Why isn't AP added back to equity value when calculating EV

Would this answer be correct:

AP is not added back because it is an operating liability and EV is the value of the company's net operating assets. A company can raise equity internally through net income, but it has to raise debt externally and thus wouldn't use it to finance non-operating assets, which is why we only include operating assets in EV.

Many thanks in advance.

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Formula is EV = Equity + Net Debt + Non-Controlling Interest. AP does not fall into the category of debt for this purpose. While AP and debt are both liabilities, AP is not considered debt. Debt is usually borrowed money, things such as term loans and notes payable. You don't include operating assets in enterprise value either, so you can lop off the last part also.

 

I wrote the same thing and it was removed twice. AP and AR, which are NWC components, go into the FCF calculations (EBITDA - taxes - Change in NWC - capex) that you then discount to the present value to get an estimate of total EV. It's a separate exercise. If you already have a public company, you don't need to make an estimate of anything, you can derive the EV with the publicly available stock price and financials.

 

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