Operating Models - Does Your Team Build Them?

Question is simple:

Does your team build operating models? The team at the BB that I will be returning full time to did not build Operating Models. They elected to build a P&L instead.

Is this common across the street? Does your team actually build Operating Models or do they follow the same P&L method that my team does?

 

At a pitch or a live M&A engagement, if asked to build an LBO valuation for Company A, a member of my team would create a P&L for Company A and build the LBO valuation based off of that.

This is as opposed to creating a full operating model for Company A and building the LBO valuation based off of the operating model.

 

Precisely! Thank you for clearing it up!

For example, I was tasked with creating a debt paydown for a company going five years into the future. It began with a free cash flow calculation which was fed into the actual debt paydown.

Using the past debt paydown for the company, I did not create a 3-statement model for the company but instead a P&L containing:

  • Revenue
  • EBIITDA
  • D&A
  • CapEx
  • Change in NWC

Is this how this particular project would be approached at all banks or would some teams build a full operating model? Is a full operating model required for other projects such as a full LBO model or an M&A model? Multiple analysts on my team explicitly said they do not build operating models at all. They just use P&Ls for all models.

 

You never really need a full operating model to be honest, some MD's/VP's just like to have one to show clients or to be complete or whatever reason (like the guy below said). Doesn't add much value IMO, it's more of a preference thing.

I wouldn't worry about not getting exposure to full 3 statement models, they're pretty quick to learn if you do need to later on and if you're already familiar with the mechanics of DCF's, LBO's,etc you shouldn't have an issue.

 

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