Valuation Lab · Benchmark
Managed-service providers sold at a median 8.9x EV/EBITDA across 120 disclosed transactions with a median deal size of $38.5M (Aventis Advisors, Mergermarket data), but size dominates: IT-services deals under $5M cleared at 5.9x while those above $500M cleared at 13.0x, and providers under about $1M-$2M of revenue trade at 3x-4x. 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. Listed MSPs traded at a 12.4x median in 2025 and are shown separately as a public proxy, not a benchmark.
Three things decide where an MSP lands inside its band: the share of revenue under managed contracts, gross margin on those contracts after delivery labour, and customer concentration. The data below is sparse by design. Where a split is not supported by a sourced sample (platform versus add-on, recurring-share cohorts), it is stated as absent rather than drawn.
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MSP deals, median EV/EBITDA: 8.9x. Aventis Advisors, MSP Valuation Multiples (Mergermarket data) (retrieved 2026-09-22): 120 transactions, median deal size $38.5M. Size is the dominant driver: IT-services deals under $5M cleared at 5.9x against 13.0x above $500M. Small MSPs (under about $1M-$2M revenue) trade at 3x-4x.
| Deal size | IT services median | MSP implied | n |
|---|---|---|---|
| <$5M deal value | 5.9x | 5.2x | 89 |
| $5M-$20M | 7.9x | 6.8x | 189 |
| $20M-$50M | 10.3x | 8.9x | 89 |
| $50M-$100M | 11.5x | 9.9x | 78 |
| $100M-$500M | 11.6x | 10.0x | 114 |
| $500M+ | 13.0x | 11.2x | 65 |
The size effect in the Mergermarket sample is monotonic: 5.9x below $5M of deal value (n=89), 7.9x at $5M-$20M (n=189), 10.3x at $20M-$50M (n=89), 11.5x at $50M-$100M (n=78), 11.6x at $100M-$500M (n=114) and 13.0x above $500M (n=65). Aventis’s implied MSP interpolation sits roughly one turn below the IT-services medians at each size, which is consistent with the hardware and project mix that most MSPs still carry. Small providers, where the owner is the senior engineer and the sales function, clear at 3x-4x.
The Windsor Drake bands are judgment informed by GF Data’s Q1 2026 middle-market average of 7.3x, BizBuySell’s Q2 2026 Main Street data and 2024-2026 deal flow. A provider with 80%+ managed revenue, multi-year contracts with escalators, delivery margin above 50% and no client above 10% of MRR sits at the top of its band; break-fix, hardware-heavy or owner-dependent providers at the bottom. Cybersecurity-integrated MSPs are increasingly priced against the security services band, which sits about half a turn higher.
Listed managed-service providers roughly doubled from 7.8x EV/EBITDA in late 2018 to 17.5x in mid-2021 and settled near 11x-12x from 2023 (12.4x in 2025). They are far larger, more diversified and more liquid than founder-led MSPs, so the series is a ceiling and a cycle indicator, not a price. It is plotted on its own view with its own range buttons so it cannot be read as private history.
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The disclosed-deal median is 8.9x across 120 transactions with a median size of $38.5M. Smaller deals clear lower: 5.9x below $5M of deal value in the IT-services sample and 3x-4x for providers under $1M-$2M of revenue.
It is the primary driver inside a band. Managed-contract revenue with strong delivery margin is what buyers capitalize; project and hardware revenue add little value because they do not repeat and carry thin margins.
No. Listed MSPs are shown as a separate proxy. Their 11x-12x range reflects scale and liquidity that a founder-led provider does not have.
Use the MSP valuation calculator: it forecasts managed MRR from retention and new contracts, separates project and hardware margins, and applies the band for your earnings size, including a major-client-loss scenario.
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, “MSP valuation multiples” (2026.09.22-1), https://windsordrake.com/msp-valuation-multiples/.
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