Estate of Thomas A. Fleming, Deceased, Cathy J. Hirt, Independent Successor Executrix - Page 12

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          lack-of-marketability discount6 (35-percent combined discount) to           
          that mean value and arrived at an amount, viz., $604,777, that he           
          determined was the fair market value on the valuation date of               
          decedent's 50-percent stock interest in B&W Longview.  We are not           
          persuaded on the record presented to us that the 35-percent                 
          combined discount which Mr. Bernstein applied is appropriate.               
               When he prepared his expert report, Mr. Harrell, like Mr.              
          Bernstein, believed that applying a weighted combination of the             
          market multiple method and the transaction method generally would           
          produce an accurate estimate under the market approach of the               
          fair market value on the valuation date of the stock interest in            
          question.7  However, after he prepared his report and before                
          trial, Mr. Harrell discovered deficiencies in the data which were           
          provided to him and on which he relied in applying the market               
          multiple method.  Those deficiencies caused Mr. Harrell to                  
          conclude that the results that he reached under that method are             
          not reliable.  We agree, and we shall not give any weight to                

          6  Mr. Bernstein described the 35-percent discount that he ap-              
          plied as a lack-of-marketability discount.  However, his explana-           
          tion in his expert report of what that discount was intended to             
          cover makes it clear, and petitioner agrees on brief, that that             
          discount was applied by Mr. Bernstein not only because he be-               
          lieved that there was a lack of marketability inherent in the               
          stock interest in question, but also because he concluded that              
          that stock interest was a noncontrolling interest.                          
          7  Unlike Mr. Bernstein who gave equal weight to those two meth-            
          ods, Mr. Harrell believed when he prepared his expert report that           
          one-third weight should be given to the market multiple method              
          and two-thirds weight should be given to the transaction method.            




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