For owners of owner-led services firms

Profit is only half the value equation. The Multiple matters.

Most advice goes after profit. Multiple Forge shows you what a buyer would actually pay for in a firm like yours, and why. Start with a free outside-in read, built from public information. No prep, no call needed, and it is yours to keep.

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Not a valuation · Not a broker or banker · No success fees

The value equation

Value = Profit x Multiple

Your team already works on this.

This is where we work.

Upfront consideration / disclosed historical EBITDA. Contingent payments excluded.

Overlapping industry · Same buyer

Buyer: Mitie

Argus Fire

10.0x

£38m upfront / £3.8m disclosed historical EBITDA.

GBE Converge

8.3x

£20m upfront / £2.4m disclosed historical EBITDA.

Want to know why?

Mitie announced Argus Fire on 24 October 2024 and GBE Converge on 2 November 2023. Argus's earnings were for the year ended March 2024; GBE's were for the year ended December 2022. Both upfront prices were stated on a cash-free, debt-free basis with normalised working capital. GBE's potential £7m contingent payment is excluded. Argus had larger earnings; GBE included security and ICT services. The disclosed prices and earnings establish the multiple gap, but do not isolate its causes.

A comprehensive Multiple Strategy positions you as the higher Multiple acquisition

Argus announcement GBE announcement

Different business models · Same buyer

Buyer: Marlowe

VinciWorks

14.4x

£39m initial / £2.7m disclosed historical adjusted EBITDA.

Hydro-X

8.6x

£30m cash / £3.5m adjusted EBITDA.

Want to know why?

Marlowe announced both acquisitions on 4 October 2021. VinciWorks provided compliance software and e-learning; Hydro-X provided water-treatment and air-hygiene services. The business with higher disclosed earnings had the lower upfront price. Different activities, growth and margins limit the comparison. VinciWorks' approximately £15m contingent consideration is excluded. The figures use disclosed historical adjusted EBITDA, not VinciWorks' higher run-rate figure. These facts do not establish how much any individual business characteristic caused the gap.

A comprehensive Multiple Strategy positions you as the higher Multiple acquisition

Marlowe acquisition announcement

FROM OUR ANALYSIS OF RELEVANT DEALS

Who the buyer was explained more of the price than the seller's own features.

In our analysis of relevant deals, the identity of the buyer accounted for more of the difference in price than everything we could code about the firms being sold: size, services, recurring revenue, specialism. Choosing and preparing for the right buyers comes before polishing the firm.

See what drives the Multiple

Patterns across deals, not a prediction of any one buyer's price.

Three things move the Multiple. Profit is not one of them.

Who could buy you

A tuck-in buyer, a platform builder and a strategic acquirer pay for different things. The right buyer set comes first.

What kind of firm you look like

Buyers price against a peer set. Your services mix, specialism and how your revenue is described shape that peer set.

When you move

Consolidating industries go through phases. The curve below shows patterns to watch, not a forecast.

Industry consolidation curve showing tuck-in, platform and repositioning ranges across Opening, Acceleration, Peak and Late phases — Industry pattern, not a value for any one firm or a current industry-phase assessment. The highlighted window is a pattern to watch, not a forecast.

How it works

01
Free outside-in read.
Send us your company URL. From public information we build a short read: the firms buyers would compare you to, what they tend to pay for, and the one or two moves most likely to lift your Multiple. Within a week, no prep.
02
A 20-minute walk, if you want one.
Jon walks you through the read live and answers questions. Nothing to prepare.
03
A Multiple Strategy, only if it is worth it.
With anonymized numbers you choose to share, we build a written Multiple Strategy: where you stand, consolidation-wave timing, moves with Multiple impact screened against a 3x return hurdle over 4 years, and what to avoid. Fixed fee agreed up front. Use it to sell, to grow, or to wait.

The 3x return over 4 years is a screening hurdle, not a guaranteed result. Outcomes depend on assumptions, execution and market conditions.

Written Multiple Strategy · Fixed fee

What you get with a Multiple Strategy

A current-position assessment and decisions about timing, scale and peer group.
Consolidation-wave context.
A plan showing estimated cash at close today, potential uplift, investment and return over 4 years.
Moves with Multiple impact, plus opportunistic, avoid and longer-hold options.
A Board presentation, a 6-month recheck and 2 hours of consultation within 12 months.

Integrate the Multiple Strategy into your strategy cycle. Review strategic decisions and new opportunities against its assumptions, priorities and screening hurdle.

The 3x return over 4 years is a screening hurdle, not a guaranteed result. Outcomes depend on assumptions, execution and market conditions.

Built for owner-led services firms.

Owner-led firms in the US and Canada, roughly $2M+ revenue or $500k+ EBITDA, with a transition on the horizon even if the timing is open.

Marketing and creative agencies

MSPs and IT services

Accounting and CPA firms

Architecture and engineering

Staffing and HR services

Niche services

Specialist manufacturers

Portfolio owners with 3 to 10 businesses

See who we help

What we are not

Not a valuation.
Not a broker or banker. We never take your firm to market.
No success fees. Fixed fee agreed up front, only if you go further.
Useful whether or not you sell.

Jon Rothbart, founder.

Buy-side calibrated, McKinsey trained, and focused on owner-led services firms. Jon directs every engagement personally.

More about Jon

Understand what buyers could value in your firm.

Send your company URL. You get a short outside-in read within a week. Free, no obligation, and yours to keep.