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Larger companiesPrice and company size
Why do bigger companies sell for more? What outside reports show, and why ours differ
The short answer: buyers pay more for each dollar of profit when there's more of it, it's steadier, and it doesn't hang on one person. In GF Data's private equity platform buyouts through the third quarter of 2025, companies worth $100,000,000 to $250,000,000 averaged 10.0x EBITDA, against 5.9x at $10,000,000 to $25,000,000.[1] Those are GF Data's figures, not ours.
Figures: GF Data through Q3 2025TagniFi through March 2026Market Pulse through Q2 2026Read November 12, 2026
Method
8 min read
Legend Atty · Founder, BridgeBook
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What do outside reports show by size?
Both reports in Exhibit 1 go the same way: the bigger the company, the more buyers paid for each dollar of EBITDA. EBITDA is yearly profit before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Both sort deals by company value, the price for the whole business with its debt counted. That's not yearly sales.
GF Data counts platform buyouts: a private equity fund's first company in a field, which it builds on later. TagniFi counts deals of every kind of buyer. Its figures come from more than 1,450 deals from 131 firms[2].
What buyers paid for each dollar of EBITDA, by company value
Band is company valueOther publishers' figures, not ours
| Company value | Multiple of EBITDA | Statistic | Buyers | Period | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10,000,000 to $25,000,000 | 5.9x | Average | Private equity, platform buyouts | Through the third quarter of 2025 | GF Data[1] |
| $25,000,000 to $50,000,000 | 6.6x | Average | Private equity, platform buyouts | Through the third quarter of 2025 | GF Data[1] |
| $50,000,000 to $100,000,000 | 8.7x | Average | Private equity, platform buyouts | Through the third quarter of 2025 | GF Data[1] |
| $100,000,000 to $250,000,000 | 10.0x | Average | Private equity, platform buyouts | Through the third quarter of 2025 | GF Data[1] |
| $1,000,000 to $10,000,000 | 5.5x | Median | All buyers | Twelve months to March 31, 2026 | TagniFi[2] |
| $10,000,000 to $50,000,000 | 7.3x | Median | All buyers | Twelve months to March 31, 2026 | TagniFi[2] |
| $50,000,000 to $200,000,000 | 9.0x | Median | All buyers | Twelve months to March 31, 2026 | TagniFi[2] |
| $200,000,000 to $500,000,000 | 11.4x | Median | All buyers | Twelve months to March 31, 2026 | TagniFi[2] |
These figures come from outside reports, not from BridgeBook's own data: each one counts different deals in its own way, so read them as a guide to the market, not as a price for your company.
Source: GF Data, Through the third quarter of 2025[1]; TagniFi, Twelve months to March 31, 2026[2]. Company value, not yearly sales.
GF Data puts the same gap another way. Through the third quarter of 2025, its larger platforms averaged 9.8x EBITDA, against 7.0x for smaller ones.[1] Larger means $100,000,000 to $500,000,000 of company value, and smaller means under $100,000,000.
None of these figures prices your company. They tell you which way the market leans, and how far apart two careful sources can sit.
Why do the reports disagree with each other?
Because each one counts different deals in its own way. Five things change from one report to the next: who reports the deals, which deals they are, what the size band measures, which EBITDA is used, and whether the figure is an average or a median.
An average adds every deal and divides. A few big prices pull it up. A median is the middle deal, so a handful of outliers barely move it. Two honest reports of one market can land apart for that reason alone.
Who counts what
| Publisher | Which deals | Size band is | Statistic | Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GF Data | Private equity platform buyouts | Company value | Average | Through the third quarter of 2025 |
| TagniFi PowerComps | Deals reported by middle market firms, every kind of buyer | Company value | Median, as TagniFi labels it | Twelve months to March 31, 2026 |
| IBBA and M&A Source Market Pulse (behind our calculator) | Closed sales reported by business advisors in a quarterly survey | Sale price | The typical reading, from the middle of recent quarters | Through Q2 2026; our figures checked November 2, 2026 |
Source: GF Data, Through the third quarter of 2025[1]; TagniFi, Twelve months to March 31, 2026[2]; IBBA and M&A Source, Second quarter of 2026[3].
Where do our figures come from?
From the sold-deal data behind our calculator: IBBA and M&A Source Market Pulse, a survey of business advisors on the sales they closed. Our figures checked November 2, 2026. Its all-industry figures have one group above $5,000,000 of sale price, and that group stops at companies that sold for $50,000,000.[3]
Sale price is what a company sold for. It isn't yearly sales. A company with $30,000,000 in sales might sell for far less than that, or more, depending on its profit.
The sold-deal data behind our calculator, priced on EBITDA
Band is sale price| Companies that sold for | Typical multiple of EBITDA | Range |
|---|---|---|
| $2,000,000 to $5,000,000 | 4.0x | 3.5x to 4.1x |
| $5,000,000 to $50,000,000 | 4.9x | 4.0x to 5.8x |
Top row: IBBA and M&A Source Market Pulse, closed deals of $5,000,000 to $50,000,000. Typical is the middle of its recent readings. Our figures checked November 2, 2026.
Source: IBBA and M&A Source, Second quarter of 2026[3].
Our calculator counts EBITDA as owner earnings less a $150,000 salary for a manager to run the company. Past about $8,620,690 of EBITDA, the high end of the top group's range passes $50,000,000, where the deals behind it stop. The tool on these pages stops there too. It shows other publishers' figures instead, named and dated, and puts no dollar value on your company from them.
You can see it for each size on what a company sells for, by revenue, and where it runs out on the $100,000,000 page.
Why are our figures lower than the reports?
They count different sales, so they land in different places. This is our reading of the three differences, not a figure anyone publishes.
Different sellers. Our group tops out at companies that sold for $50,000,000, and many in it sold for far less. GF Data's and TagniFi's bands run well past $50,000,000 of company value. The size step you saw in Exhibit 1 is part of the gap.
Different buyers. A private equity fund buying a platform is paying for a company it plans to grow and sell again. Advisor-run sales include those buyers, but also people buying a company to run, and smaller companies buying a neighbor.
Different EBITDA. A buyout report's EBITDA is the buyer's adjusted figure, after a full management team is paid. Ours takes a manager's salary out of the owner's earnings. When two reports divide by different profit, the multiples don't match even on the same price.
Which set fits you depends on who'd buy your company. We start from what similar companies actually sold for, and that's often lower than an owner hopes.
How wide is the spread inside one number?
Wide. One figure for a size group hides a long line of deals. The Market Pulse report that shows it is from the fourth quarter of 2023, so read it as an old snapshot.
That report's figure for the top group was IBBA and M&A Source's average of 5.3x EBITDA for $5,000,000 to $50,000,000 (fourth quarter of 2023)[4]. The group is set by sale price, not yearly sales. In that same quarter, some of those sales went for 4.0x EBITDA and as many went for 8.25x.
The top of that spread is about twice the bottom. Two companies with the same profit, in the same size group, can sell a long way apart. The next chapter is about what moves a company toward the top.
What moves a company up the range?
The same things that make bigger companies worth more, at any size: profit a buyer believes will keep coming, without you in the room. A letter of intent is the written offer that sets price and main terms. PCE Companies, an investment bank, wrote in July 2026 about the management meetings that come before one:
"Buyers are evaluating the leadership team, growth strategy, culture, operational depth, and credibility of the investment story."[5]
- A team that runs the company day to day without the owner, with people who'd stay after a sale.
- Revenue that repeats: contracts, service agreements, customers who reorder.
- No customer so big that losing them would change the year.
- Books a buyer can test quickly, kept on an accrual basis and reviewed by an outside accountant.
None of these needs a bigger company. They do take time to build, so they're worth starting well before a sale.
What we'd look at first
On a first call, a dedicated advisor asks where your company would sit inside the spread, before talking about any multiple. Your advisor looks at four things:
- Who decides things on a Tuesday when you're out, and whether they'd stay.
- What share of sales comes from your top three customers.
- How much of next year is already under contract or reorders on its own.
- Whether your EBITDA, rebuilt the way a buyer will, matches what your books say.
This page is about the price of each dollar of profit. What reaches your bank after debt, escrow and the rest is in from sale price to cash at closing. What companies keep as profit in the first place is in average profit margin by company size.
Questions owners ask about size and price
Why do larger companies get higher valuation multiples?
More buyers can afford them, lenders lend more against them, and the profit leans less on one person. Every data set we could open shows the same direction.
What EBITDA multiple do companies with $10,000,000 to $50,000,000 in revenue sell for?
Revenue doesn't set the group; profit and company value do. In GF Data's private equity platform buyouts through the third quarter of 2025, companies worth $10,000,000 to $25,000,000 averaged 5.9x EBITDA. Those worth $25,000,000 to $50,000,000 averaged 6.6x. TagniFi's median for $10,000,000 to $50,000,000 of company value, in the twelve months to March 31, 2026, was 7.3x. Those are other publishers' figures, not ours.
Why are your figures lower than private equity reports?
We use advisor-run sales of companies that sold for up to $50,000,000. The reports reach much larger companies. GF Data counts only private equity buyouts, on adjusted EBITDA, and prints averages.
Is a bigger company always worth more per dollar of profit?
Not always. In IBBA and M&A Source's survey for the fourth quarter of 2023, companies that sold for $5,000,000 to $50,000,000 averaged 5.3x EBITDA, with some at 4.0x and as many at 8.25x.
Where these numbers come from
The sold-deal data behind our calculator: IBBA and M&A Source Market Pulse, closed deals. Our figures checked November 2, 2026.
- TagniFi, PowerComps Middle Market Update for the first quarter of 2026: Quality Over Quantity. Twelve months to March 31, 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
- IBBA and M&A Source, Market Pulse Q2 2026 Highlights. Second quarter of 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
- IBBA and M&A Source, Market Pulse Q4 2023 Executive Report. Fourth quarter of 2023. Read November 12, 2026.
- PCE Companies, M&A Process Stages Timeline: What Business Owners Should Expect. July 14, 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
Keep reading
- Larger companiesAverage Profit Margin by Company SizeWhat companies your size keep as profit, by size and by industry, from tax returns the IRS publishes.
- Larger companiesWhat a $50,000,000 Company Is WorthWhere our sold-deal data ends, what outside reports show, and how much of the price is held back.
- Larger companiesWhat a $100,000,000 Company Is WorthWhere our sold-deal data stops, what outside reports show past it, and how a sale this size runs.
- SellingHow to sell a businessThe steps from a first valuation to closing day, and what to get ready before buyers look.
- Larger companiesWhat a $10,000,000 Company Is WorthWhen buyers stop counting your pay as profit, and who can buy a company this size.
- Larger companiesWhat a $20,000,000 Company Is WorthWhy margin moves your price more than the multiple, and which costs a buyer will count.
One important decision. Two good places to start.
See where your profit lands
The calculator puts a range on your own profit from what similar businesses sold for. If you'd rather talk first, a dedicated advisor will go through where you'd sit in the spread.
Your exit credit comes off our success fee at closing and grows with your yearly sales: $5,000 under $5,000,000 in sales ($2,500 for your valuation report, plus $2,500 for your advisor call or for starting your listing), up to $50,000 at $100,000,000 or more.
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