By Joseph van der Valk

Independent valuations of announced public M&A transactions

Each case takes one announced deal between listed companies, values the target from its public filings and gives a view on the price. The model is attached to every case.

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How a case works

Four steps, nothing hidden.

  1. i.

    Public filings only

    Annual reports, deal announcements and company releases. No consensus estimates, and no bankers' numbers while the model is open.

  2. ii.

    The right method

    One primary method chosen for the business, one cross-check, every assumption sourced and argued.

  3. iii.

    A verdict on the price

    Is the offer fair, and would I advise the target's board to accept it?

  4. iv.

    The model, attached

    Download the Excel and check every formula. Plus what the deal taught me.

Portrait of Joseph van der Valk
The analyst

Joseph van der Valk

I'm Joseph van der Valk. I did my undergrad at Utrecht University, where I completed a BSc in Economics and Business Economics on the International Finance track, with a Dedicated Minor in Applied Data Science. Every summer of my undergrad I did an internship: at Flaminem, a French fintech, where I worked in growth strategy; at PwC, in tax and financial technology; and at Banque Transatlantique, a French private bank, where I worked on the compliance side of wealth management. During my studies I went on an exchange semester at NUS in Singapore, and when I discovered that I really liked deals, I took part in the HEC Paris IB Summer School.

I want to work in M&A, and there is no better way to get good at it than to do the work, so I started Valk Valuations. Each case takes a real announced deal between two listed companies that I find interesting, and values the target from its public filings. I explain every assumption, give a view on the price and publish the model so anyone can check it.

If you work on deals and see something I got wrong, I'd love to hear it!