A Mergers & Acquisitions practice is one involving transactions that effect or threaten to effect a change of control or ownership of corporations. Typically this would involve representation of offerors, offerees and other interested parties in connection with take-over bids, amalgamations, arrangements and the like, as well as “defensive” advice to corporations that perceived themselves to be vulnerable to unwanted or unsolicited offers. The M&A practitioner’s primary role is to lead a team of specialists and to coordinate their input on the corporate, securities, finance, tax, competition, labour, employee benefits, real property, regulatory, environmental, intellectual property, litigation and other areas of law that are likely to be implicated by a proposed transaction, while providing senior management with strategic input in conjunction with other M&A specialist advisors such as investment bankers, accountants, communications experts and government relations consultants. The deal management role often encompasses working with and incorporating the input from legal and other specialists in other provinces and countries. The definition of an M&A practice should include the ability to provide strategic advice, to apply seasoned business judgment and to creatively deal with the fast-changing moves and counter-moves of competitive bidding situations.
