近年来, many independent physician practices have been approached by private equity (PE) firms or other corporate entities to discuss the prospects of a potential partnership or transaction. 根据LevinPro HC, 仅去年一年,私募股权公司就参与了200多宗云顶集团40011官网执业交易. [1]
在决定是否出售时, 股东需要考虑几个因素, 包括收购组织的战略和文化契合度, 交易结构, 由此产生的交易收益分配给了云顶集团40011官网所有者. 关于最后一个项目, 云顶集团40011官网所有者面临一个共同的问题:云顶集团40011官网所有者之间的支付差距. 在这些情况下, the sale of personal goodwill could be a viable solution to keep physician owners satisfied and transaction progress on track.
平等所有权,不平等价值
A typical transaction between a PE firm and a physician practice or medical group involves the sale of all nonclinical assets to a management services organization (MSO), 创建哪个是为了向事务之后的实践提供管理云顶集团. 管理云顶集团组织和被收购的实践签订管理云顶集团协议, which outlines both the services that will be provided to the practice going forward and the fair market value of the associated management fee.
通常, the selling physicians remain employed by the practice and agree to take a 20% to 30% reduction in compensation—referred to as a “scrape”—to allow the practice to generate positive earnings before interest, 税, 折旧, 和摊销(EBITDA)在前进的基础上. 这种做法的购买价格通常基于标准化的历史EBITDA的倍数. 另外, the physician owners might receive “rollover” equity in the MSO to ensure long-term alignment and incentivize post-close growth.
由于这种交易结构, 组织必须确定交易收益将如何分配给云顶集团40011官网所有者, 以及对收益的税收处理. 在很多情况下, the physician practice is structured as a professional corporation and taxed either as a “c” corporation or an “s” corporation before the transaction, 所有权在云顶集团40011官网所有者之间平均分配.
然而,尽管拥有平等的所有权,云顶集团40011官网所有者可能会得到不同程度的补偿. 这是因为付款是基于个人生产和收藏的事实, 哪些因素在不同的云顶集团40011官网之间差异很大. 每个云顶集团40011官网的补偿刮擦代表不同的金额, 由于交易前补偿的差异, 如表1中的示例所示.
表1:示例抓取差异
我们可以看到, 尽管销售云顶集团40011官网在实践中拥有平等的所有权, 由于交易前补偿水平不同,它们对价值的贡献不成比例. In order for the cash portion of the purchase price to receive capital gain treatment and the rollover equity component to be tax deferred, the sale proceeds associated with the practice acquisition must be allocated to each physician based on pro rata ownership. 如果某位云顶集团40011官网的收益超过了按比例支付的金额, 部分收益将按普通所得税率征税, which can create a significant obstacle in closing the transaction due to the dissatisfaction of the more productive physicians.
为了缓解这种情况, 在适当的情况下, physicians may be able to sell their personal goodwill separately from the sale of the business assets in order to receive an allocation of the purchase price that is commensurate with their value contribution in a tax-efficient manner.
界定个人商誉
总之,个人商誉是一种无形资产,对每个人来说都是独一无二的. 这是云顶集团40011官网多年来与病人建立起来的声誉, 的同事们, 和社区. 由于它的无形性, personal goodwill is not something that can be easily transferred to a new owner and is often difficult to quantify. 个人的善意存在于云顶集团40011官网的声誉, 专业知识, 或者联系对实践的价值和未来的收入流有重大贡献.
个人商誉的税务法庭支持
判例法先例表明,在适当考虑和记录相关事实的情况下, 个人商誉可以与企业商誉分开认定和出售. A few notable cases where tax courts ruled in favor of the taxpayer claiming personal goodwill are detailed below.
马丁冰淇淋公司. v. 专员
在这种情况下, a taxpayer sold an ice cream business and claimed a portion of the sale price was attributable to their personal goodwill. 美国国税局认为,整个出售价格应归因于企业自身的商誉. 税务法庭站在纳税人一边, stating that personal goodwill is a distinct asset that can be sold separately from the goodwill of the business.
诺沃克v. 专员
在这种情况下, 纳税人出售了他们的会计业务,并将出售价格的一部分分配给个人商誉. 美国国税局认为,整个出售价格应归因于企业自身的商誉. 税务法庭站在纳税人一边, stating that personal goodwill is a property right that can be sold separately from the goodwill of the business.
布罗斯货运公司. v. 专员
在这种情况下, 美国国税局声称,布罗斯货运公司将包括商誉在内的无形资产分配给了一位唯一股东, 然后是谁把这些无形资产转移到一个由股东儿子们拥有的新成立的货运实体. The sole shareholder had years of industry experience and established personal 的关系 with the primary Bross Trucking customers. 法院发现个人善意存在于与布罗斯货运公司分开的这些关系中.
支持性证据
虽然这些例子表明,税务法院将裁定支持纳税人声称个人善意, 要实现这一点,需要具备正确的事实和环境. Below are key factors that should be considered before structuring a deal that involves the sale of personal goodwill to ensure it is separable and transferable to a potential buyer.
• 先前竞业禁止协议: 云顶集团40011官网所有者不应该有一个不竞争的做法之前出售的组织, 因为如果竞业禁止存在, the physicians have effectively already transferred their personal goodwill to the organization and are unable to separately sell their goodwill in a subsequent transaction.
• 单独个人商誉购买协议: 在涉及出售商誉的交易中, a separate goodwill purchase agreement should be executed apart from the purchase agreement for the business assets in order to clearly demonstrate that the purchase of the personal goodwill is independent of the sale of the practice’s assets.
• 成交后雇佣协议/咨询协议: Further support for the claim of personal goodwill can be provided through the use of post-close employment agreements or consulting agreements, as these demonstrate that an individual’s contribution to the practice is critical for sustaining the practice’s cash flow.
建立可靠的个人商誉评估
Once a physician’s personal goodwill has been established as separable from the business and able to be transferred to the prospective buyer, 必须确定其值. 这样做, 将考虑各种因素, 包括多年的经验, 专业水平, 在医学界的声誉, 以及病人关系. 这些因素很难量化, 然而, 这就是为什么在出售云顶集团40011官网诊所时个人善意经常成为争论的焦点.
“有和没有”方法
为个人商誉赋值的一种常用方法是“有和没有”法, 哪一项比较了该业务在两种不同情况下的预计现金流.
• 场景一:云顶集团40011官网所有者继续积极地为实践贡献他们的个人善意.
• 场景二:云顶集团40011官网老板离开诊所, 由于病人离开,诊所的现金流也受到了影响.
The difference in the practice’s enterprise value under each scenario represents the total personal goodwill to be allocated to the physician owner.
多归属实用新型(MUM)
MUM是一种成熟的方法,用于许多学科的决策支持. 如果使用得当, the MUM can also be an effective tool for identifying and documenting factors that support personal goodwill apart from the practice’s enterprise goodwill.
雇用MUM时, valuation specialists will assign utility scores to both personal goodwill attributes and enterprise goodwill attributes by identifying whether or not they are present, 如果是这样的话, 评估其重要性. 一旦确定了每个属性的效用分数, the results are aggregated to determine the proportion of total goodwill that is attributable to personal goodwill versus enterprise goodwill.
Table 2 presents a list of personal and enterprise goodwill attributes that are commonly considered when employing the MUM.
表2:商誉属性
不管使用什么方法, obtaining a third-party expert to perform the valuation of personal goodwill is highly recommended given the subjectivity and potential risk associated with quantifying this intangible asset.
解锁价值以确保公平交易
在医师执业销售领域,个人善意是一个至关重要的因素. 这个独特的资产, 哪个与云顶集团40011官网的声誉直接相关, 的关系, 和专业知识, 为实践增加不可否认的价值. 然而,这种资产的量化和转移可能会带来挑战. Recognizing and maximizing personal goodwill is key for sellers and can act as a mechanism to ensure equitable deals. 云顶集团40011官网出售他们的业务应该认真评估他们个人善意的价值, 有专家鉴定支持, 以确保公平的报酬.
版权所有2023,美国卫生法律协会,华盛顿特区. 已获转载许可.
[1] Levin Pro HC, Levin Associates(数据截至2023年7月1日).
2023年10月8日出版