M&A Methods | Interview with Associate General Counsel, Commercial & Strategic Transactions at LyondellBasell

Interview with Associate General Counsel, Commercial & Strategic Transactions at LyondellBasell
By Andrew Gratz, Esq. & William Jefferson Black

In this interview Publisher William Jefferson Black sits down with Andrew Gratz, Associate General Counsel at LyondellBasell, who manages the legal team that supports the multinational public-company's acquisitions, divestitures and other strategic transactions globally. 

LyondellBasell was formed through a merger in late 2007, followed by a 15-month chapter 11 restructuring.  Today the company has a $30B+ market cap and a position as one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world.

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Eight strategies for improving the performance of turnaround acquisitions

Lessons from eight successful M&A turnarounds
By Mr. Ib Löfgrén & Mr. Lars Fæste & Mr. Tuukka Seppä & Ms. Niamh Dawson & Mr. Daniel Friedman & Mr. Rüdiger Wolf

M&A is a tough business, especially when an acquisition target requires a turnaround to reach profitability.

Around 40% of M&A deals require some type of turnaround, whether because of minor problems or other crises, by the buyer to improve the underlying value of the target company. This study analyzes large deals where...

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Structuring joint ventures and minority investments to improve their performance | M&A Conference at Wharton San Francisco

By George A. Casey, Esq. & Andrew Gratz, Esq. & Darin Bassin, Esq. & Jaakko Sulander, Esq.

Structuring joint ventures and minority investments entails a difficult balance of interests, finances, and governance between cooperative parties.

To effectively complement a more traditional M&A strategy, these transactions need to create a partnership culture while incorporating appropriate...

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Avoiding transaction disputes through refinements in closing terms | M&A Conference at Wharton San Francisco

By Ms. Sarah Dalton & Mark Legaspi, Esq. & Ms. Hiran Thacker & Rachel Masory, Esq.

The use of refined closing mechanisms and tailored accounting provisions in an acquisition purchase agreement can prevent many of the most common post-close disputes.  However, in some transactions these innovative methods can create a new set of risk.

The participants in this discussion considered both the positive and negative characteristics of working capital adjustments, earnouts, and lockboxes among other mechanisms.

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Methods for improving M&A protections and negotiations | M&A Conference at Wharton San Francisco

By Mr. Laurance Shapiro & Sergio Letelier, Esq. & Adam Fliss, Esq.

The critical give-and-take between buyers and sellers in both domestic and international transactions largely focuses on risk allocation and protections. 

For sophisticated serial acquirers, the negotiation of key provisions and remedies has been streamlined to both accelerate the time to close and avoid a contentious relationship with the target after the deal is closed through...

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