Valuation Lab · Benchmark
Disclosed IT-services transactions cleared at a median 5.9x EV/EBITDA below $5M of deal value (n=89), 7.9x at $5M-$20M (n=189), 10.3x at $20M-$50M, 11.5x at $50M-$100M, 11.6x at $100M-$500M and 13.0x above $500M (Mergermarket data via Aventis Advisors). Windsor Drake’s 2026 analyst bands for IT services and MSPs run 4.5x-6.0x at $1M-$3M of EBITDA, 5.5x-7.5x at $3M-$10M and 7.0x-9.5x above $10M. Public computer-services aggregates sat at 14.1x EV/EBITDA in January 2026 and are shown for orientation only.
Consulting, implementation and outsourcing firms are priced on the earnings their people and contracts produce. Profitability, company size and the share of revenue under recurring contracts explain most of the spread in the deal data; utilization and revenue per employee are the operating levers behind profitability, and the IT services calculator makes them explicit for your own firm since no comparable sourced peer dataset exists for them.
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IT services deals $5M-$20M, median EV/EBITDA: 7.9x. Aventis Advisors, MSP Valuation Multiples (Mergermarket data) (retrieved 2026-09-22): disclosed IT-services transactions by deal size (n per band shown). Size, profitability and recurring contracts drive the spread from 5.9x to 13.0x.
| Deal size | Median EV/EBITDA | n |
|---|---|---|
| <$5M deal value | 5.9x | 89 |
| $5M-$20M | 7.9x | 189 |
| $20M-$50M | 10.3x | 89 |
| $50M-$100M | 11.5x | 78 |
| $100M-$500M | 11.6x | 114 |
| $500M+ | 13.0x | 65 |
The Mergermarket sample shows a clean size gradient with large n at each step, which is rare in private-company data. The jump from 7.9x to 10.3x between the $5M-$20M and $20M-$50M bands is where firms cross from owner-led to management-led, gain a second office or practice line, and become financeable for a sponsor. Below $5M the buyer is usually a strategic bolt-on paying for a client list and a bench.
Recurring outsourcing and managed contracts price highest inside a band because they are contracted; implementation practices tied to a vendor ecosystem price on certification depth and pipeline visibility; pure consulting prices on utilization, rate and the transferability of relationships away from the founder. When recurring contracts are the majority, the MSP benchmark is the better reference.
NYU Stern’s January 2026 aggregates put computer services at 14.1x EV/EBITDA (64 firms), information services at 11.5x (15 firms) and business and consumer services at 14.3x (155 firms), against a total-market aggregate of 19.7x. Public aggregates run roughly twice private lower-middle-market medians for the same activity.
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5.9x below $5M of deal value rising to 13.0x above $500M in disclosed transactions; Windsor Drake’s 2026 bands run 4.5x-6.0x at $1M-$3M of EBITDA to 7.0x-9.5x above $10M.
Yes, inside the band. Contracted managed revenue is capitalized more readily than project revenue; a majority-recurring firm should be benchmarked as an MSP.
Directly through earnings: at a $150 realized rate, each five points of utilization adds about $135,000 of revenue per ten delivery staff, most of which falls to EBITDA. The calculator charts the full curve.
For ordering between sub-sectors and for cycle direction, yes; as a price for a private firm, no. Public aggregates run about twice private deal medians.
Three data classes are kept separate throughout: public trading observations, disclosed control transactions and Windsor Drake analyst ranges; funding-round marks form a fourth class where present. Medians are stated with geography, period, sample size and basis where the publisher provides them; subgroups below three observations are suppressed; judgment ranges are never presented as quartiles. Negative or zero EBITDA makes EV/EBITDA not meaningful. The benchmark snapshot is versioned (2026.09.22-1) and the chart, table, download and written summary reconcile to it. Cite as: Windsor Drake, “IT services valuation multiples” (2026.09.22-1), https://windsordrake.com/it-services-valuation-multiples/.
Related: MSP valuation multiples · EBITDA multiples by industry · IT services M&A advisory · All valuation tools · Download the benchmark dataset (JSON)