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Fixed snapshot · 2026-Q4

2026-Q4M&A valuation multiples, lower middle market

EV/EBITDA and EV/Revenue quartiles by industry for US transactions with a target at or below $25M of EBITDA, as of . These figures do not change. This page is a permanent record of what the data said this quarter, so it can be cited and checked later.

IndustryEV/EBITDA (p25 – median – p75)nEV/Revenue (p25 – median – p75)n
Aerospace & Defense9.2× – 10.5× – 13×211.18× – 1.89× – 2.86×18
Industrials & Manufacturing6.1× – 8.05× – 10.92×780.68× – 1.07× – 1.88×60
Software & Technology6.93× – 8.33× – 10.12×231.29× – 2.15× – 3.2×20
Healthcare6.33× – 8.9× – 11.55×261.06× – 1.5× – 2.62×21
Consumer & Food5.99× – 9.15× – 12.5×280.56× – 0.78× – 2.03×17
Business Services4.8× – 7.5× – 10×330.55× – 0.93× – 1.88×26
Distribution & Logistics5.46× – 7.05× – 8.39×280.5× – 0.73× – 0.88×22
Construction & Engineering5.25× – 6.25× – 8.93×270.5× – 0.88× – 1.23×20
Packaging & Plastics5.95× – 8× – 9.3×200.48× – 0.8× – 1.67×15
Energy & Utilities4.56× – 6.24× – 8.83×230.66× – 1.1× – 1.74×12

Since the 2026-Q3 snapshot

Median trailing EV/EBITDA in each edition. The database grew from 1,048 to 1,524 transactions between them, so most of the movement below comes from a larger sample, not from a change in the market. Read a move as a market signal only where both samples are large.

Industry2026-Q32026-Q4
Aerospace & Defense10.46× (n=14)10.5× (n=21)
Industrials & Manufacturing8.5× (n=49)8.05× (n=78)
Software & Technology7.79× (n=22)8.33× (n=23)
Healthcare8.85× (n=20)8.9× (n=26)
Consumer & Food9.6× (n=15)9.15× (n=28)
Business Services7.91× (n=20)7.5× (n=33)
Distribution & Logistics5.55× (n=16)7.05× (n=28)
Construction & Engineering6.12× (n=22)6.25× (n=27)
Packaging & Plastics8.5× (n=15)8× (n=20)
Energy & Utilities6× (n=17)6.24× (n=23)

Method

  • Scope. Transactions with a target at or below $25M of EBITDA — the lower middle market.These are not all-size M&A multiples. Across the same database, disclosed deals above $50M of EBITDA run several turns higher, because large public acquirers are the ones obliged to disclose.
  • Source. Computed from 1,524 individually sourced transactions, of which 381 carry a disclosed or arithmetically implied EV/EBITDA multiple. Every underlying record has a source URL — an SEC filing, a company press release, or trade press.
  • Period. Deals announced or closed 2012–2026, 82% of the size-banded sample in 2021 or later.
  • Sample sizes. n is the number of transactions behind each figure. Sectors with fewer than eight are withheld rather than published: a handful of deals is not a benchmark.
  • Quartiles, not averages. p25 / median / p75. Use the spread. A single point estimate hides the dispersion that actually determines what any one business is worth.
  • Full rules. Sourcing, eligibility, de-duplication and correction policy are set out in the methodology, which does not change from quarter to quarter.
This valuation guidance is an educational estimate generated from publicly sourced comparable-transaction data and standard methodologies. It is not an appraisal, a fairness opinion, or investment, legal, or tax advice, and it does not predict the price any buyer will pay. Actual outcomes depend on diligence, market conditions, and negotiation. Consult your own advisors before making decisions.

Download the data

The full sector table for 2026-Q4, in both formats. These files are frozen with the page, so a link to one will return the same numbers later.

CSV multiples.csvJSON multiples.json

The JSON carries its own provenance — licence, permalink, methodology and corpus coverage — so it still explains itself once it has been saved somewhere else.

Licence and citation

Published under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). You may republish these figures, including commercially and in adapted form, provided you credit the source and link to it. Because the snapshot is frozen, that link keeps saying the same thing.

Bankerly. "2026-Q4 M&A Valuation Multiples, Lower Middle Market." Published 2026-10-22. https://bankerly.ai/data/ma-multiples-by-industry/2026-q4

How the figures are produced, and what they do and do not cover, is set out in the methodology. Sample sizes are published per sector above; several are small, and the table says so rather than hiding it.

Other quarters

For figures that update as the transaction database grows, see the live multiples page.