As you consider a transaction in the business, it is extremely important to employ a law firm which is seasoned enough to help you handle the deal effectively. Even though you may engage attorneys for different processes in your company, the process of selling or buying a business is entirely different. For the deals of mergers and acquisitions, you must have the support of those professionals ready to represent you to push off the deal. The points below will augment your knowledge about the law firms dealing with the process of transactions.
Table of Contents
● Determining whether you can sell
Before engaging mergers and acquisitions lawyers, determining the readiness of the company to sell is vital. When you decide to sell your company to a buyer, you have to present every aspect of the business inside out for the buyers to assess. Quite naturally, you must address all those legal and technical matters that have stayed unaddressed until now. If you fail to address these concerns prior to selling your company, it can cost you a lot of time and money, and eventually result in the complex process of litigation. Adequate legal representation during the deal can help you to get the guidelines you need to make the right moves even before looking for a buyer.
● Working partners of the lawyers
The M&A attorneys in the corporate entities work with the other lawyers in their firm specializing in the relevant fields known to carry out the specific transaction. For instance, attorneys in the field of tax, environment, intellectual property, real estate, and finance assist the M&A lawyers. During the cross-border transactions, the corporate lawyers employ foreign or local counsel to ensure that the deal is completed in accordance with the applicable laws.
● Estimating the experience of the lawyer
Determining the expertise and the experience of the lawyers in facilitating the transactions deals is one of those aspects you are going to find rather tricky. Try to focus on the transactions that they handle regularly as it will help you gain knowledge about the versatility of the lawyers. No two deals are the same and presuming that, you can take the first step while communicating with the M&A lawyers in India. As a matter of fact, the experience must surpass the education and the prestige of the firm. You can also ask specific questions about the deals they have successfully concluded in your industry.
● Versatility of the deals
While most of the lawyers work on the same kind of M&A deals throughout their career, the types of transactions differ with the nuances arising in every deal. Even if the acquisitions may have similar structures of deals, they tend to become more complex owing to the size of the industry, the power of bargaining of the parties involved in the deal, or whether it is going to be a strategic transaction by a financial or between the competitors. Believe it or not, working on a deal between two companies with national recognition is vastly different than representing the parties involved between the small-sized companies functioning regionally, or the acquisition by a firm in the field of private equity.
● Representation and emotional aspects
Offering advice to the Board of Directors is the most inevitable thing in which the M&A law firms engage during the deals. Practically, the lawyers emerge as the face of the firm while coordinating with the board when they need thorough and timely advice regularly. Often, the complexities and the roadblocks arise in a manner, where it seems that the discussion can either go forward or terminate. However, the M&A lawyer can make the situation look better during the impasse. Only those law firms with adequate experience in the relevant transactions can steer the impasse effectively and anticipate the concerns arising in the deal. The emotional strength of the lawyer is another important factor to count as the periods of negotiation can last for several months with very high stakes. Lawyers need to keep their emotions under control, and try to stay patient and cool before the completion of the deal.
● Aggressive working conditions
The M&A corporate deals are heavily demanding and extremely fast-paced. The factors resulting in the burnout that the attorney experiences such as the complexity involved in the deals, the staff of the transaction, the time taken to close the deal, and catering to the expectations of the clients can take a toll on their health. The lawyers working on the complex transactions may have to face a lot of wear and tear regularly due to understaffing in the team, and also handle irrelevant timelines and constant stress. However, the attorneys with adequate experience can influence all these aspects and reduce the pressure of the team drastically.
● Knowledge of the soft issues
The M&A deals are not only the most effective step for several companies finding it the right approach to run their operations, but it also affects the pensions and the benefits of several employees and their families. Quite naturally, the experience of the lawyers is going to count as the deals of merger and acquisition procedures are often complex and challenging. The lawyers have to balance the interests of all and help in crafting a deal which satisfies the employees to a great extent even if not fully.
Attempting a deal
The worst thing is to spend money on a deal that should ideally have been stopped. The biggest value of hiring the mergers and acquisitions law firms is to figure out the issues that can kill the deal instead of moving ahead with an unfavored transaction. When you hire a reputed law firm, the legal experts will be clear about the issues that are not going to be resolved. The legal firm you hire must offer the most pertinent solutions required to move or stop the transaction deals.
Author Bio:
Amy Jones is a versatile legal expert and working in Ahlawat & Associates. One of the top law firms in India where you can discuss with experts about legal services.