The median asking price for Milwaukee companies listed on BizBuySell.com dropped to $259,500 in the second quarter, down 5.6 percent from a year ago.
The website currently has 74 businesses listed for sale in Milwaukee, down 1.3 percent from a year ago. The service industry has the most active listings, followed by non-restaurant retail businesses.
Median revenue for listed businesses was up in the second quarter, from $373,000 a year ago to $463,650. Four transactions were closed in the second quarter.
Milwaukee business owners asked for average revenue multiples of .76 in the second quarter, down from 1.11 a year ago, and cash flow multiples of 3.59, down from 4.38 last year.
Nationally, BizBuySell had 30,000 businesses listed for sale, down 2.85 percent from a year ago. The median asking price is $236,750 nationwide, down less than 1 percent from a year ago, said Mike Handelsman, group general manager for BizBuySell.com and BizQuest.com.
“Generally what we’re seeing nationally, which I can extrapolate to Milwaukee, is that it’s still a somewhat challenging environment to sell a business,” Handelsman said. “Some business owners are seeing improving conditions for their business, but many are still not in a position that their business is strong enough to attract buyers.”
