The Dark Side of Valuation: Valuing Young, Distressed, and Complex Businesses
Financial professionals have long faced the challenge of accurately valuing
companies that are difficult to value using conventional methodologies. Years ago, this
challenge was most keenly felt in the "dot-com" industries, and many
professionals fell victim to the "dark side," creating values that were simply
unsustainable. Now, amidst today's global financial crisis, the same challenge applies to
a far wider spectrum of enterprises and assets, ranging from Asian equities to
mortgage-backed securities, financial services firms like Lehman to real estate firms like
Sears.
In The Dark Side of Valuation, the world's top expert on valuation brings together
today's best practices for accurately valuing young, distressed, and complex businesses.
Aswath Damodaran has thoroughly revised this book, broadening its perspective to consider
all companies that resist easy valuation. He covers the entire corporate lifecycle, from
"idea" and "nascent growth" companies to those in decline and
distress; and offers specific guidance for valuing infrastructure, real estate,
technology, human capital, commodity, and cyclical firms. Damodaran places special
emphasis on the financial sector, illuminating the implications of today's radically
changed credit markets for valuation. Along the way, he addresses valuation questions that
have suddenly gained urgency, ranging from "Are US treasuries risk-free?" to
"How do you value assets in highly illiquid markets?"
ASWATH DAMODARAN is Professor of Finance at the Stern School of
Business at New York University and one of the world’s most highly regarded experts on
valuation and finance. His books include Damodaran on Valuation, Investment Valuation,
Corporate Finance: Theory and Practice, and Applied Corporate Finance: A User’s Manual.
His recent book, Strategic Risk Taking, explores how we think about risk and the
implications for risk management. He has received the Stern School of Business Excellence
in Teaching Award seven times and was profiled in BusinessWeek as one of the top twelve
U.S. business school professors.
Table of Contents
Preface vi
Chapter 1 The Dark Side of Valuation 1
Chapter 2 Intrinsic Valuation 22
Chapter 3 Probabilistic Valuation: Scenario Analysis, Decision Trees, and
Simulations 64
Chapter 4 Relative Valuation 90
Chapter 5 Real Options Valuation 114
Chapter 6 A Shaky Base: A “Risky” Risk-Free Rate 144
Chapter 7 Risky Ventures: Assessing the Price of Risk 168
Chapter 8 Macro Matters: The Real Economy 194
Chapter 9 Baby Steps: Young and Start-Up Companies 213
Chapter 10 Shooting Stars? Growth Companies 263
Chapter 11 The Grown-Ups: Mature Companies 312
Chapter 12 Winding Down: Declining Companies 361
Chapter 13 Ups and Downs: Cyclical and Commodity Companies 417
Chapter 14 Mark to Market: Financial Services Companies 449
Chapter 15 Invisible Investments: Firms with Intangible Assets
476
Chapter 16 Volatility Rules: Emerging-Market Companies 505
Chapter 17 The Octopus: Multibusiness Global Companies 535
Chapter 18 Going Over to the Light: Vanquishing the Dark Side
568
Index 576
560 Pages, Hardcover