Smith and Max Weitzenhoffer decided that Merrill Lynch should appraise the value of a minority interest in Seminole so that Max Weitzenhoffer could offer to buy the shares of those shareholders who were not interested in the company. Merrill Lynch prepared a report dated and delivered to Max Weitzenhoffer on July 5, 1994, which valued shares of Seminole's common stock constituting a minority interest at $29.77 each as of December 8, 1993. Merrill Lynch assumed, among other things, that Seminole had 16 shareholders and that the per-share value of each shareholder's shares was the same. Merrill Lynch did not distinguish or discuss the difference between the class A shares and the class B shares.