An Integrated Theory for the Major Valuation Issues of Today

Overview of Coming Presentation at AAML Annual Meeting 2016

On November 4, 2016, I will be speaking at the AAML Annual Meeting addressing a topic that is near to my heart as a business appraiser: An Integrated Theory for the Major Valuation Issues of Today. While each of these issues is worthy of hours of coverage, I provide an overview these issues in my post today.

Yahoo’s Demise and Lessons for Private Business Owners

On Monday, July 25, 2016, Verizon announced the acquisition of the operations of Yahoo for $4.8 billion. I waited on this post because it really isn’t about Yahoo, but about lessons for closely held business owners and their advisers. In any event, that $4.8 billion value for Yahoo’s operation was a far cry from previous indications of value for Yahoo.

9 Characteristics of Good Buy-Sell Agreements

Future Thinking Required

The creation of buy-sell agreements involves a certain amount of future-thinking. The parties must think about what could, might, or will happen and write an agreement that will work for all sides in the event an agreement is triggered at some unknown time in the future. This post addresses nine important characteristics of buy-sell agreements that are important for business owners and for attorneys advising them.

Market Value of Total Capital and Enterprise Value

Cash Creates Potential Differences in Total Capital Multiples

In the last post, we examined a conceptual diagram showing the relationships between two different balance sheets and two separate measures of total capital value for a business. In this post, we return to our example and these relationships to discuss the absolute equity and total capital valuations of the three public companies, and then, at their relative valuations.

Market Value of Total Capital and Enterprise Value

Cash is the Difference

In an earlier post, we began a discussion of the differences between two total capital valuation concepts, market value of total capital (MVTC) and enterprise value. In this post, we will add to the discussion.

It is important to understand key balance sheet and market value concepts as well as how they relate to each other. Appraisers and market participants examine market evidence for publicly traded companies to infer valuation metrics for private companies. In valuation-speak, this method is called the guideline public company method. A number of market multiples are commonly examined using the guideline public company method.

The Growing Professional

Part 2

We introduced the concept of what I call the growing professional last week. But what does a growing professional look like compared to other professionals? And what is the mindset of a growing professional, which informs the active steps he takes?

The Growing Professional

Part 1

I was asked to prepare a short talk for the celebration of the 500th webinar event of Business Valuation Resources. I chose the topic, “Expectations of a Growing Professional.” This is a topic I’ve addressed before in a few outside talks and internally at Mercer Capital. In this post and two more in the near future, I’ll share the gist of my thoughts on the webinar yesterday.

Idaho Supreme Court Affirms No DLOC and No DLOM in Fair Value Proceeding

Statutory Fair Value and Business Valuation Series #9

The Idaho Supreme Court issued an opinion in Wagner v. Wagner affirming a District Court’s determination in the fair value of shares of Wanooka Farms, Inc. This determination of fair value was a matter of first impression in Idaho. The District Court determined that neither a discount for lack of control (minority discount) nor a discount for lack of marketability (marketability discount) were appropriate in the determination of fair value. The Supreme Court in Idaho affirmed this conclusion, but where does this leave the definition of fair value in Idaho?