At the end of every year, BVLaw takes stock of valuation and damages cases that have dominated the conversation among financial experts by making law or influencing in some other way attitudes on key valuation issues. Here is our selection of 2019 cases by Sylvia Golden, Esq., BVR’s executive legal editor. Read more >>

A recent Washington state divorce case included a noteworthy discussion of goodwill where the owner spouse’s business arguably was separate property. Divorce experts will notice that the court’s goodwill analysis has much in common with an appreciation analysis. Read more >>

The AHLA Transactions Resource Guide is a free collection of articles from leading healthcare experts that discuss significant transaction issues in the healthcare industry. Some of the authors are with Duff & Phelps, VMG Health, Wipfli, and others. Read more >>

In a Mississippi divorce, the husband's sole-owned fitness training company was the key asset. An accurate valuation was central to achieving an equitable distribution of property, but the parties did not hire experts or even submit much financial information to the trial court. Read more >>

Following the divorce, the husband filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy and asked for confirmation of his plan. The issue was whether the plan could meet the liquidation test applicable under the Bankruptcy Code’s section 1325(a)(4). In essence, the test requires that creditors in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy receive present value payments that are at least equal to the amount the creditors would receive in a Chapter 7 case. Read more >>

Ultimately, the parties reached a deal that included the sale of the building and the sale of the assets of the practice, as well as an employment contract for the doctor. The asset purchase agreement said the assets being sold included all of the practice's goodwill. At the same time, it allocated 100 percent of the purchase price to tangible assets: furniture, fixtures, equipment and supplies. The agreement also included noncompete and non-solicitation clauses. Read more >>

Intangible assets average 30% of the purchase consideration (PC) and goodwill averages 38% of the PC, according to the Houlihan Lokey 2014 Purchase Price Allocation Study. A different analysis of over 6,000 purchase price allocations finds that the ratio of intangible assets to total assets is 72%. This is according to the second edition of Benchmarking Identifiable Intangibles and Their Useful Lives in Business Combinations. Read more >>