The medical device manufacturing industry produces equipment designed to diagnose and treat patients within global healthcare systems.  Medical devices range from simple tongue depressors and bandages, to complex programmable pacemakers and sophisticated imaging systems.  Major product categories include surgical implants and instruments, medical supplies, electro-medical equipment, in-vitro diagnostic equipment and reagents, irradiation apparatuses, and dental goods. This article outlines five structural factors and trends that influence demand and supply of medical devices and related procedures.

Over the past few years, FreightTech has emerged as its own category of technology. The level of excitement in the space grew in 2018 as global venture capital investment increased to $2.9 billion from $1.3 billion the prior year. FreightTech is on track for another year of exponential growth in 2019.

Scott Womack recently attended the 2019 Spring Conference of the National Auto Dealers Counsel (NADC) in Dana Point, California. This article provides a couple of key takeaways from the day and a half sessions on the current conditions in the industry.

This article explains dealership metrics and performance statistics–what they mean, how to evaluate them, and where a particular store stacks up.

The trucking industry is wedged between a rock and a hard place when it comes to driver recruitment. Trucking companies are simultaneously exploring self-driving technology, while still convincing new entrants to the labor market that commercial driving is a career choice that will pay off. The driver shortage has also sparked major shifts in the way hiring and training are conducted in the industry. While this shortage will hurt shippers until autonomous technology is fully developed, the long-term problem may actually lie in another labor pool: service technicians.

InsurTech, a FinTech niche, continues to threaten the traditional state of the insurance industry. In this article, we provide an overview of the niche and the market conditions in which these companies operate, as well as company-specific considerations to understand when valuing these companies.

The extensive use of core versus reported earnings by public companies has been a widespread phenomenon for at least 25 years. During the past decade, the practice also has become widespread among companies (and their bankers who market deals) that are issuing debt in the leverage loan and high yield markets.

If investors are solely relying upon company defined adjusted EBITDA, then they may be vacating their fiduciary duties when investing capital. That said, an analysis of core versus reported earnings is a critical element of any valuation or credit assessment of a non-early stage company with an established financial history.

Auto dealers, like most business owners, are constantly wondering about the value of their business. It’s easy to see how this issue moves to the forefront around certain events such as a transaction, buy-sell agreement, litigation, divorce, wealth-transfer event, etc. There are many other instances when a dealer can evaluate the condition, progress, or value of their store. Dealers can actually influence the value of their store prior to these obvious events by understanding the value drivers of a store valuation and addressing them on a consistent basis. So what are some of the value drivers of a store valuation?

Along the road to building the value of a dealership, it is necessary and appropriate to examine the dealership in a variety of ways. Each provides unique perspective and insight into how a dealer is proceeding along the path to grow the value of the dealership and if/when it may be ready to sell. Most dealers realize the obvious events that may require a formal valuation: potential sale/acquisition, shareholder dispute, death of a shareholder, gift/estate tax transfer of ownership, etc. A formal business valuation can also be very useful to a dealer when examining internal operations.

The value of a company is generally dependent on three factors: risk, growth, and cash flow. Esports teams have an abundance of risk as well as growth potential. Considering eSports is a relatively new industry, the growth potential is huge. At the same time, and for the same reason, there is significant risk in the industry – it is too early to know if there is a proven, sustainable, cash flow generating business model.

Valuation of a business can be a complex process requiring certified business valuation and/or forensic accounting professionals.  Valuations of automobile dealerships are unique even from valuation of manufacturing, service, and retail companies.  Automobile dealership valuations involve the understanding of industry terminology, factory financial statements, and hybrid valuation approaches.  For these reasons, it’s important to hire a business valuation expert that specializes in automobile dealership valuation and not just a generalist business valuation appraiser. 

An eSports team can make money in a variety of ways, including broadcast revenue, sponsorships, merchandise sales, and subscriptions. In this industry overview, we discuss various business models for eSports teams.

eSports is a rapidly expanding industry that has drawn viewers and investments alike. The introduction of streaming platforms, as well as the improvement in mobile technology, has allowed the industry to grow from its arcade hall beginnings in the 1970s to competitors streaming games to millions of viewers globally. In this whitepaper, we provide a brief overview of the sport and expand on the potential growth of this emerging industry.

Demographic shifts underlie the long-term market opportunity for medical device manufacturers. While efforts to control costs on the part of the government insurer in the U.S. may limit future pricing growth for incumbent products, a growing global market provides domestic device manufacturers with an opportunity to broaden and diversify their geographic revenue base. Developing new products and procedures is risky and usually more resource intensive compared to some other growth sectors of the economy. However, barriers to entry in the form of existing regulations provide a measure of relief from competition, especially for newly developed products.

Valuing companies with limited if any operating history that involves a new technology is inherently difficult. The challenge increases when the subject has a complex capital structure. Nevertheless, valuations—whether reasonable or unreasonable—have very real economic consequences for investors, employees and other stakeholders, especially when new capital is injected into the equation. We believe private FinTech companies will be well served over the long-run to obtain periodic valuations from independent third parties.

Coming off recent years where both public and private FinTech markets were trending positively, the tail end of 2015 and the start to 2016 have been unique as performance has started to diverge. Against this backdrop, this article discusses other strategic and exit options beyond an IPO FinTech companies can consider, such as partnering with, acquiring, or selling to traditional incumbents (banks, insurers, and money managers).