 58 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 6.7x
Median deal size: $83m

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Environmental

93 transactions · 73 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 7.4x
Median deal size: $91m

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Utilities

93 transactions · 67 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 9.2x
Median deal size: $83m

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Construction

87 transactions · 66 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 4.8x
Median deal size: $85m

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Apparel/Textiles

87 transactions · 70 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 10.1x
Median deal size: $147m

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Consumer Services

82 transactions · 71 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 14.3x
Median deal size: $83m

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Restaurants

82 transactions · 57 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 10.5x
Median deal size: $178m

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Aerospace

81 transactions · 61 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: n<5
Median deal size: $216m

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Education

81 transactions · 64 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 12.7x
Median deal size: $108m

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Test/Measurement Equipment

78 transactions · 49 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: n<5
Median deal size: $48m

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Renewable Energy

77 transactions · 62 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 7.2x
Median deal size: $169m

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Real Estate

70 transactions · 63 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 11.0x
Median deal size: $129m

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Information Services

69 transactions · 59 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: n<5
Median deal size: $114m

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Safety/Security

66 transactions · 43 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 10.1x
Median deal size: $63m

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Beverages

63 transactions · 51 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 12.9x
Median deal size: $130m

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Forest Products

62 transactions · 49 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 6.0x
Median deal size: $160m

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Staffing

59 transactions · 43 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 5.1x
Median deal size: $34m

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E-Commerce

58 transactions · 53 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 6.9x
Median deal size: $63m

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Agriculture

53 transactions · 43 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 6.8x
Median deal size: $75m

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Plastics

52 transactions · 41 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 9.0x
Median deal size: $164m

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Electronics

51 transactions · 49 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 12.3x
Median deal size: $87m

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Engineering

49 transactions · 42 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 8.0x
Median deal size: $28m

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Publishing

37 transactions · 28 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 6.1x
Median deal size: $59m

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Marine

31 transactions · 27 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: n<5
Median deal size: $244m

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Gaming

30 transactions · 25 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: n<5
Median deal size: $103m

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Defense

21 transactions · 20 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: n<5
Median deal size: $85m

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Infrastructure

15 transactions · 13 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: n<5
Median deal size: $234m

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Furniture

14 transactions · 13 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: n<5
Median deal size: $73m

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Airlines

11 transactions · 11 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: n<5
Median deal size: $109m

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How to read these pages

Deal counts are complete for what we hold. Multiples are not: most transactions close without disclosing one, so a median is shown only where at least 5 deals in that sector disclosed a figure, and the number of observations behind it is always stated. Where we have fewer, the count is shown and the median withheld, because a median of two deals is an anecdote with a decimal point.