Mergers & Acquisitions Attorney in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Competition and growth fuel business success. While competition is healthy, some companies find that a competitor is impeding their growth. A merger or acquisition may offer a path to accelerating growth, profitability, and success.

The concept of mergers and acquisitions seems to be fairly simple; however, executing them requires time, exploration, due diligence, negotiation, and legal expertise. These are the qualities that Engel Professional Association has brought to the table for its business clients in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and across Minnesota, including Mankato, Maple Grove, St. Cloud, and Woodbury for more than two decades.

Whether you are considering merging with another company, acquiring one, or if one is interested in acquiring your business, the best weapon in your arsenal is a business law firm with a record of success in mergers and acquisitions. At Engel Professional Association, we offer our clients sound legal advice and guidance that is rooted in experience, fairness, and sound interpretation of the law. We won’t tell you what you want to hear, but what you need to hear.

What Are the Key Elements of Mergers and Acquisitions?

There are four key elements of mergers and acquisitions that companies need to get right:

1. Financing can make or break the success of a merger or acquisition. Choosing one that will yield a lucrative return on the investment is critical to achieving the growth a company is seeking when it undertakes a merger or acquisition. There are multiple ways to finance one, including cash, exchanging stock, loans and lines of credit, debt acquisition, and initial public offerings, to name a few.

2. The post-merger or acquisition business structure, what the company will look like, is also a key consideration. What leadership remains and who goes when there isn’t room for everyone can be difficult but necessary decisions to make.

3. Compliance issues are often the bane of a merger or acquisition. Depending on the type of companies involved, compliance with legal, regulatory, financial, contractual, and health and safety issues is critical. Compliance is an issue right out of the gate. Not only must companies adhere to laws and regulations during the process, but the merging or acquiring companies must identify existing compliance issues at the target company.

4. Documentation includes those you need to review and those created throughout the process. It takes an immense amount of time to pore over the documents of another company. It also takes time to create new documents, such as letters of intent, articles of incorporation, and the merger or acquisition agreement. Moreover, companies must carefully document protections and guarantees for what happens once the merger or acquisition is final.

What Is Involved in Due Diligence?

Due diligence, done correctly, is detailed and time consuming. Working with an experienced business law attorney who knows what to look for is wise. You have to know what you are merging with or buying, what issues you might be inheriting, the existence of current or potential litigation, and more. Due diligence must be exhaustive to make sure you know where all the proverbial ‘bodies are buried’ so you can proceed with full disclosure. If you don’t know where to begin, that is all right. Your attorney will know.

What Are the Potential Pitfalls in Mergers and Acquisitions?

Incomplete due diligence and financing collapse are two major potential pitfalls in the mergers and acquisitions process; however, there are others you should be aware of, including:

• Choosing the wrong leadership to handle the new company;

• Failing to meld the cultures of two companies into one;

• Setting the unrealistic expectation that a bigger company is inherently better in its ability to solve problems;

• Promising shareholders and other stakeholders returns you can’t actually deliver; and,

• Neglecting to put into place the legal protections necessary to shield your company should something go wrong during the process.

Again, it is difficult for most companies to fully anticipate everything that can potentially fail in mergers and acquisitions. That is why it’s so important that you work with a business law firm that can and will.