Discover the four absolute rules of business valuation and hear the perspective of a veteran valuer on the current state and future of the valuation profession. Read more >>

BVR is very sad to note that the eminent David Laro, a senior judge of the United States Tax Court, passed away on September 21. Valuators in particular looked up to Judge Laro for his unique understanding of the field of valuation and the role it plays in many tax cases. Read more >>

Join your colleagues and top thought leaders at the highly anticipated AAML/BVR National Divorce Conference in Las Vegas, May 8-10, 2019. This one-of-a-kind event brings together leading matrimonial attorneys and financial experts to share their knowledge and critical insights on cutting-edge topics. Read more >>

There is a split in the valuation community as to the merit of calculation engagements. As we recently reported, some valuators are adamantly opposed to doing them, whereas other appraisers believe that calculation engagements have a rightful place in their tool kit. Read more >>

Valuing a cannabis-related business is not much different from valuing any other business, except for one important fact: This business is based on a product that is illegal to grow or sell under current federal law. So how do you deal with this challenge in states that have legalized it? Valuation practitioners Jim Marty and Ron Seigneur share some of their vast knowledge in this industry. Read more >>

How did surging stock prices affect M&A premiums all buyers paid in 2017? The Mergerstat Review highlights acquisition premiums paid using the seller’s five-day stock price prior to the announcement of the transaction, or essentially the premiums based on the equity value of the seller. Looking at the trends across all transactions, the numerous tables and charts in the Mergerstat Review show that premiums have steadily declined in most of the past five years. Read more >>

For the longest time, Tennessee case law required trial courts presiding over dissenting shareholder actions to determine fair value by using the Delaware block method. In a recent ruling, the Tennessee Supreme Court struck down the requirement and Tennessee has joined the jurisdictions that allow "more modern" valuation approaches. Read more >>

A work file checklist is a good compliance tool for what the MPF requires regarding all the different aspects involved in fair value measurement. In past posts, we presented checklists for a number of valuation areas. In this post, we give you a checklist for contributory asset charges. Read more >>

In BVR’s recent webinar, Healthcare Valuation: Approaches to Value and Common Pitfalls, experts Nicholas Janiga and Fred Lara (both of Healthcare Appraisers) covered the most common pitfalls to avoid when working on a healthcare valuation engagement. Watch the clip on the issues that can arise in these types of engagements. Read more >>

Among a dynamic array of other topics, BVR’s newest publication, The Comprehensive Guide to Economic Damages, covers the common elements of lost profits damages cases. This excerpt from the guide discusses how a plaintiff typically must establish three elements to recover lost profit damages: proximate cause, forseeability, and reasonable certainty. Read more >>

Learn how tax reform has impacted the world of business valuation and how to navigate key issues facing business appraisers, including how to adjust pre-Tax Act valuation multiples for post-Tax Act business valuations. Read more >>

The ability to gather all kinds of useful tips and advice from leading valuation practitioners is one of the benefits of attending conferences. There was no shortage of good ideas at the annual conference of the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA) in Las Vegas. Here are just a few pieces of helpful guidance from some of the sessions. Read more >>

Under the Mandatory Performance Framework (MPF) for the Certified in Entity and Intangibles Valuation (CEIV) credential, valuation experts will be expected to have a certain amount of documentation in their work files. Regardless of whether you hold the CEIV credential or not, anyone doing fair value for financial reporting should comply with these new rules. This post covers how to document the selection of a royalty rate when valuing intellectual property assets or rights. Read more >>

In the ongoing Brundle v. Wilmington Trust ESOP saga, which is now in the appeals stage, the Department of Labor recently filed an amicus brief in support of the district court’s $29.8 million judgment against the ESOP trustee. The case arose out of a plan participant’s claim that the ESOP trustee breached its fiduciary duties to the plan by causing the ESOP to pay more than fair market value for the employer’s stock. Read more >>

In BVR’s recent webinar, Healthcare Valuation 101, Jim Lloyd and Kathryn Culver (both of PYA) presented a case study in which their client engaged them to value a controlling interest in a multispecialty surgery center. Keep reading for the key facts on the case and be sure to watch the webinar clip in which the presenters cover the case study in detail. Read more >>

Explore the new DealStats platform that's revolutionizing comparable transaction analysis and providing business appraisers an objective reference point when benchmarking or valuing businesses. Learn about how DealStats offers statistics on private and public M&A transactions including valuation multiples, purchase price allocations, and more. Read more >>

Discover how far last year’s M&A buyers were willing to go above the publicly traded share value with their offers. View a list of the five highest premiums offered for M&A transactions announced in 2017. Read more >>

One of the most controversial ESOP cases, Brundle v. Wilmington Trust, has now entered the appeals court phase. In 2017, the district court found that the trustee had caused the plan to overpay by $29.8 million by failing to scrutinize the financial advisor’s obviously flawed valuation analysis and value conclusions. The trustee and valuator had strong ESOP credentials. Read more >>

I want to grow my business valuation practice and brand, but where do I start? Business Valuation Update had the pleasure of talking with Debby Sweeney and Mellanie Bartlett, co-owners of Sweeney & Bartlett Marketing Partners Inc. Sweeney and Bartlett work with a number of business valuation (BV) firms, as well as other professional service firms, including attorneys, CPAs, and professional associations, to help them build their corporate and individual brands. Read more >>

After the petitioners in a statutory appraisal action recently lost big, they undertook a multifaceted assault on the Delaware Court of Chancery’s decision to use the unaffected market price as the indicator of value. Their motion for reargument went nowhere. Read more >>