The median sale price-to-SDE multiple for all industries reported at its highest level in 2019, at 2.09x, according to the BIZCOMPS Deal Review, a regular publication that analyzes general trends, valuation multiples, and operating ratios for transactions in the BIZCOMPS database. The database contains primarily small, Main Street private companies and includes over 13,300 transactions dating back to 2000. The database has been updated with new transactions, and some other highlights include:

• The median sale price to annual gross sales for all industries declined in 2019 after reaching its highest level in 2018; and
• The median sale price to annual gross sales across all three size ranges decreased in 2019 after reaching its highest level in 2018.

“SDE” stands for seller’s discretionary earnings, which is defined as: net profit before taxes and all compensation to one working owner plus amortization, depreciation, interest, other noncash expense, and non-business-related expense.