It depends on how you are valuing the business. On a multiple of book value - yes. On a multiple of cash flow or revenue - no, as long as they have a normal level of working capital at close.

It depends. If you are looking at a comparables database, it also depends on the specific database that you are using and how they handle the inventory (and working capital) in the numerator (price paid). For instance, BizComps explicitly excludes the inventory value and working capital from the Purchase Price, so you have to add the inventory to the product of multiple and SDE/EBITDA. PeerComps includes a "normalized level" of inventory in its Purchase Price definition and value, but explicitly excludes other working capital. DealStats (fka Pratt's Stats) includes inventory and working capital for the most part, but it can vary by transaction and industry, so you have to look at the detailed report for each comparable used.