EBITDA Multiples for Private Companies in Europe

What buyers pay per euro of EBITDA depends above all on company size, and published figures differ mainly because they measure different deals. Advisors in Central and Eastern Europe reported an average of 5.3 times for companies with revenue of €1 to 50 million in the second half of 2025. For larger unlisted companies in the eurozone, with an equity value of €15 to 500 million, the Argos Index, a six-month rolling median, stood at 8.8 times in its second-quarter 2026 edition. Sector, growth, the type of buyer and the quality of earnings then move the multiple up or down within these ranges.

What an EBITDA multiple is

The EBITDA multiple, or EV/EBITDA, is the enterprise value of a company divided by its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation. A company bought for €20 million with EBITDA of €4 million was sold at five times EBITDA.

The multiple is popular because it compares companies regardless of how they are financed and how they depreciate their assets. It is also the language of most mid-market negotiations: buyers and advisors talk about "paying six times" long before anyone builds a detailed model. Its limits are the same as its advantages. It ignores the investment a business needs, its debt and its tax position, which is why the multiple is a starting point, not a valuation.

Three sources, three different numbers

Published multiples for Europe vary widely, and the reason is usually what each source measures:

The figures do not contradict each other. Small companies sell at lower multiples than large ones, and published deal data is dominated by larger transactions, because small deals rarely disclose their terms. For an owner of a company with a few million euros of EBITDA in South-East Europe, the advisor survey is the most relevant benchmark; for a company with €20 million of EBITDA attracting international funds, the eurozone and large-deal figures matter more.

Multiples by sector in Central and Eastern Europe

The Dealsuite survey reports average multiples and typical ranges by sector, with the two largest outliers in each sector excluded:

Source: Dealsuite, CEE M&A Monitor, February 2026. Enterprise value multiples, companies with revenue of €1–50 million, second half of 2025.

The ranking follows a simple logic. Sectors with recurring revenue, high margins and growth, such as healthcare and software, are valued highest. Sectors with thin margins, cyclical demand or heavy investment needs, such as construction, hospitality and transport, are valued lowest. Individual companies can sell far outside these ranges: a logistics company with long-term contracts and specialised assets is not valued like an average one.

Company size changes the multiple

Size has as much effect as sector. In the same survey, advisors reported an average multiple of 4.1 times for companies with €200,000 of normalised EBITDA and 6.7 times for companies with €10 million:

Source: Dealsuite, CEE M&A Monitor, February 2026.

Larger companies are less risky for a buyer: their results depend less on individual people and clients, they usually have better reporting, and they attract more buyers, including funds that cannot invest in very small companies. The Argos Index shows the same effect at a higher level: in 2026, the upper mid-market, with deals of €150 to 500 million, drove the rise in multiples, while the lower mid-market stayed broadly stable.

How CEE compares with the rest of Europe

Dealsuite publishes comparable surveys for other European regions. For smaller companies, the differences are smaller than often assumed:

Source: Dealsuite, CEE M&A Monitor, February 2026, page 11, comparison of regional surveys. Averages reported by advisors, not a census of all closed deals.

The clearest gap is in technology: advisors reported 6.9 times for software companies in CEE, against 8.9 times in DACH and about 7.5 times in the Netherlands and Southern Europe, and 6.1 times for IT services against 7.8 times in DACH. In traditional sectors such as manufacturing and logistics, CEE multiples are similar or slightly higher. For larger deals, Mergermarket data shows the median CEE multiple rising to 9.9 times in 2024–2025, above the 8.4 times recorded for the rest of Europe, a sign of strong interest from international buyers in the region's best companies.

Funds versus strategic buyers

In the eurozone mid-market, investment funds paid a median of 10.2 times EBITDA in the second quarter of 2026, compared with 7.9 times for strategic buyers, according to the Argos Index. Fund multiples had fallen to a low of 8.3 times in the fourth quarter of 2025 before recovering.

The gap partly reflects what each buyer chooses: 58% of fund deals in the first half of 2026 were in higher-multiple sectors such as software, healthcare, IT and business services, against 35% for strategic buyers. But funds also paid more within the same sectors, because they target market leaders and platforms for further acquisitions. For a seller, the practical lesson is to include both types of buyer in the process: a strategic buyer may pay for synergies, a fund for leadership and growth potential.

Revenue multiples and other benchmarks

For most profitable companies, EBITDA is the reference. Other multiples are used where EBITDA does not capture the value well:

For capital-heavy sectors such as transport and manufacturing, EV/EBIT is a useful cross-check. Two companies with the same EBITDA but different fleets or equipment can have very different EBIT, and the one that must invest more each year is worth less.

Where the market is heading

After four quarters of decline in 2025, the Argos Index rose to 8.6 times in the first quarter of 2026 and 8.8 times in the second. The rebound is fragile: the share of deals priced below 7 times EBITDA rose to 27%, while deals above 15 times fell to 5%, a historical low. Buyers are paying full prices for high-quality companies and becoming stricter with the rest.

In the Dealsuite survey published in February 2026, 88% of CEE advisors said they were optimistic about the first half of 2026. At that time, they expected transport and logistics, retail and e-commerce to see the largest decline in deal numbers. The next edition of the survey will show whether those expectations held.

How to apply a multiple to your company

A sector average is where the analysis starts. To move from the average to your company:

• Start from normalised EBITDA, not reported EBITDA. Applying a multiple to unadjusted earnings is the most common error.
• Choose the right benchmark for your size and market: a survey of small and mid-sized deals for a company with a few million euros of EBITDA, not the multiples of listed companies.
• Position the company within the range using its specific strengths and risks: growth, recurring revenue, client concentration, dependence on the owner, investment needs.
• Convert to equity value by deducting debt and adding cash, and adjust for working capital.
• Cross-check with a discounted cash flow or with the multiples of recent transactions in your sector.

Example: a business services company with normalised EBITDA of €3 million, steady growth and long-term clients could be positioned toward the upper end of its sector range, around 6 times, giving an enterprise value of about €18 million. If it has €2 million of net debt, the equity value would be about €16 million.

Common mistakes

• Using stock market multiples for a private company. Listed companies are larger and more liquid and trade at considerably higher multiples.
• Quoting the multiple of a famous large deal in the same sector.
• Applying the multiple to EBITDA that includes one-off income or excludes the owner's market salary.
• Forgetting that the multiple gives enterprise value, not the amount the shareholders receive.
• Ignoring investment needs: two companies with the same EBITDA are not worth the same if one must renew its equipment next year.

Questions and answers

Sources

• Dealsuite, CEE M&A Monitor, February 2026
• Argos Index mid-market, Q2 2026
• Forvis Mazars and Mergermarket, Investing in CEE: Inbound M&A report 2025/2026