What is the meaning of the term "present value accretion"?

Present value accretion is the change in the price of a bond bought at a discount to the par value of the bond value on a given date of a future payment or series of future payments, discounted to reflect the time value of money and other factors such as investment risk. Present value calculations are widely used in business and economics to provide a means to compare cash flows at different times on a meaningful "like to like" basis.

Accretion, in a corporate finance environment, is essentially the actual value created after a particular transaction. A deal will always be earnings accretive if the acquirer's price-to-earnings ratio is greater than the target's price-to-earnings ratio, including the acquisition premium.