Business Owners With Exit Dreams May Leverage Middle-Market Momentum

For business owners looking to make an exit from their companies, 2018 has more than a bright outlook; in fact, trend analysts theorize that it could be a banner year for middle-market M&A deals.

M&A data from 2017 deal studies, reported exit metrics and industry chatter, point to another very strong year, especially in the lower middle M&A marketplace, which (for this blog) comprises deals up to $200 million in enterprise value. The charts below from Pitchbook, one of the industry's go-to sources for comprehensive M&A, private equity and venture capital information, show two major indicators — deal value and average purchase price multiples – hitting high points in 2017.