A Question of Facts and Varying Rates “How could an expert apply such a high or low discount rate to a stream of future lost profits and the court find it acceptable?” This article highlights my research looking into discount rates for lost profits and why there are so many variations of a theme when it comes to making such a calculation. When attending professional conferences, I enjoy talking with other experts involved in the litigation support field. During almost every discussion regarding commercial damages (lost profits or business destruction), there is a comment about the discount rate applied for…
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Use in Private-Business Valuation (Part II of II) This two-part article in this continuing series explains the implied private company pricing line (IPCPL). Read Part I here. IPCPL explains and predicts how buyers and sellers of capital assets in private markets set risk-adjusted discount rates under conditions of non-zero transaction cost differentials between public and private markets; and, accordingly, IPCPL explains and predicts the shadow price of liquidity risk—the price of liquidity risk were it traded directly in private capital markets. 1.4 What is lacking in existing business valuation theory? It turns out that existing business valuation theory is lacking…
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Use in Private-Business Valuation (Part I of II) This two-part article in this continuing series explains the implied private company pricing line (IPCPL). IPCPL explains and predicts how buyers and sellers of capital assets in private markets set risk-adjusted discount rates under conditions of non-zero transaction cost differentials between public and private markets; and, accordingly, IPCPL explains and predicts the shadow price of liquidity risk—the price of liquidity risk were it traded directly in private capital markets. What is IPCPL Theory? Despite widespread misunderstandings of implied private company pricing line (IPCPL), it can and will be shown in this article…
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Identification First! Few articles in the business valuation profession address the identification component of valuing goodwill, particularly personal or professional goodwill in the context of matrimonial dissolution matters. Current literature provides valuation professionals with techniques regarding the quantification or valuation exercise (e.g., cost approach, discounted cash flow, relief from royalty, etc.); however, this leaves professionals in some cases quantifying goodwill without determining what, if any, personal goodwill characteristics exist. This potential misstep may leave a valuation professional not addressing or identifying evidence to support that such an intangible asset exists. This article focuses on suggested practices to identify personal goodwill…
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Preserving a Legacy In this article, Roger J. Grabowski, FASA, shares with readers a personal story regarding his friendship. The forthcoming 6th edition is a tribute to Dr. Pratt, a close friend and leader of the profession. [su_pullquote align=”right”]Tribute to Shannon Pratt[/su_pullquote] Introduction I am fortunate to have co-authored several books with Shannon. While I had gotten to know Shannon through conferences as well as through teaching valuation courses together, our collaboration began in August 2006 when Shannon asked me to co-author the Cost of Capital 3rd edition. I had edited portions of and contributed to the first two editions.…
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The two most widely approaches used by valuators to determine a discount for lack of marketability (DLOM) are restricted stock studies and IPO studies. The restricted stock studies compare transaction prices in restricted shares with contemporaneous trading prices for unrestricted shares. The pre-IPO studies, on the other hand, according to the author, lead to conclusions that are unsound in theory and in practice. In this article, the author discusses six major flaws in the data that, in the author’s opinion, make the pre-IPO studies’ conclusions totally unreliable for determining discounts for lack of marketability. The two most widely approaches used…
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The Business Valuation Bench Book by William J. Morrison and Jay E. Fishman In this article, Ed Mendlowitz provides readers a review of William J. Morrison and Jay E. Fishman’s The Business Valuation Bench Book; a book geared to judges.
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The Case for Use of a Risk-Adjusted Rate in Damages Cases Robert Dunn and Everett Harry laid out a process for modeling and discounting future lost profits to present value in their article, Modeling and Discounting Future Damages. Not all experts agreed with the position presented by Dunn and Harry. In March, we revisited modeling and its level of acceptance. This article revisits the more controversial portion of the Dunn and Harry article, determining the discount rate. Dunn and Harry believed modeling the projected income stream reduced uncertainty and risk in an expert’s estimates. Therefore, they stated a lesser discount…
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Q&A Guide for Valuation Practitioners James Hitchner, Dr. Shannon Pratt, and Jay Fishman are co-authors of a publication that uses a Q&A approach to address important questions. The article includes excerpts from this book.
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Capitalized Earnings: When are the Earnings Stabilized? When you’re doing a business valuation, should you use a Capitalization of Earnings/Cash Flows? Or should you use a Discounted Earnings/Cash Flow method? Here’s a rule of thumb: If the benefit stream will be constant over time, choose the Capitalized Earnings/Cash Flows. Richard Claywell explains.