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73-598: The HSR Act provides that parties must not complete certain mergers, acquisitions or transfers of securities or assets, including grants of executive compensation, until they have made a detailed filing with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice and waited for those agencies to determine that the transaction will not adversely affect U.S. commerce under the antitrust laws. While parties can carry out due diligence and plan for post-merger integration, they may not take any steps to integrate operations, such as an acquiring party obtaining operational control of

146-689: A monopoly ", and the Hart–Scott–Rodino Act requires notifying the U.S. Department of Justice 's Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission about any merger or acquisition over a certain size. An acquisition/takeover is the purchase of one business or company by another company or other business entity. Specific acquisition targets can be identified through myriad avenues, including market research, trade expos, sent up from internal business units, or supply chain analysis. Such purchase may be of 100%, or nearly 100%, of

219-435: A "Second Request". A typical second request asks to gather information about the sales, facilities, assets, and structure of the businesses which are party to the transaction. This frequently requires a large number of documents to be produced, and law firms representing parties to a transaction in which a second request has been issued often must hire contract attorneys to review all the documents involved . Parties to

292-405: A business retain just a handful of key players that would have otherwise left. Organizations should move rapidly to re-recruit key managers. It's much easier to succeed with a team of quality players that one selects deliberately rather than try to win a game with those who randomly show up to play. Mergers and acquisitions often create brand problems, beginning with what to call the company after

365-569: A business, which accrues to both categories of stakeholders, is called the Enterprise Value (EV), whereas the value which accrues just to shareholders is the Equity Value (also called market capitalization for publicly listed companies). Enterprise Value reflects a capital structure neutral valuation and is frequently a preferred way to compare value as it is not affected by a company's, or management's, strategic decision to fund

438-493: A certain period, usually 30 days (15 days for all-cash tender offers or bankruptcy sales) during which time those regulatory agencies may request further information in order to help them assess whether the proposed transaction violates the antitrust laws of the United States or could cause an anti-competitive effect in the parties' markets. The filing is not made public, but the agencies may disclose some information about

511-473: A function of their acquisition activity. Therefore, additional motives for merger and acquisition that may not add shareholder value include: The M&A process itself is a multifaceted which depends upon the type of merging companies. The M&A process results in the restructuring of a business's purpose, corporate governance and brand identity. An arm's length merger is a merger: ″The two elements are complementary and not substitutes. The first element

584-433: A larger and/or longer-established company and retain the name of the latter for the post-acquisition combined entity. This is known as a reverse takeover . Another type of acquisition is the reverse merger , a form of transaction that enables a private company to be publicly listed in a relatively short time frame. A reverse merger is a type of merger where a privately held company, typically one with promising prospects and

657-579: A legal and financial point of view, both mergers and acquisitions generally result in the consolidation of assets and liabilities under one entity, and the distinction between the two is not always clear. Most countries require mergers and acquisitions to comply with antitrust or competition law . In the United States , for example, the Clayton Act outlaws any merger or acquisition that may "substantially lessen competition" or "tend to create

730-520: A merger of two corporations each having a net asset value of $ 99 million would not require a filing. In transactions where either the FTC or the Antitrust Division believes there may be significant anti-competitive consequences, either agency may require that the parties submit more background information by means of the second request process. The firm that is making the proposed acquisition

803-426: A merger or acquisition transaction can range from political to tactical. Ego can drive choice just as well as rational factors such as brand value and costs involved with changing brands. Beyond the bigger issue of what to call the company after the transaction comes the ongoing detailed choices about what divisional, product and service brands to keep. The detailed decisions about the brand portfolio are covered under

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876-436: A merger, a tender offer or a hostile takeover. As an aspect of strategic management , M&A can allow enterprises to grow or downsize , and change the nature of their business or competitive position. Technically, a merger is the legal consolidation of two business entities into one, whereas an acquisition occurs when one entity takes ownership of another entity's share capital , equity interests or assets . From

949-400: A natural person, for the purposes of determining whether they reach the asset trigger, the value of their primary residence and car are not counted, but the value of a second home that was rented out would be. There are certain exceptions on transaction reporting for usual and customary transactions: such as an airline purchasing planes and certain real estate purchases. An example was given that

1022-444: A need for financing, acquires a publicly listed shell company that has few assets and no significant business operations. The combined evidence suggests that the shareholders of acquired firms realize significant positive "abnormal returns," while shareholders of the acquiring company are most likely to experience a negative wealth effect. Most studies indicate that M&A transactions have a positive net effect, with investors in both

1095-494: A period of up to five years after the original transaction, that do not exceed the next threshold. There are also filing requirements based on the percentage of acquisition, at 25% of a company worth $ 1.36 billion, or 50% of a company where the amount held by the acquirer will be worth at least $ 68.2 million. However, once 50% or more of the target has been acquired, or the amount of acquisitions reported exceeded $ 682.1 million, no further reports are required to be filed. Title III of

1168-710: A price-fixing case, even though they passed overcharges on to ultimate consumers, but the consumer purchasers could not; yet, the parens patriae provision in HSR is directed at vindicating the right of those very victims. To some extent, however, this effect was mitigated by the availability of state law and congressional passage of the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA), under which class actions can be removed from state court to federal court but state parens patriae actions cannot. Consequently, state attorneys general can pursue price-fixing cases on behalf of

1241-434: A situation where one company splits into two, generating a second company which may or may not become separately listed on a stock exchange. As per knowledge-based views, firms can generate greater values through the retention of knowledge-based resources which they generate and integrate. Extracting technological benefits during and after acquisition is an ever-challenging issue because of organizational differences. Based on

1314-550: A special committee of independent directors; and 2) conditioned on an affirmative vote of a majority of the minority stockholders, the business judgment standard of review should presumptively apply, and any plaintiff ought to have to plead particularized facts that, if true, support an inference that, despite the facially fair process, the merger was tainted because of fiduciary wrongdoing.″ A Strategic merger usually refers to long-term strategic holding of target (Acquired) firm. This type of M&A process aims at creating synergies in

1387-468: A total value of US$ 2,164.4 bil. Some of the largest mergers of equals took place during the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s and in the year 2000: AOL and Time Warner (US$ 164 bil.), SmithKline Beecham and Glaxo Wellcome (US$ 75 bil.), Citicorp and Travelers Group (US$ 72 bil.). More recent examples this type of combinations are DuPont and Dow Chemical (US$ 62 bil.) and Praxair and Linde (US$ 35 bil.). An analysis of 1,600 companies across industries revealed

1460-456: Is friendly or hostile . Achieving acquisition success has proven to be very difficult, while various studies have shown that 50% of acquisitions were unsuccessful. "Serial acquirers" appear to be more successful with M&A than companies who make acquisitions only occasionally (see Douma & Schreuder, 2013, chapter 13). The new forms of buy out created since the crisis are based on serial type acquisitions known as an ECO Buyout which

1533-478: Is a co-community ownership buy out and the new generation buy outs of the MIBO (Management Involved or Management & Institution Buy Out) and MEIBO (Management & Employee Involved Buy Out). Whether a purchase is perceived as being "friendly" or "hostile" depends significantly on how the proposed acquisition is communicated to and perceived by the target company's board of directors, employees, and shareholders. It

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1606-426: Is a triangular merger, where the target company merges with a shell company wholly owned by the buyer, thus becoming a subsidiary of the buyer. In a "forward triangular merger ", the target company merges into the subsidiary, with the subsidiary as the surviving company of the merger; a "reverse triangular merger" is similar except that the subsidiary merges into the target company, with the target company surviving

1679-425: Is between two competitors in the same industry. A vertical merger occurs when two firms combine across the value chain, such as when a firm buys a former supplier (backward integration) or a former customer (forward integration). When there is no strategic relatedness between an acquiring firm and its target, this is called a conglomerate merger (Douma & Schreuder, 2013). The form of merger most often employed

1752-399: Is combined into another entity by operation of the corporate law statute(s) of the jurisdiction of the merging entities. In a transaction structured as a merger or an equity purchase, the buyer acquires all of the assets and liabilities of the acquired entity. In a transaction structured as an asset purchase, the buyer and seller agree on which assets and liabilities the buyer will acquire from

1825-425: Is complete, the parties may proceed to draw up a definitive agreement, known as a "merger agreement", "share purchase agreement," or "asset purchase agreement" depending on the structure of the transaction. Such contracts are typically 80 to 100 pages long and focus on five key types of terms: Following the closing of a deal, adjustments may be made to some of the provisions outlined in the purchase agreement, such as

1898-426: Is important because the directors have the capability to act as effective and active bargaining agents, which disaggregated stockholders do not. But, because bargaining agents are not always effective or faithful, the second element is critical, because it gives the minority stockholders the opportunity to reject their agents' work. Therefore, when a merger with a controlling stockholder was: 1) negotiated and approved by

1971-703: Is in substance the original bill introduced in the House of Representatives by congressman Peter W. Rodino ; the other titles of the Act were added as the bill was amended during congressional deliberations. The effectiveness of the parens patriae provision of HSR was greatly weakened by the Supreme Court's Illinois Brick decision , which substantially limited damages relief to direct purchasers, making consumer indirect purchasers unable to sue. Accordingly, wholesalers or retailers might be able to sue in federal court in

2044-412: Is normal for M&A deal communications to take place in a so-called "confidentiality bubble," wherein the flow of information is restricted pursuant to confidentiality agreements. In the case of a friendly transaction, the companies cooperate in negotiations; in the case of a hostile deal, the board and/or management of the target is unwilling to be bought or the target's board has no prior knowledge of

2117-415: Is possible only when resources are exchanged and managed without affecting their independence. A corporate acquisition can be structured legally as either an "asset purchase" in which the seller sells business assets and liabilities to the buyer, an "equity purchase" in which the buyer purchases equity interests in a target company from one or more selling shareholders or a "merger" in which one legal entity

2190-464: Is provided by full-service investment banks- who often advise and handle the biggest deals in the world (called bulge bracket ) - and specialist M&A firms, who provide M&A only advisory, generally to mid-market, select industries and SBEs. Highly focused and specialized M&A advice investment banks are called boutique investment banks . The dominant rationale used to explain M&;A activity

2263-423: Is required to pay a substantial filing fee when making its filing; the amount of the fee is tied to the size of the transaction, as of 25 February 2016 the fee was $ 45,000 for transactions of at least $ 78.2 million but less than $ 156.3 million; $ 125,000 for transactions of $ 156.3 million to $ 781.5 million; and $ 280,000 for transactions over $ 781.5 million. The filing fee covers additional transactions, during

Hart–Scott–Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act - Misplaced Pages Continue

2336-487: Is that acquiring firms seek improved financial performance or reduce risk. The following motives are considered to improve financial performance or reduce risk: Megadeals—deals of at least one $ 1 billion in size—tend to fall into four discrete categories: consolidation, capabilities extension, technology-driven market transformation, and going private. On average and across the most commonly studied variables, acquiring firms' financial performance does not positively change as

2409-534: The Hudson's Bay Company merged with the rival North West Company . The Great Merger Movement was a predominantly U.S. business phenomenon that happened from 1895 to 1905. During this time, small firms with little market share consolidated with similar firms to form large, powerful institutions that dominated their markets, such as the Standard Oil Company , which at its height controlled nearly 90% of

2482-439: The Act allows attorneys general of states to sue companies in federal court for monetary damages under antitrust laws as parens patriae , on behalf of their citizens. Previously, there was no practicable way for large numbers of individual persons harmed by such anticompetitive activities as small overcharges per person, to sue for damages; it was too costly. Congress sought to remedy that problem with this statute. Title III

2555-477: The Federal Trade Commission website. Some types of transactions are afforded the special treatment of shorter waiting periods. The filing requirement is triggered only if the value of the transaction and, in some cases, the size of the parties, exceeds certain dollar thresholds, which are adjusted periodically under the Act. For the purpose of determining the "size of the parties", one assesses

2628-800: The Great Merger Movement were able to keep their dominance in their respective sectors through 1929, and in some cases today, due to growing technological advances of their products, patents , and brand recognition by their customers. There were also other companies that held the greatest market share in 1905 but at the same time did not have the competitive advantages of the companies like DuPont and General Electric . These companies such as International Paper and American Chicle saw their market share decrease significantly by 1929 as smaller competitors joined forces with each other and provided much more competition. The companies that merged were mass producers of homogeneous goods that could exploit

2701-724: The Great Merger Movement. Second request (law) In United States antitrust law , a second request is a discovery procedure by which the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department investigate mergers and acquisitions which may have anticompetitive consequences. Under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act , before certain mergers , tender offers or other acquisition transactions can close, both parties to

2774-553: The acquired party. The Act provides that before certain mergers , tender offers or other acquisition transactions (including certain grants of executive compensation) can be completed, both parties must file a "notification and report form" with the Federal Trade Commission and the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice . The parties then must wait

2847-450: The acquiring company's stock, issued to the shareholders of the acquired company at a given ratio proportional to the valuation of the latter. They receive stock in the company that is purchasing the smaller subsidiary. There are some elements to think about when choosing the form of payment. When submitting an offer, the acquiring firm should consider other potential bidders and think strategically. The form of payment might be decisive for

2920-512: The acquisition so the team can focus on projects for their new employer). In recent years, these types of acquisitions have become common in the technology industry, where major web companies such as Facebook , Twitter , and Yahoo! have frequently used talent acquisitions to add expertise in particular areas to their workforces. Merger of equals is often a combination of companies of a similar size. Since 1990, there have been more than 625 M&A transactions announced as mergers of equals with

2993-514: The assets and liabilities that pertain solely to the unit being sold, determining whether the unit relies on services from other parts of the seller's organization, transferring employees, moving permits and licenses, and safeguarding against potential competition from the seller in the same business sector after the transaction is completed. From an economic point of view, business combinations can also be classified as horizontal, vertical and conglomerate mergers (or acquisitions). A horizontal merger

Hart–Scott–Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act - Misplaced Pages Continue

3066-581: The assets or ownership equity of the acquired entity. A consolidation/amalgamation occurs when two companies combine to form a new enterprise altogether, and neither of the previous companies remains independently owned. Acquisitions are divided into "private" and "public" acquisitions, depending on whether the acquiree or merging company (also termed a target ) is or is not listed on a public stock market . Some public companies rely on acquisitions as an important value creation strategy. An additional dimension or categorization consists of whether an acquisition

3139-446: The business either through debt, equity, or a portion of both. Five common ways to "triangulate" the enterprise value of a business are: Professionals who value businesses generally do not use just one method, but a combination. Valuations implied using these methodologies can prove different to a company's current trading valuation. For public companies, the market based enterprise value and equity value can be calculated by referring to

3212-482: The buyer and target companies seeing positive returns. This suggests that M&A creates economic value, likely by transferring assets to more efficient management teams who can better utilize them. (See Douma & Schreuder, 2013, chapter 13). There are also a variety of structures used in securing control over the assets of a company, which have different tax and regulatory implications: The terms " demerger ", " spin-off " and "spin-out" are sometimes used to indicate

3285-469: The buyer. Hence, the analysis should be done from the acquiring firm's point of view. Synergy-creating investments are started by the choice of the acquirer, and therefore they are not obligatory, making them essentially real options . To include this real options aspect into analysis of acquisition targets is one interesting issue that has been studied lately. See also contingent value rights . Mergers are generally differentiated from acquisitions partly by

3358-462: The company's current account), liquidity ratios might decrease. On the other hand, in a pure stock for stock transaction (financed from the issuance of new shares), the company might show lower profitability ratios (e.g. ROA). However, economic dilution must prevail towards accounting dilution when making the choice. The form of payment and financing options are tightly linked. If the buyer pays cash, there are three main financing options: M&A advice

3431-469: The company's share price and components on its balance sheet. The valuation methods described above represent ways to determine value of a company independently from how the market currently, or historically, has determined value based on the price of its outstanding securities. Most often value is expressed in a Letter of Opinion of Value (LOV) when the business is being valued informally. Formal valuation reports generally get more detailed and expensive as

3504-420: The content analysis of seven interviews, the authors concluded the following components for their grounded model of acquisition: An increase in acquisitions in the global business environment requires enterprises to evaluate the key stake holders of acquisitions very carefully before implementation. It is imperative for the acquirer to understand this relationship and apply it to its advantage. Employee retention

3577-430: The control of the buyer modified. If the issuance of shares is necessary, shareholders of the acquiring company might prevent such capital increase at the general meeting of shareholders. The risk is removed with a cash transaction. Then, the balance sheet of the buyer will be modified and the decision maker should take into account the effects on the reported financial results. For example, in a pure cash deal (financed from

3650-435: The deal must file a "Notification and Report Form" with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division . If either the FTC or the Antitrust Division has reason to believe the merger will impede competition in a relevant market , they may request more information by way of "Request for Additional Information and Documentary Materials" , more commonly referred to as

3723-405: The efficiencies of large volume production. In addition, many of these mergers were capital-intensive. Due to high fixed costs, when demand fell, these newly merged companies had an incentive to maintain output and reduce prices. However more often than not mergers were "quick mergers". These "quick mergers" involved mergers of companies with unrelated technology and different management. As a result,

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3796-468: The efficiency gains associated with mergers were not present. The new and bigger company would actually face higher costs than competitors because of these technological and managerial differences. Thus, the mergers were not done to see large efficiency gains, they were in fact done because that was the trend at the time. Companies which had specific fine products, like fine writing paper, earned their profits on high margin rather than volume and took no part in

3869-473: The global oil refinery industry. It is estimated that more than 1,800 of these firms disappeared into consolidations, many of which acquired substantial shares of the markets in which they operated. The vehicle used were so-called trusts . In 1900 the value of firms acquired in mergers was 20% of GDP . In 1990 the value was only 3% and from 1998 to 2000 it was around 10–11% of GDP. Companies such as DuPont , U.S. Steel , and General Electric that merged during

3942-440: The long run by increased market share, broad customer base, and corporate strength of business. A strategic acquirer may also be willing to pay a premium offer to target firm in the outlook of the synergy value created after M&A process. The term "acqui-hire" is used to refer to acquisitions where the acquiring company seeks to obtain the target company's talent, rather than their products (which are often discontinued as part of

4015-440: The merger. Mergers, asset purchases and equity purchases are each taxed differently, and the most beneficial structure for tax purposes is highly situation-dependent. Under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code , a forward triangular merger is taxed as if the target company sold its assets to the shell company and then liquidated, them whereas a reverse triangular merger is taxed as if the target company's shareholders sold their stock in

4088-429: The most value from a business assessment, objectives should be clearly defined and the right resources should be chosen to conduct the assessment in the available timeframe. As synergy plays a large role in the valuation of acquisitions, it is paramount to get the value of synergies right; as briefly alluded to re DCF valuations. Synergies are different from the "sales price" valuation of the firm, as they will accrue to

4161-417: The offer. Hostile acquisitions can, and often do, ultimately become "friendly" as the acquirer secures endorsement of the transaction from the board of the acquiree company. This usually requires an improvement in the terms of the offer and/or through negotiation. "Acquisition" usually refers to a purchase of a smaller firm by a larger one. Sometimes, however, a smaller firm will acquire management control of

4234-468: The other is worth at least $ 136.4 million and the total amount of assets now owned by the acquirer reaches $ 272.8 million. If an entity is not sure if the filing requirements apply to it, it can make a request of the Justice Department to determine if it is. Some assets are not counted, generally assets that do not produce income. For example, if one of the parties involved in the transaction is

4307-446: The purchase price. These adjustments are subject to enforceability issues in certain situations. Alternatively, certain transactions use the 'locked box' approach, where the purchase price is fixed at signing and based on the seller's equity value at a pre-signing date and an interest charge. The assets of a business are pledged to two categories of stakeholders: equity owners and owners of the business' outstanding debt. The core value of

4380-446: The rewards for M&A activity were greater for consumer products companies than the average company. For the period 2000–2010, consumer products companies turned in an average annual TSR of 7.4%, while the average for all companies was 4.8%. Given that the cost of replacing an executive can run over 100% of his or her annual salary, any investment of time and energy in re-recruitment will likely pay for itself many times over if it helps

4453-501: The same penalties apply. Although the waiting period is generally 30 days (15 days if the transaction is an all-cash tender offer or a bankruptcy sale), the regulators may request additional time to review additional information and the filing parties may request that the waiting period for a particular transaction be terminated early ("early termination"). Early terminations are made public in the Federal Register and posted on

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4526-448: The seller. Asset purchases are common in technology transactions in which the buyer is most interested in particular intellectual property but does not want to acquire liabilities or other contractual relationships. An asset purchase structure may also be used when the buyer wishes to buy a particular division or unit of a company that is not a separate legal entity. Divestitures present a variety of unique challenges, such as identifying

4599-442: The seller. With pure cash deals, there is no doubt on the real value of the bid (without considering an eventual earnout). The contingency of the share payment is indeed removed. Thus, a cash offer preempts competitors better than securities. Taxes are a second element to consider and should be evaluated with the counsel of competent tax and accounting advisers. Third, with a share deal the buyer's capital structure might be affected and

4672-414: The size of a company increases, but this is not always the case as the nature of the business and the industry it is operating in can influence the complexity of the valuation task. Objectively evaluating the historical and prospective performance of a business is a challenge faced by many. Generally, parties rely on independent third parties to conduct due diligence studies or business assessments. To yield

4745-403: The size of the party's ultimate parent entity and all subsidiaries of that entity. The general rule is that a filing is required if three tests are met: There is also a rule prohibiting "interlocking directorates", that is, it prohibits a person from serving on the board of directors of competing companies valued at over a certain size (this amount was $ 27.7 million in 2012); but does not apply if

4818-399: The state's consumers under state law in state courts. Peter Rodino commented in 2002 on the 25th anniversary of the legislation, "the legislation absolutely has transformed merger enforcement. Competition, as well as the consumer, has benefitted." The Federal Trade Commission's Deputy Director stated that implementation of the Act "has been instrumental in detecting transactions that have been

4891-404: The subject of numerous enforcement actions and [it] continues to do its job well". Mergers and acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions ( M&A ) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies , business organizations , or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. This could happen through direct absorption,

4964-490: The target company to the buyer. The documentation of an M&A transaction often begins with a letter of intent . The letter of intent generally does not bind the parties to commit to a transaction, but may bind the parties to confidentiality and exclusivity obligations so that the transaction can be considered through a due diligence process involving lawyers, accountants, tax advisors, and other professionals, as well as business people from both sides. After due diligence

5037-658: The topic brand architecture . Most histories of M&A begin in the late 19th century United States. However, mergers coincide historically with the existence of companies. In 1708, for example, the East India Company merged with an erstwhile competitor to restore its monopoly over the Indian trade. In 1784, the Italian Monte dei Paschi and Monte Pio banks were united as the Monti Reuniti. In 1821,

5110-547: The transaction and going down into detail about what to do about overlapping and competing product brands. Decisions about what brand equity to write off are not inconsequential. And, given the ability for the right brand choices to drive preference and earn a price premium, the future success of a merger or acquisition depends on making wise brand choices. Brand decision-makers essentially can choose from four different approaches to dealing with naming issues, each with specific pros and cons: The factors influencing brand decisions in

5183-414: The transaction, especially in the case of publicly announced transactions. Failure to file the form carries a civil penalty of up to $ 41,484 per day against the parties, their officers, directors or partners, and the agencies may obtain an order requiring an acquirer to divest assets or securities acquired in violation of the Act. It is also unlawful to complete the transaction during the waiting period, and

5256-421: The two companies have annual sales in competition with each other of less than $ 2.7 million. The rules are somewhat overlapping, but all transactions where the acquiring person will hold an aggregate amount of securities and/or assets of $ 272.8 million or more (as of 2012) require a filing. Also, all transactions worth more than $ 68.2 million require a filing if one of the parties is worth at least $ 13.6 million,

5329-406: The way in which they are financed and partly by the relative size of the companies. Various methods of financing an M&A deal exist: Payment by cash. Such transactions are usually termed acquisitions rather than mergers because the shareholders of the target company are removed from the picture and the target comes under the (indirect) control of the bidder's shareholders. Payment in the form of

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