Product Description

"Aswath Damodaran is simply the best valuation teacher around. If you are interested in the theory or practice of valuation, you should have Damodaran on Valuation on your bookshelf. You can bet that I do."
-- Michael J. Mauboussin, Chief Investment Strategist, Legg Mason Capital Management and author of More Than You Know: Finding Financial Wisdom in Unconventional Places

In order to be a successful CEO, corporate strategist, or analyst, understanding the valuation process is a necessity. The second edition of Damodaran on Valuation stands out as the most reliable book for answering many of todays critical valuation questions. Completely revised and updated, this edition is the ideal book on valuation for CEOs and corporate strategists. You'll gain an understanding of the vitality of todays valuation models and develop the acumen needed for the most complex and subtle valuation scenarios you will face.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #132502 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 696 pages

From the Inside Flap
The ability to value any asset is an essential skill in a wide variety of professional environments, from corporate finance to portfolio management to strategy. And while the reasons for doing valuation are as wide-ranging and varied as business itself, the fundamental precepts underlying valuation are surprisingly similar in both form and function.

Damodaran on Valuation, Second Edition provides you with today's most straightforward and comprehensive examination of the approaches and models necessary for performing valuations. Written by renowned teacher, author, and valuation authority Aswath Damodaran, and fully revised and updated from its top-selling first edition—which has become the essential reference for any professional needing accurate and reliable valuation information—this invaluable book now provides you with:

• In-depth coverage of different distinct valuation approaches and key models within each
• Techniques for accurately assessing the effect on value of employee stock options and other equity-based compensation
• Methodologies for using valuation models to value intangible assets—patents, copyrights, trademarks, licenses, brand names, and more
• Sound strategies for identifying and measuring the value of control in any business and why the expected value of control plays a role in many different valuation contexts
• Discussion of how liquidity—or, more accurately, illiquidity—affects value, along with ways to measure this impact on value
• Potential sources of the ever-elusive "synergy" when combining two entities, how best to value each type of synergy, and an examination of why firms so often overpay for synergy
• Techniques for measuring the costs of accounting opacity and business complexity, and accurately discounting the value of complex firms to promote transparency at every level
• A commonsense framework you can use to sift through numerous possible valuation models to determine the best model for your valuation task

For more than a decade, Damodaran on Valuation has been the standard valuation reference for professionals in virtually everyfield. Business realities have changed dramatically over that time, but the principles underlying valuation have not. Let this comprehensively revised and updated edition give you the knowledge and tools you need to address today's increasingly complex—and uncompromising—corporate and investment valuation environment.

From the Back Cover
Praise for Damodaran on Valuation

SECOND EDITION

"Aswath Damodaran is simply the best valuation teacher around. If you are interested in the theory or practice of valuation, you should have Damodaran on Valuation on your bookshelf. You can bet that I do."
—Michael J. Mauboussin, Chief Investment Strategist, Legg Mason Capital Management and author of More Than You Know: Finding Financial Wisdom in Unconventional Places

"Damodaran on Valuation is a marvel. The combination of expositional simplicity and conceptual rigor in this book is a rarity in the field of finance; rarer still is the clarity of ideas that simultaneously informs and delights. I do not believe that one can claim to be a serious practitioner—or, for that matter, teacher—of business valuation without mastering the ideas presented in this definitive piece of work."
—Professor Anant K. Sundaram, Faculty Director of Executive Education, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College

"Professor Damodaran does an excellent job of incorporating public and private company valuation issues in one volume. It's full of 'how tos' in dealing with difficult technical issues not usually addressed in text books, making it a great discussion tool and resource for both the student and the valuation professional. This is a great addition to any valuation library or training program."
—Scott A. Nammacher, CFA, ASA, Managing Director, Empire Valuation Consultants, LLC

In today's no-room-for-error business environment, the ability to accurately value a company's assets—both tangible and intangible—is essential for a wide variety of professionals, whether they are inside or outside that company. Damodaran on Valuation looks at valuation from the viewpoint of both the internal corporate strategist and the external portfolio manager, addressing issues related to models and techniques for valuing a business and, just as important, explaining their application in either the operation or acquisition of that business.

Damodaran on Valuation explores all aspects of valuation, from the fundamentals of estimating cash flows and discount rates to the principles underlying the use of multiples. In addition, the book addresses what are often left as loose ends in valuation—the value of control and synergy; how best to deal with cash, non-operating assets, and employee stock options when valuing a company; and the consequences of illiquidity, distress, and lack of transparency for asset value.

Whether you are a manager looking to maximize a company's value or an investor looking to beat the market, Damodaran on Valuation will give you the detailed, logical, and sensible answers you need to arrive at an accurate valuation.

About the Author
ASWATH DAMODARAN is Professor of Finance at New York University's Leonard N. Stern School of Business. He has been the recipient of numerous awards for outstanding teaching, including New York University's Distinguished Teaching Award. He has also been named one of the nation's top business school teachers by BusinessWeek. Damodaran conducts training courses in corporate finance and valuation at many leading investment banks. He is the author of numerous leading finance books, including the first edition of Damodaran on Valuation, Investment Valuation, Corporate Finance, Investment Management, Investment Philosophies, and Applied Corporate Finance, all published by Wiley.

Customer Reviews

academic, useful
I work for one of the largest banks in the US, and we use this book as a reference when we need to dig into the more arcane details of a project, particularly with regard to publicly-held interests. If you do a lot of valuation work, this is a recommended text, but it is tome-like and laborious to use, and I've found much of the advice it contains is very ivory-tower and not-so-practical in real world situations, having been written by a theorist rather than a dealmaker. If you are studying valuation theory, or do a lot of work on publicly-held companies, you'll definitely want this textbook, though over time, for privately-held situations, it might not be the one you reach for everyday. To accompany it, I would suggest buying Horn's "Unlocking the Value of a Business" for everyday use, which is a more concise and user-friendly manual on privately-held company valuation, with a more lighthearted, less-academic tone, and Horn's credentials as an acquisitions dealmaker yield advice that is decidedly more practical.

Thoroughly covers most aspects of equity valuation
I saw the author speak at a conference which prompted me to buy the book. His presentation and book nicely merge theory with practice -- too many valuation books are academic and don't deal with the real-life problems. He seems to anticipate the types of real-life challenges you'll get and then tells you how to handle them (about half the book addresses these "loose ends" that aren't always covered in more basic valuation material). I especially like that he's embraced valuation methods beyond DCF (such as P/E and P/B) because purists tend to dismiss these other methods as too crude for serious consideration(in his book he acknowledges that only 10% of Wall Street valuations are done with DCF). His web site is great for practitioners because you can download the raw numbers for thousands of companies and do the valuation steps he highlights in the book.

Amazing book
This is an amazing book for those who want to know everything about valuation.It has all concepts and real examples. Highly recommended.