An exit multiple is the valuation multiple at which a company is acquired or goes public, most commonly revenue, EBITDA, or ARR multiples. Common variants include revenue multiple, EBITDA multiple, ARR multiple for SaaS, or user-count multiple for consumer products. It is used to compare exits across deals, inform founder valuation expectations, and serve as a primary lens through which strategic acquirers and PE firms evaluate targets. It is the shortcut metric most M&A conversations actually run on, despite the existence of more sophisticated valuation methodologies.
The major multiples by business model: SaaS / subscription: typically valued on ARR multiple (annual recurring revenue), with public-market multiples ranging fr...