Kapp v. Kapp

In Kapp v. Kapp, 2nd Dist. No. 2003-CA-9, 2005 Ohio 6830, the court of appeals held that a "trial court abused its discretion in applying a 7.5% discount for transaction costs where there is no indication that plaintiff is planning on selling the business in the foreseeable future." Id. at P41. Although denominated a "marketability discount" in the testimony, the transaction costs at issue were simply broker, legal, and accounting fees that the sale of the business might possibly entail. Id. at P39. They did not affect the fair market value of the business asset in the manner testified to by Hall and Martinet in the present case. Cf. Caldas v. Caldas, 2nd Dist. No. 20691, 2005 Ohio 4493, at P52 (holding that an expert's decision to apply a seventy-five percent marketability discount "was reasonable in view of the risky nature of the business and the loan covenants").