Enterprise Value Calculator
What It Would Actually Cost to Buy the Whole Company
Market capitalization only prices the equity slice of a company — it says nothing about the debt an acquirer would also have to assume, or the cash sitting on the balance sheet that would immediately offset part of the purchase price. Enterprise value corrects for both, producing a more complete measure of a company's total value that's independent of how it happens to be financed.
The Formula
Debt, preferred equity, and minority interest are added because an acquirer would need to take on or pay out those claims; cash and equivalents are subtracted because they could immediately be used to help fund the purchase.
Where This Matters
- M&A pricing — enterprise value is the figure that most closely reflects what an acquirer actually pays for a business, capital structure included, and is the basis for most acquisition multiples.
- Cross-company valuation comparisons — comparing EV-based multiples (like EV/EBITDA) rather than market-cap-based ones (like P/E) removes distortion from differing debt loads between companies.
- Spotting a "cash-rich, debt-free" premium — a company with a large cash balance and no debt can have an enterprise value meaningfully below its market cap, which changes how cheap or expensive it actually looks.
Worked Example
| Component | Amount |
|---|---|
| Market capitalization | $50,000,000 |
| + Total debt | $15,000,000 |
| − Cash & equivalents | $5,000,000 |
| Enterprise value | $60,000,000 |
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter the company's market capitalization.
- Enter total debt, cash and equivalents, preferred equity, and minority interest (all optional; treated as zero if left blank).
- Select Calculate to get the enterprise value.
Related Calculations
Use enterprise value alongside the Free Cash Flow Calculator to build an EV-to-FCF comparison, or feed a discount rate from the WACC Calculator into a full valuation.