• 
• 
• Home
• Contact
• Extranet

Practices:

• Compliance and Investigations
• Construction & Engineering
• Corporate
  • Aerospace, Defense and Government Services
  • Banking Solutions
  • Canada-U.S. Cross-Border
  • Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation
  • Financing and Lending
  • Governance Center
  • Health Care
  • Joint Ventures and Strategic Alliances
  • Mergers and Acquisitions
  • Private Equity, Hedge Funds and Venture Capital
  • Tax
  • Technology
• Distressed Transactions, Workouts and Bankruptcy
• Employer Services Group
• Environment, Energy & Product Regulation
• Global Infrastructure and Public Private Partnerships
• Government Contracts
• Health Insurance Exchanges
• Insurance
• Intellectual Property & Technology
• International
• Litigation
• Military Bases and Communities
• Municipal Recovery & Restructuring
• Political Law
• Private Client Services
• Public Finance
• Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs
• Real Estate
• State Attorneys General
• Tax
• Tax-Exempt and Nonprofit Organizations
• White Collar Criminal Defense

Mergers and Acquisitions

For the past five years, the international law firm reference guide The Legal 500 has recognized the Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) practice at MLA as a leader in middle-market M&A, stating that "clients are unequivocally impressed with the service the M&A team provides," and that the attorneys are "incredibly responsive" with "great insight into the practical needs of in-house counsel, and tremendous technical knowledge." Those qualities — service and familiarity with our clients' businesses and their people — are two hallmarks that help make M&A a cornerstone practice of MLA. In addition, MLA’s Corporate/M&A and Tax practices received top rankings in the 2012 edition of Chambers USA: A Guide to America's Leading Business Lawyers.

Ours is a national practice distinguished by attorneys who are as savvy about business as they are about law. That savvy starts with our senior attorneys, several of whom add real-world executive experience to their extensive backgrounds in transactional law. It continues with our younger attorneys, who are driven from the moment they join MLA to learn as much as they can about our clients' companies and industries. The result is a team that is able to grasp the business issues at stake, as quickly as the legal issues.

We represent a broad range of clients in the full spectrum of merger and acquisition transactions. Our M&A attorneys are committed to providing our clients with the highest standard of legal representation. We achieve that, in part, through the hands-on involvement of our most experienced partners. While clients expect our work to be of high quality, they also appreciate its value. Through experience, training and efficiency, we are able to provide top-level services without top-level fees.

We have significant M&A experience in domestic and international transactions involving publicly owned and privately held businesses in many different industries. These transactions range in value from hundreds of thousands of dollars, to billions of dollars. Our experience also extends to contested transactions such as unsolicited bids, tender offers, proxy contests and other changes in corporate control.

In every matter we handle, we carry forth our commitment to deliver unparalleled service with integrity, professionalism and value. Our services include:

• Assisting in transaction structuring, including analyzing regulatory, accounting and tax implications of alternative structures and, as necessary, negotiating resolution of any tax issues with appropriate regulatory authorities;
• Assisting in corporate restructuring, debt restructuring and other forms of financial restructuring;
• Organizing and conducting legal due diligence investigations, including risk assessments with respect to pending or threatened litigation and regulatory compliance;
• Advising in connection with establishing, or participating in, auctions or competitive bid procedures;
• Drafting and negotiating transaction documents;
• Facilitating and implementing a broad range of financing alternatives;
• Assisting in all tasks required to close the transaction, including obtaining all regulatory and third-party consents, organizing and qualifying special purpose acquisition entities, documenting all required transfers of assets and assumptions of liabilities, obtaining necessary board and shareholder approvals, registering securities for issuance, and implementing employee benefit transition strategies;
• Advising clients with respect to post-closing obligations and rights, including purchase price adjustments, earnouts and indemnification obligations; and
• Assisting with integration issues following the closing.

MLA has a wide-ranging international transactions and investments practice that represents companies in their businesses in Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa. We provide both transactional and advisory services to our clients, and work with local foreign counsel when needed, such as in the acquisition or disposition of a foreign business.

We have extensive experience in purchasing and selling international operations, conducting pre-bid due diligence and transaction negotiations, international mergers, structuring offshore companies and branch offices, and sales of stock between foreign firms.

MLA attorneys work on international tax planning both for domestic clients with foreign operations or investments, and for foreign clients with investments or operations in the U.S. We advise on U.S. tax consequences of transactions and structuring, to achieve the most favorable result.