Articles and updates affecting M&A transactions
Category: Insight
Regulatory Hurdles Facing Mergers With Chinese State-Owned Enterprises
Acquisitions by Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) of companies in the United States (US) and European Union (EU) have grown in recent years. Trade and cross-border investment has increased and Chinese SOEs have extended their reach beyond their domestic market. Those acquisitions, together with joint ventures between Western companies and Chinese […]
Monetizing an Earn-Out – Does That Make It a “Security?”
In life sciences/medical technology transactions, buyers and sellers often use milestone-based and sometimes royalty-based contingent consideration to compensate sellers for assets that are in various stages of development from clinical- to development-stage to product commercialization.[1] In licensing transactions, there is an established secondary market through which licensors may monetize their […]
New Pubcos Should Consider Defensive Health in Light of ISS/GL Recommendations
ISS and Glass Lewis are continuing to apply special scrutiny to certain corporate governance provisions of “newly public” companies (generally, companies that have gone public in 2014 or later). See our December 2016 client alert. In short, the latest policies (which have evolved over the last few years) provide that […]
When Approval for a Drug “Indication” Gets Murky: Drafting Milestones to Avoid Disputes
According to a recent study by SRS of recent private life sciences deals, disputes over earn-outs arose in about one-third (36%) of all milestones that were expected to be hit by September 2016.[1] While most disputes were not about contract interpretation issues regarding whether an event triggered the milestone or […]
$2 Billion Purchase Price Dispute Over GAAP Compliance Highlights Need for Careful Drafting
Purchase price adjustments are common features (2015 SRS study: 77% of deals) of private merger agreements that are generally intended to ensure that the acquired company will have the same level of cash or working capital to operate the business post closing that it had at signing. However, if not […]
2017 M&A Trends Series: Negotiating Anti-Reliance Language
So far this year, deal parties are approaching M&A with cautious optimism. This series of Cooley M&A blog posts include some brief observations that offer some M&A highlights over the past year and our thoughts for the year to come. Negotiating Anti-Reliance Language Buyers continued to assert fraud claims in private […]
2017 M&A Trends Series: Appraisal Risks Factor High
So far this year, deal parties are approaching M&A with cautious optimism. This series of Cooley M&A blog posts include some brief observations that offer some M&A highlights over the past year and our thoughts for the year to come. Appraisal Risks Factor High In deals where stockholders have the right […]
2017 M&A Trends Series: Delaware Confronts M&A Litigation
So far this year, deal parties are approaching M&A with cautious optimism. This series of Cooley M&A blog posts include some brief observations that offer some M&A highlights over the past year and our thoughts for the year to come. Delaware Confronts M&A Litigation M&A deal litigation continues to plague most […]
SEC Announces Enforcement Action for Failure to Disclose Banker Fee Arrangements
On February 14, 2016, the SEC settled an enforcement action against CVR Energy for providing misleading disclosure about the fees payable to CVR’s two financial advisors in connection with CVR’s defense of a hostile tender offer by affiliates of Carl Icahn in 2012. The SEC did not impose any civil […]
2017 M&A Trends Series: Rep & Warranty (R&W) Insurance is Here
So far this year, deal parties are approaching M&A with cautious optimism. This series of Cooley M&A blog posts include some brief observations that offer some M&A highlights over the past year and our thoughts for the year to come. Rep & Warranty (R&W) Insurance is Here Previously, transaction insurance (or […]