Two recent Delaware Superior Court opinions are essential reading for M&A practitioners drafting language with respect to how disputes related to purchase price adjustments, earnouts, and other accounting-related...more
The M&A landscape is beginning to evolve, with shifts in market dynamics shaping deal terms and bargaining dynamics for 2024 and beyond....more
Over the past 15+ years covered by the ABA studies, materiality scrapes have morphed from being a somewhat uncommon provision, seen in about 14% of transactions in 2005, to something near-ubiquitous in M&A purchase...more
In M&A transactions, unknown target liabilities are typically addressed in different ways throughout the M&A purchase agreement. A no undisclosed liabilities representation is one of the principal representations in an M&A...more
Representation and warranty insurance (“RWI”) is an increasingly important feature of private company M&A transactions. Every other year since 2005 the ABA has released its Private Target Mergers and Acquisitions Deal Point...more
In merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions, the definitive purchase agreement, whether asset purchase agreement, stock purchase agreement, or merger agreement, typically contains representations and warranties made by the...more
In M&A transactions, the definitive purchase agreement (whether asset purchase agreement, stock purchase agreement, or merger agreement) typically contains representations, warranties, and covenants, along with related...more
According to the American Bar Association's Private Target Mergers and Acquisitions Deal Points Studies, financial statement representations are universally required from sellers in private company M&A deals, included in...more
In M&A transactions, the definitive purchase agreement, whether asset purchase agreement, stock purchase agreement, or merger agreement, typically contains representations and warranties and related indemnification covenants....more
In merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions, the definitive purchase agreement typically contains representations and warranties made by the seller with respect to the target company. The scope and detail of these...more
Purchase price adjustment provisions are designed to reflect changes in the target's financial condition that occur prior to the closing of the transaction. For example, if on January 1, a transaction is valued, or priced, at...more
Distressed businesses are often compared to melting ice cubes or an aircraft in rapid descent. The goal for a distressed business is to get to a transaction before the ice cube melts or the aircraft and ground meet at an...more
Ambiguous drafting of earnout provisions in M&A agreements is a perennial source of post-closing disputes. What may have seemed clear to parties in the heat of negotiations can often become less so as time passes,...more
In M&A transactions, the definitive purchase agreement, whether it is an asset purchase agreement, stock purchase agreement, or merger agreement, typically contains representations, warranties, and covenants, along with...more
In the context of mergers and acquisitions, an acquisition target’s qualified retirement plans, health plans, executive compensation arrangements, and benefit programs (referred to collectively as “benefit programs”) can all...more
In mergers and acquisitions, both the seller and the buyer may need to include employment-related provisions in the M&A documentation. We have gathered together the most frequent and significant employment provisions for...more
When preparing for a corporate transaction, both sellers and buyers want to know potential significant employment liabilities so they can negotiate accordingly. This checklist summarises key employment law issues for buyers...more
On April 3, 2023, Vice Chancellor Nathan A. Cook of the Delaware Chancery Court dismissed the breach of contract claims by one pharmaceutical company (the “Seller”) against another (the “Buyer”) in connection with the Buyer’s...more
Market Trends: What You Need to Know - Based on the American Bar Association's Private Target Mergers and Acquisitions Deal Points Studies: - Purchase price adjustments continue to be commonplace in M&A agreements. In...more
Market Trends: What You Need to Know - One of the most pronounced practice-related trends in private company merger and acquisition transactions is the near-disappearance of target legal opinions as a closing deliverable. ...more
In an opinion of significance to M&A Practitioners, the Delaware Court of Chancery recently made it clear that Delaware law allows a buyer in an acquisition to “sandbag” a seller if the acquisition agreement allows for...more
Antitrust scrutiny of M&A remained high during 2021, and merging parties continued to make follow-on divestitures designed to obtain antitrust clearance for their main transaction....more
Market Trends: What You Need to Know As shown in the American Bar Association's Private Target Mergers and Acquisitions Deal Point Studies: - The use of separate escrows for purchase price adjustments has been increasing on...more
France’s highest Court (Cour de Cassation) recently ruled that an acquiring entity, in this case Iron Mountain, could be found liable for violations committed by the target, here Recall France, before the transaction. ...more