GCG’s Q3 2021 Business Services Industry Update provides an overview of the latest trends in the sector, including recent performance, valuation multiples, and the state of the middle-market M&A environment.

Key findings include the following:

• • In Q3 2021, public equities across most segments of the Business Services sector saw relatively strong gains compared to the broader U.S. equity market. The sector continues to be fueled by the economic rally following the lows of the Covid-19 pandemic and the positive demand trends for many of the critical services the sector provides.
  • Sectors such as Environmental & Waste Services, Infrastructure Services. Real Estate Services and HR/Staffing have outpaced the S&P 500. The Infrastructure Services sector has been particularly strong as of late with the new infrastructure bill that is being put into place that will lead to increased spending among this segment.
  • The volume of M&A activity in the Business Services sector continued to trend positively in Q3 2021 with 170 deals closed, versus 162 during the prior quarter. Interestingly, the average deal value (based on transactions with reported values only) has more than doubled, signaling that the market is more aggressively pursuing higher-end middle market transactions again
  • Trading multiples varied significantly across and within the six categories with the strongest multiples observed in the Environmental & Waste Services category with a median EBITDA multiple of 15.2x. The HR/Staffing sector has also observed strong multiples with a median EBITDA multiple of 11.8x.

Click here for the full update.

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