Business & Share Valuation Expert Witness UK

Business and share valuation expert witnesses are typically forensic accountants or chartered accountants with specialist valuation experience. They provide independent opinions on the value of trading companies, investment holdings, and minority shareholdings for High Court Chancery proceedings, matrimonial financial remedy cases, HMRC Shares and Assets Valuation challenges, and international arbitration.

The methodology applied depends on the business type and legal context. For stable trading businesses, maintainable earnings (applying an EBITDA multiple to normalised profits) is most common. For growth companies, discounted cash flow applies. For property or investment companies, net asset value is standard. The expert must justify the chosen methodology and address the specific legal context: S994 fair value, matrimonial fair value, or HMRC market value each require different treatment.

Minority discount is a critical issue in shareholder disputes under Companies Act 2006 s994, where courts typically order valuation at fair value without applying a minority discount. In matrimonial proceedings, business interests are valued at fair value as at the relevant date. HMRC's SAV team routinely challenges business valuations submitted for IHT, CGT, and employment related securities purposes.