Discounted Cash Flow

Firm valuation is currently a very exciting topic. It is interesting for those economists engaged in either practice or theory, particularly for those in finance. The literature on firm valuation recommends logical, quantitative methods, which deal with establishing today\'s value of future free cash flows. In this respect firm valuation is identical with the calculation of the discounted cash flow, DCF. There are, however, different coexistent versions, which seem to compete against each other. Entity approach and equity approach are thus differentiated. Acronyms are often used, such as APV (adjusted present value) or WACC (weighted average cost of capital), whereby these two concepts are classified under entity approach.

Why are there several procedures and not just one? Do they all lead to the same result? If not, where do the economic differences lie? If so, for what purpose are different methods needed? And further: do the known procedures suffice? Or are there situations where none of the concepts developed up to now delivers the correct value of the firm? If so, how is the appropriate valuation formula to be found? These questions are not just interesting for theoreticians; even the practitioner who is confronted with the task of marketing his or her results has to deal with it. The authors systematically clarify the way in which these different variations of the DCF concept are related throughout the book