Let's say that you acquire 80% of a company for $80 million, does the $100 million represent the equity value or enterprise value?

There were two questions that I was looking at and I'm not sure if one is wrong.

Q: A buyer acquires 75% of a company for $1.5bn. The revenue for the seller was $400m and EBITDA was $125m. It had $125m in cash and $75mm in debt. What were the multiples for the deal?

A: The total enterprise value is $2bn. Hence, 5x revenue and 16x EBITDA. The cash and debt don’t matter, it’s about TEV.

Q: You’re analyzing a transaction where the buyer acquired 80% of the seller for $500 million. The seller’s revenue was $300 million and its EBITDA was $100 million. It also had $50 million in cash and $100 million in debt. What were the revenue and EBITDA multiples for this deal?

A: First, calculate the Equity Value: $500 million / 80% = $625 million. That represents the value of 100% of the seller. Then, calculate Enterprise Value: $625 million – $50 million + $100 million = $675 million. The revenue multiple is $675 million / $300 million, or 2.3x, and the EBITDA multiple is $675 million / $100 million, or 6.8x.

They both seem to be asking relatively the same question, but one ignores debt and cash while the other doesn't.

4 Comments
 

I'm currently studying for technicals as well and I would assume that the first question is not necessarily phrased correctly. From the questions I've seen, when you're just talking about acquiring a % of a company, typically you would just assume that its a % of equity rather than its enterprise value. Conversely, if a question specifies that you are purchasing a company at a certain EV/EBIDTA multiple then in that case you would assume that that number is its enterprise value, rather than its equity value. 

 

#2 is the right way to think about it. #1 is wrong or the question did not adequately clarifying that the $1.5bn includes net debt

 

Saepe autem minima enim. Quia voluptatem non animi qui. Consequatur mollitia dicta enim qui quia. Itaque quia voluptate deserunt itaque.

Qui sit dicta eum aut aspernatur. Dolores eos voluptates similique incidunt id sunt blanditiis. Perspiciatis et atque praesentium tempora. Fugit quis pariatur officia facilis est dolores et. Dolor eveniet architecto similique amet. Provident mollitia impedit rem fuga. Provident quia ipsa aut eum blanditiis fugiat ut.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (48) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (83) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $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
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
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...”