The Corporate Transactions Handbook by Lawrence Hsieh is an annually supplemented legal guide designed to help attorneys, bankers and, I would add, boardmembers, to become fully acquainted with the major legal issues related to a variety of corporate transactions in the most popular practice areas.
One unusual characteristic of the book, especially for a legal handbook on such a complex topic, is the lack of footnotes. This, and the extensive use of flow-charts and graphs (over 200), add to the guide’s readability. For me, the graphics are its major strength or improvement over other such guides I have read.
One of the potentially more interesting chapters for board members is Key Deal Point Issues, which provides an overview of some of the most commonly negotiated non-structural issues such as creating a collar, where parties agree to both a floor and cap, much like having a collar or call and a put to yield greater certainty to the value of a stock. An earnout provision can be used to bump up the purchase price or a portion thereof, based on the performance of the target after the closing date. This can be very helpful when the buyer wants target managers to stay onboard for some time after the transaction. The chapter provides a good guide to concepts such as representations, covenants, closing conditions, qualifiers and indemnification that boardmembers should be familiar with so they can properly assess proposed transactions.
These basic transaction types are discussed in much more detail in following chapters along with many other topics. Corporate Transactions Handbook covers a big subject, running in multi-dimensions from liabilities, consents, tax consequences, and transaction types to takeover defenses, securities laws and loan structuring. Lawrence Hsieh explains the broad range possibilities and potential pitfalls in enough depth to get most through more than the basics.
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