Are you searching for an experienced and proven California mergers and acquisitions attorney?  Why is it so important to work with an experienced M & A attorney with decades of experience when considering a potential merger or business acquisition?

Why Most Mergers and Acquisitions Fail

Did you know that most recent studies by government agencies and prestigious institutions like the Harvard Business School place the failure rate of mergers and acquisitions in the US at 68% to almost 90%.  The reason it is so important to work with an experienced and proven mergers and acquisitions for San Diego and Southern California from the Watkins Firm is the high rate of success our clients have had in these transactions.  It is the quality of our extensive due diligence and general business experience which helps our clients to structure a successful merger or acquisition.

The primary reasons for lack of success after a merger or acquisition through a stock purchase are critical issues which were not uncovered during due diligence, or the inability of the companies to integrate operations and management under a single banner going forward.

Why Our Mergers and Acquisitions Succeed

How can working with an experienced and proven California mergers and acquisitions attorney from the Watkins Firm help to lay the foundation for a successful merger or stock purchase acquisition?  The genuine business experience and insight gained over four decades of M & A experience here in SoCal has helped us to develop a uniquely thorough, in-depth due diligence process.  Success is based on preparation, an accurate assessment of the facts at hand and strong strategies to ensure a smooth transition and successful integration of our client’s company and their acquisition or merger target organization.

Strong Representation From Initial Negotiations Through an Offer and Ultimately a Successful Transaction

Your Watkins Firm attorneys provide strong representation from initial negotiations through an offer, due diligence, closing and the transition period which follows.

We have developed proven and successful comprehensive proprietary due diligence checklists which provide intensive insight for our clients into every aspect of the target.  We investigate and validate (or refute) the Warranties and Representations made by the other party or parties.  Successful thorough due diligence covers investigation of every aspect of the target from their books and transactions to assets and liabilities.  One must analyze the market of the target and whether it is growing, shrinking or stagnant and how the transaction will impact future performance in that marketplace.

It is important to review all existing contracts as well as the relationships between the target and its suppliers, customers and employees.  There are always key internal personnel who must be locked in through the transition in order to ensure success.  Conversations with key customers and suppliers provides insight into tracks for success and potential issues which must be addressed.

Pro-Tip: “Mergers and acquisitions is a big topic. It covers a lot of things and the way you should visualize mergers and acquisitions, you think of mergers as way over to the left, where you want to do business with somebody, or you’ll want to combine your resources with their resources or assets and so forth. That would be one of the many forms of mergers or joint ventures. And then you take it all the way to the right where you simply want to acquire assets. ‘I’ll just give you money, you give me that..’

In between those big giant areas of law, there are hundreds of different types of agreements, formats, and ways in which businesses can buy and sell and merge and share in a joint venture and everything else.

You need an experienced, proven attorney to help you decide, and you have to do your own due diligence. You’ve got to look at the physical assets of the company you’re going to do business with as well as the financial assets, the market, the Goodwill and the tech. You’ve got to look at everything.

In the end, there are two basic ways companies to buy and sell: one is through a stock purchase, and one is through an asset purchase. And also there’s this question of joint, venture and merger, but for the basic purchasing and sale of a company, it’s either going to be an asset sale or a stock sale.

The spectrum on mergers and acquisitions includes a whole bunch of joint venture possibilities. You can have management agreements, you can have service agreements involved. You also have to have new transactions with all the vendors that you want to keep. You have to have permission to get rid of some of the vendors that you don’t want anymore and key employee agreements. So these things can get rather complex because sometimes you need the owner or the primary owner to stay on, remain on board to make the transaction work and you might actually have to hire them to do so. And they get paid for an employment contract for three years and they have certain requirements of effort and Goodwill and good faith.  It gets really complicated.

We do over a hundred million dollars in transactions a year. So we get a lot of them. And one thing we get to do is to get a feel for what types of businesses are in play. For example, we sold and bought five or 10 surgery centers. About 15 years ago, they were in play and every surgery and center around was in motion, doctors were forming them and then selling them and, and bringing in new members and new doctors.  And then we have sold and purchased physical therapy centers, hundreds of them over the years, because they build up a good book of business. Somebody wants to retire. Another company comes into town with a supposedly better business model and they want to take over and improve the profit and service of that physical therapy center, or maybe 10 or 12 of them.

Buying and selling a company takes due diligence, experience, skill, strong documents and contracts, and good business sense.” – Dan Watkins, Founding Partner

Your Experienced and Proven California Mergers and Acquisitions Attorney

Are you considering a potential merger or acquisition such as a stock purchase transaction in San Diego or Southern California?  You will need an experienced and proven California mergers and acquisitions attorney from the Watkins Firm to add strength, experience and a proven track record of success to your side of the equation.

You want to complete a successful transaction.  You need to ensure existing goodwill is preserved and ultimately amplified.  There is too much riding on this transaction not to ensure a thorough investigation and due diligence process.

We invite you to increase the odds of success in your merger or acquisition, review our podcast Episode 13 – mergers and acquisitions, the strong recommendations of our clients and contact the Watkins Firm or call 858-535-1511 for a complimentary and thorough consultation today.