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distributorship, although he has valued three covenants not to
compete in other businesses over the past 5 years. He did not
interview Mr. Langdon nor anyone associated with the business.
Mr. Chouravong opined that the fair market value of the
covenant was $121,000, based upon a number of assumptions of
dubious validity. He assumed, for instance, a growth in the
business of 2.7 percent per year, "based on the average growth
rate from 1988 through 1991". We cannot verify this figure since
he does not identify the source of this information and no
documents demonstrating this were attached to the report or are
otherwise in the record. We do know, however, that for the 2
most recent (and relevant) fiscal years, those ending February
28, 1991, and February 29, 1992, the rate of growth was 9.19
percent (from $197,923 to $215,236).
Mr. Chouvarong then piled discounts upon discounts.
Beginning with a potential net income of $217,700, he seems to
have assumed a potential 50 percent loss of business if Mr.
Langdon were to compete. He then halved this on the ground that
Mr. Langdon would need 6 months of startup time, an assumption
that would not apply under either of the most likely scenarios,
buying an existing distributorship or going to work for one.
Further, Mr. Chouravong assumed only a 45 percent likelihood
that Mr. Langdon would actually compete in the first year (with
decreasing percentages in subsequent years). On the other hand,
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