Foreword

• Jurisdiction: United States

Bankruptcy valuation is tricky work. The law at times compels estate assets to be valued under a "fair market" standard, contemplating a hypothetical sale among hypothetical parties transacting in a hypothetical, unpressured environment bearing little resemblance to the debtor's actual reality. Other times, assets must be valued using a "replacement" value standard, which is remarkably unaccommodating when the assets in question are unconventional, like a specially outfitted manufacturing plant, unique intellectual property or fact-specific causes of action.

But perhaps the most uncertain valuation assignment in bankruptcy is ascertaining the worth of a complex business enterprise, such as in connection with the avoidance of a pre-petition transfer or contested confirmation of a chapter 11 plan of reorganization. In...