The Free Cash Flow Approach

Principles of Cash Flow Valuation is the only book available that focuses exclusively on cash flow valuation. This text provides a comprehensive and practical, market-based framework for the valuation of finite cash flows derived from a set of integrated financial statements, namely, the income statement, balance sheet, and cash budget. The authors have distilled the essence of years of gathering academic wisdom in the study of cash flow analysis and the cost of capital. Their work should go a long way toward bridging the gap between the application of cost benefit analysis and the theory of capital budgeting. This book covers the basic concepts in market-based cash flow valuation. Topics include the tme value of money (TVM) and an introduction to cost of capital; basic review of financial statements and accounting concepts; construction of integrated pro-forma financial statements; derivation of free cash flows; use of the WACC in theory and in practice; estimating the WACC for non traded firms; calculating the terminal value beyond the planning period. It also revisits the theory for cost of capital and explains how cash flows are valued in reality. The ideas are illustrated using examples and a case study. The presentation is appropriate for a range of technical backgrounds. This text will be of interest to finance professionals as well as MBA and other graduate students in finance. * Provides the only exclusive treatment of cash flow valuation * Authors use examples and a case study to illustrate ideas * Presentation appropriate for a range of technical backgrounds: ideas are presented clearly, full exposition is also provided * Named among the Top 10 financial engineering titles by Financial Engineering News

Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject Business economics - General, grade: 1.3, California State University, Fullerton, course: Theory of Corporate Finance, 21 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: This paper will deal with the procedure and implementations of firm/stock valuation using FCF approach and WACC - the weighted average cost of capital. On the road, the different approaches and methods of firm valuation, the various inputs of WACC and the final procedure finding the fair market value of the firm using Pro Forma Financial Statements, will be discussed. In this valuation method the two main parts contributing to the final value of the firm are Free Cash Flows (FCF) and the weighted average cost of capital. It is then used the time value of money concept along with some educated guesses about the long term sales growth rate and the long term WACC to apply common capital budgeting rules of project evaluation. Besides that, the paper will shortly discuss the influence of capital structure on a firm's value. It will come out that there is a difference in value whether the company is leveraged and uses debt or not. When it comes to the different inputs of the WACC, a main focus will be on the required rate of return for shareholders. Finding the 'right' beta and an appropriate estimate for the market risk premium are the main issues of that part. Therefore, the CAPM model and its specific determinants will be analyzed. Thereafter, the nature of pro forma financial statements and the different parts of them will be defined. It will be described how the 'free cash flows' are determined and how that leads to the actual valuation procedure. Finally, the paper will focus on the terminal value as probably the most important and affecting part of the calculated firm value and its nature as a perpetuity in an investing perspective. The conclusion will finally deal with a critical assessment of the firm valuation process with the FCF method.

Valuation is a topic that is extensively covered in business degree programs throughout the country. Damodaran's revisions to "Investment Valuation" are an addition to the needs of these programs.

The purpose of this book is to explain Free Cash Flow and how to use it to increase investor return. The author explains the differences between Free Cash Flow and GAAP earnings and lays out the disadvantages of GAAP EPS as well as the advantages of Free Cash Flow. After taking the reader step-by-step through the author's Free Cash Flow statement, the book illustrates with formulas how each of the four deployments of Free Cash Flow can enhance or diminish shareholder return. The book applies the conceptual building blocks of Free Cash Flow and investor return to an actual company: McDonald's. The reader is taken line-by-line through the author's investor return spreadsheet model: (1) three years of McDonald's historical financial statements are modeled; (2) a one-year projection of McDonald's Free Cash Flow and investor return is modeled. Five other restaurant companies are compared to McDonald's and each other using both Free Cash Flow and GAAP metrics.

A timely update to the global best-selling book on investment banking and valuation In the constantly evolving world of finance, a solid technical foundation is an essential tool for success. Due to the fast-paced nature of this world, however, no one was able to take the time to properly codify its lifeblood—namely, valuation and dealmaking. Rosenbaum and Pearl originally responded to this need in 2009 by writing the first edition of the book that they wish had existed when they were trying to break into Wall Street. Investment Banking: Valuation, LBOs, M&A, and IPOs, Third Edition is a highly accessible and authoritative book written by investment bankers that explains how to perform the valuation work and financial analysis at the core of Wall Street—comparable companies, precedent transactions, DCF, LBO, M&A analysis . . . and now IPO analytics and valuation. Using a step-by-step, how-to approach for each methodology, the authors build a chronological knowledge base and define key terms, financial concepts, and processes throughout the book. The genesis for the original book stemmed from the authors' personal experiences as students interviewing for investment banking positions. As they both independently went through the rigorous process, they realized that their classroom experiences were a step removed from how valuation and financial analysis were performed in real-world situations. Consequently, they created this book to provide a leg up to those individuals seeking or beginning careers on Wall Street—from students at undergraduate universities and graduate schools to "career changers" looking to break into finance. Now, over 10 years after the release of the first edition, the book is more relevant and topical than ever. It is used in over 200 universities globally and has become a go-to resource for investment banks, private equity, investment firms, and corporations undertaking M&A transactions, LBOs, IPOs, restructurings, and investment decisions. As the world of finance adjusts to the new normal of the post-Great Recession era, it merits revisiting the pillars of the second edition for today's environment. While the fundamentals haven't changed, the environment must adapt to changing market developments and conditions. As a result, Rosenbaum and Pearl have updated their widely adopted book accordingly, while adding two new chapters on IPOs.

This open access book discusses firm valuation, which is of interest to economists, particularly those working in finance. Firm valuation comes down to the calculation of the discounted cash flow, often only referred to by its abbreviation, DCF. There are, however, different coexistent versions, which seem to compete against each other, such as entity approaches and equity approaches. Acronyms are often used, such as APV (adjusted present value) or WACC (weighted average cost of capital), two concepts classified as entity approaches. This book explains why there are several procedures and whether they lead to the same result. It also examines the economic differences between the methods and indicates the various purposes they serve. Further it describes the limits of the procedures and the situations they are best applied to. The problems this book addresses are relevant to theoreticians and practitioners alike.

The value of a corporation is the discounted present value of future cash flows provided by the company to the shareholders. The valuation process requires that the corporate financial decision maker determine the future free cash flow to equity, the short-term growth rate, the long-term growth rate, and the required rate of return based on market beta. This book provides a template for demonstrating corporate valuation using a real company—Coca-Cola. The data used in this book comes from the financial statements of Coca-Cola available on EDGAR. Other data are from SBBI, Yahoo! Finance, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Stocks, Bonds, Bills, and Infla-tion, Market Results for 1926–2010, 2011 Yearbook, Classic Edition, Morningstar, and US Department of the Treasury.