Court Dismisses S Corp Tax Argument in Fair Value Buyout
In statutory fair value proceeding, court adopts income-based approach reconciling key differences in expert analyses regarding historical earnings period, tax rates, and normalization for intercompany transactions; court rejects market analysis.
Chancery relies on income approach to determine fair value in problematic bank merger
In a statutory appraisal action, the Delaware Court of Chancery recently found the deal price did not reflect fair value because the sales process was suboptimal. Certain other methods the parties' experts used also were inadequate to the task, the court said.
Persuasive’ Defense Expert Testimony Defeats ESOP Overpayment Claims
Court says defense expert opinion provides “credible and persuasive” support for court’s conclusion that ESOP financial advisor produced sound fairness and valuation opinions prior to contested transaction; there was no overpayment for stock at issue.
Holder v. Howe
Court rejects expert’s movie valuation based on percentage of cost of making it; market data approach is “particularly unsuitable” because simply averaging price of films and cost to create them does not yield information about value of particular film.
Market Data Approach ‘Particularly Unsuitable’ to Valuing Feature Film
Court rejects expert’s movie valuation based on percentage of cost of making it; market data approach is “particularly unsuitable” because simply averaging price of films and cost to create them does not yield information about value of particular film.
Reasonable Compensation Analysis Ignores Objective Evidence, Tax Court Says
Tax Court dismisses taxpayer expert’s reasonable compensation analysis as not helpful to trier of fact; court points to failure to consider objective evidence and detects willingness to “validate and confirm” the amounts reported on taxpayer’s returns.
Transupport, Inc. v. Commissioner
Tax Court dismisses taxpayer expert’s reasonable compensation analysis as not helpful to trier of fact; court points to failure to consider objective evidence and detects willingness to “validate and confirm” the amounts reported on taxpayer’s returns.
Dunmire v. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp of W. Pa.
Flawed sales process makes merger price an unreliable indicator of fair value for statutory appraisal, Chancery finds; in accord with party experts, court uses discounted net income approach and adopts most of respondent expert’s inputs for its valuation.
Chancery Bases Fair Value Calculation on Income-Based Model
Flawed sales process makes merger price an unreliable indicator of fair value for statutory appraisal, Chancery finds; in accord with party experts, court uses discounted net income approach and adopts most of respondent expert’s inputs for its valuation.
Defense expert testimony supports ESOP valuation and fairness opinions
A recent ESOP decision involving allegations of breach of fiduciary duty and engaging in a prohibited transaction turned on whether the ESOP trustee’s financial advisor had performed proper due diligence and issued defensible fairness and valuation analyses.
Chancery Achieves Fair Value by Blending Three ‘Imperfect Techniques’
Court says uncertainty about company’s future performance and viability limits reliability of values derived from DCF and multiples-based comparable company analyses as well as deal price; court blends three “imperfect techniques” to determine fair value.
Persuasive’ Defense Expert Testimony Defeats ESOP Overpayment Claims
Court says defense expert opinion provides “credible and persuasive” support for court’s conclusion that ESOP financial advisor produced sound fairness and valuation opinions prior to contested transaction; there was no overpayment for stock at issue.
Fish v. GreatBanc Trust Co.
Court says defense expert opinion provides “credible and persuasive” support for court’s conclusion that ESOP financial advisor produced sound fairness and valuation opinions prior to contested transaction; there was no overpayment for stock at issue.
Chancery achieves fair value with three imperfect valuation techniques
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Perhaps Chancellor Bouchard thought of Aristotle when he recently ruled in a statutory appraisal action that, even though the results of three common valuation techniques were unreliable indicators of value, in combination they established fair value.
Flawed Lost Profits Analysis Leaves Plaintiff Bereft of Damages Evidence
Court excludes damages opinion where expert relied on historical data from one construction project to calculate lost profits for subject project without establishing comparability as to type of contract and scope of work and by using “ad hoc” method.
Return on Equity Analysis Undergirds Reasonable Compensation Claim
Tax Court says compensation paid to company owners for managing entity’s daily operations was reasonable; officers were “absolutely integral” to company’s success and company’s rate of return on equity after compensation accorded with industry average.
In re DFC Global Corp.
Court says uncertainty about company’s future performance and viability limits reliability of values derived from DCF and multiples-based comparable company analyses as well as deal price; court blends three “imperfect techniques” to determine fair value.
Chancery Achieves Fair Value by Blending Three ‘Imperfect Techniques’
Court says uncertainty about company’s future performance and viability limits reliability of values derived from DCF and multiples-based comparable company analyses as well as deal price; court blends three “imperfect techniques” to determine fair value.
Court Snubs Lost Earnings Analysis Based on ‘Incomplete Use’ of Data
Court rejects expert’s loss of business opportunity and lost earnings calculations, finding capitalization of earnings method is inappropriate for valuing company with unstable earnings and lost salary projections are based on “incomplete use” of data.
In Transfer Pricing Case, Tax Court Fails to Perform Adequate CUT Analysis
In transfer pricing case centering on taxpayer’s intercompany licensing agreements, Tax Court finds CUT method is the best way to calculate arm’s-length royalty rates; court accepts taxpayer-proposed uncontrolled comparable but makes adjustments to account for differences in transactions.
Medtronic, Inc. v. Commissioner (I)
In transfer pricing case centering on taxpayer’s intercompany licensing agreements, Tax Court finds CUT method is the best way to calculate arm’s-length royalty rates; court accepts taxpayer-proposed uncontrolled comparable but makes adjustments to account for differences in transactions.
RMS of Wisconsin, Inc. v. S-K JV
Court excludes damages opinion where expert relied on historical data from one construction project to calculate lost profits for subject project without establishing ...
H.W. Johnson v. Commissioner
Tax Court says compensation paid to company owners for managing entity’s daily operations was reasonable; officers were “absolutely integral” to company’s success and company’s rate of return on equity after compensation accorded with industry average.
Expert’s Poor Grasp of Valuation Issues Undercuts Shareholder Suit
Appeals court affirms soundness of going private merger; court says plaintiffs failed to point to better offer and their expert lacked formal accounting, economics, and valuation training and displayed a light grasp of issues related to company’s value.
More Valuation Data Do Not Ensure Fair Class Action Settlement
In stockholder class action, Chancery declines to approve settlement that requires plaintiffs to agree to broad release of claims in exchange for additional valuation-related information, finding it fails to meet applicable “fair and reasonable” standard.