FaegreBD Lawyers Comment on M&A Trends in Indiana Lawyer

The M&A community has seen a recent uptick in the deals market, Jim Birge of Faegre Baker Daniels told Indiana Lawyer in the article "Changing Times Change Mergers and Acquisitions Practice."

Birge organized the first M&A Conference in Indianapolis on June 4, 2013, which drew more than 227 lawyers, investment bankers, private equity specialists and accountants from several Midwestern states. The event was an opportunity to discuss market trends and M&A strategies, and also to network.

Despite the uptick, the market remains short of its 2007 peak, which leads to hesitancy among buyers and sellers to take on additional risk, and may have led to the rise of earnouts, agreements where the purchase price is contingent on the future financial performance of the business, Indiana Lawyer reported.

Jeff Brown of FaegreBD moderated a panel on earnouts at the M&A Conference. He said the number of earnouts has been steadily on the rise since 2008. He also noted the number of international deals is increasing and many attorneys are handling global transactions.