An offer to purchase a business can sometimes be evidence of value, but a recent divorce case in Indiana illustrates when it is not. The wife was the sole owner of a warehousing and logistics firm, NX Enterprises (the couple’s name was Nix). The opposing valuation experts appraised the business at $470,000 (the wife’s expert) and $992,100 (the husband’s expert). The Nix’s daughter testified that she offered to buy the business for $4.25 million, and her mother “laughed at her.” Nevertheless, the trial court valued the business at $4.25 million “due to the offer to purchase at or near the date of filing.” The wife appealed.

Nix nixed: The appellate court reversed the decision and remanded the case back to the trial court. The appellate court went through the faults of the agreement from the trial evidence and also noted that the daughter “did not sign the purchase agreement and, thus, could not be bound by it.”

The case is Nix v. Nix, 2023 Ind. App. Unpub. LEXIS 183; 2023 WL 2148720, and a case analysis and full court opinion are on the BVLaw platform.