DealStats includes audited financial statements and transaction data for small and medium enterprise deals primarily in North America. It’s EBITDA multiples tend, therefore, to be lower than those reported by CapIQ or others that only track financials for private equity transactions.

Even still, DealStats reported a lower average EBITDA multiple for the second quarter, dropping from 3.9x to 3.8x, according to BVR’s DealStats Value Index (DVI) (see graph below). BVR’s analysts conclude that “there has been relatively little movement over the past three quarters, and no trend or clear direction has yet to emerge regarding the direction of EBITDA multiples in the near future.” This picture of stability in the SME market helps counter all the frothiness reported around the large well-funded deals and IPOs. DealStats will continue to monitor the trends in the EBITDA multiple.