Merging your company with another, or acquiring one, can be a wonderful business opportunity. The due diligence and hard work invested in the transition has gotten your business to this stage. Now that the deal is closed, the hard work of integration after a merger or acquisition can begin. There are numerous challenges your new organization will face, many of which will be difficult to anticipate. You need a Connecticut business attorney who understands how to meet them and who will work with you to integrate.
Your goal during integration is ensuring that it delivers the value which motivated the deal to begin with. This is not an easy task. Bringing together two companies with different cultures, operations, leadership, and histories takes serious work. The priority of your Connecticut business transaction attorney is keeping these global objectives in mind.
During the due diligence phase, a great deal of information was unearthed about the respective companies. Now it’s time to use that information to form a new company. But data must be continually gathered since it is in the nature of any company to constantly change. The new organization must stay on top of this information and integrate it where necessary.
Although the new company will hopefully make a mark on its industry or market, you want a smooth transition. A Connecticut business attorney will endeavor to minimize tax, commercial, and legal consequences. That means preserving existing benefits and advantages in all three categories. It also means not incurring unnecessary liabilities in any of them.
Assets will likely need to be purchased or transferred between the companies. These assets may include real property, intellectual property, and more. Your company may need to record new legal title and ensure any local requirements concerning asset transfers are met. Existing contracts, including office leases, service agreements, and supplier agreements, need to be transferred to the new entity. The degree of difficulty in moving assets and contracts will depend on their complexity.
The two previous companies operated on their own technology platforms, so IT systems will have to be merged. The same is true for internal accounting, payroll, and other software used in the daily operation of the businesses. Assuming the likelihood that different programs were used, one will ultimately need to be chosen for the surviving entity. This could entail training, software license purchases, and more. This must be done in a way so as not to interfere with normal business operations.
A Connecticut business attorney understands that the human element is a critical factor in any major change. With company integration, employment issues can arise in numerous contexts:
- Which local or state employment laws deserve special attention during integration after a merger?
- Do collective bargaining or employment agreements play any role?
- Will any employment relationships or positions change after the merger or acquisition?
- Will any employees be physically transferred from either entity to the surviving one (and, if so, at what cost?)
- How will the surviving entity eliminate the inevitable redundancies that come with integration?
The new entity could face challenges in ensuring that employment benefits are protected after integration. Everything from scheduled bonuses to retirement plans could be affected. In many cases, severance packages and employment terminations are unavoidable. You need a business attorney that understands the role employment issues will play in your new company.
These issues go all the way up the chain to boards of directors, managers, and corporate officers. The deal will necessitate some level of change in who runs the company. Perhaps the interests of certain executives were bought out, or others agreed to leave as part of the change. Again, the goal is making sure that integration is efficiently executed with respect to all personnel in the respective organizations.
Finally, you can’t afford to overlook the role that any pre-deal pending litigation may play in the new company. The act of merging or acquiring companies does not make these problems go away. They need to be addressed expeditiously, with an eye towards any court deadlines, trials, and other procedural milestones.
We Handle the Complex Needs of Integration After a Merger or Acquisition
With so many moving parts, integrating two companies can seem overwhelming. You owe it to the success of your new organization to adopt a comprehensive approach to the process. At Aeton Law Partners, we know what it takes to complete the transition from two companies to one. Call our Connecticut business law firm and find out how we can help.