Exponential growth in the volume and complexity of mergers and acquisitions during recent years, coupled with regulators' heightened efforts to protect the investing public, has led to new rules for the accounting of business combinations and to greater scrutiny of SEC registrants' compliance efforts. In particular, the new FAS 141 requires acquiring entities to account for acquisitions through an independent allocation of the purchase price to the acquired tangible and intangible assets.

At Duff & Phelps, we assist our clients by providing independent valuation professionals with thorough knowledge of regulatory requirements and who are specially trained in investment research, fundamental analysis, and the valuation techniques associated with enterprises and intangible assets. Duff & Phelps is well acquainted with the rigors of third-party scrutiny of our opinions, so we work hard to ensure that ours are grounded in well-reasoned and supportable assumptions.