Business Valuation
We tell you what your business is worth, not what wins your signature. Evidence-based valuations for mid-market companies, built the way a buyer builds them, and connected to the process that turns the number into a price.
LePrince Group provides business valuation for mid-market companies of $10m to $100m+ in enterprise value, based on earnings quality, precedent transactions, and buyer-specific evidence, as part of its M&A advisory.
Most valuations are written to win a signature.
A valuation produced by someone who profits from winning your mandate is a sales document. The number flatters, the mandate gets signed, and the truth arrives later, in diligence, where it costs you credibility and price at the same time.
Our valuation discipline runs the other way, because our model requires it. We only take mandates we believe will close at the number we stand behind, so the valuation we give you is the one we believe a buyer will actually pay. If that number disappoints, you hear it from us first, along with what would change it.
Valued the way a buyer values, not the way a pitch needs.
A defensible mid-market valuation rests on four kinds of evidence.
Earnings quality
What the business genuinely earns: recurring versus one-off revenue, sustainable margins, and adjustments that survive scrutiny. The EBITDA a buyer will accept, not the one a pitch deck needs.
Market evidence
Precedent transactions and current buyer behavior in your sector and size range. What comparable companies actually transacted at, weighted for what makes yours different.
Buyer-specific value
The same company is worth different amounts to different buyers. We assess what your business is worth to the strategics, sponsors, and family offices most likely to compete for it.
Structure-adjusted reality
A headline number is not a payment. We model what you would actually receive across cash at close, earnouts, equity components, and adjustments, because that is the number that matters.
A valuation is an estimate. A competitive process is what makes it real.
The most accurate valuation in the world is still a forecast. The price is made by the process: preparation that removes the discounts diligence would find, an equity story that makes the right buyers see the upside, and genuine competitive tension. That is why our valuation work connects directly to sell-side advisory and exit readiness: the gap between today's number and the right one is usually closable.
The LePrince Read.
Every relationship starts with the LePrince Read: our honest, evidence-based view of what your company is worth, whether it would sell, and what would change the number. It is confidential, it is free, and it is yours to keep whatever you decide. Formal valuation work, for boards, shareholders, or transaction planning, is scoped from there.
Frequently asked questions.
How do you value a business?
On four kinds of evidence: earnings quality (what the business genuinely earns), market evidence (precedent transactions in the sector and size range), buyer-specific value (what it is worth to the buyers most likely to compete), and structure-adjusted reality (what the seller would actually receive). The result is the number we believe a buyer will pay.
What is my business worth?
It depends on earnings quality, growth, sector, scale, customer concentration, and how ready the business is for a buyer's scrutiny. The honest answer requires looking at your numbers, which is what the LePrince Read does: a confidential, evidence-based view of value, free of charge.
What valuation methods do you use for mid-market companies?
Primarily multiples of adjusted EBITDA benchmarked against precedent transactions, cross-checked against buyer behavior in the sector. Discounted cash flow plays a supporting role in the mid-market; what buyers actually pay is the better evidence.
What is the difference between a valuation and an asking price?
A valuation is an evidence-based estimate of what a buyer will pay. An asking price is a negotiating position. Processes anchored on inflated asking prices stall and get discounted; processes anchored on defensible valuations create competition. We only run the second kind.
Is the initial valuation free?
Yes. The LePrince Read, our initial view of value and saleability, is free and confidential. Formal valuation engagements for boards or transaction planning are scoped separately.
Does getting a valuation commit me to selling?
No. Many owners commission the Read a year or more before any decision, precisely to understand the gap between today's value and the right one, and whether closing it is worth the work.
You won't find our deals online. That is the point.
We do not publicise mandates, name clients, or announce transactions. The best outcomes are reached quietly, and confidentiality protects the seller, the process, and the price.
Confidential by default
A sale is the client's business, not our marketing. The market learns only what serves the client.
Selective by mandate
We take a limited number of companies and turn the rest down. Selectivity is the product, not a constraint on it.
Vetted and verified
If we represent a company, it is proven to be one of the best in its category, with a clear opportunity for the right buyer.
Want to know what your company is actually worth?
The LePrince Read is the place to start: an honest, evidence-based view of value and saleability. Confidential, free, and yours to keep whatever you decide.
We take a limited number of mandates. Request a conversation if:
- Your company is in the $10m to $100m+ enterprise value range
- You operate in or adjacent to our four sectors
- You want an honest read, not a flattering one