Valuation, Trading Comparables and DCF

Course details

Valuation Fundamentals

The session lays the foundations to build a solid understanding of corporate valuation in the context of investment banking. The most common valuation methodologies are introduced, explaining the difference between a company’s fundamental value and how much an acquirer would pay for the business. The concepts of enterprise value and equity value are explained, using simple but rigorous exercises. Finally, the basics of multiple valuation and discounted cash flow valuation are introduced. Exercises are used throughout the session.

Learning outcomes

• The importance of valuation in the investment banking industry
• Fundamental vs. transaction value
• Overview of the major valuation methods
  • Trading comparables analysis
  • Discounted cash flow analysis
  • Transaction comparables analysis
  • LBO analysis
• Enterprise vs. equity value
• Book values vs. market values
• Derivation of enterprise values using market values
• Derivation of enterprise values using a fundamental valuation approach

Trading Comparables

Participants are introduced to preparing multiples using real company data and a case study including a range of international companies. We focus on how to select comparables, where to find data in published financials and equity research reports, how to clean the raw data, and how to document and check the output. The most commonly used multiples are explained and complexities such as normalizing for non-recurring expenses / income are also covered. The session ends with practical exercises on the application of multiple analysis to value a company.

Learning outcomes

• Screening companies to identify a suitable comparable set
• Calculating the company’s value
  • Number of shares and value of share options
  • Equity value
  • Net debt calculations
  • Minority interests and equity method investments
  • Enterprise value
• Calculating the earnings numbers
  • Cleaning non-recurring items from earnings and resulting tax adjustment
  • Calendarization issues
  • Last twelve months analysis
• Calculating a range of forward looking and historical earnings multiples
  • Revenue
  • EBITDA
  • EBIT
  • P/E
  • P/E/G
  • Industry specific multiples
• Calculating and using operating and credit ratios
• Troubleshooting and checking the output
• Applying the results

DCF Valuation

Participants learn how to build a discounted cash flow valuation model. The session starts with an overview of the valuation methodology, and the steps required in setting up a valuation model. We then focus on the calculation of free cash flow. A detailed ratio analysis is used to establish the reasonableness of the forecasts and to identify when the target company reaches a steady state.

We analyze the weighted average cost of capital, calculate terminal values, using both the exit multiple methods and the perpetuity growth method. We discount the free cash flows to arrive at enterprise values and calculate the implied share price. Once the valuation is complete participants perform several checks on the analysis using key ratios, and sensitivity and scenario analysis.

Learning outcomes 

• Calculating unlevered free cash flows
  • Drivers of cash flow
  • Ratio analysis
• The weighted average cost of capital
  • Optimal capital structure using peer analysis
  • Establishing the company’s forward-looking cost of debt
  • Cost of equity: understanding the risk-free rate, the equity risk premium and beta
  • Unlevering and re-levering the beta
  • Calculating WACC for the case company
• Calculating the terminal value
  • Perpetuity growth (Gordon Growth Model) method
  • Exit multiple method
• Building a discounting model
  • Mid-year adjustments
• Calculating enterprise and equity values
• Sanity checks
  • Reinvestment rate and ROIC
  • Implied multiples and growth rates
  • Percentage of value in the terminal period

“It’s great to have access to the AMT online platform. I found the videos and quizzes really useful to refer back to after my public course. The videos in particular were simple and easy to understand.” ~ analyst, private equity firm

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