When valuing a company as a going concern, three main valuation methods are typically used:
1. Discounted Cash Flow Method
2, Comparable Company Analysis
3. Precedent Transactions

n the world of mergers and acquisitions, valuation process plays a fundamental role in determining the best estimate value for a business given all its counterparts. A company needs to be valued if it is being bought, sold, or liquidated. Sometimes a company must provide a value of its assets or company as a whole to raise debt also. The premise of valuation is that we can make reasonable estimates of value for most assets.

The valuation process is intrinsically technical, hence it is vitally important that whoever is conducting the valuation acquires financial knowledge. It is often said that valuations are a combination of both art and science.

This Excel workbook provides a high level valuation model for establishing the value of a company utilising all three methodologies. It is structured as follows:
1. Assumptions Tab
2. Calculations
3. Output sheets - IS and Free Cash Flow determination
4. Discount rate
5. DCF valuation
6. Market approaches

The valuation approaches reflected in the template are widely used within the investment banking and private equity industry and is a useful tool for M&A practitioners, CEOs, CFOs, venture capitalists, transaction advisory consultants and private equity fund managers.