Learn everything about business valuations, from methods and strategies to metrics. Whether you’re raising capital, planning an exit, or simply seeking to maximize your business’s value, our resources will guide you.
Many startups discover too late that their early 409A valuation wasn’t done correctly and no longer aligns with updated financial data or compliance requirements. The problem? Inaccuracies in those past reports can create inconsistencies across filings, affect option pricing, and raise red flags during audits or due diligence. Eqvista’s retroactive 409A valuation service resolves these …
Many acquirers treat purchase price allocation (PPA) as a tick-box exercise. In reality, PPA shapes reported earnings, key performance indicators (KPIs), and investor narratives for years. When you allocate purchase price across identifiable assets and liabilities on the acquisition date, your decisions effectively determine amortization schedules, impairment risk exposure, deferred tax bases, and even exposure …
A business’s true value is a central theme in all fundraising rounds and IRS audits. In fundraising rounds, not only does valuation determine the amount of equity given up for the required investment, but it also affects how the early investors are compensated. In mergers and acquisitions, a consensus about the business valuation can be …
There are more than a trillion dollars of private capital riding on the 1,568 active unicorns worldwide. For companies at this scale, the smallest valuation deviations can materially change deal economics, affect tax outcomes for thousands of stakeholders, and alter performance incentives for founders and executives. Eqvista was recently plunged into this high-stakes environment, having …
Last Updated: March 2026 Different industries have different capital needs, risk profiles, and cash‑flow stability, so they naturally settle at different leverage levels. A D/E number that looks risky in one sector can be perfectly normal in another, which is why cross‑industry comparisons are often misleading. The debt-to-equity ratio is crucial for assessing financial health. …
In the M&A market, understanding where your target company sits on the valuation spectrum is half the battle. This analysis provides a practical roadmap for investors, founders, and acquirers, mapping valuation multiples across 11 major sectors and over 170 sub-industries. Whether you’re screening potential acquisitions, negotiating price, or setting fundraising expectations for 2026, these benchmarks …
Last Updated: February 2026 One financial valuation statistic used to compare the current market value of a company to its book value is the Price to Book Ratio (also known as Market to Book Ratio). The book value is equal to the company’s net assets and is derived from the balance sheet. In other words, …
When a company crosses the billion-dollar threshold, everything changes. The valuation methodologies that worked for Series A and Series B rounds suddenly feel inadequate. The stakeholder expectations multiply. The regulatory scrutiny intensifies. And for valuation analysts, the margin for error shrinks to near zero. At Eqvista, we built our reputation delivering accurate, audit-defensible 409A valuations …
M&A activity in the United States is regaining momentum. Through the first three quarters of 2025, total global deal value grew 10% compared to 2024, with the Americas experiencing 26% growth. 62% of all acquisition targets were from North America, with US companies acquiring most of them. Such activity suggests an inclination towards cross-border revenue …
In July 2025, Chevron completed its $53 billion acquisition of Hess, marking the end of a nearly two-year journey that began with the initial announcement on October 23, 2023. The timeline for this acquisition got extended because of an arbitration case brought by rivals Exxon Mobil and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation. This goes …
Purchase price allocation (PPA) is the method for allocating the acquisition cost to assets acquired and liabilities assumed, with any residual amount recognized as goodwill or a bargain purchase gain. While the underlying objective of PPA is broadly consistent across accounting frameworks, the application can differ meaningfully between US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and …
AI companies are now trading at multiples that are several times higher than traditional SaaS companies, despite operating in a funding environment defined by liquidity constraints and heightened investor caution. In public markets, the median AI market cap-to-revenue multiple exceeds 10x, while that of SaaS companies is below 5x. This widening valuation gap raises two …
For two analyses that support completely different purposes, fairness opinions and valuation reports have a lot of common elements. They use the same inputs, such as financial histories, projections, capital structures, and market trends. Even methodologies such as comparable company analysis and the discounted cash flow (DCF) method are common between the two. So, what’s …
The Eqvista SaaS Index 2026 tracks valuation trends, investor sentiments, and growth velocity across the global and regional software-as-a-service (SaaS) landscape. In the current VC landscape, where investors exhibit caution that’s not AI, understanding how valuations respond to market cycles is critical for founders planning funding rounds. Our analysis expands on public SaaS insights by …
Private equity firms may find relief in the fact that global dry powder has steadily declined since 2023, reaching $2.52 trillion by July 1, 2025. While global M&A volumes fell 9% in the first half of 2025 on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, the stabilization of tariffs and trade policies could pave the way for renewed …
When selling your business, deciding between SDE and EBITDA can significantly impact your valuation. While Main Street deals love Seller’s Discretionary Earnings for its raw, owner-centric truth, Wall Street speaks fluent EBITDA for its clean, scalable story. Choose wrong, and you’ll either confuse sophisticated buyers or undersell to local competitors. Choose right, and you’ll position …
The artificial intelligence sector has experienced unprecedented growth, producing some of the most highly valued startups in technology history. With a combined market capitalization exceeding $1.2 trillion among the top-tier companies, the AI ecosystem represents a fundamental shift in how technology creates and captures value. This analysis examines the current landscape of AI startups, their …
The British mathematician, Alan Turing, in 1947, famously said, “What we want is a machine that can learn from experience”. Turing never named his idea anything. Fast forward eight decades, and what he envisioned is finally shaping up. AI is now the buzzword in the financial markets and the defining theme in the big technology …
I have been in the private equity and valuation space long enough to see the same question surface over and over again: “How do we unlock liquidity for private companies?” It’s a fair question, because liquidity is the lifeblood of any market. Without it, capital is harder to raise, employees have fewer opportunities to realize …
Private companies often lack real-time, quantitative feedback on their performance because they do not have publicly quoted share prices. This can strain stakeholder communication, as entrepreneurs must devote significant effort during periodic reviews to justify their valuation estimates. Lack of a consistent valuation history also makes it difficult to substantiate growth projections, creating additional hurdles …
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