Sky Blog
Acquisitions are at the core of corporate strategy, enabling companies to expand and reposition themselves in the market. In 2019 alone, they accounted for nearly $3.7 trillion of economic activity. Yet acquirers famously struggle to realize value from these transactions. …
Previous takeover studies document a puzzlingly skewed division of gains between target and acquirer firms. The targets gain a hefty bid premium, while acquirers’ returns are insignificant or slightly negative around bid announcement dates. Thus, the question arises, Why do …
The new wave of financial economics empirical scholarship has revitalized what had been theoretical discussions about the effects of common ownership in both economics and law. Common ownership within the same industry by mutual funds may create incentives for those …
Vertical mergers – those involving companies at different levels of the supply chain – are the subjects of increasing regulatory scrutiny by antitrust enforcement agencies. For much of the recent past, these acquisitions have largely been viewed as pro-competitive for …
First-year law students typically learn that the terms of a contract represent a snapshot of the parties’ mutual intent, captured at the “magic moment” of contract formation. In reality, however, contractual sausage making is far messier than this idealized account …
Rumors are common in financial markets and often relate to mergers and acquisitions (M&A). While the majority of M&A rumors originate from speculation or opinion pieces (Jia et al., 2020) and never turn into deal announcements, academic research finds that …
In 2020, the number of IPOs by a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) set records: A total of 248 SPAC IPOs raised over $75 billion. The boom continues in 2021: Each of January and February has seen over 90 SPAC …
In a recent study, we examine whether firms structure their mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to avoid scrutiny from antitrust regulators as well as whether such deals reduce product market competition.
While M&A deals are often triggered to create value, they …
On February 4, 2021, Senator Amy Klobuchar, chair of the Antitrust Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced a bill entitled “The Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform Act” (the “Bill”). If enacted, the Bill would fundamentally revise longstanding U.S. …
Notwithstanding the ongoing spread of COVID-19 and unprecedented changes in daily life and the economy, the second half of 2020 marched on to the steady drumbeat of securities-related lawsuits we have observed in recent years, including securities class and stockholder …
Transactions by special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, exploded in 2020, resulting in a 320% increase in the number of SPAC initial public offerings (IPOs) compared to 2019. SPACs have been around for 15 years and now are established as …
Deal activity (or inactivity) for much of 2020 was driven first by the unprecedented uncertainty and massive global shutdown of the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, and then propelled by rising markets and confidence as animal spirits anticipated the …
In November, the UK Government announced a significant and wide-ranging package of reforms that, if adopted, will both recalibrate and expand its existing powers to assess and intervene in mergers and acquisitions on the grounds of national security.
The proposed …
Incomplete contract theory recognizes that parties have neither the interest, nor the time, nor the ability to anticipate and address every contingency in contracts. The more complex and time-sensitive the transaction, the more practical constraints force lawyers to limit the …
On November 11, 2020, the Parliament of the United Kingdom (“U.K.”) introduced the National Security and Investment Bill of 2020 (the “NSI Bill”) to modernize the U.K.’s foreign direct investment (“FDI”) screening process and strengthen its ability to investigate and …
In this article, we follow up on our overview of going private transactions (available here) by focusing on an important but often overlooked workstream in these deals. Companies are frequently privatized by a group of significant shareholders, outside investors …
The widespread economic uncertainty caused by COVID-19 poses distinct challenges for buyers and sellers seeking to identify M&A opportunities, as companies evaluate the impact of the pandemic on their businesses to date, and seek to predict its future impact. Continued …
In recent years, there has been a proliferation of merger control rules throughout the world as well as policy changes in the field. As shown by Amazon’s experience in its recent 16% minority shareholding acquisition of the online restaurant delivery …