Number of Small Businesses Changing Hands Rises

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October 14, 2013

By Scottt Suttell
Crain’s Cleveland Business

Citing a report from BizBuySell.com,1,685 small business transactions were closed nationwide in the third quarter, a 42% increase from 1,189 in the third quarter of 2012. BizBuySell is an online marketplace designed to facilitate small business sales.

“In 2013, it appears that the (market) conditions are finally coming together to unlock latent potential,” Curtis Kroeker, group general manager for BizBuySell, said in the report.

After “years of limited supply and demand, and mismatched expectations between buyers and sellers, small business sales are continuing to improve,” the study notes.

The newspaper says the upbeat third quarter “follows a similarly positive second quarter, where the value of companies changing hands increased from a year earlier.”

Nationwide, median revenue of all entities sold on the website increased 9%, to $420,000 from $385,327 a year earlier.

The quarterly BizBuySell reports analyze 70 major U.S. markets.

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