Comparative business valuation of SME in Europe

Abstract

SMEs represent 99% of all businesses in the European Union (EU). They are no longer bound solely to national operations. Instead, they are internationally and globally active and represent attractive cross-border target companies. This increasing attractiveness raises the question for many entrepreneurs about their company’s value. Different opinions on valuation techniques and methods result in different expectations on value and price which makes it harder to compare and does not provide transparency. Research on the evaluation of SMEs is predominantly nationally oriented and illustrates the practice of individual countries. Comparative research is complicated by the fact that national standards are only available in the national language, as in Italy, or at best in English, as in Spain but is limited towards the basic principals. Carland and White (1980) compared national and international standards for company valuation in a first approach but did not address the valuation practices or the unique features of SMEs. Fleischer examined comparative literature in several articles published since 2012 but limited himself to stock corporation and valuation law cash settlement claims. As for Italy, a newer approach by the Organismo Italiano di Valutazione (2018) tries to close this gap by publishing topics of cross-border interest in English in the Business Valuation Journal. However, there is a need for a comparative study on the valuation methods of SMEs across Europe for more transparency in terms of valuation.