Home / Industries / Cybersecurity & MSSPs
Cybersecurity & MSSPs
Buyers are paying for delivered, recurring security. MSSPs, MDR providers, security consultancies and compliance firms get strong interest when they can prove the revenue is recurring and the delivery is real.
Market Context
Cybersecurity services companies come in several shapes: managed security providers with a SOC, MDR specialists, penetration testing and security consultancies, virtual CISO and governance, risk and compliance firms, and MSPs with a security practice. Buyers treat them differently, so positioning matters.
The common thread is that buyers acquire capability they cannot build quickly. Sponsors assembling regional security platforms, strategics adding managed services and larger MSPs buying security depth all compete for the same scarce talent and recurring contracts.
Solganick's September 2026 update reports EV to EBITDA multiples of 8x to 11x for security-led peers and 9x to 12x for security-native MSSPs with SOC 2 Type II, compared with generalist MSPs.
Source: Solganick, M&A Update: MSPs and MSSPs, YTD and Q3 2026, September 28, 2026
Omdia identified 14 MSSP deals in Q1 2026, seven of them backed by private equity.
Solganick says an integrated MDR practice with SOC 2 Type II attestation and ISO 27001 certification can add 1.5x to 2.5x to an EBITDA multiple, and that a credible managed security practice adds 2x to 4x over a generalist MSP of the same size.
Source: Solganick, M&A Update: MSPs and MSSPs, YTD and Q3 2026, September 28, 2026
Solganick says buyers want recurring security revenue clearly separated from resale, because resold third-party products are valued differently from delivered services.
Source: Solganick, M&A Update: MSPs and MSSPs, YTD and Q3 2026, September 28, 2026
Omdia adds that MSPs are moving into outcome-based project work while AI commoditizes parts of the service, which puts pricing pressure on generalist providers.
Source: Solganick, M&A Update: MSPs and MSSPs, YTD and Q3 2026, September 28, 2026
Third-party figures as published, current as of November 2026. They describe the market or the reporting firm's sample, not any one business, and they change. Your own result depends on your numbers.
Buyer Landscape
Sponsors building regional or national security-enabled platforms buy MDR, SOC and compliance depth.
Companies that want delivered managed services to deepen customer relationships and recurring revenue.
Generalist MSPs buy security teams and offerings to lift their own valuation and reduce churn.
GRC and audit firms buy managed security to convert advisory work into recurring revenue.
Distributors, telecom operators and technology vendors acquiring security services for small and mid-sized customers.
Operators buying a profitable security services firm and bringing management.
Value Drivers
Show managed detection, monitoring and response revenue as its own line. Resale of software licenses is valued differently.
Your own SOC staffing, documented playbooks, response times met and incident history.
SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 and relevant compliance frameworks demonstrate operational maturity.
How many customers buy security and how long they stay.
Certified analysts, engineers and responders and the pay and retention structure that keeps them.
Healthcare, financial services, defense and other regulated verticals are defensible niches.
Readiness Issues
These are the issues that most often lower price, add earnouts or end conversations. Most take time to fix, which is why planning ahead matters.
The Blueprint
The Blueprint is a 30-day exit planning engagement. We work from your financials and an owner interview, then deliver a baseline you can use whether or not you sell, followed by a debrief.
Depending on your goals, the right route may be a third-party sale, a management buyout, family succession or an ESOP. If you already plan to sell within 12 months, see our sell-side M&A work and the Sell-Ready Thermometer. For longer horizons, see value acceleration.
Talk It Through
Thirty minutes to talk through your goals, your timing and where your business stands.
Book a CallFree Download
A free PDF checklist for owners planning a sale, succession or handoff.
If the download didn't start, use the button below.
Open the PDFWant help reading your results? Book a call.
Owner's Guide
Each of these can lower what a buyer will pay or add terms you don't want. The Blueprint measures where you stand and prioritizes the fixes most likely to increase your EBITDA multiple.
Illustrative example
Hypothetical numbers to show the math. Not a client result or a promise.
FAQ
Mostly on adjusted EBITDA, with higher multiples for security-led firms with real delivery. Solganick's September 2026 update describes ranges that vary by size and security quality. The Blueprint, a 30-day exit planning engagement, builds your baseline.
It helps. Solganick says an MDR practice with SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 can add 1.5x to 2.5x to the multiple, because buyers pay for evidence of operational maturity.
PE-backed MSP and MSSP platforms, security vendors, larger MSPs adding security, compliance and advisory firms, and strategic aggregators.
Yes, particularly if advisory work converts into recurring managed engagements. Solganick notes buyers are interested in GRC firms with recurring revenue.
It will be valued as a reseller or generalist MSP. Building delivery capability and showing recurring managed revenue is the route to a premium.
12 to 36 months ahead, because attestation, documentation and recurring mix take time. Start with the Blueprint.
Related Industries
MSP exit planning for owners: how PE platforms and strategics value MRR, churn, security attach and owner...
Exit planning for government and defense services contractors and dual-use industrials. See how buyers weigh...
Exit planning for healthcare IT, software and tech-enabled services companies. Recurring revenue, retention, c...
Planning to sell your CPA or accounting firm? Recurring engagements, partner succession and client concentrati...
Exit planning for route-based, inspection, compliance and contract service businesses. See how buyers value...
Research reviewed in November 2026. Figures are attributed to the publisher and may be updated by them. Exit Architects does not guarantee any buyer outcome or valuation.
Start Your 30-Day Sprint
A confidential 30-minute call with our exit planning team to talk through your goals and how a 30-day sprint gives you a plan for when to exit, how to exit and how to close your gaps.
Start Your 30-Day SprintPlanning to sell in the next 12 months? Take the Sell-Ready Thermometer. Further out? Start with the Blueprint.
