Issues

CHINESE UPDATE – MOFCOM Clears Seagate/Samsung Deal – with conditions

Highlights:  The Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) conditionally approved Seagate’s acquisition of Samsung’s hard disk drive business, making it the 4th conditional approval of this year and the 10th conditional approval by MOFCOM since China’s Anti-Monopoly Law went into effect. While MOFCOM still relies heavily on market share and market structure, it also takes in … Continued

Editors’ Note:  Susan Ning, a member of XBMA’s Legal Roundtable, co-authored this paper with Ji Kailun and Yin Ranran also of King & Wood.  Ms. Ning heads King & Wood’s International Trade and Antitrust and Competition Group and is widely recognized as one of the leading experts in the field, with many years of experience working with MOFCOM to secure merger clearance.

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CANADIAN UPDATE – Supreme Court of Canada Rejects Proposed Legislation for a National Regulator

Highlights:  The Supreme Court of Canada issued a unanimous decision that the proposed federal Canadian Securities Act, as currently drafted, is unconstitutional as it is not a valid exercise of the Federal Government’s power to regulate trade and commerce. The Court expressly noted that there were specific aspects of the Act aimed at addressing matters … Continued

Editors’ Note:  This update was submitted by I. Berl Nadler, a partner at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP and one of the leading Canadian corporate lawyers who has been involved in numerous high-profile financing transactions and acquisitions worldwide on behalf of multinational corporate clients.  He is currently a member of the Thomson Reuters Governance, Risk and Compliance Partner Advisory Board.  This paper was authored by Luis Sarabia and Brett Anderson.  Mr. Sarabia is a litigation partner in the general corporate/commercial practice of Davies Ward with significant expertise in securities and mining litigation.

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DUTCH UPDATE – New Legislation on Management and Supervision of Dutch Companies

Executive Summary/Highlights: New legislation, expected to become effective on July 1, 2012, introduces for the first time one-tier Dutch board structure, a single board comprising both executive and non-executive directors, as an alternative to the historical Dutch two-tier board structure where there is a management board and a separate supervisory board. Once the new bill … Continued

Editors’ Note:  Kees Peijster and Geert Potjewijd are partners at De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, resident in Amsterdam and Beijing, respectively, and are members of XBMA’s Legal Roundtable.  They co-authored this paper with Marin van Olffen, who is also a partner at De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek.  De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek is a leading Dutch M&A firm with broad expertise in Dutch governance matters.

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SPANISH UPDATE – Trends and Prospects in Spanish M&A

Highlights: One of the key drivers of the M&A sector in Spain in 2011 was the restructuring of the Spanish financial sector.  This process is still ongoing and represents an opportunity for foreign investors interested in acquiring strategic interests in the Spanish banking sector, entering the market on a stand-alone basis through asset purchases or … Continued

Editors’ Note:  This paper was contributed by Juan Miguel Goenechea, a partner at Uría Menéndez in Madrid and a member of XBMA’s Legal Roundtable.  As one of Spain’s leading M&A experts, Mr. Goenechea has broad expertise in complex corporate, banking, finance and securities transactions at the top end of the market.  Javier Ruiz-Cámara, of counsel at Uría Menéndez, authored this article.   Mr. Ruiz-Cámara’s practice focuses mainly on M&A, financings and restructurings in Europe and Latin America.

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AUSTRALIAN UPDATE – Australian Regulatory Response to Chinese Investment Opportunities and Challenges

Highlights: Chinese state owned enterprise investment into Australia’s resources sector is helping create unprecedented high-levels of M&A activity. In recent years, Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board has taken steps to balance the benefits and risks created by this influx by successive revisions or elaborations of the foreign investment policy, amendments to the regulatory framework and … Continued

Editors’ Note:  This paper was co-authored by Jeremy Low, Partner, and Andrew Wong, Senior Associate, at Allens Arthur Robinson.  Mr. Low specialises in mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings and corporate governance.  Mr. Low was based in the Allens Shanghai office from 2002 to 2006.  It was contributed by Ezekiel Solomon and Guy Alexander of Allens.  Mr. Solomon, who is a member of XBMA’s Legal Roundtable, has long-ranging global M&A experience and his expertise is in high demand from Australian, United States, Korean and Japanese corporations seeking his advice on the structuring, negotiation, financing and documenting of major energy and resource development projects, joint ventures and acquisitions, as well as negotiations with governments in Australia and Asia.  Mr. Alexander is the National Co-Head of Allens' M&A and Equity Capital Markets practice and has been a member of the Takeovers Panel (established under Australian corporations and securities law to consider disputes in relation to takeovers and other acquisitions of substantial interests in, Australian companies) since 2004.

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U.S. UPDATE – Mergers and Acquisitions – 2012

Highlights:  As we enter 2012 and as the U.S. economy continues to stabilize, there appears to be a growing sense of optimism about further recovery in the M&A market.  Greater perseverance and transactional creativity and sophistication will continue in 2012 as parties seek to manage and allocate risks in a structured manner in an environment … Continued

Editors’ Note:  This article was co-authored by Andrew R. Brownstein, Steven A. Rosenblum, Adam O. Emmerich, Mark Gordon, Gordon S. Moodie and Daniella Genet, of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.

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GLOBAL M&A STATISTICAL UPDATE – XBMA Annual Review for 2011

Click here to see the Review Executive Summary/Highlights:  During the first half of 2011, global M&A continued the resurgence that began in the second half of 2010, but markets cooled in the second half of 2011, resulting in aggregate volume of US$2.38 trillion in 2011 (down 7% compared to 2010). Stock market volatility, fear of … Continued

Editors’ Note:  The XBMA Review is published on a quarterly basis using consistent metrics and sources of data in order to facilitate a deeper understanding of trends and developments.  We welcome feedback and suggestions for improving the Review or for interpreting the data.

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RUSSIAN UPDATE – English Law Still Dominates in Russian M&A Transactions; a Comparison Shows Why…

This paper is the first in a series of papers on the choice of law in international M&A transactions. We invite further papers on this topic. Highlights: Despite developments in Russian corporate legislation, the mergers and acquisitions and international finance markets in Russia still heavily rely on English law. Business partners in Russia often choose … Continued

Editors’ Note: This paper was co-authored by Goltsblat BLP (the Russian practice of Berwin Leighton Paisner) partners Ian Ivory and Anton Rogoza. Mr. Ivory is Head of English Law - Corporate Finance at Goltsblat BLP, where he and Mr. Rogoza focus on mergers and acquisitions, private equity, joint ventures and corporate restructuring projects. They often represent international companies in connection with their investments in Russia. This paper is a summary of a report entitled “Use of English law in Russian transactions – a comparative review” which was recently published by the authors.

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AUSTRIAN UPDATE – New Approval Requirement for Austrian Foreign Investment by Non-EU, Non-EEA and Non-Swiss Investors

Executive Summary/Highlights: An amendment to the Austrian Foreign Trade Act (FTA), in force since 8 December 2011 subjects the acquisition of certain interests in enterprises in specific industries (including telecoms and energy) by non-EU, non-EEA and non-Swiss persons, to review and approval by the Austrian Ministry of Economic Affairs Approval must be sought before entering … Continued

Editors’ Note:   Christian Herbst is a partner of Schönherr and a member of XBMA’s Legal Roundtable.  He is one of the leading Austrian specialists in cross-border M&A, takeovers and joint ventures, representing mostly foreign clients with respect to investments in Austria and Central Eastern Europe.

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SINGAPOREAN UPDATE – Court Held That Terminology “Subject to contract” Indicated Intent Not to Be Bound Until a Formal Agreement Was Negotiated and Executed

Highlights: Offer and acceptance letters’ inclusion of phrase “subject to contract” was , in the context of the factual matrix, found to make clear the intent of the parties that they were not to be contractually bound until a formal agreement was negotiated and executed. While the Court in this case found that no contract … Continued

Editors’ Note:  This paper was contributed by Rachel Eng, Managing Partner of WongPartnership and a member of XBMA’s Legal Roundtable. It was authored by Andrew Ang, Deputy Head of WongPartnership’s Corporate/Mergers & Acquisitions Practice. Ms. Eng and Mr. Ang are leading experts in both domestic and cross-border M&A in Singapore and other jurisdictions in Southeast Asia.

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