SVM114040 - Information Standards: Information Available
The amount of information that would be made available to the prospective purchaser will depend on many factors including, but not exclusively:
- the size and influence of the holding
- the cost of the investment.
- the nature of the investment
Size and influence
As a rough guide valuers may proceed as follows: -
Less than 25% of voting capital
- published information unless the financial information is stale. ‘Published’ does not necessarily mean ‘available in the public domain’ and would for example include accounts that had been approved, but not filed at Companies House.
- As for other information, much depends on the actual size of the holding, the amount of the investment and the degree of influence which the holding might carry. It is difficult to lay down any hard and fast rules although the more influential the holding the more likely it would be to take account of supplementary information.
Over 25% and less than 50% of voting capital
- fairly full disclosure, especially in circumstances where the holding is equal to or greater in size than any other holding.
50% and above
- it can be assumed that all information would be disclosed to the purchaser of a control holding.
Cost
Whatever the cost of the investment, each case should be judged on its merits.
Nature of the Investment
There will be cases where the size and cost of the investment may appear small but due to the nature of the investment any prudent purchaser would require further information and ‘demand as a condition of buying’. An example of such an investment would be where the value is wholly dependent on the company achieving a growth target and where there is some provision for an early exit. Such arrangements are commonly called ‘Growth Shares’. Clearly in such circumstances the growth prospects are intrinsic to the investment and no sale would proceed without access to additional information such as company forecasts.
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