Volume 8,Issue 9
Valuing Data Assets of Internet Finance Firms from a Corporate Life-Cycle Perspective: The Case of RoyalFlush
As accounting and financial services become more automated and data-intensive, data assets are becoming an important source of value for internet finance firms. Existing valuation methods, however, give insufficient attention to differences across stages of corporate development. This study combines corporate life-cycle theory, the Pearl curve, and the multi-period excess earnings method to value the data assets of RoyalFlush. Using December 31, 2024, as the valuation date, the Pearl curve indicates that RoyalFlush entered the growth stage in 2019, the maturity stage in 2021, and the decline stage in 2024. The study then forecasts free cash flow to the firm and contributory asset charges for 2025–2029. The weighted average cost of capital and rate-of-return decomposition methods produce a data-asset discount rate of 18.42%, and the estimated data-asset value is RMB 2,369.23 million. The analysis offers a life-cycle-based valuation approach that can inform data-asset management and transaction pricing.
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