Ateneo - UPO

The course is divided in two parts.

Part 1 – Introduction to Business Valuation and generally accepted valuation methods (Prof. Comoli) – 4 CFU

Part 2 – Market Multiples and valuation in special contexts (Prof. Bavagnoli) – 4 CFU

International Valuation Standards Council, International Valuation Standards. Effective 31 January 2025.
Further material (slides, case studies, articles, excel spreadsheets) and information can be found in the moodle page of the course.

1. Knowledge and understanding:
The students will know and understand the methods, tools and main problems related to business valuation in the context of their specific purposes: merger and acquisitions, asset deals or stock deals, valuation of a control or a minority stock, measurement of company’s performance, valuations for financial reporting, brand valuation.
Frontal teaching activity and practical applications will allow the students to realize which are the most appropriate valuation methods. Moreover, the students will be able to understand the relationships between strategy, valuation and value creation or destruction.

2. Applying knowledge and understanding:
The students will acquire the capacity to apply the acquired knowledge and the principles of business valuation. Discussion of case studies will allow students to professionally deal with valuation assignments, performing a proper fundamental analysis and eventually finalizing the valuation.

3. Making judgements:
The students will develop independent judgement capacity, critical thinking and ability to relate theoretical topics to applications. In comparing theoretical tools and practical applications, the students will acquire capacity of reflection and interpretation of information needed to manage the valuation process.
Building on these knowledge and understanding they will be able to deliver professional valuations in real situations, building their own judgement on strong economic, financial and ethical foundations.

4. Communication skills:
The students will acquire mastership of expression and proper technical language for business valuations. The development of these communication skills will make the students capable of articulating in a proper format professional valuations.

5. Learning skills:
The students will acquire a high level of learning ability that will make them autonomous in developing their own technical and practical knowledge. Specifically the students will be able to face the upcoming challenges in their professional careers and in the rest of their academic life, also being able to individually analyse in depth specific topics related to business valuation.

None

Frontal teaching and business cases and exercises. Classroom activities are in-person, involve frontal teaching and interaction, with student participation encouraged. Each credit requires 7.5 hours of classroom time and 17.5 hours of self-study.

Class attendance is voluntary (not mandatory).
Students with physical disabilities, Learning Disabilities or Special Education Needs can request specific services and tools via reference office consulting the University webpage:
https://www.uniupo.it/en/services/services-students-physical-or-learning-disabilities.
Students with disabilities, learning disabilities or special education needs, once they have contacted the University Staff, can refer to the tutor in charge of the course to define the examination modalities, concerning academic aspects.

The outcome of the learning process is checked through written exams, whereby the students will be required to articulate relevant topics discussed in the course, providing evidence of the acquired knowledge by means of answers to open questions of theoretical and/or applied nature.
The theoretical questions follow the same format as those in the "Examples of Questions for the Exam" file available on Moodle.
The application-based questions are structured like the case studies—and their corresponding solutions—found on Moodle.
To achieve a passing grade, students must have mastered at least the fundamental concepts about valuation models and techniques.
To achieve an excellent grade, students must demonstrate a thorough understanding of not only the fundamentals but also the more detailed and technical aspects, understanding nuances and fully articulating their thinking in the exams.

Part 1 – Introduction to Business Valuation and generally accepted valuation methods (Prof. Comoli) – 4 CFU

The principles of value measurement: the difference between price and value
The most appropriate valuation methods
Net asset value
Net asset value adjusted for intangibles
The earnings based methods
The estimate of discount rates
Mixed / Value creation methods
The discounted cash flow method (DCF): underlying assumptions and implementation
Forecasting cash flows, terminal value and the impact of financial structure

Part 2 – Market Multiples and valuation in special contexts (Prof. Bavagnoli) – 4 CFU

Market multiples and comparable transactions
Purposes of valuation
Premiums and discounts
Brand valuation

Aspects relating to gender issues
When dealing with ESG aspects and the sustainability objective, the importance of good corporate governance will be highlighted in the various profiles, including gender equality.

The participants to the course are expected to gain an understanding of the purposes of valuation and to perform a valuation in practice being aware of which parts of the process are more sensitive and relevant for the estimate of the value to be assigned to an asset or a business.