Topic: "What is the FMV of a Privately-Held Business?"
Speaker: Joel F. Johnson of Orchard Partners, Inc.
Place: Demeo & Associates, One Lewis Wharf, Boston, MA 02110 (Directions) **Space limited to 15.**

Venture backed companies are turning to outside appraisers for valuations of their common stock before setting a strike price on options. They do so for tax reasons (under the new IRS regulation 409A) and for accounting reasons (under the new accounting requirement SFAS 123R). Joel Johnson will provide an introduction to the issues associated with valuing common stock in venture backed companies. Joel will talk about the strengths and weaknesses of methods used to value equity in early stage companies and to allocate value between preferred and common shares. Joel is an Accredited Senior Appraiser and the principal of Orchard Partners, which he founded in 1998. In May, he participated as a panelist in a national teleconference sponsored by Business Valuation Resources on the subject of 409A appraisals.

Orchard Partners, Inc. provides fairness opinions and appraisals for a variety of financial reporting purposes, including pricing options, valuing intangible assets and testing for goodwill impairments. Joel serves on the Listing Committee of the Boston Stock Exchange and as a member of the Appraisal Issues Task Force, a national organization which meets regularly to discuss appraisal issues related to financial reporting. In May, Joel served as a panelist for a national teleconference sponsored by BV Resources entitled “409A Compliance – Issues, Approaches and Mistakes Not to Make”.

The format will be a one-hour meeting from 8:00-9:00am (arrive at 7:45 for networking). A half-hour of networking after the meeting would be optional.

The Business Lawyers Network (BLN) is comprised of lawyers concentrating in complementary disciplines such as corporate, securities, commercial contracts, government contracts, secured lending, taxes, import/export, immigration, real estate, environmental, patents, trademarks, licensing, etc. Non-lawyer business professionals are also welcome, but the topic and focus of discussion will be geared toward the legal profession.