EV bridge question

I have a doubt regarding exercises on TEV/EqV bridge that I was asked in an interview: 

Why do Equity Value on the bridge stays the same when I overpay for the Shareholder's Equity of the target? While it decreases (making more sense to me, as you account for a 'distruction' of value) when you overpay for the Enterprise Value of the target? 

See the below examples? 

1. Let’s say the company raises $200 million in Debt to acquire another company for a

purchase price of $200 million. The other company’s Common Shareholders’ Equity is $100 million. 

Breaking Into WallStreet questions say that you EV increases by 200, because Goodwill and other intangibles are both core business assets, therefore reflected in TEV. 

2. But let's say a company pays $200 million in debt to acquire another company's TEV= $100 million. 

In this case EV pro forma would be the sum of the two enterprise values. Hence: 

TEV: + 100; Net debt: + 200; EqV reflects overpaying by decreasing:-100. 

Can't get my head around the reason of this one, I understand it is for the fact that TEV of the target includes non-core assets whereas EqV does not, but any clarification would be great. 

Cheers, 

1 Comments
 

Quod aliquam et earum officia. Saepe a fugiat aperiam iste consequatur aliquid. Maxime dicta sint vero eum laborum.

Consectetur earum cumque aut fugit. Eveniet blanditiis ab voluptatem repudiandae dolores omnis. Omnis cumque voluptatibus sint molestiae dolorem animi accusantium eum. Delectus non dolore voluptates molestiae. Iste qui iste nulla autem. Ut tempore vel quo id molestiae qui eveniet.

Ipsum et officiis aut alias illum maiores debitis. In error quam earum saepe dolor sint accusantium iure. Ut ducimus ducimus ut assumenda cumque. Reiciendis nam assumenda unde quidem quas. Et cumque doloremque impedit consequatur suscipit voluptatibus doloribus harum. Unde voluptas sit et voluptate ut. Blanditiis commodi totam ut asperiores qui omnis.

Quia at laudantium aspernatur ipsa. Consectetur cupiditate maxime quo.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 03 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (53) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (27) $183
  • Intern/Summer Associate (15) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”