Independent Fair Value Advisory for Private Companies and Private Equity
Financial reporting increasingly depends on complex fair value measurements that influence how a company’s financial position and operating performance are presented to stakeholders. These measurements affect reported earnings, balance sheet values, covenant compliance, tax planning, compensation expense, and investor communications. As accounting standards evolve and scrutiny intensifies, organizations require valuation analyses that are technically rigorous, economically grounded, and capable of withstanding detailed review.
We provide independent financial reporting valuation services to private companies, private equity portfolio companies, investment entities, and their advisors across the United States. Our work is designed to comply with U.S. GAAP and IFRS while reflecting the underlying economics of the business. Because we do not perform audit services, our opinions are free from structural conflicts that can arise when valuation providers also serve as auditors. This independence allows us to focus solely on delivering objective conclusions supported by transparent methodology and defensible assumptions.
Engagements are led by senior professionals with extensive experience evaluating operating companies, intangible assets, complex capital structures, and industry-specific risks. Organizations engage us when valuation conclusions must be credible, supportable, and aligned with both accounting requirements and business reality.
A purchase price allocation is required whenever one company acquires another and must assign the transaction consideration to identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed at fair value. This process determines how the economics of the acquisition will be reflected in future financial statements and often has a significant impact on reported earnings through amortization and impairment testing.
The valuation of intangible assets is typically the most complex component of a purchase price allocation. Assets such as customer relationships, proprietary technology, trade names, licensing rights, backlog, and non-compete agreements can represent a substantial portion of enterprise value. Determining fair value requires careful analysis of expected future benefits, attrition patterns, royalty benchmarks, replacement costs, and market participant assumptions.
Accurate allocation at the outset reduces the risk of subsequent adjustments, audit challenges, or unexpected impairment charges. We work closely with management teams and audit firms to develop conclusions supported by appropriate methodologies and market evidence, ensuring that the allocation reflects both accounting standards and the economic drivers of the business.
Goodwill represents the excess of purchase price over the fair value of identifiable net assets and must be evaluated periodically to determine whether its carrying value remains recoverable. While testing is typically performed annually, interim testing may be required when events or circumstances indicate a potential decline in value. Such triggers may include deteriorating operating performance, loss of key customers, industry disruption, regulatory changes, or increases in capital costs.
Impairment analysis requires forward-looking evaluation of expected cash flows, discount rates, long-term growth assumptions, and market evidence. Because goodwill often reflects anticipated synergies and strategic benefits, assessing its recoverability demands a nuanced understanding of both the business and its competitive environment.
Our work provides management and boards with a clear view of value drivers, potential impairment exposure, and sensitivity to key assumptions. Documentation is prepared to facilitate efficient audit review while supporting defensible conclusions.
Equity-based compensation is a cornerstone of incentive programs for many privately held and sponsor-backed companies. Stock options, restricted shares, profits interests, and similar awards must be valued to determine compensation expense for financial reporting purposes. Unlike publicly traded securities, private company equity lacks observable market prices, requiring specialized valuation techniques.
These analyses often involve modeling complex capital structures with multiple classes of equity, liquidation preferences, conversion features, and anticipated exit scenarios. Assumptions regarding volatility, expected term, dividend policy, and liquidity events materially influence valuation outcomes.
We provide independent valuations grounded in market participant assumptions and supported by robust analytical frameworks. The resulting conclusions affect not only financial reporting but also employee incentives, investor perceptions, and governance considerations.
Certain assets and liabilities must be measured at fair value on either a recurring or nonrecurring basis. These may include contingent consideration arrangements, financial instruments, asset retirement obligations, and assets acquired in distressed or restructuring situations. When observable market inputs are limited, valuation relies on models that incorporate both market data and professional judgment.
Fair value standards emphasize the perspective of market participants rather than entity-specific assumptions. As a result, analyses must consider how knowledgeable buyers and sellers would price the asset or liability under current market conditions. This often requires integration of industry data, transaction evidence, macroeconomic indicators, and scenario analysis.
Our approach ensures alignment with fair value hierarchy requirements while providing transparent support for key assumptions and methodologies.
Investment funds, family offices, and holding companies require periodic valuation of portfolio investments for financial reporting and investor communications. For illiquid investments in private operating companies, determining fair value involves assessing financial performance, growth prospects, capital structure, industry dynamics, and exit conditions.
Independent valuation enhances transparency and credibility with investors, lenders, and regulators. It also provides a consistent framework for monitoring performance across a diversified portfolio. We assist clients in developing valuations that reflect realistic exit scenarios and market participant perspectives while remaining compliant with applicable standards.
Companies emerging from restructuring proceedings must remeasure assets and liabilities at fair value as of the emergence date, effectively establishing a new financial baseline. This process encompasses operating assets, intangible assets, working capital, debt instruments, and equity.
Fresh-start accounting engagements often occur under compressed timelines and heightened scrutiny from creditors, investors, and auditors. We provide coordinated valuation across all major balance sheet components, ensuring consistency of assumptions and methodologies.