Valuation

What valuation is actually for in banking, the three pillars every method hangs off, and the vocabulary of value, from control premiums to the undisturbed price.

Equity value vs enterprise value, every bridge item and edge case, diluted shares under the treasury stock method, and the matching principle that governs every multiple.

Building a peer group, choosing and spreading multiples, and turning comps output into a valuation range you can defend.

What buyers actually paid: sourcing and screening deals, control premiums, buyer and process effects on multiples, and the biases that corrupt the output.

The DCF from first principles: projecting the business, defining unlevered and levered free cash flow, and the discounting mechanics that turn projections into a per-share value.

CAPM, beta un- and re-levering, the full WACC build, and both terminal value methods, including why terminal value ends up as most of the answer.

From reported to normalized EBITDA: one-time items, run-rate and pro forma adjustments, the SBC debate, leases, pensions, calendarization, and non-operating assets.

Valuation through a sponsor's lens: sources and uses, the debt stack and schedule, IRR and MOIC math, the three value-creation levers, and the paper LBO.

What a buyer pays and why: premium drivers, cost and revenue synergies, the PV math that caps the price, and how cash versus stock splits the risk.

Merger math end to end: accretion/dilution and the P/E shortcut, contribution and exchange ratios, the pro forma balance sheet, credit impact, and fairness opinions.

Why SaaS, banks, REITs, energy, miners, pharma, cyclicals, retail, media, and utilities each trade on their own metrics, and how to pick the right framework.

How banking models are actually built: architecture and formatting, the three-statement backbone, DCF, comps, and LBO/merger craft, sensitivities, error-proofing, and the pitchbook handoff.

Valuing companies that are several businesses in one: SOTP and breakup analysis, the conglomerate discount, stub values, NAV, and the dividend discount model family.

Valuing companies when the standard toolkit breaks: distressed and reorganization value, private-company discounts, pre-revenue methods, real options, and convertible dilution.

Which method lands highest and why, the traps interviewers exploit, circular logic and rate cycles, deal-context lenses, and the football field that pulls it all together.