M&A Disputes: A Professional Guide to Accounting Arbitrations

As M&A transactions continue to be part of the corporate and investment landscape, M&A disputes continue to grow in importance. Their impact on the ultimate purchase price paid by buyers and received by sellers can make or break transactions. In this volume, Biemans and Hansen provide their insight and practical advice on the successful resolution of M&A disputes before an accounting arbitrator.

The authors cover:

• the entire M&A dispute resolution process from selecting an arbitrator through final award,
• choices in M&A agreement language and their impact on the awarded amount,
• sell-side and buy-side diligence, the target’s historical accounting practices and documentation, and the determination of the net working capital peg,
• the role of GAAP, the nature of accounting estimates, and specific discussions of the most important components of net working capital,
• the role of auditing concepts in the M&A dispute process,
• specific advice for different types of transactions, and
• the perspective of the neutral accounting arbitrator with “dos” and “don’ts” for practitioners.