Mergers & Acquisitions

Gurpreet S. Bal, Partner, Foley & Lardner LLP, Silicon Valley
M&A transactions are among the most consequential legal events in a startup's life — whether you are selling the company, acquiring a competitor, or working through a distressed situation. This hub covers the full arc of technology M&A: deal structure selection, representations and warranties, earnout design, indemnification mechanics, cross-border tax issues, Delaware fiduciary duty compliance, and post-closing risk. These articles reflect practical lessons from advising both buyers and sellers across hundreds of transactions in Silicon Valley and globally.

Articles in This Category

Delaware Section 144 Safe Harbor in M&A

How the Delaware Section 144 safe harbor protects — and fails to protect — related-party transactions when they are tested in litigation.

Delaware Section 220 Books and Records Demands

How Section 220 demands are used by shareholders to investigate potential claims before filing M&A litigation.

Management Carve-Out Plans in M&A

How management carve-out pools work, how they affect the acquisition price, and how to structure them fairly.

Reps and Warranties for Tech Acquisitions

Technology-specific representations and warranties in M&A agreements, including IP ownership, open source, and data privacy reps.

Indemnification and Escrow Structures

How indemnification caps, baskets, escrow holdbacks, and survival periods are negotiated in technology acquisitions.

Material Adverse Change Clause Triggers

What qualifies as a MAC, how courts have interpreted MAC clauses in contested transactions, and how to draft them.

Earnout Structure Design and Disputes

How to structure earnouts that actually pay out, common drafting failures, and how earnout disputes get litigated.

Working Capital Adjustments in M&A

How working capital targets are set, how post-closing adjustments are calculated, and where disputes arise.

Asset vs Stock vs Merger Deal Structure

Tax, liability, and consent implications of choosing between an asset purchase, stock purchase, and merger structure.

Tech M&A Due Diligence Checklist

The key diligence categories in a technology acquisition, including IP, contracts, employment, and regulatory review.

India-to-US Flip Structure Mechanics

How Indian startups restructure to US Delaware holding companies in preparation for US venture funding or an M&A exit.

Cross-Border Tax Issues in US M&A

FIRPTA, treaty withholding, Section 338 elections, and other cross-border tax considerations in US acquisitions.

Joint Development Agreement Structures

How JDAs allocate IP ownership, commercialization rights, and exit mechanics between technology collaboration partners.

Assignment for Benefit of Creditors vs Chapter 7

When an ABC is preferable to Chapter 7 bankruptcy for a distressed startup and how the process unfolds.

Irish IP Holding Company Tax Structures

How Irish IP holding structures are used in technology M&A to reduce effective tax rates on IP-heavy acquisitions.

Post-Closing Adjustment Risk

How post-closing purchase price adjustments create ongoing financial exposure for sellers after a deal closes.

Gurpreet S. Bal is a Partner at Foley and Lardner LLP in Silicon Valley, where he advises on technology M&A, venture financings, and public offerings. He has represented clients in hundreds of transactions with aggregate deal value exceeding $60 billion.