A fire and safety equipment maker has no direct listed peer. Using three adjacent peer sets with different growth and margins, build a comps set and a defensible EV/EBITDA multiple.

A defensible multiple is about 20x EBITDA, roughly Rs 1,600 crore, within a range of about 19.6x to 21.6x. Weight Indian electrical equipment most, overseas safety products next and security services least, which gives 19.55x at a blended growth of 13.2%. Agnirakshak grows faster, and the Indian sets price about 1.2x per point of growth, pointing to 21.6x. Settle near the middle, because its small size and lack of a listing argue against the top.

Think of pricing a flat in a building that has never had a sale. You look at similar flats in the same area, flats of the same type in a pricier city, and anything else nearby, then decide how much each tells you. Rank each set by how much of Agnirakshak's economics it shares: what it sells, how it makes money, and which market prices it. Electrical equipment shares the manufacturing model and the Indian market. Overseas safety products share the product but not the market or scale. Security services shares only the customer. The weights 50%, 35% and 15% follow from that ranking.

The blend describes a business growing 13.2% at a 14.9% margin; Agnirakshak grows 18% at 16%. Notice that both Indian sets trade at the same 1.2x per point of growth, 18 over 15 and 12 over 10, which gives you a market-implied price for growth. At 18% growth that line points to 21.6x. The overseas set sits well above the line because its 22% margin turns more of each rupee of growth into cash. Agnirakshak's 16% margin sits between the Indian and overseas sets, so it deserves no penalty against the line.

The two methods bracket the answer: 19.6x from similarity weights and 21.6x from the growth line. Land near 20x, Rs 1,600 crore of enterprise value, and say why you shade below the growth line. Agnirakshak's EBITDA is Rs 80 crore, small next to listed peers, so its growth is less proven and a single lost contract matters more. A minority stake also cannot force a sale or a listing. Each of those is a reason for a discount, and the range of Rs 1,564 crore to Rs 1,728 crore shows how far the answer can move.

One tempting shortcut is worth naming. A regression of multiple on growth and margin through the three sets fits perfectly, because three points and two variables leave no error, and it says 23.0x. A perfect fit on three points is a coincidence of arithmetic, not evidence. Use it as a sense check at most. The interviewer is listening for reasoning about which businesses resemble Agnirakshak, not for a precise number.