The Appellate Division, Second Department last week affirmed the key rulings by Justice Ira Warshawsky in the Murphy v. U.S. Dredging valuation case, including his application of a marketability discount to entire enterprise value rather than limiting it to good will. Learn more in this week’s New York Business Divorce.

Continue Reading Ruling on Valuation Discounts for Marketability, Built-In Gains Tax Ends Rift Among New York Appellate Courts

Stock valuation junkies can get their fix in this week’s New York Business Divorce, as it revisits the issue of discounts for BIG — as in built-in capital gains taxes — in the appraisal of C corporation shares under the fair value standard, prompted by a decision last week by a Manhattan appeals court in a case called Matter of Mandelbaum.

Continue Reading Dissenting Shareholder Stock Appraisal Triggered by Freeze-Out Merger Raises Issue of Post-Merger Tax Consequences for C Corporation with Built-In Gains

Business appraiser Mark Gottlieb recently interviewed me for a podcast on the subject of fair value in shareholder buyout proceedings. This week’s New York Business Divorce has a link to Mark’s website where you can listen to the interview.

Continue Reading Fair Value in Stock Valuation Proceedings: Podcast Interview of Peter Mahler by Business Appraiser Mark Gottlieb

A rare case stemming from a petition to dissolve a residential co-op corporation is the subject of this week’s New York Business Divorce. The decision by Justice Carolyn Demarest in McDaniel v. 162 Columbia Heights addresses challenging valuation issues for this unique type of business corporation.

Continue Reading Valuing Shares in a Residential Co-op Corporation: Is the Whole Worth More Than the Sum of its Parts?

Stock valuation junkies, this week’s New York Business Divorce is for you, as we examine a recent Fourth Department decision that weighs in on the controversial issue whether the discount for lack of marketability applies only to the company’s good will or to the entire enterprise value.

Continue Reading Appellate Ruling in Stock Valuation Case Further Muddies the Marketability Discount Waters

Valuation discounts are among the most hotly contested issues in minority shareholder buy-out proceedings triggered by dissolution petitions. As between the discount for lack of marketability and the minority discount (a/k/a discount for lack of control), New York case law allows one of them and prohibits the other. Do you know which is which? Find out in this week’s New York Business Divorce.

Continue Reading What’s the Difference Between Marketability and Minority Discounts?

Suffolk County Commercial Division Justice Elizabeth Hazlitt Emerson recently decided a fair value appraisal in a stock buyout proceeding under BCL 1118, in which she rejected the two experts’ widely divergent conclusions of value in favor of her own computation based on the income approach. Read all about it in this week’s New York Business Divorce.

Continue Reading Court Rejects Experts’ Appraisals in Fair Value Proceeding, Relies on Own Computation Using Income Approach

Have room for one more 2008 top-10 list? This week’s New York Business Divorce highlights the 10 most interesting business divorce cases from last year, with updated case citations and links to previous write-ups.

Continue Reading Top 10 Business Divorce Cases of 2008

New York courts generally will apply a discount for lack of marketability in valuing the shares of closely held corporations in buyout proceedings triggered by judicial dissolution. Whether the discount applies only to goodwill, or to the entire enterprise value, may depend on which court you’re in. Find out more in this week’s New York Business Divorce.

Continue Reading Courts Differ on Application of Marketability Discount in Stock Valuation Proceedings