Filing Flows › Honest Company (HNST) › Takeover & LBO
Is Honest Company (HNST) a takeover target?
A leveraged buyout does not work for Honest Company on its latest figures: it has no positive EBITDA to borrow against (−$12.2M over the last 12 months, on revenue of $342M). Historically 7.3% of companies with its figures were bought within a year (1.45× the average).
Why a leveraged buyout does not fit
A leveraged buyout is paid for mostly with debt that the company's own cash flow repays. Honest Company's EBITDA over the last 12 months was −$12.2M on revenue of $342M, so there is nothing to lend against and nothing to repay a loan with: a buyer would have to pay almost entirely with its own money. That is the kind of deal another company — a strategic buyer that wants the products, the pipeline or the technology — makes, not a private-equity fund. The model therefore gives no buyout price.
What a takeover could cost
Takeovers on record paid a median premium of 32.5% over the share price before the deal (the middle half 20% to 51.8%), according to the 1,437 merger proxies and tender-offer responses on EDGAR that state a premium. At the median, Honest Company would cost about $6.72 a share, $760M for all its shares.
| Premium | % | Price a share | All shares |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low end (a quarter of deals paid less) | 20% | $6.08 | $688M |
| Median | 32.5% | $6.72 | $760M |
| High end (a quarter paid more) | 51.8% | $7.70 | $870M |
The odds, from history
Historically 7.3% of companies with its figures were bought within a year (1.45× the average). Its figures put it in decile 9 of 10 (10 = the most likely to be bought). The odds come from a model of every merger proxy, tender-offer response and going-private statement filed on EDGAR since 2011, set against each company's size, margins, debt, cash flow and growth the year before.
Honest Company's latest quarter
Honest Company, Q3 2026: revenue $84.6M (-9% year over year), operating margin 1.4%, net earnings $91.3M, operating cash flow −$4.5M. The chart follows the revenue to costs, profit and cash.
Questions
Is Honest Company being acquired?
No headline, 8-K or 13D about a sale is on file in the last year.
Could private equity buy Honest Company?
A leveraged buyout does not work for Honest Company on its latest figures: it has no positive EBITDA to borrow against (−$12.2M over the last 12 months, on revenue of $342M). With no cash flow to repay a loan, a buyer would pay almost entirely with its own money: a deal for another company (a strategic buyer), not for a private-equity fund.
What would a takeover of Honest Company cost?
Takeovers on record paid a median premium of 32.5% over the share price before the deal (the middle half 20% to 51.8%), according to the 1,437 merger proxies and tender-offer responses on EDGAR that state a premium. At the median, Honest Company would cost about $6.72 a share, $760M for all its shares.
Updated Nov 8, 2026. Read automatically from SEC filings and public data; errors are possible. Not investment advice.