Case Studies, for business valuation, not just company or business sale

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A business owner contacted us through a referral to ask for our help in a business dispute that they were involved in. They were shareholders in a company and had a major fall out with their senior partner and fellow shareholder. This situation could not be settled amicably and so their partner decided to close down the business that they were both involved in and transfer the customers and assets to another company in just their own name.

We provided a comprehensive and independent valuation report which our client was able to use with their solicitor handling the dispute. This was enough to help agree to an out of court settlement as the former business partner was not able to prove that the transfer of assets was done at fair value or with the consent of our client.

An Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) scheme is a UK government-backed share option scheme designed to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) attract and retain key employees by offering them equity in the company in a tax-efficient manner. 

We discussed EMI, EOT, Growth Shares, SIPs and Phantom Share Plans with the owners and agreed that the EMI was most suited to their objectives. We valued the company and provided a comprehensive, independently audited report to use with their notification to HMRC of their decision to set up the scheme.

We were approached by a lawyer who was acting for a client in divorce and financial remedy proceedings. The husband owned a business in Birmingham which had recently been subject to a valuation, the parties had the below questions of the valuer that they were unable to answer:

i.  How to market the shareholding for sale effectively (both on the basis he wishes to continue to work to some degree in the company and on the basis that he retires completely)

ii.  The extent of the likely interest in that shareholding

iii.  The timescale it is likely to require to achieve the value indicated in the valuation report.

We provided a valuation and report that answered the above  questions.

We were approached by two company directors of a business that was part of a national franchise. Another franchise owner located in the same county was coming close to retirement and wanted to sell his franchise to our clients. 

They were keen to get an independent valuation of the business to allow them to negotiate a company sale and purchase price. They introduced us directly to the seller of the franchise and we provided them with a valuation report within 3 weeks of the initial contact.

We were approached by a law firm requesting the valuation of a business whose owner had passed away and the lawyer needed the valuation for the purposes of applying for the grant of probate. We valued the company at £1.25m and provided an independent report within one week of receiving all of the requested information. The valuation was based on a potential future company sale with the owner being replaced in the business by his wife.

The initial enquiry provided us with the following information

• The company name and address is C.C Ltd based in X
• There was a property related to the business valued at £214k
• There was one director – Mr P.
• Mr P. is deceased, he was a 100% ‘A’ shareholder of 16,250 ‘A’ shares
• His shares have passed to Mrs P. his wife
• Mrs P. previously held 8,750 ‘B’ shares
• The P’s son works in and manages the business
• There are 5 employees
• Mrs P. would like to retain the business and her management and staff continue to run the business, so not immediately look at a business sale
• The business turnover was c.£1m in 2021
• The business year end is March and the 2023 figures are not yet available
• The value of the estate is unlikely to exceed the IHT threshold
• A valuation is required to assess the value of the transferring shares

We were approached by the owner of a group of recruitment agencies based in the UK, India and Germany. They wanted to raise additional capital through external investors and needed to value the company to calculate an investment share price. We valued the businesses as a group and individually on the basis of a potential future company sale.

This was a particularly complex valuation as we needed to establish the accounting standards used in each jurisdiction, calculate three separate business valuations, including one start-up business with no audited or completed accounts and a complex share table. We provided the full valuation report within five weeks of the initial approach. The company is growing well and  targeting a future business sale event.