Software doesn't behave like a brand or a trademark. It depreciates functionally as technology moves on, its value often sits more in the data and the team that built it than the code itself, and market comparables shift faster than almost any other asset class we value. Corvian Advisory provides independent SaaS, source code, algorithm, and AI/ML model valuation for M&A, IFRS 3 purchase price allocation, fundraising, and tax purposes across the UAE and GCC.
Brand and trademark valuation is built around relief-from-royalty and income approaches tied to how much revenue a name or mark commands. Software behaves differently. A code base that was cutting-edge three years ago can be functionally obsolete today, regardless of how much it cost to build. The economic value increasingly sits in recurring revenue, proprietary data, and switching costs, not the lines of code themselves.
This matters commercially: a UAE tech acquirer who applies a standard brand-valuation framework to a target's software assets will consistently misprice the deal, either overpaying for a depreciating code base or underpaying for defensible recurring revenue and data assets that a generic method doesn't capture.
"The most common valuation error we see in UAE tech M&A is treating source code like a patent. Patents are static legal rights. Software is a depreciating, constantly re-invested asset with a genuinely different cash flow profile."
We apply the method that fits the asset, not a one-size-fits-all IP framework, calibrated to how UAE and GCC technology deals actually price.
Code depreciates as technology and competitor products move on, a dimension brand and patent valuation rarely has to model.
For AI/ML products especially, proprietary training data and its exclusivity often carry more defensible value than the model architecture.
For SaaS, net revenue retention and churn drive the achievable multiple more than the technology itself.
Technology transaction multiples shift faster than most sectors, requiring current GCC and global deal data, not stale benchmarks.
Five distinct asset types, each with its own appropriate methodology.
ARR and revenue multiples benchmarked against comparable GCC and global SaaS transactions, cross-checked with a DCF built on retention and churn assumptions.
Cost-to-recreate and income approaches for proprietary code bases and technology platforms, used in M&A and PPA contexts.
Relief-from-royalty valuation for licensing arrangements and intercompany IP transfer pricing under UAE Corporate Tax.
Valuation of proprietary models and training data assets, weighing development cost against incremental cash flows the model enables.
Post-acquisition allocation of software and technology assets to fair value under IFRS 3 and IAS 38, Big 4 auditor liaison included.
Financial valuation input alongside a buyer's technical diligence, ensuring commercial and technical findings reconcile before pricing is finalised.
The questions founders, CFOs and acquirers ask us most.
Software more often uses cost or income approaches, or ARR multiples for SaaS, since it depreciates functionally in a way brand equity doesn't.
Primarily ARR and revenue multiples benchmarked against GCC and global SaaS deals, cross-checked with a retention-driven DCF.
An independent fair value assessment of a code base, needed for IFRS 3 PPA, technology asset sales, and investment rounds.
Development cost, incremental cash flows enabled, and the defensibility of proprietary training data, often the model's real value driver.
Estimates value by calculating the royalty a licensee would otherwise pay, used for licensing valuation and IP transfer pricing.
Yes, when prepared to IVS standards, accepted by UAE banks, Big 4 auditors, and the FTA for tax and transfer pricing purposes.
Business valuation fees — also called valuation pricing — range from AED 12,000 for a single software or IP asset valuation to AED 35,000 for a full SaaS company valuation, and up to AED 60,000 for an IFRS 3 PPA covering multiple technology intangibles. Fixed-scope, agreed before work begins.
Yes. As a business valuation company, Corvian Advisory provides SaaS company valuation, source code and algorithm valuation, software licensing and royalty valuation, and AI/ML model valuation services in the UAE, delivered under IVS and IFRS standards.
Brand and trademark valuation relies primarily on the relief-from-royalty and income approaches tied to revenue attribution. Software valuation more often uses a cost approach (replacement cost of the code base), an income approach tied to the cash flows the software directly generates, or ARR-based market multiples for SaaS businesses, since software depreciates functionally as technology moves on in a way brand equity does not.
Primarily through ARR and revenue multiples benchmarked against comparable GCC and global SaaS transactions, cross-checked with a DCF built on retention, churn, and expansion revenue assumptions. Net revenue retention and gross margin quality materially affect the achievable multiple.
An independent assessment of the fair value of a proprietary code base, using cost-to-recreate or income approaches. Needed for M&A purchase price allocation under IFRS 3, technology asset sales, investment rounds where code is a core asset, and shareholder or dispute valuations.
AI/ML model valuation considers the cost to develop and train a comparable model, the incremental cash flows the model enables, and the defensibility of proprietary training data. Data quality and exclusivity are often the more valuable and harder-to-replicate asset than the model architecture itself.
Relief-from-royalty estimates the value of owning software IP outright by calculating the royalty a licensee would otherwise pay to use it, discounted to present value. Used for licensing valuations, transfer pricing between related entities, and IFRS 3 purchase price allocation of acquired software.
Yes, when prepared to IVS standards by a credentialed valuer. Reports are accepted by UAE banks for financing, Big 4 auditors for IFRS 3 and IAS 38 compliance, and the FTA for UAE Corporate Tax and transfer pricing purposes.