Industry Consolidation -- A Quiet Buyer's Market

“Buyers expect sellers to realize that the value of their property has gone down, and that the multiples they will pay have gone down,” Cronin says. “Sellers may remember an industry deal from a year ago that was seven to eight times EBITDA; that’s just not happening these days.

“Both buyers and sellers are facing the shock value of the market itself. The buyers think they still have this great property that should have value. But, when you ask the question, ‘How do you perform in an economy that no one understands?’ no one has a good answer for that. It doesn’t bring comfort to the buyer, and without comfort on the buyer’s side, it hurts the multiple.”