Audit Company valuation
Asegi Auditores issues valuation reports on companies and shareholdings signed by an independent expert registered as a practising auditor with the ROAC, applying discounted cash flow, comparable multiples and substantial value. They are used in sales and purchases, shareholders joining or leaving, family business succession, related-party transactions and litigation.
What's included
- Valuation report signed by an independent expert registered as a practising auditor with the ROAC
- Cross-checked application of several methods: discounted cash flow, comparable multiples and substantial value
- A reasoned value range, with every assumption and every adjustment explained one by one
- Prior normalisation of the result: non-recurring expenses, shareholder remuneration and non-operating assets
- Sensitivity analysis on the variables that move the value most
- A report that stands up against the other shareholder, before the Foral Tax Authority or in court proceedings
Valuing a company is not a matter of applying a formula. It is a process that calls for sound professional judgement: choosing the methods appropriate to the case, normalising accounts that are almost never ready to be valued, and then defending every assumption against someone with a legitimate interest in disputing it.
Why a valuation is commissioned
Full or partial sale of the business. An investor coming in or a shareholder leaving. Withdrawal and exclusion of shareholders, where the fair value of the shareholding has to be determined. Corporate restructurings and capital increases by set-off of debts or by non-cash contribution. Transactions between related parties, which must be valued at market value. And succession planning for the family business, where the value of the shareholding governs every subsequent decision.
Methods: several, cross-checked against each other
There are multiple generally accepted valuation methods — discounted cash flow, multiples of comparable companies and transactions, substantial value and asset-based methods — and both their selection and their application are open to interpretation. That is why we do not work with a single method: we apply those that fit the case, compare the results and explain the differences. What you receive is not a stand-alone number but a reasoned range with a sensitivity analysis on the variables that really move the value.
What has to be normalised first
A good part of the work happens before anything is discounted: shareholder remuneration that does not reflect a market salary, non-recurring expenses, non-operating assets, surplus or shortfall of cash, unrecorded contingencies and transactions with related parties valued off-market. Without those prior adjustments, any method produces a value that the other party will dismantle in the first meeting.
Independent expert report
With our professionals involved you will obtain a valuation report issued by an independent expert registered as a practising auditor with the Registro Oficial de Auditores de Cuentas (ROAC). That status carries weight when the report does not stay in a drawer: when it has to be shown to the other shareholder, to a buyer, to the Foral Tax Authority of Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa, Araba or Navarra, or to a court. A report that only convinces the person who commissioned it has been of no use at all.
Frequently asked questions
- Which valuation method is the correct one?
- There is no single one. There are several generally accepted methods — discounted cash flow, comparable multiples, substantial value — and the sensible approach is to apply those that fit the case, cross-check the results and explain the differences between them.
- Why does it matter that it is signed by an independent expert registered with the ROAC?
- Because the report is going to be used before third parties: the other shareholder, a buyer, the Foral Tax Authority or a court. A valuation issued by a practising auditor registered with the ROAC stands up in that context.
- Is it worth valuing the company before planning the family succession?
- Yes. Knowing the value of the shareholding is the starting point for planning the transfer and for checking whether the foral family business requirements are met, which govern the reductions applicable under Inheritance and Gift Tax.
- Is a valuation useful for transactions between related parties?
- Yes. Transactions between companies in the same group or between a shareholder and the company must be valued at market value, and an external report documents that value before the corresponding Foral Tax Authority.