Duff & Phelps has reviewed and analyzed more than 3,000 fairness opinions filed with the SEC during the period 2006 to 2016 to address the criticisms that they generally provide valuation ranges too wide to be useful and that they are too reliant on “mechanical” discounted cash flow (DCF) analyses. The analysis found that “the vast majority of fairness opinions offer valuation indications that fall within 15 percentage points on either side of a midpoint—a clear indication of a widespread industry standard with robust methodologies and highly calibrated valuation analyses.” The report is “In Defense of Fairness Opinions: An Empirical Review of Ten Years of Data."