Mergers, Acquisitions & Divestitures

Overview

Our M&A attorneys are recognized as among the finest in Delaware. Most of the partners in the Mergers and Acquisitions group are “leading lawyers” according to Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business and many have been honored repeatedly in The Best Lawyers in America. Due to Potter Anderson’s national reputation concerning matters of Delaware corporate law, the firm regularly acts as Delaware counsel in both nationally and internationally prominent mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. The firm’s M&A team works closely with, and many practice in, our Corporate Counseling group, advising boards of directors, management and significant shareholders with respect to the negotiation, structuring and effectuation of mergers, acquisitions, asset sales, recapitalizations and responses to solicited and unsolicited acquisition proposals. Three members of our M&A team serve on the governing council of the Corporation Law Section of the Delaware State Bar Association, the source of virtually all annual revisions to the Delaware General Corporation Law. 

Potter Anderson’s national reputation concerning matters of Delaware corporate law has enabled the firm to act regularly as Delaware counsel in both nationally and internationally prominent mergers, acquisitions, tender offers, divestitures, spin-offs and other types of business transactions.

In addition to our work as Delaware counsel, attorneys on the firm's M&A team frequently act as principal outside counsel to corporations or other business entities in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures and other types of business transactions involving non-public companies or non-public sales of assets or divisions by public companies for clients such as Kao Corporation and DuPont. This area of the firm's practice is international, national and regional in scope. Transactions and business combinations in this part of the firm's practice range from a few million dollars to a billion dollars or more. In such transactions, the firm renders advice on all aspects of the transaction including, for example, advice relating to financing, environmental matters, antitrust, human resources, tax, real estate, intellectual property, corporate governance and indemnification. We are able to draw upon the specific expertise of various attorneys in the firm in order to form a legal team to provide the full range of services necessary to consummate a transaction in today's complex legal and regulatory environment. The firm also has considerable experience in teaming with a client's in-house lawyers to provide the most efficient and cost-effective level of service for a particular transaction.