Columbia Law School
Sky Blog
M & A
How Changes in the Likelihood of Shareholder Litigation Affect M&A Decisions
Evidence shows shareholders’ wealth is protected from self-serving managers, who are often motivated to divert corporate resources, by both internal and external corporate governance mechanisms (Jensen and Meckling, 1976; Fama, 1980; Fama and Jensen, 1983). However, due to high monitoring …
Using the M&A Market to Study Innovation Problems
In an economic environment where technological disruption and regulatory upheaval are the norm, understanding innovation processes is essential to aggregate economic growth and individual companies’ survival. As a result, how innovations are produced in a wide range of markets …
Paul Weiss Offers M&A at a Glance for 2017
2017 was an active year for M&A, though year-end results generally declined relative to 2016. Global deal volume for the year was $3.57 trillion and U.S. deal volume was $1.48 trillion (down 3.2% and 10.5%, respectively, from 2016). Sponsor-related deal …
Wachtell Lipton Looks at Acquisition Financing in 2017 and the Year Ahead
The credit bull market charged through 2017, with many terrific outcomes for opportunistic borrowers. But even in the best of times, borrowers and their advisors should remain nimble and thoughtful, and 2018 brings much to consider, including the impact on …
The Costs of M&A Antitrust Review and Acquirer Lobbying
The process of determining whether big mergers comply with antitrust laws is careful and intensive. The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice reported that in 2011 they examined in detail 40 percent, and initiated second request investigations in …
Wachtell Offers 2018 Checklist for Cross-Border M&A Involving U.S. Targets
Global M&A accelerated in the fourth quarter of 2017, driven in part by tech expansion and strong economies in several key markets, and there are many signals pointing to a continued strong pace of transactions, including in the U.S. Overall …
How Dual-Class Share Structures Create Agency Costs
A number of companies have recently gone public with dual-class share structures, allowing founders to retain control. Most of these companies’ articles of incorporation contain a provision that requires any merger consideration to be distributed pro rata among all shareholders. …
The Value of Unicorns and “Worthless” Companies Explained
In a new paper, “Worthless Companies,” I explain how companies with worthless assets can have substantial equity value on efficient markets and debt that trades near par, so long as an irrational bidder may acquire the company.
Consider a firm …
Appraisal Apprisal: Dell v. Magnetar
Paul Weiss Offers M&A at a Glance for November 2017
In U.S. and global M&A activity for November 2017, total deal volume by dollar value increased to a 12-month high, while the total number of deals decreased to a 12-month low. In the U.S., deal volume increased by 179.0% to …
Skadden Discusses Trends in M&A Disclosure Litigation
Over the past two years, the deal litigation landscape has changed dramatically. In early 2016, the Delaware Court of Chancery announced a new rule for evaluating disclosure-based settlements in deal litigation — the “plainly material” standard — and expressed a …
Appraisal Arbitrage and Shareholder Value
How Corporate Tax Systems Affect Cross-Border M&A Prices
There were more than $1 trillion worth of cross-border mergers and acquisitions in 2016, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, making them a prominent form of foreign direct investment and an important way for multinational entities …
How Foreign Competition Affects Corporate Acquisitions
Following the Great Recession, low interest rates coupled with high levels of cash reserves propelled companies to grow through mergers and acquisitions rather than organically through capital investments. The year 2015 saw a record number of M&A deals totaling $4.9 …
Paul Weiss Offers M&A at a Glance for October 2017
In U.S. and global M&A activity for October 2017, deal volume increased by total dollar value, while the total number of deals decreased in some cases to or nearing 12-month lows. In the U.S., deal volume increased by 23.4% to …
Gibson Dunn Discusses Proposed Changes to CFIUS Review
On November 8, 2017, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a long-awaited bill that could significantly alter the process by which the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS” or the “Committee”) reviews foreign investment in the United …
How U.S. and UK Deal Structures Protect Minority Shareholders
Takeover transactions are often the most significant activity affecting corporations and their shareholders. Accordingly, there are intense debates about the value and impact of takeovers and the extent to which law should regulate such transactions. One area of focus for …
How U.S. Bank M&A Affect Systemic Risk
During the 2008 financial crisis, the U.S. government viewed the survival of large consolidated banks as inextricably linked to the welfare of the overall economy, prompting such institutions to be labeled too-big-to-fail (TBTF) and granted government assistance. The primary and …
Paul Weiss Offers M&A at a Glance for September 2017
Continuing a relatively flat year so far, M&A activity showed mixed results in September 2017, with the global market switching positions with the U.S. from last month and generally faring better. In the U.S., total deal volume, as measured by …