You can find in the table below the EBITDA multiples for the industries available on the Equidam platform. The data is based on the annual estimate provided by Prof. Aswath Damodaran of the New York University for 2021.
WARNING: use with caution
Originally just a valuation solidity check, multiples have become a popular approach to value young, fast growing companies. The simplicity of this approach leads many practitioners to apply it acritically to compute valuations. This might generate biased results failing to represent the fair value of a company.
November 2021: With the most recent update some significant changes in the market have been accounted for, driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more about that here.
With Equidam, you can seamlessly compute your valuation using 5 methods, 2 of which are properly using these multiples, start now!
If you are a startup or a private company, and you’d still like to only use the multiple approach, you should apply these multiples on the last year of your projections, and discount the result to today.
| Industry | EBITDA Multiple |
| Advanced Medical Equipment & Technology | 36,66 |
| Advertising & Marketing | 12,74 |
| Aerospace & Defense | 14,01 |
| Agricultural Chemicals | 15,89 |
| Airlines | 24,89 |
| Airport Operators & Services | 24,89 |
| Aluminum | 10,20 |
| Apparel & Accessories | 21,19 |
| Apparel & Accessories Retailers | 14,29 |
| Appliances, Tools & Housewares | 20,35 |
| Auto & Truck Manufacturers | 19,79 |
| Auto Vehicles, Parts & Service Retailers | 11,89 |
| Auto, Truck & Motorcycle Parts | 11,24 |
| Banks * | 36,66 |
| Biotechnology & Medical Research | 18,61 |
| Brewers | 22,59 |
| Broadcasting ** | 8,70 |
| Other Broadcasting | 8,14 |
| Cable Service Providers | 10,40 |
| Radio Broadcasting | 8,14 |
| Television Broadcasting | 8,14 |
| Business Support Services ** | 17,65 |
| Call Center Services | 17,28 |
| Cleaning Services | 17,28 |
| Commercial Educational Services | 23,88 |
| Corporate Accounting Services | 17,28 |
| Data Processing Services | 17,28 |
| Exhibition & Conference Services | 17,28 |
| Health, Safety & Fire Protection Equipment | 10,52 |
| Industrial Design Services | 17,28 |
| Industrial Equipment Rental | 17,28 |
| Legal Services | 17,28 |
| Maintenance & Repair Services | 17,28 |
| Management Consulting Services | 17,28 |
| Office Equipment & Supplies Rental | 17,28 |
| Office Furniture | 10,52 |
| Office Supplies | 10,52 |
| Office Supplies Wholesale | 10,52 |
| Pest Control Services | 17,28 |
| Security Services | 17,28 |
| Testing Laboratories | 17,28 |
| Transaction & Payment Services | 17,28 |
| Translation & Interpretation Services | 17,28 |
| Other Business Support Services | 17,28 |
| Other Business Support Supplies | 10,52 |
| Business Support Supplies | 10,52 |
| Casinos & Gaming | 30,70 |
| Closed End Funds | 18,31 |
| Coal | 5,59 |
| Commercial Printing Services | 11,16 |
| Commercial REITs | 23,08 |
| Commodity Chemicals | 13,32 |
| Communications & Networking | 15,55 |
| Computer & Electronics Retailers | 14,29 |
| Computer Hardware | 18,05 |
| Construction & Engineering | 8.22 |
| Construction Materials | 13,58 |
| Construction Supplies & Fixtures | 10,90 |
| Consumer Lending * | 19,57 |
| Consumer Publishing | 11,16 |
| Corporate Financial Services * | 19,48 |
| Courier, Postal, Air Freight & Land-based Logistics | 13,20 |
| Department Stores | 12,76 |
| Discount Stores | 13,45 |
| Distillers & Wineries | 22,59 |
| Diversified Chemicals | 12,96 |
| Diversified Industrial Goods Wholesalers | 10,24 |
| Diversified Investment Services | 18,31 |
| Diversified Mining | 10,20 |
| Diversified REITs | 23,08 |
| Drug Retailers | 14,29 |
| Electric Utilities | 10,76 |
| Electrical Components & Equipment | 20,35 |
| Electronic Equipment & Parts | 20,35 |
| Employment Services | 17,28 |
| Entertainment Production | 26,54 |
| Environmental Services & Equipment | 14,66 |
| Exchange-Traded Funds | 18,31 |
| Financial & Commodity Market Operators & Service Providers | 30,92 |
| Fishing & Farming ** | 14,04 |
| Agricultural Biotechnology | 14,11 |
| Agricultural Consultancy Services | 14,11 |
| Agriculture Support Services | 14,11 |
| Animal Breeding | 14,11 |
| Animal Feed | 14,11 |
| Aquaculture | 14,11 |
| Cattle Farming | 14,11 |
| Coffee, Tea & Cocoa Farming | 14,11 |
| Commercial Fishing | 14,11 |
| Commercial Nurseries | 14,11 |
| Fishing & Farming Wholesale | 12,84 |
| Fur Farming | 14,11 |
| Grain (Crop) Production | 14,11 |
| Hog & Pig Farming | 14,11 |
| Organic Farming | 14,11 |
| Poultry Farming | 14,11 |
| Sheep & Specialty Livestock Farming | 14,11 |
| Sugarcane Farming | 14,11 |
| Vegetable, Fruit & Nut Farming | 14,11 |
| Other Fishing & Farming | 14,11 |
| Food Processing | 14,14 |
| Food Retail & Distribution ** | 9,59 |
| Beer, Wine & Liquor Stores | 9,05 |
| Food Markets | 9,05 |
| Food Wholesale | 12,84 |
| Supermarkets & Convenience Stores | 9,05 |
| Tobacco Stores | 9,05 |
| Vending Machine Providers | 9,05 |
| Other Food Retail & Distribution | 9,05 |
| Footwear | 33,75 |
| Forest & Wood Products | 10,99 |
| Gold | 9,83 |
| Ground Freight & Logistics | 10,05 |
| Healthcare Facilities & Services | 15,14 |
| Heavy Electrical Equipment | 20,35 |
| Heavy Machinery & Vehicles | 17,09 |
| Highways & Rail Tracks | 17,09 |
| Home Furnishings | 15,59 |
| Home Furnishings Retailers | 12,33 |
| Home Improvement Products & Services Retailers | 12,33 |
| Homebuilding | 9,93 |
| Hotels, Motels & Cruise Lines | 30,70 |
| Household Electronics | 11,50 |
| Household Products | 18,64 |
| Independent Power Producers | 10,02 |
| Industrial Conglomerates | 10,24 |
| Industrial Machinery & Equipment | 17,09 |
| Insurance Funds | 18,31 |
| Integrated Oil & Gas | 9,65 |
| Integrated Telecommunications Services | 6,79 |
| Investment Banking & Brokerage Services * | 9,71 |
| Investment Holding Companies | 18,31 |
| Investment Management & Fund Operators | 18,31 |
| Iron & Steel | 8,96 |
| IT Services & Consulting | 14,01 |
| Leisure & Recreation ** | 20,53 |
| Adventure Sports Facilities & Ski Resorts | 20,53 |
| Amusement Parks and Zoos | 20,53 |
| Golf Courses | 20,53 |
| Guided Tour Operators | 20,53 |
| Gyms, Fitness and Spa Centers | 20,53 |
| Hunting & Fishing | 20,53 |
| Marinas | 20,53 |
| Movie Theaters & Movie Products | 20,53 |
| Museums & Historic Places | 20,53 |
| Professional Sports Venues | 20,53 |
| Public Sport Facilities | 20,53 |
| Theatres & Performing Arts | 20,53 |
| Travel Agents | 20,53 |
| Other Leisure & Recreation | 20,53 |
| Life & Health Insurance | 8,59 |
| Managed Healthcare | 10,85 |
| Marine Freight & Logistics | 11,54 |
| Marine Port Services | 11,54 |
| Medical Equipment, Supplies & Distribution | 27,02 |
| Mining Support Services & Equipment | 10,20 |
| Miscellaneous Specialty Retailers | 14,29 |
| Multiline Insurance & Brokers | 9,33 |
| Multiline Utilities | 10,76 |
| Mutual Funds | 18,31 |
| Natural Gas Utilities | 10,76 |
| Non-Alcoholic Beverages | 19,29 |
| Non-Gold Precious Metals & Minerals | 9,83 |
| Non-Paper Containers & Packaging | 10,83 |
| Office Equipment | 10,52 |
| Oil & Gas Drilling | 12,81 |
| Oil & Gas Exploration and Production | 6,11 |
| Oil & Gas Refining and Marketing | 9,22 |
| Oil & Gas Transportation Services | 9,22 |
| Oil Related Services and Equipment | 12,81 |
| Online Services ** | 44,21 |
| Content & Site Management Services | 26,30 |
| E-commerce & Marketplace Services | 44,21 |
| Internet Gaming | 44,21 |
| Internet Security & Transactions Services | 44,21 |
| Search Engines | 44,21 |
| Social Media & Networking | 44,21 |
| Other Online Services | 44,21 |
| Paper Packaging | 10,83 |
| Paper Products | 10,99 |
| Passenger Transportation, Ground & Sea | 13,20 |
| Pension Funds | 18,31 |
| Personal Products | 27,02 |
| Personal Services ** | 18,02 |
| Accounting & Tax Preparation | 17,28 |
| Child Care & Family Services | 17,28 |
| Consumer Goods Rental | 17,28 |
| Consumer Repair Services | 17,28 |
| Funeral Services | 17,28 |
| General Education Services | 23,88 |
| Personal Care Services | 17,28 |
| Personal Legal Services | 17,28 |
| Other Personal Services | 17,28 |
| Pharmaceuticals | 15,07 |
| Phones & Handheld Devices | 16,69 |
| Professional Information Services | 32,31 |
| Property & Casualty Insurance | 9,57 |
| Real Estate Rental, Development & Operations | 9,48 |
| Real Estate Services | 20,78 |
| Recreational Products | 20,53 |
| Reinsurance | 11,42 |
| Renewable Energy Equipment & Services | 15,68 |
| Renewable Fuels | 15,68 |
| Residential REITs | 23,08 |
| Restaurants & Bars | 22,80 |
| Semiconductor Equipment & Testing | 22,86 |
| Semiconductors | 17,81 |
| Shipbuilding | 11,54 |
| Software | 30,92 |
| Specialized REITs | 23,08 |
| Specialty Chemicals | 15,89 |
| Specialty Mining & Metals | 10,20 |
| Textiles & Leather Goods | 21,19 |
| Tires & Rubber Products | 8,39 |
| Tobacco | 10,35 |
| Toys & Children’s Products | 20,53 |
| UK Investment Trusts | 18,31 |
| Uranium | 10,02 |
| Water & Related Utilities | 12,78 |
| Wireless Telecommunications Services | 6,95 |
*For these industries, a higher level business sector multiple is applied
**For these industries, a lower activity-based level is available
With Equidam, you can seamlessly compute your valuation using 5 methods, 2 of which are properly using these multiples, start now!
This EBITDA Multiple by Industry is a useful benchmark
@Luca
This is great content.
Could you please provide the source of the data? Is there a link to a NYU report or something of sort that could be fact checked?
http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/
This is our data source. We get our data from NYU Stern, Prof. Damodaran. We collect this data yearly and adapt them to our industry classifications.
I hope this information helps!
Kind regards,
Giulio
pls specify size of business as these multiples must be for big businesses?
Hi Marcel,
Thank you for your comment on this article. The companies used for computing the EBITDA multiple are all public companies. You can find an extensive list of the companies here: http://www.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/pc/datasets/indname.xls
I hope this information proves helpful in answering your question. If you have any further question, we remain available!
All the best,
Giulio
fantastic resource of info – TNX
Thank you, Nadine! Glad you found the info useful!
How correctly to calculate the valuation of our 5y/o IT Cloud Hosting company, currently generating 35k$ MRR. 15 team members atm.
Thanks for a great article and those multiplies by the industry.
Hi there,
Thank you for your comment on our article! I hope this message finds you well. The recommended way to value a company is by using various valuation methods to best capture all aspects of your company. By valuing your financial projections and your qualitative information according to internationally practiced valuation methods would be best. You can see more about the valuation methods we apply here at Equidam, click here.
By using the Equidam platform, you can produce a company valuation according to all five of our methods and produce a report that transparently highlights your company value. I hope this helps in understanding valuation and please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have further questions.
Have a great day,
Giulio
This is great content. But i have one question this might generate biased results failing to represent the fair value of a company?
Hi David,
Thanks for your comment on this article!
Multiples reflect the average price of a company when compared to a value driver, in this case EBITDA. They should be used as a benchmark and not to calculate the value of the company, in the same way the average price of a used car should be used as a benchmark, but not to price the specific car. On the assumption that the market is rational and fair and it is correctly assessing valuations, those values should not be biased on average, but these are strong assumptions, and that is why multiples should always be used with care.
I hope this helps clearing up any confusion about the multiples. Of course if you have any further questions, we remain available!
Kind regards,
Giulio
Hello! thank you for the greatest site and data! Looking forward to order a report from you.
Also wish many health and long life to Dr. Damodaran and his site.
But is it correct to apply these multiples from public traded companies to VC projects without illiquidity discounts?
Hi Ivan, thanks for the wonderful comments and the great question!
The answer depends a bit on the method you choose. It’s our view that the significant discount included in the VC method which already accounts for illiquidity. Both of the DCF methods include an explicit illiquidity discount.
You can read some more about that in our full Methodology PDF, here: https://www.equidam.com/methodology/
Would you happen to have the multiples of a Fintech (prepaid debit card for kids and teens) based in the MENA region?
Thanks for the question! We store the data per country rather than by region, as the variance across regions can be quite large. I’ll add the data here for Fintech in UAE, but let me know if another country would be a more appropriate example:
Year 1: 1218.40%
Year 2: 126.04%
Year 3: 152.40%
Hope that’s of use!
Over the past 30 years I have been involved in buying and selling small, privately held companies with revenues under $20MM who are involved in specialized manufacturing or services to the construction/engineering industries. There is much to consider in valuing these companies. But as a first cut, I use a combination of EBITDA and EBITDA as a percent of revenue of the most recent three years. The EBITDA multiple generally vary from 4.5 to 8. It is desirable that the EBIRDA/revenue be at least 8% and the value of enterprise moves upward above 8%. Companies with EBITDA/revenue ratio above 15% are rare.
Hi!
Could I ask you, if you have data for EBITDA multiple in the fintech sector in the central Europe?
Hi Kateřina, thanks for the question!
Looking at EBITDA multiples on a national basis typically isn’t very useful, as the multiple is determined by growth and risk forecasts which vary significantly according to the industry, even within the same country.
In your case I would suggest using the Financial & Commodity Market Operators & Service Providers multiple, as that will largely reflect those factors as present in the Fintech sector.
Hi there
I am looking for an appropriate valuation multiple for a media and events company (they stage online and in person events, curate events for Corporate clients as well host a successful podcast)
Can you help?
Hi Rob, many thanks for the question!
When looking at the growth potential of an events company, it’s worth considering whether it has a particular industry focus or takes a more sector agnostic approach.
If it’s the former, then it may be more likely to be influenced by the growth of the particular industry it serves, rather than just correlating with the events industry as a whole.
If it’s the latter, there are references to EBITDA multiples of between 10 and 13 for selected companies in the B2B events space, which you might want to consider.
We’d be very happy to help you with this more! Feel free to book a demo call through our homepage and we can walk you through how the platform works.