Substantial value

Substantial value (valeur substantielle) is the economic value of a company's operational assets — fixed assets, working capital, intangibles — revalued at their replacement or market value and adjusted for debt. It differs from book net assets by incorporating fair value adjustments. In Swiss valuation practice, it is one of the two components of the practitioners' method (alongside earnings value), used for fiscal valuations. In due diligence, substantial value analysis identifies hidden reserves and assets systematically undervalued in CO accounts.

‍

Example: a Swiss manufacturer presents book net assets of CHF 8.5 million. Substantial value restatement: real estate at market value (+CHF 2.2 million), equipment at replacement value (+CHF 600,000), pension deficit (-CHF 1.8 million) = CHF 9.5 million substantial value. Combined with earnings value of CHF 14.0 million in a 2/3+1/3 practitioners' method, the fiscal value is CHF 12.5 million.

‍

Hectelion calculates substantial value in Swiss practitioners' method valuations and restatement analyses for due diligence and tax purposes.