We provide independent valuation and related analyses for Private Equity, Lenders, Funds, Institutions, Accounting firms, and financial and tax reporting entities across North America, Europe, and Australasia.
The Benton Group (Benton) and its predecessor was formed in 2009 to provide valuation and specialty analysis services for reporting purposes across a broad spectrum of industry and entity types. Over the past 10 years, Benton operated as dba Cortland Valuation Group-Texas alongside affiliate firm, Cortland Valuation Group-DC. In 2024, The Benton Group has reverted to its parent brand, Benton, while maintaining its affiliation with Cortland Valuation Group-DC. The two work together across services.
The Benton Group has been entrusted with the responsibility of supporting our clients across PE & Lender Support, Financial Reporting under US GAAP; and Tax Reporting and Compliance. For perspective, we have supported over 1,000 M&A transactions resulting in the placement of more than US$100 Billion in the past ten years. Our work plays a critical role in supporting the top banks throughout the United States and their Business and Technology Finance Groups; P/E firms across the country, US Regulators, National and Regional Accounting Firms, Legal Counsel, and the senior executive management teams across all industries who have so inspired us with their intellect, vision, and execution capabilities.
Our team has worked closely with PE and Lenders supporting transactions for the past two decades. Our experience encompasses manufacturing, industrials, construction, healthcare, medical devices, insurance, consumer products, semiconductors and manufacturing equipment, and software and technology.
Our services encompass:
Over the past 20 years, we have demonstrated deep expertise in the technology & software space. We assist both equity and debt investors in software M&A and consistently support over 100 transactions yearly – typically representing $3 to $5 billion in capital placement per annum. Our work provides critical third-party support documentation for lenders, regulators, PE, management, and auditors.
Through our financial and tax reporting businesses, we provide further PE support by aiding portfolio companies. Oftentimes, having supported a transaction on behalf of the deal’s lender, we offer PE significant savings in both time and cost when performing subsequent fair value analyses post-closing.
Our team works with SMBs and large enterprises supporting GAAP reporting through independent, third-party valuation measures. With 30 years of experience in fair value measurement, we remain actively engaged in industry, staying current with best practices that attract top-tier clients, including Private Equity firms, Lenders, Corporates, and Auditors.
Our services include:
We offer a full suite of fair market value services tailored for estate and gift tax planning, shareholder buy/sell, general and limited partnership holdings, privately held business interests (on controlling and minority interest bases), discount analyses for partnerships, and other estate planning entities.
Our reputation is built upon comprehensive analysis and well-documented studies. Our expertise covers the full range of valuation approaches and methodologies, understanding key drivers for the selection of appropriate approaches based on unique facts and circumstances. Our reports and underlying results are based on defensible analyses using critical data related to markets, industry, and economies. We also provide substantive documentation for discounts for lack of control and lack of marketability.
Key standards and analyses:
The Benton Group leverages its extensive expertise in transactional and fair value assessments to enhance the quality of our tax reporting services for clients. Being deeply entrenched in billions of dollars of transactions annually, we note there is a critical difference between notional market valuation and the open market reality. It is our experience that theoretical valuations often diverge from actual market conditions, and our experience allows us to hold unique knowledge regarding this disparity. We are the critical bridge between the two views – benefiting clients regarding tax burdens and practical strategies for investment decisions.
John Jackman is the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of The Benton Group, LLC ("Benton"). In this capacity, he is directly responsible for aligning the firm, internally and externally, with the firm’s strategic vision. He also chairs Benton’s oversight committee for the firm’s valuation technical standards. John plays an active role in working closely with clients, providing authoritative oversight to the valuation engagement leaders.
John has 25 years of experience in the valuation industry, providing valuation and financial consulting services worldwide for the purposes of financial reporting, tax planning and compliance, financing, bankruptcy, litigation, mergers, and acquisitions, restructuring and recapitalizations, leveraged buyouts, private equity, and investment.
His experience includes the valuation of capital stock, minority and controlling interests, privately held interests, derivative securities, general and limited partnership interests, limited liability company interests, restricted equity and debt securities, preferred stock, proprietorships, options and warrants, fractional interests in real estate, and intangible assets.
John is an expert in financial reporting requirements, including fresh start accounting, ASC 805-Business Combinations, ASC 350-Intangibles-Goodwill and Other, ASC 360-Property, Plant and Equipment, and ASC 718-Compensation-Stock Compensation. He has particular expertise in the valuation of intellectual property and intangible assets and regularly performs valuations and/or reviews on behalf of clients and accounting firms. John has worked as part of a designated expert team on behalf of the United States Internal Revenue Service in the area of intellectual property valuation.
John’s work has also spanned the field of litigation support providing economic analysis related to damages and infringement. His industry experience includes biotech, clean tech, aerospace and defense, entertainment, communications, energy, manufacturing, software, technology, consumer products, retail, life sciences, medical equipment and devices, private equity, hedge funds and venture capital, among others. John has in-depth experience with the valuation review process with national and regional accounting firms throughout the US and has worked closely with international firms under the IFRS financial standards. He also performs in-depth audit reviews of third-party valuation work products on behalf of various accounting firms. Additionally, he remains current with industry standards and best practices by actively participating in conferences throughout the country. He has been a formal speaker and presenter to many organizations and professional groups on topics ranging from valuation in the context of licensing to intellectual property and attrition. John is a co-author of Early Stage Valuation: A Fair Value Perspective (Wiley Finance 2020). The book provides a comprehensive review of the current methodologies used to value Early Stage Enterprises
(ESEs) at fair value for financial reporting, investment, and mergers and acquisitions. He also develops and delivers in-house valuation training programs to select clients.
Prior to Benton, John was Chairman and Managing Director of The Windward Group, Inc. (TWG), which merged with Cortland Valuation Group in January of 2014. The Benton Group and Cortland Valuation Group are affiliate firms operating under separate brands. Preceding TWG, John was the Managing Director-Valuations of Cove Partners LLC, a boutique investment banking firm in San Diego, CA; and the Vice President of Caliber Advisors, Inc., where he was the head of the financial reporting group. He previously held positions with Navigant Capital Advisors, Kroll Zolfo Cooper, and Evans & Evans, Inc., of Calgary, Canada. Through his tenure at Kroll Zolfo Cooper, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kroll Inc., he was part of a team responsible for performing Kroll’s internal SFAS 141 (now ASC 805) and SFAS 142 (now ASC 350) financial reporting valuations, as well as the large, complex multidiscipline valuation engagements of multi-billion-dollar entities undergoing restructuring.
John graduated from California State University, San Marcos with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration, and subsequently earned a master’s in international management from Thunderbird, School of Global Management, with a concentration in finance. He earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 2002 and is currently a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Austin. He is also a member of numerous professional organizations including the Appraisal Issues Task Force (AITF) - a nationally regarded think tank of senior-level valuation professionals. AITF assists the valuation profession with formulating "best practices," advises the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) regarding valuation theory and practice and helps establish and interpret existing rules for valuation practitioners in the U.S. and abroad.
Darin Neumyer is a Senior Director at The Benton Group, LLC (“Benton”). He has 25 years of experience and has managed over 2,000 financial services engagements. Darin has provided the following types of financial advisory services: business, stock, and debt valuations; option and warrant valuations; intangible asset valuations and analyses; cost of capital analyses; industry and competitive analyses; management incentive plan structuring; intangible asset liquidation.
These services have been performed for the following purposes: audit review, financial statement reporting (Fair Value Measurement – ASC 820, Purchase Price Allocation – ASC 805, Goodwill Impairment – ASC 350, Fresh Start Accounting – ASC 852, Stock Based Compensation – ASC 718/IRC 409a), federal gift and estate taxation, restructuring and bankruptcies, merger and acquisition analyses, investment and capital raises, transaction-related fairness and solvency opinions, dispute resolution, litigation support, management buyouts, partner and shareholder buyouts, ESOP transactions and administration, intellectual property royalty rate analyses, and asset-based lending.
Darin has provided financial advisory services for companies in a broad range of industries, including: aerospace, apparel, automotive, beverages, biotechnology, construction, consumer products, computer technology, distribution, education, electronics, energy, engineering, entertainment, financial services, food processing, furniture manufacturing, gaming, government contractors, HVAC, insurance, media, medical devices, metal fabrication, nutritional supplements, oil and gas, printing, publishing, retailing, SaaS, and telecommunications.
Prior to joining Benton, Darin held management positions at accounting firms KPMG and Cherry Bekaert as well as diversified financial services firms Great American Group, Hilco Trading, Brightview, and Houlihan Valuation Advisors. While at these firms, Darin provided transaction advice, asset liquidation, litigation support, fairness, and solvency opinions, along with appraisal reports for use in lending support analysis as well as financial and tax reporting.
Darin is an Accredited Senior Appraiser with the American Society of Appraisers and a graduate of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and California State University, Northridge.