Free LBO calculator: value bridge, sensitivities, formula-linked Excel export
Built a free LBO calculator. No login, no email wall. You plug in a deal and get IRR, MoM, the full year by year build, and a value bridge that breaks down exactly where the return comes from (EBITDA growth vs debt paydown vs multiple expansion). It exports a formula-linked Excel model too, not a screenshot.
What it does for you depending on where you sit:
Analyst / prepping for PE recruiting: the value bridge is the exact intuition interviewers test when they hand you a paper LBO. “Walk me through where the return comes from” filters out people who can grind an IRR but can’t say why. This shows you the decomposition live as you move leverage, multiples, and growth, so you build the instinct instead of memorizing a formula. It’s also a fast way to check your own Excel reps against a clean answer.
Associate: it’s the thing you reach for before building a full model. A banker sends a teaser claiming a 25% IRR and you want to know in 30 seconds whether that’s real or whether it’s quietly leaning on two turns of exit multiple expansion. Sensitivity tables on entry, exit, and growth are built in. And because the Excel export is formula-linked, if the quick check looks interesting you crack it open and keep building instead of starting from a blank sheet.
VP: two things. First, checking associate work without rebuilding it. Associate sends you a model showing a 22% IRR, you plug the same inputs in and see in seconds whether it ties or whether something’s off before it goes anywhere near IC. Second, bid strategy. The entry multiple sensitivity is literally the bid question: what can we pay and still clear our hurdle? You back into a max bid fast, and when you’re on a call with bankers and someone floats a number you already know whether it works instead of waiting for the model to come back.
It also handles cash sweep, a mgmt option pool, bolt-on M&A with its own entry multiple, and a full FCF walk (capex, NWC, tax) if you want the detail.
lboreturns @. com. Free. If it’s broken or missing something you’d use, tell me and I’ll fix it.
