You want to sell your wholesale consumer goods business? Then it is good to know what the takeover market in the field of wholesale consumer goods looks like. Inflation, higher transportation costs, lower product availability: wholesalers work very hard to offer their customers value for money, and that is exactly where wholesalers have to make a difference.
The number of mergers and acquisitions in wholesale consumer goods is strongly linked to economic growth and recession.
There are many ways to value a business. A common method of expressing the value of a business is "a factor x gross annual profit." This factor is also called multiple and another designation for gross annual profit is EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest Taxes Depreciation and Amortization).
For a wholesale consumer goods business, an indicative range of EBITDA multiple of 5.0 to 6.0 is currently used, according to the Brookz Takeover Barometer. The average EBITDA multiple across all SME sectors is 4.90.
The valuation of a business is often the starting point for negotiations between buyer and seller. The outcome of these negotiations is the final sales price. So valuation and price are two different quantities. Besides valuation, the price is also determined by possible scarcity in the market, bargaining power of the parties, the strategic value of the business for the buyer and possible synergy effects for the buyer (cost savings, purchasing advantages).
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Want to buy a business or sell a business in the wholesale sector? With this Brookz Sector Monitor, we want to present buyers and sellers with facts, figures and an outlook that provide insight into the number of transactions, the value development of businesses and the latest trends and developments in the wholesale sector. Because in every buying or selling process, thorough preparation gives peace of mind, overview and structure.
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The wholesale trade is a cyclical sector and therefore highly dependent on economic growth in the Netherlands and abroad. The customers of the Dutch wholesale industry are mainly across the border; according to Rabobank, about 75 percent of the earned value comes from foreign customers. This makes the wholesale sector largely dependent on international demand.
In figures, the number of wholesalers in 2024 looked as follows(CBS):
With this online training from Brookz you are optimally prepared to largely sell your business yourself: 25 Powerpoint videos, a comprehensive valuation report, legal model contracts, handy templates, checklists and expert support. Plus 50% discount on listing your business on Brookz!
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A number of trends and developments will inevitably cause changes in the coming years, but will also offer wholesalers in consumer goods many growth and acquisition opportunities:
"Costs are rising across the board: from production and logistics to operations," according to Rabobank research. As a result, pass-through is a big challenge. If you manage the value chain from product design to sale to the end customer as a wholesaler, then you will have a much broader sales market and more opportunities.
More sustainable lifestyles, as well as today's market, are forcing businesses and consumers to prefer availability over ownership. And that means that in some cases, services are becoming more important than products. How can you add value as a wholesaler of consumer goods when providing a product?
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