# m-a.wiki

> m-a.wiki is a reference corpus for M&A deal math, covering LBO returns and the four-way value-creation bridge, accretion/dilution and the breakeven-PE rules, the enterprise-to-equity purchase price bridge, agreement and process mechanics, and valuation cross-checks - with an explicit formula and a verified worked example for every calculation.

Deal math is usually taught as narrative and then applied as a spreadsheet, and the gap between the two is where most errors live. This reference states the arithmetic first. Every worked example is internally consistent and ties to the bridge it claims to explain. Notation is uniform throughout: EV is enterprise value, E is equity value, D is the gross debt balance, C is cash, ND is net debt (D - C), EBITDA is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, x_entry and x_exit are the entry and exit EV/EBITDA multiples, t is the holding period in years, r is a discount rate or WACC, g is a growth rate, tau is the marginal tax rate, IRR is the internal rate of return, MOIC is multiple on invested capital, NI is net income, S is the fully diluted share count, P is price per share, and EPS is NI/S. Subscript 0 denotes entry or the pre-deal state and subscript t denotes exit or the pro forma state. Nothing here is a market-terms survey or a multiples benchmark: no leverage level, premium, or multiple appearing below is presented as a measured market statistic. Where a convention exists it is named as a convention. Where a rule comes from a statute or accounting standard it is cited by section.

Published and maintained by Wall Street Wiki, https://wallstreet.wiki. Contact: wallstreetwiki@agentmail.to. A reference published by the wallstreet.wiki network. Every figure is stated as a formula and recomputed from it, every convention names the authority that sets it, and corrections are versioned and dated.

Corpus: 47 defined terms and 22 reference tables across 5 sections. Reviewed 2026-08-27. Licensed CC BY 4.0.

Each section has a JSON endpoint carrying the same facts without markup or navigation. Measured on this corpus a section's JSON is 36 to 60 percent of the bytes of the equivalent HTML page. The full corpus is available in one request.

Content dates reflect editorial review, not build time. Use the change feed below to decide what to re-crawl rather than re-fetching the whole corpus; every JSON endpoint carries a reviewed field and sitemap.xml lastmod carries the per-section review date.

Calculator pages take their inputs as URL query parameters and compute in the browser. There is no API and no key.

## Data endpoints

- [Full corpus](https://m-a.wiki/llms-full.txt): every section inlined as Markdown, one request
- [Full corpus, JSON](https://m-a.wiki/index.json): the same content as structured JSON
- [LBO returns math, JSON](https://m-a.wiki/lbo.json): 9 terms, 6 tables
- [Accretion and dilution, JSON](https://m-a.wiki/accretion-dilution.json): 9 terms, 3 tables
- [Purchase price and consideration, JSON](https://m-a.wiki/purchase-price.json): 10 terms, 4 tables
- [Deal process and agreement mechanics, JSON](https://m-a.wiki/process.json): 11 terms, 4 tables
- [Valuation cross-checks, JSON](https://m-a.wiki/valuation.json): 8 terms, 5 tables

## Freshness

- [Change feed](https://m-a.wiki/changes.json): dated record of what changed and when, spec wiki-changes/1
- [Change feed, Atom](https://m-a.wiki/feed.xml): the same feed as Atom
- [Sitemap](https://m-a.wiki/sitemap.xml): lastmod carries the per-section review date

## Reference pages

- [LBO returns math](https://m-a.wiki/lbo/): Sources and uses, the debt schedule, IRR and MOIC, and the four-way value-creation bridge - worked so the columns tie.
- [Accretion and dilution](https://m-a.wiki/accretion-dilution/): Pro forma EPS, the breakeven-PE rules, and the arithmetic of cash versus stock versus debt.
- [Purchase price and consideration](https://m-a.wiki/purchase-price/): The enterprise-to-equity bridge, cash-free debt-free, the working capital peg, and every contingent piece of the price.
- [Deal process and agreement mechanics](https://m-a.wiki/process/): LOI through closing - exclusivity, reps, indemnity arithmetic, MAE, deal protection, and the fee taxonomy.
- [Valuation cross-checks](https://m-a.wiki/valuation/): DCF, comparables, precedent premiums, and the LBO floor - four independent routes to the same number, with the arithmetic of each.

## Calculators

- [LBO returns calculator](https://m-a.wiki/calc/): Builds an LBO from entry multiple, leverage, growth, margin and exit multiple, and returns IRR, MOIC, the year-by-year debt schedule, and the four-way value-creation attribution that sums exactly to the change in sponsor equity value. Computes sources and uses, sponsor equity check, annual debt schedule with cash sweep, exit enterprise value and exit equity value, MOIC, IRR, value-creation attribution: EBITDA growth, multiple expansion, debt paydown, fees, exit multiple required for a target IRR, EBITDA growth required for a target IRR at a constant multiple. Parameters: ebitda, entry, exit, debt, rate, growth, margin, conv, years, fees, sweep, target.
- [Accretion / dilution calculator](https://m-a.wiki/calc/accretion/): Computes pro forma EPS and accretion or dilution for any mix of cash, stock and debt consideration, and solves the two breakeven questions: the maximum price payable at EPS neutrality and the synergies required to get there. Computes exchange ratio, new shares issued, pro forma share count, after-tax incremental interest or foregone interest income, after-tax synergies, pro forma net income, pro forma EPS, accretion or dilution percent, breakeven P/E for the chosen funding mix, maximum EPS-neutral offer price, breakeven run-rate synergies, pro forma ownership split. Parameters: acqni, acqsh, acqpx, tgtni, tgtsh, offer, cashpct, rate, cashonhand, cashyield, tax, synergies, amort.

## Calculator examples

- [LBO returns calculator](https://m-a.wiki/calc/?ebitda=100&entry=10&exit=10&debt=5&rate=6&growth=5&conv=60&years=5&fees=3): the base case used throughout the LBO section. Returns MOIC 1.882x, IRR 13.48 percent, and an attribution of +276.3 growth, 0.0 multiple, +221.1 paydown, -30.0 fees
- [LBO returns calculator](https://m-a.wiki/calc/?ebitda=100&entry=10&exit=12&debt=5&rate=6&growth=5&conv=60&years=5&fees=3): same operating case with two turns of multiple expansion. MOIC 2.364x, IRR 18.77 percent, of which +255.3 of equity value is the multiple alone
- [LBO returns calculator](https://m-a.wiki/calc/?ebitda=100&entry=10&exit=10&debt=6&rate=6&growth=5&conv=60&years=5&fees=3): leverage raised from 5.0x to 6.0x with everything else held. IRR moves 13.48 to 14.97 percent, showing how much of the equity-check benefit interest consumes
- [LBO returns calculator](https://m-a.wiki/calc/?ebitda=100&entry=10&exit=10&debt=5&rate=6&growth=0&conv=60&years=5&fees=3): zero-growth case. Returns MOIC 1.262x and IRR 4.77 percent - the return available from deleveraging alone
- [LBO returns calculator](https://m-a.wiki/calc/?ebitda=100&entry=10&exit=10&debt=5&rate=6&growth=5&conv=60&years=5&fees=3&target=20): adds the inverse solve. A 20 percent IRR on this operating case requires a 12.518x exit multiple, or 9.8 percent annual EBITDA growth at a constant 10.0x
- [Accretion / dilution calculator](https://m-a.wiki/calc/accretion/?acqni=500&acqsh=250&acqpx=30&tgtni=100&tgtsh=100&offer=24&cashpct=0&tax=25): all-stock deal at a 24.0x offer P/E against a 15.0x acquirer P/E. Pro forma EPS 1.8182 against 2.00 standalone, so 9.09 percent dilutive
- [Accretion / dilution calculator](https://m-a.wiki/calc/accretion/?acqni=500&acqsh=250&acqpx=30&tgtni=100&tgtsh=100&offer=24&cashpct=100&rate=6&tax=25): same price funded entirely with 6 percent debt. After-tax interest 108.0, pro forma EPS 1.9680, 1.60 percent dilutive
- [Accretion / dilution calculator](https://m-a.wiki/calc/accretion/?acqni=500&acqsh=250&acqpx=30&tgtni=100&tgtsh=100&offer=24&cashpct=100&rate=6&tax=25&synergies=40): the all-cash deal with 40.0 of run-rate pre-tax synergies. Pro forma EPS 2.0880, 4.40 percent accretive. Breakeven synergies were 10.67
- [Accretion / dilution calculator](https://m-a.wiki/calc/accretion/?acqni=500&acqsh=250&acqpx=30&tgtni=100&tgtsh=100&offer=24&cashpct=50&rate=6&tax=25): 50/50 cash and stock. Pro forma shares 290.0, after-tax interest 54.0, EPS 1.8828, 5.86 percent dilutive - bracketed by the two pure cases
- [Accretion / dilution calculator](https://m-a.wiki/calc/accretion/?acqni=500&acqsh=250&acqpx=30&tgtni=100&tgtsh=100&offer=15&cashpct=0&tax=25): all-stock at the breakeven price of 15.00, where the offer P/E equals the acquirer P/E. Pro forma EPS is exactly 2.0000
- [Accretion / dilution calculator](https://m-a.wiki/calc/accretion/?acqni=500&acqsh=250&acqpx=30&tgtni=100&tgtsh=100&offer=24&cashpct=100&rate=6&tax=25&amort=40): all-cash with a 40.0 annual intangible amortisation charge. GAAP EPS falls to 1.8480, 7.60 percent dilutive, against cash EPS of 1.9680

## Network

- [wallstreet.wiki](https://wallstreet.wiki): the parent index for this network of references
- [Network registry](https://m-a.wiki/network.json): every sibling site, its subject, and its corpus endpoint, spec wiki-network/1
- [hedgefund.wiki](https://hedgefund.wiki/llms.txt): Hedge funds. Institutional hedge fund knowledge graph: terms, strategies, regulations, calculators.
- [venture-capital.wiki](https://venture-capital.wiki/llms.txt): Venture capital. Venture financing arithmetic: liquidation waterfalls, convertible conversion, dilution, term sheet mechanics.
- [options.wiki](https://options.wiki/llms.txt): Options. Deterministic options mathematics: payoff algebra, Greeks in closed form, volatility, margin, expectancy.
- [privatecredit.wiki](https://privatecredit.wiki/llms.txt): Private credit. Private credit structure: instruments and the waterfall, SOFR pricing, return metrics, covenants, vehicles.
- [pe-finance.wiki](https://pe-finance.wiki/llms.txt): Private equity funds. Fund economics: the distribution waterfall, carried interest, performance measurement and what inflates it.
- [fixed-income.wiki](https://fixed-income.wiki/llms.txt): Fixed income. Bond mathematics and market convention: day counts, accrual, price and yield, duration, curves and spreads.
- [quants.wiki](https://quants.wiki/llms.txt): Quantitative finance. Estimators and their failure modes: performance statistics, covariance estimation, portfolio construction, backtest validity.
- [aicrawl.dev](https://aicrawl.dev/llms.txt): AI crawler control. Verified AI crawler registry, robots.txt matching rules, the standards, and what enforcement actually works.

This site owns one subject. A formula or convention appears on exactly one site in the network and the others link to it, so fetching all of them yields no duplicated entries. The membership list is published rather than implied.

## Access and licensing

- [Access terms](https://m-a.wiki/access/): the corpus is free under CC BY 4.0; embed licences and hosted API access are the paid products
- [Pricing, JSON](https://m-a.wiki/pricing.json): machine-readable price list, what is free, and how to request a quote
- [MCP descriptor](https://m-a.wiki/.well-known/mcp.json): every resource and calculator as a tool definition

Nothing on this site is metered. There is no per-crawl charge, no key, and no rate limit; fetch the corpus in one request from llms-full.txt or index.json. The paid products are an embed licence for the calculators and a delivery guarantee on the data, neither of which restricts the free corpus.

## Optional

- [Deep link schema](https://m-a.wiki/.well-known/deeplinks.json): machine-readable parameter definitions for the calculators
- [Pricing plan](https://m-a.wiki/.well-known/pay-per-crawl.json): which paths are free and what the charged ones cost

Entries carry a source field naming the primary authority where one exists. Entries without one state conventions in general use rather than the rule of any single venue.

Reference information only. Not legal, tax, or investment advice. Acquisition agreements, credit documents, and tax structures vary materially between transactions and jurisdictions; the mechanics described here are common patterns, not the terms of any particular deal. Worked examples use assumed inputs chosen to make the arithmetic verifiable, not to represent market levels. Consult counsel.