SCI shares (parts de SCI)

An SCI (société civile immobilière, a French property-holding company) holds one or more buildings; its members hold shares. Those shares are not pieces of the building: they give a right to a fraction of the results and of the net assets, within the limits set by the articles of association. Their value therefore differs from the proportionate share of the market value of the buildings, because the company also has debts and cash, because shares sell less easily than a building, and because a minority member does not decide alone.

SCI shares are valued in an inheritance or a gift, for the IFI (French wealth tax on property), on the withdrawal or exclusion of a member, in a divorce, or in response to a tax reassessment notice from the French tax authorities.

Where the rule comes from

Civil companies are governed by articles 1845 et seq. of the French Civil Code. Where there is disagreement on the value of the shares on a transfer, withdrawal or buy-back, article 1843-4 allows an expert to be appointed. In tax matters, registration duties are assessed on the real market value of the assets transferred (articles 666 and 761 of the French General Tax Code); the courts accept discounts for illiquidity, which the Cour de cassation (French supreme court for civil and commercial matters) has framed, for example in a decision of 9 July 2025 discussed on this site.

The Charte de l’expertise en évaluation immobilière (the French property valuation charter, Title II, § 8.5) treats the valuation of company shares as a speciality of the property valuation expert; the nomenclature of court experts devotes heading C.18.3 to it.

In a valuation report

The report proceeds in two stages. First the building: market value of each property at the valuation date, with a visit and references. Then the company: reading of the articles of association (approval clauses, allocation of rights, valuation clauses), of the latest balance sheet and of the members’ current accounts, reconstruction of the restated net asset value, then application of the discounts specific to the shares, each with reasons. I distinguish the value of an isolated share from that of a majority block, and I flag any clause in the articles that binds me.

Example

A family SCI holds a building valued at €900,000 and €20,000 in cash; it owes €250,000 of outstanding loan capital and €80,000 in members’ current accounts. The restated net asset value is €590,000. One member holds 25 % of the 1,000 shares, a proportionate share of €147,500. The articles subject any transfer to the approval of the other members. I apply a 10 % illiquidity discount and a 10 % minority discount, giving a value of €119,475, about €478 per share.

Not to be confused with

Indivision (joint ownership), where each person directly holds a share of the building, and shares in a commercial company, whose valuation includes a fonds de commerce (the business as a going concern) and prospects of profit.