Cash Free Debt Free Basis

I understand that in a public market transaction you simply pay equity value + premium.

In a private market transaction, if a deal is "Cash Free Debt Free", what does that mean? Am I buying it at an EV/EBITDA Multiple, paying out the cash as a special dividend, and having the target company use the proceeds to pay down its debt? Am I assuming the target's debt?

I looked at previous posts and the answers were all over the place; people were constantly arguing.

Thanks