Transaction Communications

Our transaction practice helps companies manage the communications surrounding situations that affect the ownership and control of businesses. We are one of the firms most often called on to advise companies in such transaction situations as:

• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Unsolicited Takeover Bids
• Spin-Offs/Divestitures/LBOs
• Proxy Contests
• Private Equity/Alternative Investments

Our approach to transaction communications involves: simple messages, forcefully stated; rigid control of statements; intensely detailed program rollouts; contingency planning; constant feedback from investors; thorough media monitoring and an emphasis on the positive elements of shareholder value creation.

Transactions demand around-the-clock communication and coordination between a company and its team of advisors. We have well-established relationships with nearly all of the major law firms, investment banks and proxy solicitors that specialize in mergers, acquisitions and issues of corporate control.

The media have a significant impact on the financial markets and how companies and transactions are perceived. Our firm has proven experience and close working relationships with financial journalists covering this “beat.” Given the intense competition among these reporters and their knowledge of how transactions work, the importance of developing and executing an effective media strategy cannot be underestimated.

Increasingly, the market’s confidence in a chief executive officer’s track record and ability to deliver shareholder value profoundly influences the outcome of a transaction. We work closely with members of the management team to prepare them to be compelling advocates.

After a transaction is announced, strategic communications also play a major role in building the foundation for a successful long-term enterprise. If the deal should fall apart, protecting corporate and executive reputations becomes an important priority.

Clients often engage us on a standby basis as insurance against the possibility of an unsolicited proposal for a business combination. We frequently use such engagements to intensify investor relations and communications programs that will strengthen the client’s position if an unsolicited proposal should arrive.