Last year the UK had the second largest share of the global mergers and acquisition market. In this article we consider the role of the HR director in a merger or acquisition and look at the range of people issues involved in the early structuring of the transaction, the transaction process itself and the post-transaction activities in the context of the transaction’s legal framework.

Whilst the media frenzy continues around the level of city bonuses resulting from such a record year, those of you who deal with the HR and employment law aspects of such deals know that HR strategy and the practical management of the people issues involved in them can result in headaches that are definitely not champagne-fuelled.