A practitioner's guide to independent valuation firms across Dubai and the UAE — screened on credentials, valuation standards, scope, and pricing. IVS · RICS · IFRS 3. Written by Corvian Advisory, one of the seven firms profiled here.
Search "business valuation company Dubai" and you get a mix of Big 4 transaction advisory arms, standalone RICS surveyors, online platforms selling template reports, and genuine independent valuation firms. They are not interchangeable — and choosing the wrong one for your specific purpose costs time, money, and in some cases the transaction itself.
A business valuation for an M&A exit has different standards requirements than a Golden Visa property valuation. An IFRS 3 purchase price allocation after a UAE acquisition requires different credentials than an annual goodwill impairment test. An IP transfer pricing study for UAE corporate tax purposes is a different engagement entirely from a brand valuation for a licensing deal. The firm you need depends on what you are valuing, why, and who will accept the report.
This guide profiles seven firms across the full UAE valuation landscape — business valuation, intangible and IP valuation, and property valuation — each assessed on credentials, standards compliance, scope, and pricing. We are one of them. Read all seven and make your own call.
A note on independence: Written by Corvian Advisory — one of the seven firms profiled. Our own profile is a subjective assessment of our credentials and service model. The order of profiles is not a ranking. Read all seven and decide.
The right answer depends on your situation — and the wrong firm for your purpose can mean a report that gets rejected by the bank, auditor, or authority you need it for.
Buying or selling a business in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, or across the GCC? An independent IVS-compliant valuation sets the negotiation anchor, supports SPA price discovery, and protects you from overpaying or underselling.
IVS · DCF · EV/EBITDAEvery business acquisition under IFRS must allocate the purchase price to all acquired assets at fair value within 12 months — including intangibles. Your Big 4 auditor will require an independent PPA report. This is non-negotiable.
IFRS 3 · IAS 38 · Big 4 AcceptedPartner buyouts, shareholder disagreements, and family business succession events in the UAE all require a defensible independent valuation. Courts, arbitration panels, and lawyers all need a number that holds up to scrutiny.
IVS · Expert Witness · UAE CourtsUAE commercial banks require an independent valuation of business assets or equity before extending credit facilities. Reports must follow IVS and be prepared by a credentialed firm — template reports are routinely rejected.
IVS · UAE Bank AcceptedGolden Visa applications based on property or business investment require an independent valuation confirming the qualifying threshold. GDRFA-accepted reports must be prepared by a credentialed firm to the correct standard.
RICS · GDRFA AcceptedSince UAE CT came into effect, related-party IP transactions require arm's-length pricing supported by an independent valuation under OECD transfer pricing guidelines. FTA documentation must be defensible.
UAE CT · OECD TP · FTAUAE companies reporting under IFRS must test goodwill for impairment annually under IAS 36. CGU-level analysis is required and must be accepted by your external auditor. Big 4 auditors set a high bar for documentation quality.
IAS 36 · Big 4 Auditor AcceptedInbound acquirers from India, Singapore, the UK, and Europe need UAE-compliant valuation and PPA from a firm that understands both the international standard and the local regulatory context. This is where many global firms fall short.
IVS · IFRS 3 · Cross-BorderIndicative EV/EBITDA multiples for mid-market UAE and GCC businesses. Actual values depend on EBITDA quality, growth rate, customer concentration, and deal structure.
Seven independent valuation firms in Dubai and the UAE — each profiled on credentials, standards, scope, and pricing. Not a ranking. Read all seven.
Corvian Advisory is a specialist independent valuation firm in Dubai built around one conviction: every valuation in the UAE deserves the credentials that stand up in a bank, a court, an audit, and across borders. Every engagement is led directly by a CFA Charterholder, Chartered Accountant, and FRM-certified principal with 15+ years of Big 4 (KPMG) training and GCC transaction experience. No junior delegation. No template reports.
What makes Corvian a genuine alternative to Big 4 valuation practices is the full scope under one roof: business valuation (DCF, EV/EBITDA, NAV, SOTP), intangible and IP valuation (brand, patent, trademark, customer relationships, IFRS 3 PPA, goodwill impairment, IP transfer pricing for UAE CT), and property and asset valuation (RICS-compliant, Golden Visa accepted). Reports are accepted by UAE banks, the FTA, GDRFA, Big 4 auditors, and UAE and DIFC courts.
For UAE founders selling a business, international acquirers needing a PPA, family offices navigating estate or succession valuation, or CFOs managing annual IAS 36 goodwill impairment — Corvian delivers institutional-quality work at a fraction of the Big 4 cost structure. If you need 40 offices globally, Colliers or JLL will suit you better for property. If you need a principal-led, CFA-qualified independent valuation firm that covers the full spectrum and can defend its methodology in any forum, we think Corvian is the right choice for most UAE mid-market situations.
KPMG Lower Gulf's transaction services and valuation practice is one of the largest institutional valuation teams in the UAE. Their strength lies in complex group-level IFRS 3 PPAs, multi-entity goodwill impairment programmes, and large-scale regulatory valuations for listed companies and government-linked entities. They bring institutional process rigour, extensive sector databases, and the brand credibility that large-cap acquirers and their boards require.
For mid-market clients, the tradeoff is clear: in our view, execution is typically led at manager and associate level rather than principal level, fees run to AED 120K+ for business valuations, and the process is built for enterprise mandates rather than founder-led businesses. If your requirement is a straightforward business or property valuation for a mid-market M&A deal, in our view, the cost-to-outcome ratio for mid-market mandates rarely justifies Big 4 fees. But for a multi-jurisdictional PPA on a complex group acquisition, or a regulatory valuation requiring Big 4 sign-off for a listed entity, they are well-positioned.
Deloitte UAE's financial advisory practice covers business valuation, intangible asset valuation, and IFRS 3 work with a particular depth in the financial services and real estate sectors — two of the UAE's dominant deal sectors. Their GCC network coverage is broad, and they bring strong data access for UAE sector benchmarking. The same mid-market constraints apply as with KPMG: fee structure and, in our view, a delivery model that can be mismatched for founder-led or SME transactions.
Deloitte's valuation team is notable for its real estate and hospitality sector depth — if you are valuing a UAE hotel portfolio, REIT, or property company for IFRS or transaction purposes, their sector knowledge is genuinely strong.
Colliers UAE is among the most recognised RICS-compliant property valuation firms operating across Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Their core strength is real estate valuation — residential, commercial, industrial, and hospitality — for mortgage purposes, IFRS reporting, legal disputes, and portfolio management. Their RICS-qualified valuers bring genuine UAE market depth and a recognised brand that UAE banks, mortgage lenders, and auditors accept without challenge.
Their scope is limited to property and real assets — they do not conduct business valuation, intangible asset valuation, or IFRS 3 PPA work. If your valuation need involves a business (not just the property it occupies) or any intangible value, a specialist business valuation firm is required alongside or instead of Colliers.
BDO UAE's advisory practice covers business valuation, IFRS-related intangible asset work, and goodwill impairment testing for their mid-market UAE audit client base. Their strength is in supporting privately held UAE businesses with annual IFRS compliance requirements — IAS 36 impairment testing, IAS 38 intangible asset recognition, and IFRS 3 PPA support for smaller acquisitions. They sit between the Big 4 on cost and scope and smaller boutiques on credentials and capacity.
BDO's valuation team is most active in supporting their own audit client relationships — meaning for a standalone valuation engagement without an existing BDO audit relationship, in our experience, the urgency and senior attention on standalone engagements may be more limited than with a specialist valuation firm.
Grant Thornton UAE's valuation team operates across the UAE and GCC with a focus on mid-market business valuation, dispute resolution, and IFRS compliance work. They have a credible footprint in the UAE's professional services sector and bring sufficient breadth for many mid-market valuation requirements. Their UAE corporate tax practice has grown since the introduction of UAE CT, giving them relevant context for IP transfer pricing and related-party transaction reviews.
Their differentiator over Big 4 is primarily cost — fees are meaningfully lower than KPMG or Deloitte for similar IFRS work. Their differentiator over boutique firms like Corvian is institutional network breadth. For UAE business owners who want a named mid-tier brand with GCC reach for a standard business valuation or impairment test, Grant Thornton is a reasonable option.
Cavendish Maxwell is one of the UAE's most established independent RICS-qualified property valuation firms, with a specific focus on residential and commercial real estate across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and wider GCC markets including Saudi Arabia and Qatar. They are well-known in the UAE mortgage market and provide RICS Red Book valuations widely accepted by UAE banks for mortgage approvals, IFRS reporting, and insurance purposes.
Like Colliers, their scope is property and real assets — business valuation, intangible asset valuation, and IFRS 3 PPA work are outside their practice. Their strength for Golden Visa applicants is notable: Cavendish Maxwell is one of the most recognised names for Golden Visa property valuation accepted by the GDRFA in Dubai.
The questions we hear most from founders, CFOs, and acquirers before commissioning a valuation in Dubai or the UAE.
We wrote this guide because we do this work every day in the UAE and GCC. Here is what we bring to every engagement.
Every valuation — business, intangible, or property — is led directly by a CFA Charterholder, Chartered Accountant, and FRM-certified principal. The person you brief is the person who does the work and signs the report.
Business valuation (DCF, EV/EBITDA, NAV), intangible and IP valuation (IFRS 3 PPA, IAS 36, IAS 38, IP transfer pricing), and property and asset valuation (RICS) — all from one principal-led team.
Reports prepared under IVS, IFRS 3, IAS 36, IAS 38, and RICS are accepted by UAE commercial banks, the FTA, Big 4 auditors, DIFC and UAE courts, and the GDRFA — without revision requests.
Inbound acquirers from India, Singapore, the UK, and Europe require a UAE firm that understands both the international standard and the local regulatory context. We handle the full cross-border valuation spectrum.
Scope, deliverables, and fee agreed in writing before a single hour is spent. No scope creep, no hourly billing surprises. USD and GBP also accepted for international clients.
Big 4 training and credentials at a fraction of the Big 4 cost. Mid-market UAE businesses and international acquirers get CFA-qualified, IVS-compliant reports without paying enterprise-level fees.
Corvian Advisory offers a confidential, no-obligation conversation to understand your situation — whether you need a valuation for a sale, acquisition, IFRS compliance, UAE CT, Golden Visa, or shareholder dispute. We cover Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and GCC-wide, with cross-border capability across APAC and EMEA.
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