Usually one of the first questions we receive from a new business owner or family office client is “How much is my company worth?” We agree that this is a vital element in determining the strategic options available for the client. Another question might be, “If I sell my company, how much will I, or my family end up with after all taxes?”

If the new client's business is closely held, it may not be easy to determine its value. Yet it may become necessary for a variety of reasons, such as a merger, acquisition, sale, or purchase, estate or gift tax requirements, buy/sell agreements, litigation, or estate planning. An objective, professionally prepared business valuation can offer timely answers to critical questions that face owners of closely-held companies.

Our Approach
While it may be appropriate in some cases to commission a formal, independent, external valuation to support taxable gifts, internal sales or loans for ESOPs, this type of service can become expensive. Our experience tells us that for many transactions an informal, low cost market valuation will suffice.

SBA has developed valuation models and has access to large transaction data bases that can give us insight into the prices paid for companies in the same industry/size as our client's company. This, along with other public data and industry trends, enables us to produce accurate indications of a company’s market value. Our process is a low cost solution for our client’s desire to choose the correct transaction. It is important to remember that the SBA internal, informal valuation will not be enforceable in a court of law nor can it be used to support ESOP transactions, some tax submissions, or other instances where an independent third-party valuation is required.

In preparing a business valuation, we use a systematic process to value your business, or a particular segment, as of a specific date, and provide you with the business valuation report that you need

When providing this service, our process will usually be to:

• Identify the purpose of your valuation and users of the report.
• Analyze and input your financial data using our proprietary models.
• Gather and research data.
• Analyse financial and economic factors.
• Apply appropriate valuation methods and appropriate discounts.
• Reconcile values resulting from the different valuation methods used.
• Prepare a concise valuation report, including financial and economic analysis, an explanation of our valuation methodologies, and a market value estimate of your company.