Link copied β€” paste it anywhere

Get the full toolkit

Live-refresh Excel workbook + 17 tabs + Python source. Cyclical industries focus. Free monthly research notes.

Substack handles signup β€” no spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Home  Β·  ← Toolkit  Β·  Valuation calculators

LBO Calculator

Pick a sector scorecard, plug in current EBITDA, watch sponsor IRR and returns attribution recalculate live. Same engine as the 17-tab Python pipeline β€” just stripped down to the levers that actually move the deal.

Sector scorecard:
Deal Inputs
Operating
Entry EBITDA ($B)
EBITDA growth p.a. (%)
EBITDA margin (%)
Capex (% revenue)
NWC (% Ξ” revenue)
Tax rate (%)
Deal Structure
Entry multiple (EV / EBITDA)
Exit multiple (EV / EBITDA)
Debt / EBITDA at close
Cost of debt (%)
Cash sweep (%)
Hold period (yrs)
Transaction fees (% EV)
Sponsor IRR
β€”
target 20%+ Β· MOIC β€” over β€” years
Entry EV
β€”
Sponsor Equity
β€”
Exit Equity
β€”
Exit Net Debt / EBITDA
β€”
Returns Attribution
Sources & Uses
Debt Schedule

Years where Net Debt / EBITDA > 7Γ— or Interest Coverage < 1.5Γ— will flag in red β€” covenant breach territory.

Reverse-LBO

Max entry multiple a sponsor would pay at each target IRR, given the exit multiple and leverage above.

Sensitivity β€” Sponsor IRR

Rows = entry multiple. Cols = exit multiple. Center cell = your current case.

How this works

Sources & Uses. Entry EV = entry multiple Γ— LTM EBITDA. New debt = leverage Γ— EBITDA. Sponsor equity plugs the gap (plus 2% fees). Existing debt assumed refinanced (clean capital structure at close).

Debt schedule. Each year: 1% mandatory amort + 100% Γ— CFADS sweep (after capex, NWC, taxes, interest) β€” capped so debt can't go below zero. Net Debt / EBITDA and Interest Coverage tracked through the hold; covenant breach (Lev > 7Γ— or Cov < 1.5Γ—) auto-flags.

Sponsor IRR. Bisection on the cash-flow stream: βˆ’sponsor equity at t=0, exit equity (= exit EV βˆ’ exit debt + retained cash) at hold-end. MOIC = total cash returned Γ· equity in.

Returns attribution. Decomposes the sponsor's value creation into three drivers: EBITDA growth = (exit EBITDA βˆ’ entry EBITDA) Γ— entry multiple; multiple expansion = exit EBITDA Γ— (exit mult βˆ’ entry mult); debt paydown + retained cash. If multiple expansion dominates, the deal is a re-rating bet β€” fragile. If EBITDA growth dominates, it's an operational thesis.

Reverse-LBO. Solves the inverse: given the exit multiple and leverage you set, what's the maximum entry multiple at which a sponsor still hits target IRR? Convert to an implied take-private price. Useful framework even outside actual buyout situations β€” tells you where private capital would step in.

Sensitivity. Re-runs the full LBO across an entry Γ— exit multiple grid. Green cells = above 20% IRR (PE-financeable). Yellow = 15–20%. Red = below 15% or negative.

Want this auto-computed for any ticker?

The full toolkit pulls live financials from Yahoo Finance and runs the LBO + reverse-LBO + accretion / dilution + peer comps + sanity checks for any ticker. 17-tab workbook with two MU worked examples (through-cycle and AI-cycle scorecards) so methodology disagreement is explicit.

β†’ Open the LBO & M&A template
Need the Python pipeline?

Sent on request to analysts, researchers, and students with a real use case. yfinance loader, sector scorecards, three-statement projection, reverse-DCF / reverse-LBO, sensitivity grids, PDF tear sheet generator. Full source.

β†’ Request access

Nothing on this page is investment advice. Built by Brandon Leon β€” independent research focused on cyclical industries.