PE Valuation Methods: Comparables and DCF

Alternative Investments: Hedge Funds, Private Equity & Real Assets · 4:11

Listen on 93

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
When private equity wants to buy
They need to know what firms are worth
Two methods help them justify
The price they'll pay to claim their berth
Comparables look side by side
While DCF looks deep inside

[Chorus]
Compare and Calculate, that's the way
C-O-M-P-S find similar plays
D-C-F discounts future cash
Two methods help you make the math
Value companies the PE way
Compare and Calculate today

[Verse 2]
Comparables start with finding peers
Same industry and similar size
Look at their multiples through the years
Price to earnings, enterprise
Take the average, multiply
That's your target company's high

[Chorus]
Compare and Calculate, that's the way
C-O-M-P-S find similar plays
D-C-F discounts future cash
Two methods help you make the math
Value companies the PE way
Compare and Calculate today

[Verse 3]
DCF takes a different route
Projects cash flows year by year
Then discounts back to find the loot
With WACC rate to make it clear
Terminal value at the end
Add it up, that's what you'll spend

[Bridge]
Market multiples can mislead
When markets boom or markets fall
DCF shows intrinsic need
But forecasts might not work at all
Use them both to check your work
Where the values meet and lurk

[Chorus]
Compare and Calculate, that's the way
C-O-M-P-S find similar plays
D-C-F discounts future cash
Two methods help you make the math
Value companies the PE way
Compare and Calculate today

[Outro]
PE professionals always know
Two methods make their money grow
Compare the comps and discount flows
That's how valuation goes

← Pre-Money and Post-Money Valuation Basics | Net Asset Value (NAV) in Private Equity →