The latest issue of our "Insights on Valuation" newsletter is now available. Arxis Financial, Inc. is pleased to provide this highly respected, nationwide publication which features valuable information that is applicable to many litigation matters. Topics in this issue include:

• Value Impact of Key Employees-- Often the value of a company is diminished by the loss of a key employee, either to competition, disability, or death. A key employee is someone who has been intimately involved with the operations of the company in a position working closely with customers. The employee has certain skills, maintains key contacts, or possesses other attributes that cannot be easily replaced. The valuation issue is the business's vulnerability to the loss of such a key employee and how that loss might be mitigated ...

• Small Business and the Appropriate Use of Publicly Traded Companies as Comparables — Owners of small businesses are easily tempted to use publicly traded stock prices to estimate the value of their company. An established pizza chain with 20 company-owned stores and 20 franchisee-operated stores might feel a comparison to Pizza Hut, Inc. (YUM) is appropriate. After all, both companies sell pizza and operate multiple locations. "If only" valuation of small closely held companies were as easy as finding a public company doing something similar to the subject company. The trading price of the public company could provide guidance in the valuation of the subject company ...

• Valuing Start-Up Companies -- Both start-up and existing company valuations are determined by similar factors. What makes the start-up valuation both different and difficult is the lack of historical operating data to serve as prologue to future operations. Management of the start-up company might have prepared projections in developing a business plan to attract investors and lenders. The valuation analyst needs to maintain a healthy degree of skepticism in assessing the likelihood of success as projected ...

Chris Hamilton will provide a number of presentations this Fall, including:

October:

• "Cost of Capital and the Income Approach to Valuation" presented to NACVA in Denver, CO
• "Advanced Business Valuation" presented to NACVA in New Orleans, LA
• "Income and Asset Approach to Valuation" presented to NACVA in New Orleans, LA

December:

• "Valuation Fundamentals, Theory & Techniques" presented to NACVA in San Diego, CA
• "Cost of Capital and the Income Approach to Valuation" presented to NACVA in San Diego, CA

The Business Valuation practice is headed by partner Chris L. Hamilton, CPA, CFE, CVA. Mr. Hamilton is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Fraud Examiner and Certified Valuation Analyst. Mr. Hamilton has published articles in several publications, and has made presentations at national conferences, training institutes and seminars on topics including forensic accounting, fraud and business appraisal.