Executive Summary: Valuing a payment processing business requires more than applying a simple earnings multiple. Buyers and investors focus on processing volume, net revenue take rate, merchant churn, portfolio quality, contract duration, and the company’s underlying model, whether it operates as an ISO, PayFac, or full-stack processor. These businesses can command materially different valuations depending […]
Managing general agent, or MGA, businesses occupy a distinctive position in specialty insurance markets because they are valued on more than just size. Buyers and investors look closely at gross written premium, loss ratio performance, carrier relationships, underwriting authority, and the durability of delegated profit streams. For Chicago business owners considering a sale, recapitalization, or […]
Executive Summary: Private equity firm valuation is rarely driven by one number alone. Buyers and investors typically analyze a mix of management fee revenue, carried interest potential, fund performance history, and the durability of the firm’s platform when valuing a private equity general partner (GP) stake or management company interest. For Chicago business owners, fund […]
Executive summary. For insurance agencies, revenue quality is often more important than revenue size. Buyers and valuation professionals look beyond gross commissions to determine how predictable, transferable, and sustainable those commissions are over time. Contingency commissions, direct bill versus agency bill revenue, and the stability of client relationships can materially affect EBITDA multiples, discounted cash […]
Executive Summary: Independent insurance agency valuation depends on more than a simple revenue multiple. Buyers and lenders typically look at commission income quality, retention rate, carrier appointment depth, and recurring contingency income to determine whether cash flow is durable and transferable. For Chicago agency owners, these drivers can materially change valuation outcomes because local deal […]
Executive Summary: Valuing a registered investment advisor (RIA) or wealth management practice requires more than applying a simple revenue multiple. Buyers and investors examine how the firm earns revenue, how stable that revenue is, and how much future cash flow can be expected from the client base. In practice, RIA valuations often turn on assets […]
Investment banks and boutique advisory firms are valued differently than traditional operating businesses because their worth depends less on physical assets and more on recurring fee revenue, banker productivity, client relationships, and the durability of future deal flow. For Chicago business owners considering a sale, recapitalization, partner buyout, or strategic exit, the central valuation questions […]
For banks, deposit base quality is one of the most important drivers of valuation. A stable, low-cost deposit franchise can materially improve earnings power, reduce funding risk, and support higher price-to-book and price-to-earnings multiples in acquisition analysis. Buyers do not just pay for current deposits, they pay for the durability of those deposits, the mix […]
Executive Summary. Community banks are typically valued through a combination of price-to-book, price-to-tangible-book, and price-to-earnings multiples, with the final result heavily influenced by asset quality, capital strength, earnings consistency, and especially deposit franchise quality. For Chicago business owners, buyers, and bank boards, understanding these drivers is essential because even similar-sized institutions can trade at meaningfully […]
Executive Summary: Multifamily real estate developer valuation is the process of estimating what a development company is worth based on its pipeline, projected projects, land positions, margin profile, market exposure, and the timing of future cash flows. For Chicago business owners, the central question is not just how many apartment units a developer expects to […]