In Divestopedia’s article, “The Myth of Fair Business Valuation: What Professional Valuations Don’t Tell You,” author Chak Reddy is quick to point out that the “type of buyer and method of sale are two important (yet often overlooked) value determinants when finding a starting price for your business.” Reddy brings up some excellent points. One notion in particular that every business owner should be aware of is that there is “NO fair value for illiquid assets.” He points to the fact that between January 2007 and March 2008, the historic Bear Stearns went from a value of $20 billion dollars to just $238 million. In a mere 14 months, Bear Stearns lost most of its value. Additionally, the article points to the fact that business owners often suffer enormously from “dramatic valuation compression.” In Reddy’s view, this compression is the direct result of poor planning and a failure on the part of business owners to select the right advisory teams. Reddy believes that professional … [Read more...]
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Are You Asking a Reasonable Price for Your Privately Held Company?
Placing a price on a privately-held company is usually more complex than placing a value, or a price, on a publicly-held company. There are many reasons for this fact, but one of the top reasons is that privately-held companies don’t have audited financial statements. Why are Audited Financial Statements Lacking in Privately-Held Companies? Preparing an audited financial statement is expensive and, as a result, many privately-held companies that have not gone public simply forego the expense. Most privately-held companies are also not accountable to bankers, investors or partners so there is no need to incur this cost. Compared to a privately-held company, a publicly held company can often seem like an “open book.” Buyers are left with the proposition of having to dig out a lot more information from a privately-held company in order to assess whether or not a valuation or price is accurate. What Can You Do to Overcome this Factor? You, as the seller, can help streamline this … [Read more...]
