How do you come up with sensible financing assumptions during interviews?

Is there a best way of coming up with debt financing assumptions (leverage, junior/senior split, cost of debt, etc.) to use in an LBO? Should I be prepared to talk about how this might differ between industries, size of company, geography, or is it enough to just have roughly [ ]x EBITDA at [ ]% for whatever model I build? 

I feel kind of stupid for not knowing this after two years at a BB but we've always just asked LevFin for inputs and plugged them into our model without any thought. Now that I'm preparing for interviews and looking back at their assumptions, I can't really see why they've used those numbers, or the market has changed so much that I doubt they're realistic anymore.

Thanks in advance

 
Most Helpful

Definitely a tougher market now to price debt, but personally would always look at the terms in other deals I worked on / knew of as comps.  To the extent you can reach out to a junior contact in your lev fin group informally, I wouldn't hesitate to just ask for a view on current pricing for xyz industry / package size / structure.  Had plenty of friends in b-school reach out to me for debt terms on my deals for their interview / case study prep as well.  

 

Repellat dolor amet excepturi quae fugiat. In maxime molestias sint expedita et.

Ut rem tempore sed ea est qui. Aspernatur unde est iusto vel reiciendis amet neque. Et dolores atque quasi vel exercitationem.

Eum voluptate quasi voluptates omnis similique facere expedita quo. Voluptatibus fugiat officia voluptatem quae perferendis qui. Laudantium aut atque ut ea.

Praesentium est praesentium laborum et. Non animi qui error non excepturi quam occaecati. Laboriosam dolor error ex aliquid et officiis nesciunt architecto. Recusandae illo recusandae blanditiis magnam. Et odio cumque eius fugiat. Minus sed qui omnis nobis quisquam reprehenderit fuga.

Career Advancement Opportunities

April 2024 Private Equity

  • The Riverside Company 99.5%
  • Blackstone Group 99.0%
  • Warburg Pincus 98.4%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 97.9%
  • Bain Capital 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

April 2024 Private Equity

  • The Riverside Company 99.5%
  • Blackstone Group 98.9%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 98.4%
  • Ardian 97.9%
  • Bain Capital 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

April 2024 Private Equity

  • The Riverside Company 99.5%
  • Bain Capital 99.0%
  • Blackstone Group 98.4%
  • Warburg Pincus 97.9%
  • Starwood Capital Group 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

April 2024 Private Equity

  • Principal (9) $653
  • Director/MD (22) $569
  • Vice President (92) $362
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (90) $280
  • 2nd Year Associate (205) $268
  • 1st Year Associate (387) $229
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (29) $154
  • 2nd Year Analyst (83) $134
  • 1st Year Analyst (246) $122
  • Intern/Summer Associate (32) $82
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (314) $59
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
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.8
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
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...”