Takeover Targets

Last week we were talking about takeovers in my advanced corporate finance class. Eventually the discussion came around to how to spot takeover targets. Here's an article in the February 3rd Wall Street Journal (subscription required) titled How To Cash In on The M&A Boom. One characteristic of takeover targets it mentions is a low enterprise value relative to EBITDA. According to the article, this could indicate an undervalued company, but also makes it more likely that the acquirer would be able to service the financing for the acquisition.

Of course, if markets are efficient, the target is really not a bargain. It's a good (and short) piece to use in a discussion about valuation and efficient markets, and about using naive valuation rules.