La valutazione delle aziende sequestrate e confiscate. Proposte operative e prime evidenze empiriche

This paper addresses a relevant and new topic, that is the business valuation of seized and confiscated firms, under both a theoretical and practical perspective. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to identify the main characteristics and critical points of the valuation process of this kind of firms. Starting from the specific characteristics of these firms and considering some environmental conditions affecting their activity, the paper tries to highlight the peculiar aspects of the evaluation process, by pointing out also some criteria to guide the selection of the appropriate valuation method. In addition, the paper tries to identify some preliminary operational proposals to draw up an effective business valuation report. This work is supported by an empirical analysis carried out on a sample of business valuation reports publicly available on the website of the National Agency for Seized and Confiscated Assets. Notwithstanding the small sample size – that is the main limitation of our study – the empirical analysis allowed us to show many differences between the sample investigated and the prescriptive content proposed. In particular, we found that the main valuation choices are not explained in an in-depth manner. The final section of the paper suggests some practical proposals aimed to integrate, in the valuation report, an assessment of legal, social and ethical factors that strongly characterize seized and confiscated firms.