Selling in a specific industry follows the same arc as any sale: prepare, go to market, negotiate, close. What changes is what buyers underwrite. Most private companies are priced as a multiple of normalized earnings, but a software company is judged on recurring revenue and retention, a dental practice on collections, payer mix and associate coverage, and a trucking company on fleet age and safety scores. A sector range is only a starting point, since buyers in each sector check a different list of things first.
Some sectors carry rules most industries never meet. Healthcare services deals are often built around a management services organization because of corporate practice limits, financial services firms face licensing and change-of-control approvals, and franchise portfolios need the franchisor’s consent. Others turn on the asset base: manufacturers and energy services companies are judged on equipment and capital spending, distributors on working capital and cash conversion.
Service businesses are judged first on the quality of their revenue. Business services firms and home services companies earn more when revenue is contracted or recurring and the team does not depend on the owner, while a staffing agency is priced on gross profit, not revenue, because pass-through pay inflates the top line. The multiple ranges in these guides are educational orientation, not appraisals, and any company can land well outside its sector’s range.
Start here
- 1How to Sell a Business Services Company: Valuation, Buyers, and ProcessHow to sell a business services company: adjusted EBITDA multiples by sub-sector, who buys staffing, engineering, and facilities firms, and the sale process.
- 2How to Sell a Manufacturing Business: Valuation Multiples, Buyers, and ProcessHow to sell a manufacturing business or machine shop: adjusted EBITDA valuation multiples by sub-sector, who buys industrial companies, and the sale process.
- 3How to Sell a Distribution or Logistics Business: Valuation Multiples, Buyers, and ProcessHow to sell a distribution or logistics company: adjusted EBITDA valuation multiples by sub-sector, who buys distributors and 3PLs, and the sale process.
- 4How to Sell a Healthcare Services Business: Valuation, Buyers, and ProcessHow to sell a healthcare services business: EBITDA valuation multiples by subsector, who the buyers are, how to prepare, and a realistic sale-process timeline.
- 5How to Sell a Software or SaaS Business: Valuation Multiples, Buyers, and ProcessLearn how to sell a software or SaaS business: ARR and EBITDA valuation multiples, the Rule of 40, who buys, how to prepare, and a realistic sale timeline.
Multiples by industry
Live EV/EBITDA and EV/Revenue quartiles from sourced deals, one page per industry.
Every article on this topic
- How to Sell an IT Managed Services (MSP) BusinessWhat drives the sale price of a managed services provider: recurring revenue mix, EBITDA multiples of roughly 4x to 12x, contract terms, and who actually buys MSPs.
- How to Sell an HVAC or Home Services BusinessWhat drives value when you sell an HVAC, plumbing, or electrical business: maintenance agreements, technician retention, licensing, and who is buying.
- How to Sell a Food and Beverage Distribution BusinessHow to sell a food and beverage distribution business: route density, DSD vs. warehouse delivery, food-safety compliance, and buyer types and multiples.
- How to Sell a Dental Practice: Value Drivers and DSO DealsWhat drives the price when you sell a dental practice: collections vs. production, payer mix, hygiene health, DSO multiples, and CPOD/MSO rules explained.
- How to Sell a Veterinary Practice: Value Drivers and BuyersWhat drives the price to sell a veterinary practice: doctor production, wellness plans, real estate, corporate vs. individual DVM buyers, and state CPOM rules.
- How to Sell a Staffing Agency: Valuation and Buyer GuideHow to sell a staffing agency: why buyers price on gross profit, not revenue, plus MSP/VMS margin drag, worker classification risk, and who actually buys.
- How to Sell a Trucking Company: What Drives the PriceSelling a trucking company: why asset-based vs. asset-light mix, fleet age, CSA safety scores, insurance costs, and driver turnover drive the price you get.
- Selling a Consumer Products Brand: What Buyers Look ForHow consumer packaged goods and DTC brands are valued in a sale: channel mix, contribution margin, retailer relationships, inventory, IP, and likely buyers.
- Selling an Energy Services Business: A Sell-Side GuideHow buyers evaluate energy services companies: commodity cycle timing, MSA assignability, fleet age and capex, TRIR and EMR, and why earnouts are common.
- Selling a Trucking or Logistics Business: What Drives ValueHow fleet age, CSA safety scores, driver classification risk, contract freight mix, and equipment debt shape the sale of a trucking or logistics business.
- Selling a Multi-Unit Franchise Portfolio: What to ExpectHow selling a multi-unit franchise portfolio works: franchisor transfer approval, rights of first refusal, remodel obligations, buyer types, and timing.
- How to Sell a Financial Services Business: Valuation Multiples, Buyers, and ProcessSell a financial services business or insurance agency: EBITDA valuation multiples by subsector, who buys RIAs and lenders, prep, and a realistic timeline.
- How to Sell a Construction or Engineering BusinessHow buyers value construction and engineering firms: backlog, bonding capacity, WIP and percentage-of-completion accounting, and readiness steps.
- How to Sell a Marketing, Creative, or Digital AgencyA seller's guide to how buyers value marketing and creative agencies, common earnout and retention structures, buyer types, and readiness steps.
Frequently asked questions
- Why do valuation multiples differ so much between industries?
- Buyers pay for different things in different sectors. Contracted revenue, lighter capital needs and earnings that do not depend on the owner tend to earn higher multiples, so a job-shop machine shop and a maker of proprietary products, or an asset-light logistics firm and an asset-heavy trucking fleet, are priced at different multiples. The ranges in the guides are educational orientation, not appraisals, and any company can fall outside its sector's range.
- Who buys private companies in these industries?
- Private equity firms and strategic acquirers show up in most of the guides, with family offices, independent sponsors, search funds and SBA-financed individual buyers named in some. A few sectors add their own, such as dental support organizations in dentistry, corporate consolidators in veterinary medicine and larger franchisees in franchise portfolios. Each type weighs price, control, speed and certainty of close differently.
- How long does it take to sell a business in a specialized industry?
- The guides that give a timeline describe about six to twelve months for a prepared company, and about six to nine months for business services. Financial services and aerospace and defense manufacturing can run longer when regulatory approvals or consents are needed, and franchise portfolios take longer because franchisor approval runs on its own track.
Other topics
Looking for a term? The M&A glossary defines the vocabulary of a sale.