Walk me through a basic LBO model.

“In an LBO Model, Step 1 is making assumptions about the Purchase Price, Debt/Equity ratio, Interest Rate on Debt and other variables; you might also assume something about the company’s operations, such as Revenue Growth or Margins, depending on how much information you have.

Step 2 is to create a Sources & Uses section, which shows how you finance the transaction and what you use the capital for; this also tells you how much Investor Equity is required.

Step 3 is to adjust the company’s Balance Sheet for the new Debt and Equity figures, and also add in Goodwill & Other Intangibles on the Assets side to make everything balance.

In Step 4, you project out the company’s Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Statement, and determine how much debt is paid off each year, based on the available Cash Flow and the required Interest Payments.  

Finally, in Step 5, you make assumptions about the exit after several years, usually assuming an EBITDA Exit Multiple, and calculate the return based on how much equity is returned to the firm.”