ESOP Valuations
Defensible Benchmarks from
The Challenge with Public Comps
When establishing fair market value for ESOP transactions, public company comparables simply don’t reflect the reality of middle-market businesses. Public companies command premium valuations due to their size, scale, and liquidity—factors that don’t apply to private companies. ESOP trustees need DOL-compliant valuations built on defensible benchmarks that reflect actual private market conditions, not inflated public market multiples. Traditional data sources are either prohibitively expensive, limited in scope, or lack the key valuation metrics required for credible ESOP valuations.
GF DATA: Private Market Multiples That Reflect Fair Market Value
Founded by two lower middle-market investment bankers in 2006 and now owned by ACG, GF Data provides the most relevant benchmarking for ESOP valuations. We collect transaction data quarterly directly from more than 330 participating private equity groups sponsoring lower middle-market deals in North America. Unlike public comps, GF Data reflects actual completed transactions with appropriate liquidity discounts already incorporated—giving you the clean, fair-market benchmarks required for defensible ESOP valuations.
How GF Data Works
Ready to Benchmark Your ESOP Valuations with Confidence?
Access the middle-market transaction database that ESOP advisors rely on for DOL-compliant valuations. Our interactive database covers more than 30 data points per transaction, including valuation multiples, financial performance indicators, and debt structures, all anonymized and aggregated to show market rates across companies with up to $500 million in enterprise value. Filter by industry, company size, EBITDA range, and deal type to find the most relevant private company benchmarks for your ESOP transactions.
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