Business valuation techniques are commonly classified into one of three approaches: the income approach, the asset-based approach, and the market approach. Comparable Transaction Analysis is a common market approach for determining the value of a company by examining and comparing previous acquisitions of companies similar to the target company. Scope of the analysis is to determine the multiples of key income statement items (usually revenue, EBIT and EBITDA) implied by previous transactions. This is basically done by dividing purchase price, or Enterprise Value, by income statement item. These multiples are then applied to the income statement of the target company. The greatest hindrance to preparing a meaningful Comparable Transaction Analysis is the limited availability of financial data regarding past transactions between private companies. In addition, the most relevant comparable transactions may be outdated or fall into a period of significantly different M&A climate (e.g. 1999 vs. 2009). Despite its shortcomings, Comparable Transaction Analysis remains a standard valuation technique, which is generally used in conjunction with other techniques, such as Discounted Cash Flow and Comparable Company Analysis.