{
  "name": "2026-Q3 M&A Valuation Multiples, Lower Middle Market",
  "publisher": "Bankerly",
  "quarter": "2026-Q3",
  "publishedAt": "2026-08-21",
  "permalink": "https://bankerly.ai/data/ma-multiples-by-industry/2026-q3",
  "methodology": "https://bankerly.ai/data/methodology",
  "licence": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  },
  "citation": "Bankerly. \"2026-Q3 M&A Valuation Multiples, Lower Middle Market.\" Published 2026-08-21. https://bankerly.ai/data/ma-multiples-by-industry/2026-q3",
  "restatement": {
    "restatedAt": "2026-08-27",
    "reason": "Restated after two data defects were found and fixed. First, two import paths were inserting the same transaction twice — 61 duplicate rows corpus-wide, three of them carrying contradictory multiples for a single deal — so the original sample sizes and medians were computed over deals counted more than once. Second, several sector term lists were matching industry labels belonging to other sectors: aerospace 'MRO' was matching industrial maintenance-repair-operations distributors, 'pet' was matching 'petroleum', and the industrials group was absorbing food-manufacturing and home-medical-equipment businesses. Both are fixed and covered by tests. (restated 2026-08-25) A further correction on 2026-08-26, of the same two defects. The deal-identity rule and the sector classification table each existed in two places and had drifted: one Utz acquisition was in the corpus four times at three different multiples, and sectorFor still classified industrial MRO distributors as aerospace after the peer groups had stopped. Both now have a single definition, 55 rows reclassify to the correct sector, and Aerospace & Defense publishes for the first time. (restated 2026-08-26) Trailing-basis normalization: a review of every row whose stored multiple contradicted its own EV and earnings arithmetic found 14 multiples on undisclosed different bases — post-synergy (EV over EBITDA plus expected synergies), forward-year estimates, net-of-tax-benefit prices, one announced-vs-closed price, and one currency mismatch (CAD figures stored as USD). Each was normalized to the gross trailing basis this dataset publishes, with the source's own wording preserved on the record; the affected multiples moved UP in most cases, since post-synergy figures understate what buyers actually paid relative to trailing earnings.",
    "previous": {
      "takenAt": "2026-08-21",
      "sectors": [
        {
          "sector": "Industrials & Manufacturing",
          "evEbitdaN": 48,
          "evRevenueN": 35,
          "evEbitda": {
            "p25": 6.06,
            "median": 8,
            "p75": 12.08
          },
          "evRevenue": {
            "p25": 0.75,
            "median": 1.5,
            "p75": 2.26
          }
        },
        {
          "sector": "Software & Technology",
          "evEbitdaN": 13,
          "evRevenueN": 13,
          "evEbitda": {
            "p25": 6.6,
            "median": 7.56,
            "p75": 10.83
          },
          "evRevenue": {
            "p25": 1.32,
            "median": 2.68,
            "p75": 3.27
          }
        },
        {
          "sector": "Healthcare",
          "evEbitdaN": 19,
          "evRevenueN": 16,
          "evEbitda": {
            "p25": 6.31,
            "median": 8.9,
            "p75": 11.53
          },
          "evRevenue": {
            "p25": 0.88,
            "median": 1.5,
            "p75": 2.4
          }
        },
        {
          "sector": "Consumer & Food",
          "evEbitdaN": 19,
          "evRevenueN": 11,
          "evEbitda": {
            "p25": 5.95,
            "median": 7.2,
            "p75": 10.8
          },
          "evRevenue": {
            "p25": 0.82,
            "median": 1.27,
            "p75": 2.13
          }
        },
        {
          "sector": "Business Services",
          "evEbitdaN": 14,
          "evRevenueN": 12,
          "evEbitda": {
            "p25": 6.74,
            "median": 8.65,
            "p75": 9.94
          },
          "evRevenue": {
            "p25": 0.54,
            "median": 1.3,
            "p75": 2.33
          }
        },
        {
          "sector": "Distribution & Logistics",
          "evEbitdaN": 10,
          "evRevenueN": 7,
          "evEbitda": {
            "p25": 5,
            "median": 5.64,
            "p75": 7.05
          },
          "evRevenue": null
        },
        {
          "sector": "Construction & Engineering",
          "evEbitdaN": 16,
          "evRevenueN": 12,
          "evEbitda": {
            "p25": 4.71,
            "median": 6.42,
            "p75": 9.12
          },
          "evRevenue": {
            "p25": 0.49,
            "median": 0.79,
            "p75": 1.55
          }
        },
        {
          "sector": "Packaging & Plastics",
          "evEbitdaN": 9,
          "evRevenueN": 6,
          "evEbitda": {
            "p25": 6.1,
            "median": 8.8,
            "p75": 9.6
          },
          "evRevenue": null
        },
        {
          "sector": "Energy & Utilities",
          "evEbitdaN": 10,
          "evRevenueN": 6,
          "evEbitda": {
            "p25": 6.2,
            "median": 6.43,
            "p75": 9.25
          },
          "evRevenue": null
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  "coverage": {
    "lmmEbitdaCeilingUsd": 25000000,
    "transactionsInCorpus": 1048,
    "transactionsWithADisclosedMultiple": 299,
    "dealYearRange": [
      2012,
      2026
    ],
    "sharePostRecentPct": 82
  },
  "sectors": [
    {
      "sector": "Aerospace & Defense",
      "evEbitdaN": 14,
      "evRevenueN": 12,
      "evEbitda": {
        "p25": 9.7,
        "median": 10.46,
        "p75": 12.89
      },
      "evRevenue": {
        "p25": 1.4,
        "median": 1.78,
        "p75": 2.99
      }
    },
    {
      "sector": "Industrials & Manufacturing",
      "evEbitdaN": 49,
      "evRevenueN": 36,
      "evEbitda": {
        "p25": 6.2,
        "median": 8.5,
        "p75": 12
      },
      "evRevenue": {
        "p25": 0.88,
        "median": 1.5,
        "p75": 2.3
      }
    },
    {
      "sector": "Software & Technology",
      "evEbitdaN": 22,
      "evRevenueN": 19,
      "evEbitda": {
        "p25": 6.7,
        "median": 7.79,
        "p75": 10
      },
      "evRevenue": {
        "p25": 1.26,
        "median": 1.99,
        "p75": 2.96
      }
    },
    {
      "sector": "Healthcare",
      "evEbitdaN": 20,
      "evRevenueN": 16,
      "evEbitda": {
        "p25": 6.75,
        "median": 8.85,
        "p75": 11.68
      },
      "evRevenue": {
        "p25": 1.19,
        "median": 1.5,
        "p75": 2.4
      }
    },
    {
      "sector": "Consumer & Food",
      "evEbitdaN": 15,
      "evRevenueN": 6,
      "evEbitda": {
        "p25": 7.57,
        "median": 9.6,
        "p75": 12.25
      },
      "evRevenue": null
    },
    {
      "sector": "Business Services",
      "evEbitdaN": 20,
      "evRevenueN": 15,
      "evEbitda": {
        "p25": 6.46,
        "median": 7.91,
        "p75": 10.03
      },
      "evRevenue": {
        "p25": 0.54,
        "median": 1.28,
        "p75": 1.92
      }
    },
    {
      "sector": "Distribution & Logistics",
      "evEbitdaN": 16,
      "evRevenueN": 13,
      "evEbitda": {
        "p25": 3.75,
        "median": 5.55,
        "p75": 7.4
      },
      "evRevenue": {
        "p25": 0.51,
        "median": 0.74,
        "p75": 0.9
      }
    },
    {
      "sector": "Construction & Engineering",
      "evEbitdaN": 22,
      "evRevenueN": 16,
      "evEbitda": {
        "p25": 5.13,
        "median": 6.12,
        "p75": 9.02
      },
      "evRevenue": {
        "p25": 0.56,
        "median": 0.84,
        "p75": 1.16
      }
    },
    {
      "sector": "Packaging & Plastics",
      "evEbitdaN": 15,
      "evRevenueN": 11,
      "evEbitda": {
        "p25": 6.25,
        "median": 8.5,
        "p75": 9.6
      },
      "evRevenue": {
        "p25": 0.51,
        "median": 1.13,
        "p75": 1.94
      }
    },
    {
      "sector": "Energy & Utilities",
      "evEbitdaN": 17,
      "evRevenueN": 10,
      "evEbitda": {
        "p25": 4.31,
        "median": 6,
        "p75": 9
      },
      "evRevenue": {
        "p25": 0.63,
        "median": 0.92,
        "p75": 1.28
      }
    }
  ]
}