We decide to do a deal at a $10$x multiple on a company with $100$MM EBITDA, the debt is $500$MM and there is no cash. We are the sole investor in the deal.

@ Exit we sell the company for $10$x$,$ same as before, but have increased EBITDA to $150$MM$.$ Debt and cash levels are unchanged.

What is the IRR if we exited at $3$ years? $5$ years?

What if we retired all the debt? IRRs then?

Is this an example of financial engineering or operational improvement or both?