Hostile Takeovers And Mergers: Why You Still Need Business Lawyers Involved

Business transactions are as simple as buying a flower from a corner vendor to as complex as company mergers. While the simplest transactions really require no contract or legal counsel, the more complex ones can become very messy very fast, if you do not have at least one business transaction lawyer involved. Here is why you need business lawyers for mergers and/or hostile takeovers in the business world.

The Merger

In the case of a merger, one company agrees to merge with another larger, more profitable company so that the smaller company has a chance at surviving. It is a friendly business transaction, but all the same, the companies have to meet with lawyers to draw up papers when specific stipulations are made and are expected to be kept. For example, the smaller company may insist on continuing to be referred to by its own name, even though it is now owned by the larger company. The larger company agrees to this term, but with a stipulation of their own. This is a back-and-forth process whereby both companies attempt to agree to a set of terms that makes everyone happy (or at least the owners and management teams happy). The final contractual agreements between both companies right before they officially merge are drawn up by their respective business lawyers and signed in front of the lawyers who act as witnesses.

​The Hostile Takeover

In the case of a hostile takeover, one company attempts to seize control and ownership of another without the express verbal or written consent of that company. Individuals may also perform a hostile takeover of a company if they buy more than fifty percent of the controlling shares of stock in a publicly traded company. In all cases where money changes hands to seize control, a business lawyer is present to facilitate the transactions and/or act as a witness so that nothing illegal transpires. If something illegal were to occur, and the lawyers were not present to witness it, the takeover would utterly fail, and the person or company trying to do the takeover would lose millions.

​The Lawyer Is Facilitator, Document Creator, Court Defender, and Witness

As you can see, business lawyers play multiple roles in the acquisition of business properties. They facilitate transactions between companies, partners, and groups of people or individuals. They create legally binding documents. They defend clients in court when a piece of business does not go right or well. Finally, they act as witnesses when business documents are signed.