Manufacturing

American Appraisal serves the valuation and consulting needs of manufacturing companies worldwide.

Who We Serve
Our manufacturing clients represent a variety of industries, including:

• Aerospace and defense
• Agricultural
• Alternative fuels
• Automotive
• Building materials
• Bakeries
• Biotechnologies
• Brewing
• Chemicals
• Distilling
• Refineries
• Pharmaceuticals
• Consumer products
• Fabricated metal products
• Food and beverage processing
• Foundries
• Glass products
• Industrial automation and control
• Plastics
• Paper and forest products
• Printing and publishing
• Rubber products
• Steel and alloys
• Technology and electronics
• Wire and cable

What We Do
We provide valuation-related expertise in all classifications of tangible and intangible assets, including:

Our manufacturing clients benefit from our experience with capital-intensive enterprises heavy on tangible assets. We have particular expertise with quantifying depreciation and obsolescence – important considerations when valuing operating plants with machinery and equipment.

Our valuation and consulting services include: Fair value accounting for business combinations (US GAAP and IFRS) Impairment testing Disposition of assets Fair market value opinions for regulatory and tax compliance Fairness and solvency opinions Transfer pricing Dispute resolution Valuation of donations for IRS compliance Property tax for real and personal property Bankruptcies and reorganizations Fresh start accounting Asset-based collateral financing/lending Insurance placement and risk management Fixed asset inventory and reconciliation, including asset tagging IT asset inventory Transaction consulting Real estate advisory

Recent Experience
American Appraisal’s recent experience includes:

• IFRS adoption services for a world leader in the building materials industry
• Tax reporting valuation of real and personal property assets at 28 domestic and international facilities, for an aerospace and defense manufacturer
• Impairment testing for 14 reporting units of a diversified industrial company
• Property insurance appraisals of US, Canadian and European facilities for a plastics processing and precision machining company 
• Purchase price allocation services for a US-based metal forger’s acquisition of six facilities located in the US and Eastern Europe.
• Fresh start accounting valuation of four ethanol facilities located in the Midwest
• Impairment measurement in accordance with ASC 360 for the Canadian truck manufacturing facility of a US-based company
• Valuation of two Midwestern food processing facilities for a large financial institution’s collateral financing transaction
• Goodwill impairment testing for 15 reporting units of a printing company
• Divestiture-related valuation of 30 legal entities and underlying tangible assets of a global chemical company.
• Property tax valuations of a large number of vehicle assembly and powertrain facilities
• Impairment testing for several integrated steel mills
• Valuation of various chemical operations for analysis of financial reporting and tax implications
• Purchase price allocation services involving the valuation of specialized welding equipment and intangible assets
• Valuation of several thousand acres of agricultural land with all associated food processing facilities

Industry Conditions/Outlook
American Appraisal understands and follows the changing patterns in the manufacturing sector.  The national economy has had significant changes within the past two decades.  General trends within this market have paralleled the cyclical changes in the US economy.

Growth in the late 1970s was followed by the recession of 1981-1983.  The subsequent growth period of the mid-1980s was followed by the savings and loan crisis from 1987 to 1992.  The Persian Gulf Crisis, in late 1990 and early 1991, resulted in little market activity due to the uncertainty of its effect on the overall economy.  The economic recession that started in late 1990 began to improve in late 1992.  As a result of the negative economic factors of 1989 through 1991, large manufacturing corporations began to downsize and close plants to improve their net income. 

The 1990s generally were a period of growth for the majority of industries.  A new downturn began in 2000 with the dot-com industry encountering difficulties.  The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, sent the entire country into a tailspin.  The Enron scandal was just a predecessor to several other large organizations failing; while these failures were primarily caused by accounting errors, they, nonetheless, had a trickle-down negative effect on the national economy and employment. 

Next were the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, which continue to fuel careful spending on the part of industry and the population as a whole.  Starting in late 2006, the US economy was affected by the housing market bubble, which has had a lasting impact on housing demands, new construction, availability of financing and home values.

The effect of this most recent economic downturn has been to accelerate two trends already in effect over a number of years.  The first is for major corporations to shed excess capacity by closing large facilities or selling the operations to smaller entities that can operate at a lower cost.  The second is movement of industry from high-cost states to lower-cost states - or out of the country entirely - to cut operating costs in a very competitive marketplace.

Why American Appraisal?
American Appraisal was founded in 1896 to address the need for asset valuations within the manufacturing sector. Our first engagement involved valuing Milwaukee’s Schlitz brewery and its associated machinery and equipment. Since then, our manufacturing industry practice has grown to encompass domestic and international manufacturers in all market sectors. We understand the economic and competitive factors affecting manufacturers worldwide, and our clients rely on our comprehensive valuation analyses and reports.