Third-party business valuations provide an unbiased, data-driven assessment of a company’s worth, helping owners and directors make informed financial and strategic decisions. By combining structured methodologies with expert judgment, independent appraisals deliver the objectivity needed for transactions, tax planning, disputes, and other critical business events. In this post, we explore why third-party valuations matter and what to expect from the appraisal process.| Mercer Capital
As directors of private family businesses, you’re no strangers to the delicate balance of maintaining harmony among shareholders while safeguarding the company’s long-term stability. In this week's post, we dive into a related but often overlooked tool: buy-sell agreements. These agreements act as a safety net, ensuring smooth transitions when life throws curveballs, such as a shareholder’s departure, death, or divorce.| Mercer Capital
A few weeks ago we released our newest booklet, “Dividend Policy in 30 Minutes.” Whether you read the digital copy, requested a physical booklet, or haven’t gotten a chance to look at it yet, in this short video Travis Harms explains how to go about the decision-making process regarding distribution and why considering various shareholder characteristics and business attributes matters. Travis highlights how the balance between shareholder certainty and board discretion can foster a bet...| Mercer Capital
U.S. companies are on pace to buy back over $1.1 trillion of their own stock in 2025 — an all-time high. For public companies, the logic is straightforward: reducing the number of shares outstanding can boost earnings per share and, presumably, the company’s stock price. Family businesses are much less likely to use share repurchases in the same way. In this week's post, we cover how family businesses are more likely to use share redemptions as motivated by shareholder concerns: liquidity...| Mercer Capital
We are excited to offer our readers a physical version of our piece, “Dividend Policy in 30 Minutes: A Guide for Family Business Directors and Shareholders.”| Mercer Capital
Family business directors generally have little perspective on how other companies handle certain items like capital allocation, capital structure, and dividend policy. With the release of our 2025 Family Business Benchmarking Study, we aim to fill that gap. This week's post focuses on the study which provides an overview of U.S. macroeconomics and examines key financial areas relevant to family businesses. Each section includes both data analysis and insights to help family business director...| Mercer Capital
Our family business advisory practice is focused on three strategic financial questions that weigh on family business directors.| Mercer Capital
As much as they may not want to be, family businesses are not immune to the trends affecting private equity.| Mercer Capital
We focus on two key questions related to growth, risk, and the meaning of the family business: investment decisions and distribution policy.| Mercer Capital
We take a deeper dive into those three phases of selling a family business and what that may look like for you when the time comes.| Mercer Capital
Uncertainty in the U.S. economy remains elevated, making this a good time for family businesses to review key macroeconomic indicators.| Mercer Capital
Cash flows, risk and return, and growth are helpful frameworks for evaluating expectations for your family business in uncertain times.| Mercer Capital
Coming off a run of economic data releases in the last few weeks, we take a look at the numbers and some of their implications for the broader economy.| Mercer Capital
Volatile times are never easy to navigate, but there are strategies family business directors keep their business on course.| Mercer Capital
Last week, the consumer-price index decreased slightly from May, resulting in a year-over-year inflation measure of 3%.| Mercer Capital
The trend towards PE reveals implications for liquidity management, echoing the challenges that family business shareholders have long encountered.| Mercer Capital
In this week’s post, we address five cognitive biases contributing to overly optimistic forecasts.| Mercer Capital
Navigating the complexities of estate taxes and wealth transfer can be daunting, with sunsetting provisions that could affect your financial planning.| Mercer Capital