For the first half of 2019, private equity multiples have remained strong and continued to accelerate on most deal sizes up $250 million in tangible entity value. However, multiples in the $50-$100 million market have reverted back to the mean and we are expecting to see this reversion for other deal sizes given the impacts from the US-China trade war and earnings softness.

The highest multiple that is recognized from a divestiture standpoint using these historical metrics at the end of Q1 2019 suggest that a private equity group is likely going to attain a higher selling multiple (8.1x) when compared to buyouts (7.2x), platform investments (7.4x) and add-ons (6.7x) even when taking into consideration companies with above-average financial characteristics (7.8x) and management staying on post transaction (7.3x) purchased by other private equity groups. Detailed analysis should be done, looking at respective deal sizes and industry to understand how it impacts each company.