A Pragmatic Look at Valuation (Collection)

4. Alternative Valuation Methods

Market View

In 2009, Cisco Systems purchased Pure Digital Technologies, the creator of Flip, a mini camcorder that allowed users to record and upload videos to the Internet. Pure Digital was a privately held company managed by its founder. With the acquisition, Cisco, the world’s largest maker of routers that powered the Internet, intended to establish itself as a major player in the consumer electronics market.

Pure Digital had sold more than two million mini camcorders since its incorporation in 2000, but it operated at a loss. Financial statements publicly available at the time of the acquisition revealed that, in 2007, Pure Digital’s revenues were $64.1 million, down 15 percent from 2006; its losses from ...