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Do Bigger Businesses Sell for Higher Multiples?
Yes — and the premium is a staircase, not a threshold. Median EV/EBITDA rises at every size step, from 5.2x for deals under $5M to 13.4x above $500M across 5,175 disclosed M&A transactions since 2015 (from a dataset of 25,482verified deals). This is the single biggest reason a small business shouldn't price itself off headline multiples from platform-sized deals.
| Enterprise value | Median EV/EBITDA | n |
|---|---|---|
| Under $5M | 5.2x | 252 |
| $5M-$25M | 7.1x | 519 |
| $25M-$100M | 9x | 728 |
| $100M-$500M | 11.2x | 1,218 |
| $500M+ | 13.4x | 2,458 |
Disclosed transactions 2015-2026 (SEC EDGAR + verified press releases). Updated 2026-07-09, refreshed weekly.
Why size pays
Larger businesses trade higher for structural reasons buyers price explicitly: professional management (less owner-dependence), diversified customers, audited or reviewable financials, more debt capacity, and a deeper buyer pool — a $50M-EV company can be bought by PE platforms, strategics, and family offices alike, while a $3M-EV business is mostly limited to individuals and small sponsors. Fewer bidders, lower multiple.
What it means for an owner
Growth changes your value twice: more EBITDA, anda higher multiple on all of it. Moving from $4M EV to $6M EV doesn't just add $2M — it can re-rate the whole business from the 5.2x tier toward the 7.1x tier. It also means an industry "average multiple" you read in the trade press is usually a blend dominated by large deals; the honest comparison for your business is the median within your size bracket.
Data notes: EV/EBITDA is disclosed on ~54% of transactions; medians reflect the disclosed subset. Population aggregates — a specific business trades on margins, growth, concentration, and owner-dependence. Methodology.
Where does your business land on the staircase?
Run the calculator — your range uses the medians for your industry AND your size bracket, not the all-size blend.
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