Monday, December 20, 2010


EBITDA


EBITDA
Definition
Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization. An approximate measure of a company's operating cash flow based on data from the company's income statement. Calculated by looking at earnings before the deduction of interest expenses, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. This earnings measure is of particular interest in cases where companies have large amounts of fixed assets which are subject to heavy depreciation charges (such as manufacturing companies) or in the case where a company has a large amount of acquired intangible assets on its books and is thus subject to large amortization charges (such as a company that has purchased a brand or a company that has recently made a large acquisition). Since the distortionary accounting and financing effects on company earnings do not factor into EBITDA, it is a good way of comparing companies within and across industries. This measure is also of interest to a company's creditors, since EBITDA is essentially the income that a company has free for interest payments. In general, EBITDA is a useful measure only for large companies with significant assets, and/or for companies with a significant amount of


P/E ratio


P/E ratio
Definition
price/earnings ratio. The most common measure of how expensive a stock is. The P/E ratio is equal to a stock's market capitalization divided by its after-tax earnings over a 12-month period, usually the trailing period but occasionally the current or forward period. The value is the same whether the calculation is done for the whole company or on a per-share basis. For example, the P/E ratio of company A with a share price of $10 and earnings per share of $2 is 5. The higher the P/E ratio, the more the market is willing to pay for each dollar of annual earnings. Companies with high P/E ratios are more likely to be considered "risky" investments than those with low P/E ratios, since a high P/E ratio signifies high expectations. Comparing P/E ratios is most valuable for companies within the same industry. The last year's price/earnings ratio (P/E ratio) would be actual, while current year and forward year price/earnings ratio (P/E ratio) would be estimates, but in each case, the "P" in the equation is the current price. Companies that are not currently profitable (that is, ones which have negative earnings) don't have a P/E ratio at all. also called earnings multiple



















Distinction between Mergers and Acquisitions
Although they are often uttered in the same breath and used as though they were synonymous, the terms merger and acquisition mean slightly different things.

When one company takes over another and clearly established itself as the new owner, the purchase is called an acquisition. From a legal point of view, the
target company ceases to exist, the buyer "swallows" the business and the buyer's stock continues to be traded.






Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange. [1]
Among the most common investment strategies in private equity are: leveraged buyouts, venture capital, growth capital, distressed investments and mezzanine capital. In a typical leveraged buyout transaction, the private equity firm buys majority control of an existing or mature firm. This is distinct from a venture capital or growth capital investment, in which the private equity firm typically invests in young or emerging companies, and rarely obtain majority control.

An LBO, or leveraged buyout, is where someone buys a controlling interest of a company’s stocks by using leveraged finances. The LBO is used when an acquiring interest doesn’t wish to invest, or doesn’t have on hand, the amount of capital needed to actually buy a controlling interest in a target company. In order to finance the purchase, they therefore take out massive loans, using the assets of the company they will be acquiring as collateral against their debt. They then generally liquidate the company they’ve purchased, pay off the loans, and pocket the profit.



Leveraged Buyout - LBO
What Does It Mean?
What Does Leveraged Buyout - LBO Mean?
The acquisition of another company using a significant amount of borrowed money (bonds or loans) to meet the cost of acquisition. Often, the assets of the company being acquired are used as collateral for the loans in addition to the assets of the acquiring company. The purpose of leveraged buyouts is to allow companies to make large acquisitions without having to commit a lot of capital.
Investopedia Says
Investopedia explains Leveraged Buyout - LBO
In an LBO, there is usually a ratio of 90% debt to 10% equity. Because of this high debt/equity ratio, the bonds usually are not investment grade and are referred to as junk bonds. Leveraged buyouts have had a notorious history, especially in the 1980s when several prominent buyouts led to the eventual bankruptcy of the acquired companies. This was mainly due to the fact that the leverage ratio was nearly 100% and the interest payments were so large that the company's operating cash flows were unable to meet the obligation.

One of the largest LBOs on record was the acquisition of HCA Inc. in 2006 by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), Bain & Co., and Merrill Lynch. The three companies paid around $33 billion for the acquisition.

It can be considered ironic that a company's success (in the form of assets on the balance sheet) can be used against it as collateral by a hostile company that acquires it. For this reason, some regard LBOs as an especially ruthless, predatory tactic.
Filed Under: Acronyms, Bonds
Related Terms
·         Buy, Strip and Flip
·         Debt/Equity Ratio
·         Employee Buyout - EBO
·         Going Private
·         Institutional Buyout - IBO
·         Leverage
·         Leveraged Loan
·         Management Buy-In - MBI
·         More Related Terms
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