Valuation Articles

Fair ValueTM is Banister Financial's newsletter, providing detailed analysis and discussion of important and timely business valuation issues. Selected articles from past issues are listed below, along with other published articles authored by Banister professionals. 

These articles are abbreviated discussions of complex topics and do not constitute advice to be applied to any specific situation.  No valuation, tax or legal advice is provided herein. Additionally, valuation cases, IRS rulings, and valuation methodologies can change materially over time, including from when a specific article was written, and may no longer be valid. Readers of these articles should seek the services of a skilled and trained professional.

Accounting Fraud

The Business Appraiser's Role Where Company Accounting Fraud is Alleged in Valuation Disputes

Active vs. Passive Appreciation

Active-Passive Appreciation in Business Valuation in Divorces- The Same Old Inflation Argument- But is it Valid?

Automobile Dealership Valuations

Auto Dealership Values: A Key Time for Wealth Maximization and Planning  

Blockage Discounts

Blockage Discounts for Publicly Traded Stock

Built-in Gains Tax Discounts

Discounting for Built-in Capital Gains  in LLCs, Partnerships, and S Corporations

Dunn Court Allows Discount for Built-In Gains- Hope for Estate Planning (And Avoiding Inequitable Outcomes in Equitable Distribution)

Valuation Discounts for Potential Capital Gains: How Much is Enough?

Buy-Sell and Shareholder Agreements

Professional Practice Buy-Sell Agreements- Do They Equal Fair Market Value?

Professional Practice Buy-Sell Agreements- Do They Equal Fair Market Value?  Part II- The Courts

Company Valuation and Financial Analysis

Company Business Risk and Its Impact on Valuation (and Why Attorneys Must Understand It)

Company Financial Risk and its Impact on Valuation (and Why Attorneys Must Understand It)

Comparable Public and Acquired Company Analysis

Public and Private Company Business Valuation Differences

How Comparable Are Your Public Company Business Valuation Comparables?

Market Influences on Business Valuation  

What Does Industry Consolidation Mean for Your Company's Value?

Control vs. Minority Issues

Premium for Voting Stock in Simplot- A Reflection of the Real World?

Attorneys Breathe a Sigh of Relief: Simplot Tax Court Ruling Overturned

If You Can't Come Through the Family Attribution Front Door, Try the Back: The IRS Swing Block Position for Valuations

Dividends

Minority Shares: Dividends and Their Crucial Impact on Value (And Why Even 45% Discounts for Lack of Marketability Can Be Reasonable)

Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)

Employee Stock Ownership Plans (Structuring and Valuation Issues)

ESOPs and S Corporations

Estate and Gift Tax Issues

Defusing the Gift Tax Valuation Time Bomb: New Adequate Disclosure Rules  

Dunn Court Allows Discount for Built-In Gains- Hope for Estate Planning (And Avoiding Inequitable Outcomes in Equitable Distribution)

Preferred Stock Recapitalization- Exchanging Common for Preferred Shares to Accomplish Estate Planning Goals

Proposed IRS Valuation Guidelines: 1 + 1 = 3 (Which May Be Right)

Revenue Ruling 59-60: Still Valid or Just Dusty With Age?

Valuation Discounts- Can You Explain Yours? The New IRS Form Requirements for Gifts of Shares  

Valuation Discounts for Potential Capital Gains: How Much is Enough?

Voting/Non-Voting Recapitalizations in Subchapter S Corporations- The Business Valuation Impacts for Estate and Gift Planning

Family Law

Dunn Court Allows Discount for Built-In Gains- Hope for Estate Planning (And Avoiding Inequitable Outcomes in Equitable Distribution)

Excess Earnings Valuation Method: Is It Time to Put it Out to Pasture in Divorce Valuation Cases?  

Hambsters

A Fountain Run Dry - The North Carolina Court of Appeals reaches a faulty decision on valuing stock options for divorce in North Carolina that flies in the face of widely accepted real world methodologies in how options are really bought and sold.  The result is a grossly unfair outcome to the ex-spouse not holding the options.

Identical Twins (But Not in Equitable Distribution)

Identifying and Excluding Faulty Valuation Report Content and Testimony 

Kick the Habit: The Excess Earnings Method Must Go

Namby Pamby Hamby - The North Carolina Court of Appeals reaches a very questionable decision on the standard of value used for divorce-related business valuations in North Carolina.

Professional Practice Buy-Sell Agreements- Do They Equal Fair Market Value?

Professional Practice Buy-Sell Agreements- Do They Equal Fair Market Value?  Part II- The Courts

A Sampling of Valuation Cross-Examination Questions

Family Limited Partnerships and LLCs

Beginning of the End for Family Limited Partnership Valuations?  

Family Limited Partnerships with Marketable Securities: Their Valuation  

Family Limited Partnerships with Real Estate: Are Valuation Discounts Always Appropriate?  

Fractional Interests in Real Estate

Fractional Interests in Real Estate: Their Valuation (Why the Parts are Not Worth Their Share of the Whole)

Income Valuation Approach

The Income Valuation Approach

Understanding the Income Valuation Approach: A Primer For Judges Who Must Regularly Hear Business Valuation Cases
Critically Assessing a Capitalization Rate: Is it Reasonable?

Industry Consolidation

What Does Industry Consolidation Mean for Your Company's Value?

Jointly Retained Business Valuations

Jointly Retained Business Valuations in Disputes- Steps Necessary to Make the Process Works

Selecting the Right Business Appraiser for a Jointly Retained Business Valuation Need

What Should be in Report in a Jointly Retained Valuation for a Dispute

Marketability Discounts

Discounts for Lack of Marketability:  A Review of Studies and Factors to be Considered

Mandelbaum Case Raises the Bar in Supporting Business Valuation Discounts in Tax Court 

Marketability Discounts:  Is New Really Better? - There is a move by some to use mathematical models to quantify marketability discounts.  This article considers those models and whether or not they are really superior to discount studies.

Selling Out to a Public Company: Blockage, Restricted Shares, and Value  

The 35% "Standard" Marketability Discount: RIP

Merger/Acquisition Valuation Method

In Defense of the Merged and Acquired Companies Valuation Method

The Top 10 Errors Made Using the Merged and Acquired Companies Valuation Method

Professional License Valuation

License Valuation Revisited - A hypothetical, humorous valuation of the driver's license of stock car driver Jeff Gordon for his divorce.

Professional License Valuation Voodoo: Junk Science in a Family Law Context

Professional Practice Valuations

Medical Practice Sales to Hospitals: A Business Valuation Minefield, Part 1

Medical Practice Sales to Hospitals: A Business Valuation Minefield, Part 2

Medical Practice Sales to Hospitals: A Business Valuation Minefield, Part 3

Professional Practice Buy-Sell Agreements- Do They Equal Fair Market Value?

Professional Practice Buy-Sell Agreements- Do They Equal Fair Market Value?  Part II- The Courts

S Corporation Valuations

A Gross Result in the Gross Case:  All Your Prior S Corporation Valuations Are Invalid

ESOPs and S Corporations

S Corporation (and LLC) Added Value (Fair Value, Fall 2009)- If you've read the other articles here on this issue, this article brings the issue up to its Fall 2009 status, which is much changed, along with a discussion of some of the valuation methods and studies related to S corporation valuation.

Some Observations on Tax Affecting

Voting, Non-Voting Recapitalizations in S Corporations

Selling the Family Business

The Key Steps Involved in Successfully Selling the Closely Held Business 

Selecting a Business Valuation Firm That Can Also Sell Your Business

Preparing a Company for Sale. Obtaining the Best Price

Stock Option Valuation

A Fountain Run Dry - The North Carolina Court of Appeals reaches a faulty decision on valuing stock options for divorce in North Carolina that flies in the face of widely accepted real world methodologies in how options are really bought and sold. 

Stock Option Valuation Explained for Divorce and Estate Planning Attorneys

Valuation Interview

The Effective Valuation Interview

Valuation Methodologies

A Declaration of Independence

Are Smaller Companies More Risky?  The Small Stock Return Debate

Back to the Future! - This article takes at the incorrect use of after the fact data to determine a value of a business at an earlier date.

Back to the Future!- Part II - This article takes a look at what court cases say about the use of after the fact data in valuations.

Daubert, We Hardly Knew Ye

Excess Earnings Valuation Method: Is It Time to Put it Out to Pasture in Divorce Valuation Cases?  

Identifying and Excluding Faulty Valuation Report Content and Testimony 

In Defense of the Merged and Acquired Companies Valuation Method

Kick the Habit: The Excess Earnings Method Must Go

The Justification of Purchase Test: Is it Always Justified? (i.e., Does The Sanity Check Always Produce a “Sane” Result?)  

The Most Common Sins in Faulty Valuations

The Top 10 Errors Made Using the Merged and Acquired Companies Valuation Method

Why Time Travel in Business Valuation is Wrong

Valuation- Other

Key Valuation Trends and Their Importance
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