BIZCOMPS, a comprehensive online database with financial details on small, Main Street private companies, has been recently updated with new transactions, and the current BIZCOMPS/BVR Deal Review (BDR), exclusively for subscribers, is now available. This special publication analyzes general trends, valuation multiples, and operating ratios for transactions in the database. Get a sneak peek at the Summer 2021 issue with highlights including harmonic mean and median sale price, median SDE/rent, and more. Read more >>

One of the lessons learned from the COVID-19 crisis is that a coherent narrative is more important than ever in business valuation, says Dr. Aswath Damodaran, of New York University Stern School of Business, who gave the keynote address at the CBV Congress 2021. A valuation needs a marriage of narrative and numbers, Damodaran says. In a good valuation, the numbers are “bound together” by a coherent narrative, and storytelling is kept grounded with numbers. Too much emphasis on numbers can make valuations mere “plug-and-point exercises” that may be perceived to be sales pitches or a confirmation of preconceived values. Read more >>

In BVR’s recent webinar, Cryptocurrency Fraud and Forensics: What Valuation Professionals Need to Know, forensic and cryptocurrency experts Katerina Gaebel and Mark DiMichael, both of Citrin Cooperman, covered various hot topics on fraud and forensic accounting issues in digital assets and how they affect the business valuation profession. Here, we summarize five key areas where one would find proof of crypto asset fraud in a marital dispute, including interviews, tax returns, bank accounts, credit card statements, and more. Read more >>

In the May issue of the Economic Outlook Update (EOU), the publication added data highlighting the wholesale trade segment of the U.S. economy, putting a spotlight on the data the U.S. Census published. The report highlights the sales totals of merchant wholesalers for April 2021, which included adjustments for seasonal variations and trading day differences. The report showed an improvement in wholesale trade in April 2021 when compared to March 2021 and from one year ago. In April, total sales were $570.8 billion, or 0.8% higher than the revised March level and 43.6% higher than the level from one year ago. Read more >>

When Michael Jackson died, his image and likeness was besmirched and yet, once competent executors took charge, they were able to make a lot of money for the estate in the immediate post-death years. The issue was to what extent this subsequent development could factor into the image-and-likeness valuation. In explaining his high valuation, the IRS’ expert offered a theory of “foreseeable opportunities” that the U.S. Tax Court found unpersuasive. Read more >>

For years, the valuation profession has debated the definition of a control premium, including its distinction from an acquisition premium. What began years ago as a relatively simple question—if there is a control premium, what should it be?—now includes analyzing such concepts as invested capital premiums and equity-based premiums, transaction synergies and strategic values, marketability, and levels of control. All are “key points” to keep in mind throughout the quantification of a control premium, say Tim Meinhart and Nate Novak (both of Willamette Management Associates), who led a webinar on this topic titled Evaluating and Applying Control Premiums earlier this year. Read more >>

On March 19, Caesars Entertainment joined the long list of businesses that have filed lawsuits against their insurance companies for refusing to pay business interruption losses stemming from COVID-19-related government shutdowns of economies across the nation and world. Whether Caesars, which asserts that losses its various business entities incurred may exceed $2 billion, succeeds where a lot of other plaintiffs have failed will be worth monitoring. Read more >>

The conference season is well underway, and Business Valuation Update has been on the virtual road, collecting the latest insights on a wide variety of topics. Here are some interesting takeaways from the New York State Society of CPAs (NYSSCPA) Business Valuation and Litigation Services Conference, held May 17. Topics included emerging issues (SPACs, cryptocurrency, Zoom as a practice-builder) and some new perspectives on evergreen topics (estate valuations, cannabis, distressed firms, and collaborations). Read more >>

Recent developments have put the spotlight squarely on projected financial information (PFI). The perception is that too many valuation experts simply accept projections and forecasts they’re given without applying enough scrutiny—or any scrutiny at all. Fortunately, there is some new guidance on how to examine and substantiate PFI you get from management or other third parties in BVR’s new Guide to Management Projections and Business Valuation: Analysis and Case Law. The following is an excerpt from that chapter. Read more >>

Although the U.S. Tax Court recently handed the Michael Jackson estate a decisive victory regarding the estate’s tax liability, the court did not side with the estate on tax affecting, an issue that has preoccupied valuators, many of whom are proponents of the practice, for a long time. Read more >>

With the COVID-19 pandemic putting a stranglehold on the U.S. economy for most of 2020 and causing an unprecedented economic impact on small businesses, DealStats Value Index (DVI) captured the 12-month snapshot on how earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) multiples have trended. Read more >>

In the long-running litigation between the estate of the late megastar Michael Jackson and the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Tax Court recently issued its opinion on the value of Jackson’s image and likeness, as well as the value of his interest in two music publishing assets. Overall, this much-anticipated decision is a major win for the Jackson estate. The court’s momentous decision includes an expansive analysis of the rivaling valuation testimony. Read more >>

There is an inherent flow to managing an intellectual property valuation engagement. In BVR’s publication, Guide to Intellectual Property Valuation, 2nd edition, author Michael Pellegrino outlines the typical process and steps that a valuation professional may want to follow when performing an intellectual property (IP) valuation. Read more >>

Financial experts may be subject to standards of professional practice from a number of sources when they measure lost profits damages and give related expert testimony. The sources can include governmental regulators as well as professional membership organizations and societies. In addition, a technical community may establish professional standards of practice in other ways. Read more >>

A number of issues have emerged that analysts will encounter when performing a valuation in a bankruptcy context. Valuation analysts who become involved in bankruptcy-related assignments should expect their work to come under a great deal of scrutiny because most of these engagements are done within a litigation or some other adversarial context, cautioned Robert Reilly, a managing director at Willamette Management Associates, during a BVR webinar back in 2017. While his remarks were made a few years ago, they continue to resonate, and a chapter from Business Valuation and Bankruptcy: Case Law Compendium, 3rd edition, contains more of his timeless advice on how to handle the challenges valuation experts will face. Read more >>

Business interruption insurance claims are on the rise, and analysts need to be on the lookout for misrepresentations. Michael Haugen, CPA, CFF, CFE (JS Held) conducted a session on this at the recent AICPA FVS Conference, and it’s an area where valuation experts would do well to bolster their knowledge and skills in financial forensics. During his session, Haugen gave some tips on how to “sniff out” misrepresentations in these claims. In the recent Business Valuation Update (BVU) article, “14 Ways to Detect Misrepresentations in Business Interruption Claims,” Haugen classifies specific techniques to detect misrepresentations in business interruption claims. Read more >>

In today’s constantly changing and evolving economy, business valuators must have a firm grasp of the current state in order to successfully complete a business valuation engagement. The Economic Outlook Update (EOU), published by BVR, digests expansive research from leading authoritative sources into convenient monthly and quarterly reports. Get a sneak peek at the 4Q 2020 EOU with a few key economic performance components showing insights on gross domestic product (GDP), consumer spending, and unemployment and personal income. Read more >>

Measuring lost profits damages for new or early-stage businesses can be a daunting task. Traditional damage analyses that rely on historical results are often meaningless since, by definition, startup companies usually lack a track record of operating results. Without an historical operating history for measuring lost profits, the damages expert walks a thin line between speculation and a reasoned analysis. Under most circumstances, to be admissible evidence, damage analyses require relevant and reliable factual bases. These legal and evidentiary requirements are often heightened when measuring damages for new businesses. Read more >>

Business valuation experts can find a great deal of useful information in the Business Reference Guide (BRG) by Tom West, which has been updated for 2021. Now in its 31st year, the book contains the latest industry-related information including pricing tips, benchmarking information with comparison data, industry resources, and general industry data on over 600 types of businesses, including franchises. Read more >>

Last year, in a compelled buyout, the Court of Appeals sided with the departing minority shareholder when it found discounts did not apply in a closed-market sale. In a freshly minted decision, the Indiana Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals, finding there was no blanket rule disallowing discounts in a compelled buyback. This is especially true where the parties exercised a shareholder agreement whose terms suggested the use of fair market value. Read more >>