--- title: "Valuation | Pitch" description: "A price for a company or its IP is only as good as the rights behind it. We supply the legal, IP and tax input that makes a valuation stand, whether it serves…" url: https://www.pitch.law/solutions/valuation --- [pitch](https://www.pitch.law/) [Solutions](https://www.pitch.law/solutions) [Corporate and M\&A](https://www.pitch.law/solution-categories/corporate-m-a) # Valuation A price for a company or its IP is only as good as the rights behind it. We supply the legal, IP and tax input that makes a valuation stand, whether it serves a funding round, a contribution in kind, a transfer or an exit. ## The question What is the company worth, and what is its IP worth? The purpose differs each time. A funding round needs a pre-money value, which sets how much the existing shareholders are diluted. A contribution in kind of IP or of a business into a company needs a value for the shares issued in return. Shareholders who buy each other out need a price. A sale or merger needs a range. IP moved within a group needs a price that an unrelated party would also have agreed, which is the arm's length principle behind transfer pricing. A licence needs a royalty rate. An IP-box tax regime needs a clear view of which income comes from which right. No rule of law fixes the value. It is an estimate made for a purpose, by a suitable method, and for a transfer within a group it must be defensible to the tax authority. ## Our approach We combine corporate, IP and tax advice, and that is our angle. We do not replace the valuer. Company law is largely national, but a contribution in kind usually needs an independent report on its value. For public limited companies the EU Company Law Directive requires an expert report, with some exceptions; private companies follow national law, which often asks for an independent expert as well. The expert makes that statutory report. For that report and any valuation, we prepare the legal and IP input, and we structure the transaction around the result. The valuer uses one or more standard methods. The income approach values the future earnings of the business or the right, through discounted cash flows or, for IP, the relief-from-royalty method, which prices the asset by the royalties its owner is spared by owning it. The market approach looks at comparable transactions or licences. The cost approach looks at what it would cost to recreate the asset. Each needs legal inputs, and that is where the value is won or lost. See [how to value an IP portfolio](https://www.pitch.law/academy/how-to-value-ip-portfolio). We document and assess those inputs: - **Ownership and chain of title.** Assignments from founders, employees and contractors, and who is recorded as owner. - **Scope and strength.** What the claims of a patent or the registration of a trademark actually cover. - **Territory and remaining term.** Where and how long the right applies. - **Enforceability and use.** Whether a trademark is in use and the right can be defended. - **Freedom to operate.** Whether the owner can use the right without infringing others, see [freedom-to-operate analysis](https://www.pitch.law/academy/freedom-to-operate-analysis). - **Encumbrances.** Licences, pledges and co-ownership. We build the register in our [portfolio platform](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/portfolio-renewals), which lists each right with its status, jurisdictions and upcoming deadlines. Where the strength of a patent or a third-party patent matters, [patent analysis](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/patent-intelligence) provides claim charts that an attorney reviews. The documents go to the valuer, auditor and other side in a [data room](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/data-room). The purpose decides what we add. In a round, we align the valuation with the term sheet, the dilution and the option pool, as explained in [funding rounds and term sheets](https://www.pitch.law/academy/startup-funding-rounds); see also [funding](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/funding). In a sale or merger, the same material feeds [M\&A and due diligence](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/m-a-due-diligence). For IP that moves within a group, we document the legal position and the tax reasoning for the arm's length price. For licences, we link the royalty to the rights actually licensed and to the terms of the [licensing agreement](https://www.pitch.law/academy/licensing-agreements). For an IP-box regime, we show which income comes from which qualifying right, see [the innovation income deduction](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/innovation-income-deduction) and [grants and tax incentives for IP](https://www.pitch.law/academy/ip-grants-tax-incentives-belgium). A lawyer assesses every right and conclusion before it reaches you. The financial modelling is the valuer's. ## What you get - A register of the rights concerned, with status, territory, remaining term and costs. - A legal assessment of ownership, scope, enforceability and freedom to operate, with a note on how each point may affect the value. - Defects such as missing assignments cured before anyone relies on the rights. - Legal and IP input the valuer and registered auditor can use. - Transaction documents that fit the result: investment terms, contribution deed, share transfer or licence. - A tax view on the structure, including transfer pricing and, where relevant, an IP-box regime. Take a software company in Ghent that wants to contribute a patent family and its platform code into a new group company. We list the rights and find that one inventor left without a recorded assignment. We have it signed, check the remaining term and the countries of validation, and prepare the file for the auditor and the valuer. The value rests on rights the company demonstrably owns, and the same file supports the transfer price and a later innovation income deduction claim. ## Next step Tell us what the valuation is for, which rights or companies are involved and who will carry it out. We will tell you which legal and IP input is needed. [Schedule a meeting](https://www.pitch.law/schedule) or [contact us](https://www.pitch.law/contact-us). ## In short - Legal quality of the IP documented as input for the valuation - Support for funding rounds, contributions in kind and share transfers - Arm's length position for IP moved within a group - Royalty and licence terms backed by the rights concerned - Tax angle covered, including IP-box regimes where they exist ## Technology we use - [Technology](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/portfolio-renewals) ### [IP Portfolio, Renewals and Deadlines](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/portfolio-renewals) [Your trademarks, designs, domain names and patents in one view, with deadlines docketed, renewals batched and every computed date confirmed by a person.](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/portfolio-renewals) - [Technology](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/patent-intelligence) ### [Patent Analysis and Research](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/patent-intelligence) [Analysis of third-party patents and research answers built on European Patent Office data and UPC and EPO case law, with every citation checked and every opinion signed by an attorney.](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/patent-intelligence) - [Technology](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/data-room) ### [Data Room and Due Diligence](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/data-room) [One controlled environment for M\&A due diligence, RFI and RFP processes, one-off reviews and recurring scans, with lawyers checking what comes out.](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/data-room) ## Background reading - [Academy](https://www.pitch.law/academy/how-to-value-ip-portfolio) ### [How to Value an IP Portfolio](https://www.pitch.law/academy/how-to-value-ip-portfolio) [Why and when an IP portfolio is valued, the three standard valuation approaches, and the legal facts that decide whether a right is worth what its owner thinks.](https://www.pitch.law/academy/how-to-value-ip-portfolio) - [Academy](https://www.pitch.law/academy/startup-funding-rounds) ### [Funding Rounds: Term Sheets and Investment Agreements](https://www.pitch.law/academy/startup-funding-rounds) [How an equity round for a company in the EU works, the term sheet, what each clause does, the investment and shareholders' agreements, and what investors check first.](https://www.pitch.law/academy/startup-funding-rounds) - [Academy](https://www.pitch.law/academy/ip-grants-tax-incentives-belgium) ### [Grants and Tax Incentives for IP in Belgium](https://www.pitch.law/academy/ip-grants-tax-incentives-belgium) [An overview of the Belgian instruments that lower the cost of creating IP and the tax on the income it earns, and the documents you need before you can claim them.](https://www.pitch.law/academy/ip-grants-tax-incentives-belgium) - [Academy](https://www.pitch.law/academy/freedom-to-operate-analysis) ### [Freedom-to-Operate Analysis](https://www.pitch.law/academy/freedom-to-operate-analysis) [What a freedom-to-operate analysis is, how claims are read against a product, what it can and cannot tell you, and what to do when it finds a problem.](https://www.pitch.law/academy/freedom-to-operate-analysis) - [Academy](https://www.pitch.law/academy/licensing-agreements) ### [Licensing Agreements](https://www.pitch.law/academy/licensing-agreements) [How to structure an IP licence: scope, royalties, improvements, quality control, termination, and the EU rules that frame it.](https://www.pitch.law/academy/licensing-agreements) ## More in Corporate and M\&A - ### [Incorporate a Company in Belgium](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/incorporation) [Setting up a Belgian company means choosing the right form, a sound financial plan, articles and a shareholders' agreement, and making sure the company owns the IP behind the business. We prepare everything and work with your notary.](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/incorporation) - ### [M\&A and Due Diligence](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/m-a-due-diligence) [Buying, selling or merging a business needs a structure, a review of what is being transferred and a contract that allocates the risks. We lead the legal side from preparation to closing.](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/m-a-due-diligence) - ### [Management Agreement](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/management-agreement) [A director or manager who works through a management company or as a self-employed person needs an agreement that holds up as a mandate and not as employment. We draft it around the law that applies, the company's IP and a clean exit.](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/management-agreement) - ### [Shareholders' Agreement](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/shareholders-agreement) [A shareholders' agreement sets out how the owners run the company, who may sell to whom and what happens when they disagree. We draft it with the articles of association, and make sure the IP stays in the company.](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/shareholders-agreement) - ### [Funding](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/funding) [Raising capital means getting the company, its IP and its documents ready for investors, then negotiating the deal. We prepare you for the round and carry the legal work through to closing.](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/funding) ## Let’s talk Tell us what you’re working on. We’ll get the right person on it and reply within one business day. The first chat is free. [Schedule a meeting](https://www.pitch.law/schedule)