- 31 - price of 55 to 60 percent of book value.13 Considering the nonpublic market that existed at the relevant time and the prices for which Savings shares actually were sold,14 we think it extremely unlikely that any willing seller, not under any compulsion to sell and seeking to maximize his or her profit, would choose to sell his or her shares in the public market at a 45-to 50-percent discount from book value. We reject this portion of petitioner's expert opinion. Respondent's Expert's Opinion Respondent's expert is Herbert T. Spiro (Spiro). Spiro is the president of American Valuation Group, Inc., and he has performed many valuations for respondent in the past. In his report, Spiro considered the actual sales values and used the market and income methods to value petitioner's Savings shares. Spiro ultimately concluded that the fair market value of the stock was $3,776,477 ($293 per share). Spiro found seven publicly traded bank companies that were sufficiently comparable to Savings to use for the market method of valuation. Employing a methodology similar to that used by 13The experts assumed that only petitioner's shares would be offered on the public market. 14The total number of shares that changed hands during the 12 months beginning on Oct. 9, 1991, is 4,136. This amount includes the 1,111 shares sold by decedent and the 2,800 sold by petitioner. All these shares sold for more than book value.Page: Previous 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 Next
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