If you are a seller, the market is becoming a little better these days with a few new buyers entering, but it will not hit the high water mark that it hit in 1996-1999. The new buyers come in with a good bit of knowledge about what paying those kind of prices can do to a company. Many companies that paid those prices in 96 - 99 suffered financial difficulties. Since the new buyers aren't paying big multiples the long standing buyers such as the large MLP's aren't paying them either.

To find the highest price for your business you must find the right buyer. There are many different types of buyers all with different styles.  There are Master Limited Partnerships (MLP's), there are regional buyers with good equity, there are new MLP's (soon to do an IPO) funded by venture capital, there are regional buyers with little equity but with bank financing. Inside each of these categories there are buyers interested in growth markets, turnaround buyers, synergistic buyers and bottom fishers.

You must know something about your buyer before you get too far along in the deal. There are buyers who will get buyer's remorse. On the other hand there are sellers who will get seller's remorse. It is difficult to find the right buyer and price in this market and even tougher to complete the deal. It's not like the high priced period of the late 90's when there was merger-mania. So if you want to sell make sure you do a good search for your buyer, find out something about them and just be certain that you really wish to sell.