On Thursday 18 January 2024, the Association of Experts Approved by the Court of Cassation (CEACC) organised a lunch on the topic of “Expert valuation under Article 1843-4 of the Civil Code: difficulties and recent case law”, with Vincent Vigneau, President of the Commercial, Financial and Economic Chamber of the Court of Cassation.
During this lunch, which we attended, a particularly interesting decision of 17 January 2024 by the Court of Cassation was discussed, as the Court of Cassation has opened up the possibility for the expert to propose several valuations depending on the interpretation of a legal point to be decided upon at a later date by the judge:
“6. It follows from Article 1843-4, II, of the Civil Code that whilst the expert is required to apply, where they exist, the rules and procedures for determining the value of company shares laid down in any agreement binding the parties, it is incumbent upon the judge to interpret, where necessary, the common intention of the parties to the agreement.
7. In accordance with these principles, the expert may, in order not to delay the progress of his work, adopt different valuations corresponding to the interpretations of the agreement respectively claimed by the parties, it being for the court, after having carried out the necessary investigation into the parties’ common intention, to apply the corresponding valuation, which is then binding upon it."
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