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.

61 sectors · 11,324 transactions · 8,648 named acquirers

Information Technology

808 transactions · 632 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 8.5x
Median deal size: $88m

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Internet Software and Services

791 transactions · 580 acquirers

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

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Life Science

743 transactions · 497 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 17.5x
Median deal size: $110m

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Financial Services

699 transactions · 487 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 8.9x
Median deal size: $102m

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Software

642 transactions · 494 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 10.1x
Median deal size: $67m

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Business Services

485 transactions · 391 acquirers

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

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Medical Products

435 transactions · 300 acquirers

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

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Consumer Products

343 transactions · 255 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 8.1x
Median deal size: $72m

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Healthcare Services

292 transactions · 223 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 9.6x
Median deal size: $120m

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Manufacturing

287 transactions · 222 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 8.2x
Median deal size: $103m

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Food

259 transactions · 165 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 8.4x
Median deal size: $127m

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Oil/Gas Exploration

250 transactions · 208 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 4.7x
Median deal size: $311m

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Technology Hardware

234 transactions · 196 acquirers

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

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Energy Services and Equipment

228 transactions · 197 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 7.0x
Median deal size: $144m

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Machinery

219 transactions · 170 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 7.9x
Median deal size: $110m

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Communications

205 transactions · 162 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 7.4x
Median deal size: $145m

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Retail

195 transactions · 161 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 6.3x
Median deal size: $95m

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Building Materials

193 transactions · 129 acquirers

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

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Metals/Mining

191 transactions · 149 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 8.1x
Median deal size: $82m

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Digital Media

184 transactions · 127 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 8.3x
Median deal size: $40m

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Distribution

182 transactions · 152 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 8.4x
Median deal size: $76m

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Chemicals

181 transactions · 135 acquirers

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

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Insurance

179 transactions · 130 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 10.0x
Median deal size: $165m

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Transportation

179 transactions · 125 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 8.9x
Median deal size: $83m

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Electrical Equipment

172 transactions · 143 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 9.1x
Median deal size: $72m

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Media

169 transactions · 140 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 8.4x
Median deal size: $85m

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Marketing

163 transactions · 144 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 5.7x
Median deal size: $36m

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Automotive

153 transactions · 128 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 7.3x
Median deal size: $158m

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Semiconductors

137 transactions · 105 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 16.8x
Median deal size: $115m

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Leisure

118 transactions · 96 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 7.2x
Median deal size: $119m

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Packaging

110 transactions · 66 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 6.7x
Median deal size: $86m

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Utilities

106 transactions · 79 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 9.2x
Median deal size: $103m

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Construction

104 transactions · 81 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 4.8x
Median deal size: $80m

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Environmental

96 transactions · 76 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 7.4x
Median deal size: $92m

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Aerospace

96 transactions · 76 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: n<5
Median deal size: $220m

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Apparel/Textiles

95 transactions · 78 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 10.1x
Median deal size: $143m

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Real Estate

93 transactions · 85 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 11.0x
Median deal size: $192m

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Consumer Services

91 transactions · 79 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 14.3x
Median deal size: $95m

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Renewable Energy

90 transactions · 74 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 7.2x
Median deal size: $175m

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Test/Measurement Equipment

89 transactions · 57 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: n<5
Median deal size: $62m

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Restaurants

88 transactions · 63 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 10.5x
Median deal size: $163m

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Education

83 transactions · 66 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 12.7x
Median deal size: $106m

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Information Services

75 transactions · 65 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: n<5
Median deal size: $120m

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Safety/Security

73 transactions · 50 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 10.1x
Median deal size: $57m

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Beverages

72 transactions · 60 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 12.9x
Median deal size: $129m

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Staffing

65 transactions · 49 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 5.1x
Median deal size: $33m

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Forest Products

65 transactions · 52 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 6.0x
Median deal size: $163m

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E-Commerce

63 transactions · 58 acquirers

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

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Electronics

60 transactions · 58 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 12.3x
Median deal size: $65m

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Agriculture

59 transactions · 49 acquirers

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

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Plastics

54 transactions · 43 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 9.0x
Median deal size: $150m

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Engineering

54 transactions · 47 acquirers

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

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Defense

41 transactions · 31 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: n<5
Median deal size: $131m

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Gaming

39 transactions · 34 acquirers

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

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Publishing

39 transactions · 30 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: 6.1x
Median deal size: $67m

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Marine

35 transactions · 31 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: n<5
Median deal size: $183m

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Furniture

18 transactions · 17 acquirers

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

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Infrastructure

18 transactions · 16 acquirers

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

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Airlines

17 transactions · 16 acquirers

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

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Diversified

11 transactions · 11 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: n<5
Median deal size: $115m

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Franchising

9 transactions · 8 acquirers

Median EV/EBITDA: n<5
Median deal size: $147m

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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.