valuation
Precedent transactions are completed (or firmly announced) deals whose implied multiples provide market evidence for control pricing. They usually sit above trading comps because they embed control, process dynamics and, often, synergies.
Precedent transactions are the market approach using deals, not closing prices. Each precedent contributes an implied enterprise value and a driver (usually EBITDA or revenue) at announcement or closing. The resulting transaction multiples answer: what did buyers pay for control of something like this, in a real process?
They differ from comparable companies in three structural ways: control (and often synergies) is in the price; the sample is smaller and dated; terms (earn-outs, retentions, locked-box leakage) may hide in the footnote.
Screen on industry economics, size, geography, stake acquired (30% is not 100%), buyer type (financial vs strategic), and date. A 2019 multiple in a 2026 rate regime is history, not a quote. Normalise EV: cash-free debt-free vs equity value plus net debt; include leases consistently; strip the value of assets that did not transfer.
Headline "deal value" in the press is sometimes equity, sometimes EV, sometimes including earn-outs at undiscounted maximum. The analyst's job is to rebuild EV.
Four invented safety-equipment deals, illustration only. Target Solstice Safety, €4.90m adjusted EBITDA.
| Deal (invented) | Year | Stake | Buyer type | EV / EBITDA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deal 1 | 2024 | 100% | Strategic | 10.1x |
| Deal 2 | 2023 | 100% | Financial | 8.4x |
| Deal 3 | 2022 | 70% | Strategic | 9.0x (minority protections; use with care) |
| Deal 4 | 2021 | 100% | Financial | 11.5x (cycle peak; down-weight) |
| Selected range | 8.5x–10.0x | |||
| Implied EV for Solstice | €41.7m–€49.0m |
The strategic high print may include cost synergies the next financial buyer cannot underwrite. Mixing them into one average without a buyer-type split is how IRRs get fictionally underwritten.
Auction strategy, fairness opinions, and IC memos all cite precedents. A large announced EV (for example a multi-billion insurance-brokerage take-out) will be digested as a precedent multiple for that subsector—useful only if the economics, margin and growth match. Financial sponsors compare entry multiples to this history; they should not assume they can pay the strategic print.
Sample sizes are small. Terms are incomplete in public sources. Cycles shift. Cross-border deals embed different tax and labour regimes. Precedents will not tell you what this buyer can finance in this week.
Dazur files precedents with buyer type, stake, and a rebuilt EV, not a copied league-table number. Owners deserve to see why a strategic print is not their floor. Buyers deserve to see why a cheap old deal is not their ceiling. That honesty is how processes close instead of dying in confirmatory diligence.