Posts Tagged ‘distressed business’

“Ask the Attorney” – Acquiring a Company (Part 1)

by Scott Edward Walker on April 28th, 2010

Introduction

This post is part of my weekly “Ask the Attorney” series which I am writing for VentureBeat (one of the most popular websites for entrepreneurs).  As the VentureBeat Editor notes on the site: “Ask the Attorney is a new VentureBeat feature allowing start-up owners to get answers to their legal questions.”

I have two goals here: (i) to encourage entrepreneurs to ask law-related questions regardless of how basic they may be; and (ii) to provide helpful responses in plain English (as opposed to legalese).  Please give me your feedback in the comments section.  Many thanks, Scott

(more…)

Buying a Distressed Business: Ten Tips For Entrepreneurs

by Scott Edward Walker on October 19th, 2009

I remember post-“9/11” working at a major law firm in New York City and watching all of the transactions on my plate fall apart.  Indeed, then (like now), as credit dried-up, the M&A pendulum swung to the acquisition of distressed (i.e., financially-troubled) companies; however, as I learned first-hand, acquiring a distressed company raises a host of significant risks and potential problems that are not typically found in the acquisition of a healthy, solvent company (which I recently discussed here).  Below are ten tips for entrepreneurs who are looking to get into the distressed M&A game.  They relate to two different contexts: (i) prior to (or absent) a distressed target’s Chapter 11 filing — i.e., the non-bankruptcy context; and (ii) after a distressed target’s Chapter 11 filing — i.e., the bankruptcy context. (more…)