How do you estimate maintenance capex when the target doesn't separately disclose it, and why does it matter for EBITDA quality?

Maintenance capex — the spend needed just to sustain the current asset base and revenue — matters because EBITDA ignores capex, so two businesses with the same EBITDA differ hugely in cash generation if one is capital-hungry; a buyer cares about EBITDA less maintenance capex as the real cash proxy. When it isn't disclosed, estimate it several ways and triangulate: compare total capex to depreciation over a cycle (sustained capex well above depreciation suggests growth spend, persistent capex near or below depreciation hints at under-investment), analyze the capex history splitting obvious expansion projects from recurring replacement, use management's own categorization but challenge it, benchmark capex-to-revenue against peers, and look at asset age/condition and any deferred-maintenance backlog. Flag under-investment as a quality and future-cash risk (a buyer may face a catch-up capex bill). The point is to convert reported EBITDA into a sustainable cash figure and surface hidden reinvestment needs.