BarbriSFCourseDetails

Course Details

This CLE course will examine the common causes of M&A post-closing disputes regarding working capital adjustments and earnouts. The panel will discuss strategies for mitigating the likelihood of post-closing disputes and considerations and best practices for resolving them.

Faculty

Description

More than half of all M&A deals result in post-closing disputes related to purchase price adjustments, earnouts, indemnity, and/or breach of representations and warranties claims.

Common allegations in disputes over working capital adjustments and earnouts relate to discrepancies in the accounting methods applied by the parties, claims that the seller failed to disclose material contingencies or liabilities, ambiguous milestone descriptions, and/or claims the target business was not operated as represented.

While sometimes unavoidable, post-closing disputes can often be avoided, or at the very least minimized, by clearly outlining in the M&A purchase agreement the parties' agreed-upon accounting standards, whether GAAP or another standard; simplifying valuation calculations and limiting the number of variables; using objective rather than subjective terms in the purchase agreement; and addressing how to resolve disputes as a part of the purchase agreement.

Listen as our authoritative panel discusses recent developments regarding M&A post-closing disputes over working capital adjustments and earnouts and explains best practices for minimizing and resolving disputes.

Outline

  1. Common drivers of M&A post-closing disputes over purchase price and earnouts
  2. Best practices to minimize conflicts
  3. Options and considerations for resolving disputes

Benefits

The panel will review these and other top-line issues:

  • What are the common reasons for and allegations involved in M&A post-closing disputes over working capital adjustments or earnouts?
  • How can counsel minimize the likelihood of M&A post-closing disputes?
  • What are the conventional processes for resolving M&A post-closing disputes and the pros and cons of each?