Our Sioux City Law Firm Shares Knowledge on Messy Mergers

Mergers and business sales can occasionally get messy. Planning and aligning objectives can help prevent these deals from going wonky. However, when they do get messy, the reason is usually one of the following.

1. Battle of the Egos

Egos can come in to play to jeopardize a deal. However, occasionally it is not the ego of the buyer or seller. I had a deal that was almost killed because the other lawyer had a hard time putting down his ego to find the common ground. A good negotiator gets the best deal for his client. But the key is “gets the deal.” You want a negotiator who will get you the best deal but who gets the deal done.

2. Inexperience

I often work with clients who have never sold a business before. This is all new to them. My job is to guide them through the process. It is emotional and there are ups and downs in the sale, but I do my best to keep it as smooth as possible for the client. The laws and practices of mergers and acquisitions change. I worked on a deal with an attorney who had not been involved in very many business sales. I represented the buyer and needed some tax clearance letters. The other attorney let his own ignorance almost kill the deal. Because he didn’t find out what tax clearance letters are, he almost killed the deal. Luckily, a little kind education was enough to save the deal.

3. Nepotism

Unfortunately, when the seller has a long history of nepotism, there are some stakeholders in the business who have become too dependent on the business, while their contributions to the business have not been enough to keep the company running. In one case, the nepotism (and other inefficiencies) were too much. The business was unable to improve to make itself sufficiently attractive for a sale due to these stakeholders, despite great changes embraced by the business leader.

Let these horror stories serve as lessons in what to avoid when you’re buying, selling, or merging companies.

If you'd like to read more about mergers and acquisitions, check out "Q&A: What are Mergers and Acquisitions?" or more from our Deal Maker blog. 

For any questions contact Goosmann Law Firm below.