Distressed interview question

Anyone know the right approach to answering the question below?

You get an opportunity to buy a company's debt for $0.50 on the dollar. The company has $5mm in EBITDA. What are the questions to ask to be able to figure out if you should do it?

 
  1. What EBITDA multiple is the company worth (So what is the EV of this company)
  2. How much debt does the company have (face value)
  3. What is the seniority of the debt you are buying.

This is all you need to know.

 

That question is likely only driving at the creation multiple of the company through your tranche of debt vs. valuation multiple - also whether or not you'd be the fulcrum.

That said there are a ton of things that are tied to distressed that you could build on. Cap stack (tranche, ability to get primed, security), Liquidity runway (cash, capex, interest, maturities), liquidation value (underlying asset value), industry (where in cycle, position), catalyst, etc. etc. etc.

 

Not sure if I'm doing this correctly, but would you invest if the asset value of the firm is enough to cover your position in the cap structure? I.e. let's say the company is at a 5x EBITDA multiple (25mm EV) and has 50mm in debt--25mm in senior and 25mm in sub. I assume you would invest only if your debt is in the first 25mm (the senior debt). Would appreciate someone who knows more about this to chime in. I just started skimming Moyer's book so my knowledge is pretty limited.

 

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