Q3 2009 Business Valuation Data
Sell My St. Louis, MO Business
We just received the latest St. Louis, Missouri business-for-sale statistics.
Median Ask Prices for St. Louis, MO Businesses
If you are interested in trends in business-for-sale asking prices, here are the median asking prices for businesses in the St. Louis, MO-IL metro area for the last 11 quarters.
As shown in the table, St. Louis business-for-sale listings in Q3 2009 had a median asking price of $220,500.
That compares to a median ask price of $278,500 in Q3 2008. The lower median asking price in last quarter suggests that St. Louis, MO sellers are dropping their asking prices in light of market conditions. This is making it possible for more business-for-sale transactions to close.
Revenue Multiples for St. Louis, MO Businesses
Here is how median revenue multiples are trending in the St. Louis area, based on BizBuySell.com's quarterly reports.
In the St. Louis, MO-IL metro area, small companies will typically sell for 0.86 times the selling company's revenues. As the table above indicates, this was the mean revenue multiple for Q3 2009 in this part of the country.
In other words, a business that has revenues of $150,000 might list for $129,555. Keep in mind that this is just an average for revenue multiples in the area. Some entities will have higher revenue multiples and others will have lower revenue multiples.
According to BizBuySell.com, the median revenues for its St. Louis business-for-sale listings was $377,500 in Q3 2009.
As a reference point, the Q3 2008 revenue multiple was 0.85 and the median revenue for listed St. Louis businesses was $475,614.
Cash Flow Multiples for St. Louis, MO Businesses
The table below shows how cash flow multiples are trending in the St. Louis area, based on BizBuySell.com's quarterly reports.
Flow Multiple
As you probably know, cash flow multiples are another common way to value a business.
For Q3 2009, the average cash flow multiple for listed businesses in the St. Louis, MO-IL metro area was 4.00.
So, a company with cash flows of $110,000 might list for $440,116. That's only if the firm complies with the local average. Most businesses will not conform to industry- or area averages.
If you are interested in what cash flows are for a business in St. Louis, BizBuySell.com reports that the median cash flow for St. Louis area businesses was $71,360 in Q3 2009. In Q3 2008, St. Louis cash flow multiples averaged 3.99 and the median cash flow was $92,708.
Number of St. Louis Businesses for Sale in the Dataset
The study data comprised 206 listings in the St. Louis, MO-IL metro area. As such, some of the businesses used to derive the median valuation might be outside of St. Louis, but they are in the area and so are likely representative of St. Louis business valuations.
One year ago, in Q3 2008, the BizBuySell.com dataset for St. Louis spanned 194 listings. In a market where you would think fewer business owners would be selling it's a bit surprising to see more St. Louis business-for-sale listings.
Can I Sell My St. Louis, MO Business Now?
If you want to sell a business now, odds are you can sell now. You may even be able to get a premium acquisition price from a buyer. It all depends on how well you execute. Plenty of deals are getting done, all the time regardless of macro factors. This good selling-a-business tip comes from Domenic Rinaldi, managing partner of Sun Acquisitions, a leading business brokerage firm.
Business Valuations for St. Louis, MO Businesses
If you are contemplating buying a business or selling a business and would like to look at completed transaction sale price comparables in the area, we recommend the BizBuySell.com Business Valuation Tool. Based on your specific criteria, you can modify the company dataset that creates business valuation estimates. Access to the tool is very reasonable -- costing less than $100.
BizBuySell.com's Quarterly Reports
The BizBuySell Insight Report is a nationally-recognized economic report that tracks trends in the business-for-sale marketplace. If you find these trends interesting, take a moment to visit BizBuySell.com Insights Report for more information.
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