Business Valuation

Valuation is at the heart of almost all finance courses. Most business people that deal with securities and companies directly deal with valuation issues. Even traders who live or die by the profitability of their trades lean heavily on valuation. Given the attention that valuation has received in recent years with the number of companies that have gone bankrupt, this module is designed to provide participants with a survey of the most popular valuation methods, their uses, and practical applications. The module focuses on company valuation, starting with accounting-linked valuation methods, with specific emphasis on the concepts of “relative valuation” using multiples, their application as well as shortcomings. From there, it then examines the principles of “discounted cash flow” valuation, the intellectual foundation of most valuation methods, with detailed discussion on the concept of “cash flow” and how to adjust accounting numbers to arrive at usable “cash flow” estimates.