Valuation is a key issue in a broad range of corporate and litigation matters, including appraisal and other merger-and-acquisition related disputes, asset-sale disputes, estate and tax valuations, as well as the assessment of financial distress, solvency, fraudulent conveyance, the likelihood of bankruptcy, and many other types of damages. The valuation may be the valuation of an entire business or enterprise, different classes of equity, minority interests, debt, and other securities, as well as synergies, cost efficiencies, and intangible assets. A valuation begins with the appropriate standard of value, fair value, fair market value, investment value, or fair value for financial-reporting purposes, because the standard that governs the matter shapes the analysis and the result. The work typically requires evaluating management's projections, testing the assumptions that drive cash flows and growth rates, calculating free cash flows, assessing whether terminal-year cash flows are sustainable, identifying comparable companies and transactions, and measuring an appropriate discount rate.
We have the expertise and experience to conduct valuations using widely-accepted and standard methodologies such as discounted cash flow, market multiple, and comparable transaction analysis, and, where the facts warrant, other valuation models based on option-pricing theory, real-option valuation, and Monte Carlo simulations. We also address the adjustments that frequently determine value in dispute, such as control premiums and minority and marketability discounts as well as size and growth premiums and discounts. Our work is grounded in widely accepted methodologies, frameworks, and analyses, and we have been engaged by both plaintiffs and defendants across a wide range of industries.