Valuation in the Event of Disputes

With its team of legal experts, Hermes Advisory provides financial, economic and statistical analyses and opinions by experts to support national and international legal proceedings.

In legal proceedings, in addition to the legal impact, the economic impact also has a pivotal role. What if you were proven right, but then the ruling doesn’t ensure you are in the financial position you are actually entitled to? This can be avoided by ensuring that your legal proceedings are substantiated clearly from a financial point of view.

In disputes where the focus is on value

Hermes Advisory is regularly appointed as an expert by the judiciary and by parties who are involved in a legal dispute in legal proceedings where the value of an object is central to the debate. These assignments vary from carrying out company valuations in divorce proceedings, to buying out a shareholder, to the situation of disadvantage due to errors in share issues, to (international) arbitration or, for example, disputes between shareholders.

Hermes Advisory is also brought in when there is uncertainty about a certain valuation element which will impact the outcome of legal proceedings. To this end, we provide substantiated opinions with literature references.

Wide-ranging knowledge about valuation and experience in legal proceedings

Hermes Advisory has knowledge and experience in the following areas of valuation:

  • Company valuations
  • Company valuation for the purpose of financing
  • Valuation of intellectual property and estimation of pecuniary loss in the event of intellectual property infringement
  • Company valuation in situations of financial restructuring and recovery
  • Valuation of financial portfolios (structured finance and investment portfolios)
  • Valuation of complex financial instruments

We have a team of professionals with extensive experience in valuation and financing. The team consists of chartered business valuators (who are listed in the register of the Netherlands Institute of Chartered Business Valuators), chartered accountants, investment bankers and quantitative finance specialists.

“Valuation is a discipline in its own right, where legal, tax and business aspects merge together. It’s not enough to say: we’ll run a model”

– Pieter van Prooijen – Partner Hermes Advisory

Our team is familiar with the following methodologies, valuation principles and valuation approaches:

 

  • Different standards under which the value of an object is included in the report (liquidation value/ market value/intrinsic value and investment value)
  • Valuation approach based on continuity or liquidation
  • The following valuation methods and approaches:

Income method: Discount Cash Flow Method and the Adjusted Present Value method

Comparable Companies method: key figures based on comparison with comparable listed companies

Comparable Transaction method: key figures based on comparison with the sale of comparable companies

Underlying value method: method looking at the value of the underlying assets

  • Discount rate and capitalisation rate: substantiation of the discount rate and capitalisation rate by means of the “build-up” method, the “capital asset pricing” model, the substantiation of the “weighted average cost of capital” and other quantitative methods in order to arrive at a substantiation hereof
  • Substantiation of minority discounts and checking premiums and discounts prior to applying a discount when only limited trading of shares is possible.
  • Deductive valuation methods that are used in transactions
  • Monte Carlo Analysis and Real Option theory
  • Structured Finance applications to determine the value of loans in portfolios
  • Pricing for derivatives and complex options based on quantitative models

It is our job to present a fully substantiated case on your behalf and to do so convincingly, to ensure that the judiciary understands this and recognises your rights.

If you would like to receive more information, please contact: