Practice Valuations Hit Record Highs (And You're Timing This Wrong).

Practice Valuations Hit Record Highs (And You're Timing This Wrong).

Private equity and DSO buyers paid record multiples in Q4 2024 and January 2025. EBITDA multiples for group practices crossed 6.5x at the top. Solo practices hit 5.2-5.8x in markets with strong demographics. These are not average. These are peak.

What's driving it? Consolidators are racing to hit 2025 targets. Money is cheap again. And DSO valuations on public markets are rebounding, which means their acquisition budgets opened up.

Here's the catch: Valuations are based on normalized EBITDA. If your practice has swings in revenue, lumpy cases, or associate turnover baked into your numbers, buyers know it. They discount for risk. Collections also matter more than production. Clean collections at 96-97 percent beat $1.5M in production with 87 percent collections rate.

You're probably thinking about selling within 24 months. If so, now is the time to position for peak value, not sell into peak market. Get your books clean. Reduce owner dependencies. Systemize. A six-month positioning effort can be worth an extra $200K-400K at sale.

If you're selling in the next 60 days, you're probably okay. If you're planning for next year, make moves now.