BarbriSFCourseDetails

Course Details

This CLE/CPE webinar will guide attorneys and tax professionals on key tax considerations when structuring earnouts in M&A transactions for buyers and sellers. The panel will discuss key provisions when structuring earnouts, the tax and accounting issues for all parties involved, and best practices in ensuring tax compliance while also achieving the intended benefits for buyers and sellers.

Faculty

Description

M&A transactions routinely include earnout provisions as a valuation-bridging mechanism to alleviate concerns by both parties about tendering or receiving a fair purchase price. However, attorneys and tax professionals must recognize the tax implications of earnouts in M&A transactions and plan accordingly when negotiating and structuring earnouts.

Earnouts can allow either an upward price adjustment post-closing--when sufficient value is created to justify a higher purchase amount--or innovative financing for an originally agreed upon price. Further, earnouts can deter disagreements during the negotiation of the deal price only to result in post-closing disputes over the earnout itself.

A sale of a privately held company involving an earnout raises a number of tax challenges, such as the tax treatment and calculation of gain each year, the classification of earnout payments for income tax purposes, and other critical tax considerations for earnouts in M&A transactions.

Listen as our panel discusses key provisions when structuring earnouts, the tax and accounting issues for all parties involved, and best practices to ensure tax compliance while also achieving the intended benefits for buyers and sellers.

Outline

  1. Earnouts in M&A transactions
  2. Tax considerations with earnouts and other deferred payments
    1. Ordinary income vs. capital gains
    2. Determining proper tax treatment
    3. Timing of the tax to seller
    4. Imputed interest
  3. Best practices for drafting tax provisions in the deal documents


Benefits

The panel will discuss these and other key issues:

  • Advantages and disadvantages of earnouts in M&A transactions
  • Critical factors in determining the proper tax treatment of earnouts and other deferred payments
  • Key tax considerations in structuring earnouts and other deferred payments in connection with an M&A deal