Acquirer's Multiple — Deep Value Screen

Tobias Carlisle's EV/EBIT metric applied to the NZX — what an acquirer would pay for the whole business

The Acquirer's Multiple = Enterprise Value / Operating Earnings. Unlike P/E, it accounts for debt and strips out tax and capital structure differences. Carlisle's research found that buying the cheapest stocks by this metric — without quality filters — outperformed blended quality+value approaches by ~2% annually. The philosophy: mean reversion does the work. Cheap companies' earnings tend to recover; expensive "quality" companies tend to disappoint. Financial sector companies (banks, funds, insurers) are excluded as EV/EBIT is not meaningful for them.

Stocks Screened

20.9x

Median EV/EBIT

4.9x

Cheapest Decile Avg

Below 8x EV/EBIT

Below 12x EV/EBIT

All NZX Stocks by Acquirer's Multiple

Ranked cheapest first — 89 non-financial companies with EV/EBIT data. Click column headers to sort.

#	Company	EV/EBIT	EV/EBITDA	P/E	EV	D/E	FCF%	ROE	1Y Return
1	GXH GXH Green Cross Health Limited Healthcare	2.7x	2.2x	6.7	$106M	1.1	-	8.8%	+40.2%
2	BRW BRW Bremworth Limited Consumer Discretionary	3.0x	-x	5.7	$13M	0.7	-4.8%	8.5%	+9.5%
3	CVT CVT Comvita Limited Industrials	4.7x	-x	9.4	$47M	-	-	-	+42.6%
4	SVR SVR Savor Limited Consumer Staples	5.2x	2.4x	-	$21M	2.0	10.2%	-7.0%	+11.1%
5	SEK SEK Seeka Limited Consumer Staples	5.5x	4.5x	6.1	$343M	1.1	-	3.3%	+28.5%
6	THL THL Tourism Holdings Limited Consumer Discretionary	5.6x	2.5x	-	$490M	1.7	-1.3%	-4.5%	+8.3%
7	FCG FCG Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited Consumer Staples	5.9x	-x	7.0	$10.2B	1.1	4.8%	12.9%	+33.1%
8	TGG TGG T&G Global Limited Consumer Staples	5.9x	-x	17.2	$276M	-	-	3.3%	+65.5%
9	SAN SAN Sanford Limited Consumer Staples	6.0x	-x	8.1	$607M	0.4	19.8%	8.6%	+27.9%
10	OCA OCA Oceania Healthcare Limited Healthcare	6.0x	5.1x	8.4	$442M	1.6	-	4.8%	+8.7%
11	NZK NZK New Zealand King Salmon Investments Limited Consumer Staples	6.5x	4.0x	11.0	$118M	0.3	14.6%	6.8%	-11.1%
12	RAK RAK Rakon Limited Information Technology	6.5x	5.1x	8.5	$216M	0.3	-4.6%	14.8%	+142.6%
13	ARG ARG Argosy Property Limited Real Estate	7.7x	-x	6.4	$817M	0.7	-	9.6%	+4.6%
14	SUM SUM Summerset Group Holdings Limited Healthcare	8.1x	-x	8.9	$3.1B	1.7	-75.0%	11.4%	-8.4%
15	SCL SCL Scales Corporation Limited Industrials	8.7x	6.5x	18.8	$572M	0.6	8.3%	13.1%	+25.0%
16	KMD KMD KMD Brands Limited Consumer Discretionary	8.8x	3.9x	13.3	$810M	0.8	-	7.8%	-13.2%
17	BFG BFG Burger Fuel Group Limited Consumer Discretionary	9.3x	5.6x	0.1	$12M	2.3	1.3%	10.4%	-1.4%
18	AIR AIR Air New Zealand Industrials	9.9x	-x	14.9	$1.9B	3.5	13.9%	6.5%	-17.6%
19	STU STU Steel & Tube Holdings Limited Materials	10.1x	-x	15.8	$206M	0.9	-	5.7%	-27.5%
20	MCK MCK Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand Limited Consumer Discretionary	10.4x	7.1x	13.0	$318M	0.2	-14.2%	3.6%	+14.7%
21	SKL SKL Skellerup Holdings Limited Industrials	11.4x	-x	16.3	$889M	0.5	-	22.7%	-
22	RYM RYM Ryman Healthcare Limited Healthcare	11.6x	11.1x	6.2	$8.8B	2.2	-	20.2%	-
23	RAD RAD Radius Residential Care Limited Healthcare	12.0x	7.4x	19.5	$111M	4.1	-	8.6%	+21.2%
24	SKT SKT Sky Network Television Limited Communication Services	12.5x	3.3x	19.5	$394M	0.5	5.7%	4.6%	+16.8%
25	FRW FRW Freightways Group Limited Industrials	13.4x	7.8x	24.4	$2.0B	1.8	-	16.0%	+24.4%
26	VNT VNT Ventia Services Group Limited Industrials	13.4x	10.3x	21.9	$5.5B	-	-	-	+19.4%
27	AGL AGL Accordant Group Limited Utilities	14.1x	-x	22.7	$82M	1.5	4.4%	8.2%	-
28	CEN CEN Contact Energy Limited Utilities	14.4x	9.9x	21.1	$8.6B	1.5	0.5%	12.0%	+5.1%
29	SPG SPG Stride Property Limited Real Estate	14.7x	-x	28.9	$1.0B	0.5	25.6%	2.3%	+2.6%
30	SKC SKC SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited Consumer Discretionary	14.9x	8.3x	23.5	$1.8B	1.1	-14.4%	2.2%	-13.7%
31	CDI CDI CDL Investments New Zealand Limited Real Estate	15.2x	-x	20.6	$228M	0.0	-	3.5%	+1.3%
32	FWL FWL Foley Wines Limited Consumer Staples	15.7x	6.8x	-	$85M	0.6	18.2%	-1.3%	-12.7%
33	PHL PHL Promisia Healthcare Limited Healthcare	15.7x	14.2x	2.4	$59M	3.4	-23.0%	17.4%	+15.0%
34	MFT MFT Mainfreight Limited Industrials	15.9x	8.0x	22.2	$6.1B	1.0	6.8%	13.8%	-6.4%
35	PGW PGW PGG Wrightson Limited Industrials	15.9x	3.9x	9.9	$158M	-	-	-	+0.9%
36	NZM NZM NZME Limited Communication Services	16.3x	5.6x	-	$253M	1.5	7.3%	-15.8%	+0.0%
37	BGP BGP Briscoe Group Limited Consumer Discretionary	16.5x	10.8x	16.5	$1.1B	1.3	6.5%	20.2%	-6.6%
38	DGL DGL Delegat Group Limited Consumer Staples	18.1x	11.3x	19.0	$745M	0.9	-	3.9%	+0.7%
39	SPN SPN South Port New Zealand Limited Industrials	18.5x	7.1x	13.8	$184M	0.7	-	20.0%	+27.9%
40	GNE GNE Genesis Energy Limited Utilities	18.6x	5.5x	14.2	$2.5B	1.1	-	5.7%	-2.8%
41	TAH TAH Third Age Health Services Limited Consumer Discretionary	19.3x	-x	34.6	$49M	-	-	-	+48.6%
42	MPG MPG Metro Performance Glass Real Estate	19.4x	7.4x	-	$228M	2.4	-0.4%	-14.0%	+2802.0%
43	NPH NPH Napier Port Holdings Limited Industrials	19.5x	-x	31.8	$642M	-	-	-	+13.7%
44	CMO CMO The Colonial Motor Company Limited Consumer Discretionary	20.5x	-x	32.5	$226M	1.0	-	2.5%	+17.4%
45	EBO EBO EBOS Group Limited Healthcare	20.9x	15.4x	37.0	$4.6B	-	-	-	-41.2%
46	IPL IPL Investore Property Limited Real Estate	21.0x	-x	30.8	$395M	-	-	-	-12.2%
47	PFI PFI Property for Industry Limited Real Estate	21.4x	-x	25.2	$1.2B	-	-	-	+2.6%
48	TRA TRA Turners Automotive Group Consumer Discretionary	22.0x	-x	34.5	$749M	-	-	-	+19.3%
49	KPG KPG Kiwi Property Real Estate	22.5x	-x	23.7	$2.6B	0.8	-10.7%	3.1%	+6.4%
50	PCT PCT Precinct Properties New Zealand Limited Real Estate	22.6x	-x	169.3	$3.4B	0.9	-58.2%	0.6%	-6.9%
51	WIN WIN Winton Land Limited Real Estate	23.4x	20.6x	37.3	$610M	0.3	-49.3%	3.0%	-2.4%
52	MCY MCY Mercury NZ Limited Utilities	24.4x	13.3x	8401.7	$10.5B	1.0	9.9%	0.0%	+6.6%
53	FBU FBU Fletcher Building Materials	25.3x	-x	-	$3.7B	-	-	-	+13.3%
54	SKL SKL Skellerup Materials	25.4x	-x	37.0	$889M	-	-	-	+16.3%
55	HLG HLG Hallenstein Glasson Holdings Limited Consumer Discretionary	27.0x	8.9x	13.2	$537M	1.1	15.5%	35.3%	+16.2%
56	ATM ATM The a2 Milk Company Limited Consumer Staples	29.2x	26.4x	30.5	$7.2B	0.4	-	14.2%	+33.1%
57	ERD ERD EROAD Industrials	30.2x	3.0x	130.1	$178M	0.4	-	0.4%	-36.4%
58	CHI CHI Channel Infrastructure NZ Limited Energy	31.8x	16.4x	57.6	$1.5B	0.7	10.6%	2.7%	+21.6%
59	POT POT Port of Tauranga Limited Industrials	32.1x	25.0x	-	$5.9B	0.3	-	7.6%	+15.7%
60	MOV MOV MOVE Logistics Group Limited Industrials	34.4x	1.0x	-	$41M	19.5	11.6%	-131.1%	+21.0%
61	NZL NZL New Zealand Rural Land Company Limited Real Estate	34.9x	-x	6.0	$278M	0.9	-	10.1%	+6.4%
62	CNU CNU Chorus Limited Communication Services	36.1x	10.2x	757.9	$6.5B	9.7	17.1%	0.7%	+23.5%
63	VHP VHP Vital Healthcare Property Trust Real Estate	36.9x	-x	-	$2.9B	0.9	-20.1%	-3.0%	-3.2%
64	CRP CRP Chatham Rock Phosphate Limited Industrials	37.4x	-x	45.1	$11M	4.6	-	62.3%	-8.8%
65	VCT VCT Vector Limited Utilities	37.4x	15.8x	25.3	$6.3B	0.9	4.1%	4.3%	+18.1%
66	FPH FPH Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corporation Limited Healthcare	38.0x	-x	51.9	$19.4B	0.3	-	19.9%	+12.8%
67	VSL VSL Vulcan Steel Limited Materials	38.6x	20.0x	127.5	$1.1B	-	-	-	+22.4%
68	GMT GMT Goodman Property Trust Real Estate	39.1x	-x	25.7	$2.9B	0.4	-	-16.4%	-1.4%
69	SDL SDL Solution Dynamics Limited Consumer Discretionary	44.6x	13.2x	41.1	$9M	0.5	-	1.9%	+3.3%
70	APL APL Asset Plus Real Estate	46.3x	-x	-	$67M	0.0	796.9%	-4.8%	-5.1%
71	ARB ARB ArborGen Holdings Limited Industrials	50.5x	10.8x	-	$111M	0.3	1.8%	-1.7%	-17.1%
72	CCC CCC Cooks Coffee Company Limited Consumer Staples	60.5x	31.8x	-	$19M	-13.7	-	5.6%	-22.2%
73	SML SML Synlait Milk Limited Consumer Staples	62.3x	6.0x	77.5	$378M	-	-	-	-27.3%
74	GTK GTK Gentrack Group Limited Information Technology	63.5x	41.7x	51.5	$1.2B	0.3	6.7%	8.6%	-34.9%
75	AFT AFT AFT Pharmaceuticals Limited Healthcare	74.5x	53.2x	124.1	$372M	-	-	-	+22.4%
76	AIA AIA Auckland International Airport Limited Industrials	87.4x	37.2x	87.8	$13.0B	-	-	-	+11.3%
77	IFT IFT Infratil Limited Utilities	90.2x	15.5x	9.9	$10.5B	1.7	-2.0%	14.4%	+3.4%
78	ENS ENS Enprise Group Limited Information Technology	95.3x	-x	40.8	$64M	0.7	12.6%	5.6%	-23.3%
79	RTO RTO RTO Limited Information Technology	108.6x	-x	-	$373M	19.9	-15.4%	-32.1%	+10.3%
80	SCT SCT Scott Technology Limited Industrials	110.8x	13.3x	37.8	$163M	-	-	-	+19.6%
81	PYS PYS PaySauce Limited Information Technology	122.1x	47.3x	-	$37M	9.9	-	0.0%	+36.4%
82	IKE IKE ikeGPS Group Limited Materials	144.7x	-x	2766.7	$161M	0.4	-	-24.7%	+7.7%
83	SKO SKO Serko Limited Industrials	149.2x	136.9x	152.2	$298M	-	-	-	-36.2%
84	VGL VGL Vista Group International Limited Information Technology	422.6x	35.2x	-	$761M	0.5	-0.8%	-0.4%	-45.0%
85	MEL MEL Meridian Energy Limited Utilities	470.1x	24.6x	-	$15.0B	0.7	2.6%	-5.1%	+0.1%
86	LOC LOC Locate Technologies Limited Information Technology	4045.6x	2321.0x	-	$2.9B	7.6	-	-0.2%	-
87	MHJ MHJ Michael Hill International Limited Consumer Discretionary	5229.9x	-x	9.2	$204M	2.2	-	11.7%	+17.8%
88	WHS WHS The Warehouse Group Limited Consumer Discretionary	6936.9x	1.4x	-	$284M	4.3	1.9%	-0.8%	-10.0%
89	SPK SPK Spark New Zealand Limited Communication Services	9444.0x	4152.5x	16.5	$4.4B	2.0	14.2%	17.1%	-3.9%

Sector Valuations

Average Acquirer's Multiple by sector — lower sectors may offer broader deep value opportunities

Sector	Companies	Avg EV/EBIT	Cheapest
Consumer Staples	11	20.1x	SVR (5.2x)
Healthcare	9	21.1x	GXH (2.7x)
Real Estate	13	25x	ARG (7.7x)
Energy	1	31.8x	CHI (31.8x)
Industrials	18	36.8x	CVT (4.7x)
Materials	5	48.8x	STU (10.1x)
Utilities	7	95.6x	AGL (14.1x)
Information Technology	7	694.9x	RAK (6.5x)
Consumer Discretionary	14	883.5x	BRW (3.0x)
Communication Services	4	2377.2x	SKT (12.5x)

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Disclaimer

Data sourced from NZX financial statements, stock prices, and calculated enterprise values. Our datasets may not be complete. Automated analysis can produce errors. If you believe any data on this page is incorrect, please contact us at hello@nzxplorer.co.nz.

For informational purposes only. Not investment advice.

Last updated: 16 March 2026.