Earn-Out Arrangements – Interview with David Lagasse, Member, Mintz Levin
On April 30, 2024, in Himawan, et al. v. Cephalon, Inc., et al., the Delaware Court of Chancery held that the defendant acquiror complied with its contractual obligations to use commercially reasonable efforts to achieve...more
Ambiguous drafting of earnout provisions in M&A agreements is a perennial source of post-closing disputes. What may have seemed clear to parties in the heat of negotiations can often become less so as time passes,...more
Market Trends: What You Need to Know - As shown in the American Bar Association's Private Target Mergers and Acquisitions Deal Points Studies: Earnout provisions were included in 26% of the deals reported in the 2023...more
The use of earnout provisions, which buyers and sellers often use to bridge differing views of value, is on the rise, especially in the private equity and corporate venture capital markets. This White Paper examines how...more
Global Investigations expert Frank Lazzara, CPA, CFF, ABV, CFE, and Economic Damages & Valuations expert David Golbahar, CPA, CFF, CGMA, will present a one-hour* course, which will cover: - An overview of purchase price...more
Market Trends: What You Need to Know - As shown in the American Bar Association’s Private Target Mergers and Acquisitions Deal Points Studies: - Earnout provisions were included in 20% of the deals reported in the...more
The American Bar Association (ABA) 2020 – 2021 Private Target Mergers & Acquisitions Deal Points Study[1] analyzed publicly available acquisition agreements for 123 transactions executed and/or completed in 2020 and the first...more
Shareholder Representative Services LLC v. Albertson’s Companies, C.A. No. 2020-0710-JRS (Del. Ch. June 7, 2021) - Many merger agreements include earnout provisions under which the stockholders in the acquired company are...more
In Shareholder Representative Services LLC v. Albertsons Companies, Inc., 2021 WL 2311455 (Del. Ch. June 7, 2021), the Delaware Court of Chancery (Slights, V.C.) provided key guidance on mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”)...more
In Shareholder Representative Services LLC v Albertsons Companies, Inc., the aggrieved former shareholders of DineInFresh, Inc., d/b/a Plated, sought recovery of earnout consideration from Plated’s acquirer, Defendant,...more
Obsidian Fin. Grp., LLC v. Identity Theft Guard Solutions, Inc., C.A. No: 2020-0485-JRS (Del. Ch. Apr. 22, 2021) - Delaware is “more contractarian” than many other jurisdictions. Accordingly, as this case illustrates, a...more
In M&A transactions, the buyer and seller often disagree about the value of the business or asset being sold. A popular solution is an earnout clause that entitles either the seller or buyer to future payments from the...more
Market Trends: What You Need to Know - As shown in the American Bar Association's Private Target Mergers and Acquisitions Deal Point Studies: Earnout provisions were included in 27% of the deals reported in the 2019...more
An “earnout” is a deal mechanism used in a merger and acquisition transaction (“M&A Transaction”) which structures the terms upon which a buyer agrees to pay additional consideration to the seller after the closing of the M&A...more
This is certainly a situation where the (purportedly) ancient curse would seem to apply: May you live in interesting times. Living, however, implies moving forward, and that is what the business world is trying to do. ...more
In Western Standard, LLC, v. SourceHOV Holdings, Inc. and Pangea Acquisitions, Inc., C.A. No. 2018-0280-JRS (Del. Ch. July 24, 2019), the Delaware Court of Chancery (the “Court”) refused to the grant SourceHOV Holdings, Inc....more
Western Standard, LLC v. SourceHOV Holdings, Inc., C.A. No. 2018-0280-JRS (Del. Ch. July 24, 2019). Defendant Pangea acquired BancTec through a merger agreement that provided for an earn-out to former BancTec stockholders...more
On December 28, 2018, Vice Chancellor Sam Glasscock III of the Delaware Court of Chancery declined to dismiss a breach of contract claim brought by former stockholders of Ception Therapeutics, Inc. (“Ception”) against...more
Greenstar IH Rep. LLC v. Tutor Perini Corporation, C.A. No. 12885-VCS (Oct. 31, 2017) - With every contract under Delaware law comes the obligation to not act so as to deprive the counter party of the benefit of its...more
The stockholders of Cyveillance, Inc., sold their company for $40 million up-front and a $40 million earn-out if the company’s revenues reached a certain level. Section 5.4 of the merger agreement prohibited the buyer from...more
In Fortis Advisors LLC, as the equity representative v. Dialog Semiconductor PLC, the Delaware Court of Chancery examined the implied covenant of good faith in the context of an earn-out provision included in a merger...more