BizBuySell, the largest on-line platform for business sales, has released their 2016 fourth quarter report on small business transactions.  The report confirms the results of our own Exit Planning Survey, which identifies business owners are increasingly confident about selling their business.

The BizBuySell insight reports for year end 2016 included a record number of small businesses sold for the year.  Closed transactions reported totaled 7,842 for 2016.

Key Financials of Sold Small Businesses

The median revenue of companies sold increased to a new high for both the fourth quarter and aggregated for the 2016.

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Small Business Listing Metrics by Geography for Fourth Quarter, 2016

We’ve summarized the data for the region as published by BizBuySell.  For data on all territories, please see the full chart on BizBuySell.

 

Market # of Businesses Listed Median Asking Price Median Revenue Asking Price to Revenue (average) Median Cash Flow Asking Price to Cash Flow (average)
Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT 165 $229,900 $549,000 0.60 $120,000 2.45
New Haven-Milford, CT 129 $260,000 $491,648 0.65 $116,241 3.03
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT 132 $195,000 $469,250 0.64 $81,133 2.43
Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA 134 $250,000 $526,426 0.66 $113,500 2.76
Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH 570 $249,000 $515,000 0.63 $120,000 2.61
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY 133 $325,000 $500,000 0.81 $127,015 2.8
Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY 37 $249,000 $442,000 0.69 $110,000 3.19
Rochester, NY 108 $179,000 $354,530 0.67 $70,415 3.17
New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA 5714 $296,500 $592,000 0.69 $137,853 2.69
New Jersey 1846 $250,000 $455,000 0.78 $108,000 2.99

Closed Small Business Transaction Metrics by Geographic Market for the Full-Year 2016

We’ve summarized the data for the region as published by BizBuySell.  For data on all territories, please see the full chart on BizBuySell.

 

Market # of Reported Sales Median Sale Price Median Asking Price Sales to Asking Price (average) Median Revenue Median Cash Flow
Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT 36 $170,000 $170,000 0.92 $513,000 $125,000
New Haven-Milford, CT 20 $287,500 $300,000 0.91 $686,000 $126,498
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT 26 $129,850 $154,475 0.85 $450,000 $74,205
Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA 45 $705,000 $790,000 0.92 $800,638 $139,250
Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH 220 $167,500 $209,000 0.88 $485,000 $115,890
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY 9 $400,000 $425,000 0.91 $680,000 $248,000
Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY 10 $368,000 $395,000 0.94 $409,518 $110,000
Rochester, NY 12 $100,500 $112,000 0.92 $264,976 $62,849
New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA 548 $249,500 $289,500 0.91 $629,115 $127,175
New Jersey 234 $200,000 $225,000 0.90 $600,000 $123,380

One of the Most Active M&A Advisory Firms in the Region

VR Business Sales New Haven represents owners of businesses valued between $500,000 and $25 million or with annual revenues from $1 million to $30 million. The office provides exceptional merger and acquisition (M&A) advisory services to companies operating within a wide range of industry segments in Connecticut, Southern New England and Metro NY.  Independently owned and operated, the office consistently ranks within the Top 10 of over 50 offices worldwide with the VR franchise network.