Our approach considers the commercial operations of the business alongside its ownership arrangements and the rights attached to the relevant interests. An objective figure, prepared by someone outside the family, often makes difficult conversations easier.
Situations
When UAE clients ask for this valuation
- 1The founding generation is planning to pass ownership to the next.
- 2A family member wishes to sell their shares to the others.
- 3Ownership is moving into a holding company, a DIFC or ADGM foundation, or another structure.
- 4The family is adopting a charter or registering as a family business and needs agreed values.
- 5Family shareholders disagree about value.
Who asks us
Typical clients
- Family principals and shareholders
- Family offices
- Legal, tax and wealth advisers
What we value
The subject of the valuation
Operating companies, family investment holding companies and the interests of individual family members, whether held directly or through foundations and other structures.
Our method
How we reach the figure
We value the businesses on the approaches appropriate to each, then consider the family's ownership arrangements: classes of shares, restrictions on transfer outside the family, and any agreement on how values are to be set. Where the family has adopted a charter, its provisions are reflected.
We provide valuations, not legal advice. Questions of inheritance distribution, Sharia compliance, trusts and foundations are for the family's legal advisers.
| Income | Sustainable profit or projected cash flows | Usual starting point |
|---|---|---|
| Market | GCC and international deal and listed-company evidence | Cross-check |
| Asset | Restated balance sheet value | Where relevant |
Each family company is valued, then the interests within the structure, consistently.
In the UAE
Family businesses, foundations and the legal framework
The UAE now offers several frameworks for family ownership, including registration as a family business under federal law and foundations in DIFC and ADGM. Each affects who owns what and how interests can be transferred, which in turn affects value. We work with the family's legal advisers so the valuation reflects the structure accurately.
Value drivers
Points that move the value
- Family governance
- Charters, councils and agreements on ownership and dividends.
- Management succession
- Whether the business depends on the founder.
- Related-party dealings
- Trading, property and services between family companies.
- Ownership restrictions
- Limits on selling outside the family.
Documents
What we will ask you for
- Group structure and constitutional documents
- Financial statements for each entity
- Any family charter or agreements
- Details of related-party arrangements
The full list is tailored to your company once the scope is agreed.
Report, timing & fees
What you receive, and when
Valuations presented clearly enough for family members who are not finance specialists, with full reasoning for advisers.
Timing
Depends on the number of entities; agreed at the outset.
Compare report levels on our reports and deliverables page.
Questions
Questions clients ask about this service
- Can you value every family member's interest at once?
- Yes. We value the group once and then each interest within it, consistently.
- Will family members see the report?
- That is for the instructing party to decide; we agree confidentiality and access at the outset.