{"id":9529,"date":"2026-08-03T18:33:47","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T16:33:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.quantum-partners.de\/glossary\/net-debt\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T18:33:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T16:33:47","slug":"net-debt","status":"publish","type":"b5_glossar","link":"https:\/\/www.quantum-partners.de\/en\/glossary\/net-debt\/","title":{"rendered":"Net Debt"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Net debt is, in principle, the sum of interest-bearing liabilities less cash and cash equivalents. In M&amp;A transactions, however, this definition is regularly supplemented by further items. So-called \u2018debt-like items\u2019 \u2014 e.g. pension obligations, provisions for onerous contracts or outstanding bonuses \u2014 are frequently treated like financial liabilities and added to net debt.<\/p> <p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Which items are to be classified as \u2018debt-like\u2019 or \u2018cash-like\u2019 is regularly the subject of intensive negotiation. The specific delineation is one of the central value levers in the equity bridge, since it directly affects the equity value to be derived from the enterprise value.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Net debt is, in principle, the sum of interest-bearing liabilities less cash and cash equivalents. In M&amp;A transactions, however, this definition is regularly supplemented by further items. So-called \u2018debt-like items\u2019&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"class_list":["post-9529","b5_glossar","type-b5_glossar","status-publish"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Net Debt - Quantum Partners<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quantum-partners.de\/en\/glossary\/net-debt\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Net Debt - Quantum Partners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Net debt is, in principle, the sum of interest-bearing liabilities less cash and cash equivalents. In M&amp;A transactions, however, this definition is regularly supplemented by further items. 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