Business Valuation

When you need a business valuation alone or in conjunction with a real estate valuation in Northern and Central California, look to ZENGEL & Associates. We offer a rare combination of both services -- professional business valuation and MAI, expert commercial real property appraisal.

If you need only a business valuation, an Accredited Valuation Analyst (AVA) with up-to-date training, standards and certification by the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts (NACVA), will conduct your valuation in a timely, professional manner.

If you need both valuation services, we offer you several advantages. First, you don’t waste time finding, vetting and engaging two different consultants, and then coordinating their schedules. Second, you don’t end up paying two separate fees. Third, the uncertainties and inefficiencies of using two firms disappear. Instead, we offer a seamless combination of services that melds into client-centered valuation deliverables you can count on -- at lower combined cost.

Professional Business Valuation – What do you need?
Professional business valuation can be part financial theory, part market analysis, and part business savvy. So, when you need a ballpark value, your local business broker is a good source. But, there are plenty of situations when the back of a napkin number or rule of thumb multiple does not work, such as (1) your partners are buying you out, (2) you and your business value are headed for court, (3) your business value is needed for tax planning or is reported on an estate or gift tax return, (4) you are selling your business to retire, (5) you seek bank financing for the purchase of a business, (6) you are looking for ways to increase the exit value of your business, and (7) many more.

In those circumstances, “guesstimates” fail -- so call on ZENGEL & Associates. We conduct your business valuation with understandable, real-world analyses using proven, professionally-recognized methodologies. We can tailor the complexity and thoroughness of your business valuation engagement to your needs, budget and time frame.

What Business Context?
We can conduct your business valuation alone or combined with real estate appraisal in the following contexts, and more:

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• Trusts, estates and gifting
• Probate
• Corporations and sole proprietorships
• Partnerships and other fractional interests
• Retail, wholesale, distributors, services, manufacturing, agriculture

• Litigation and damages assessment
• Purchase and sale
• Financing and Refinancing
• Line of credit collateralization

Sample Engagements

• For estate planning purposes, our client engaged us to value nearly 90 California Gas Station / C-Store sites across 57 cities in the Central Valley, Northern California, the South, East and North SF Bay Areas, San Francisco / SF Peninsula, and the Central Coast – plus a Truck Travel Center.

Combined real estate and business valuation -- $80+ million.

• An SF Bay Area law firm engaged us to estimate the business value of a corporation in an action for breach of an equity purchase agreement and for related professional negligence. We submitted an expert valuation report for the defendant and a detailed critique of the valuation report of the opposing expert.

Result: the case settled near our business value that was less than half the value estimated by plaintiff’s business valuation expert.

• For business planning, a Northern California investment group engaged us to value three tenancy-in-common (TIC) interests holding a group of commercial income properties. We first appraised the fair market value of the properties, then analyzed and concluded the appropriate discounts to value that applied to each individual TIC interest.

Valuation (pre-discount) at over $2 million.

• For a Central Valley bulk petroleum marketer, we conducted a business valuation of its corporate entity, including appraisal of its real estate and improvements, for business planning and potential sale purposes.

Valuation in excess of $2 million.

• For scores of owners, sellers, buyers, lessors and lessees of gas station/C-store properties in greater Northern and Central California, we have valued the complete going concern value of the business, including the real property and improvements, often including the business value of the operation. These valuations have generally come in the context of purchase/sale financings and lease renewals

• For a Northern California corporation, we conducted a business valuation, including appraisal of real estate and improvements, of its animal boarding facility and retail business for purposes of business planning and potential sale.

Valuation over $1 million.