Mergers & Acquisitions

Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP’s Mergers and Acquisitions Practice Group regularly advises clients on a broad range of corporate transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, business combinations, joint ventures and minority investments. Our team engages in complex and novel transactions with the sophistication of a multinational law firm while also adeptly and efficiently executing more straightforward transactions.

We are recognized as one of the leading legal advisors for Special Purpose Acquisition Corporation (SPAC) business combination transactions (or “de-SPAC transactions”) and have been at the forefront of the structure since its early days. In 2024, EGS was ranked second by SPAC Research among all legal advisors for de-SPAC transactions as measured by deal volume. De-SPAC transactions often present the most intricate and sophisticated issues in M&A and EGS’s leading market position demonstrates our ability to execute any M&A transaction.

Our Services

Our M&A Practice Group has extensive experience in negotiating and executing M&A transactions, including stock and asset purchases, de-SPAC transactions, auction sales, reverse mergers, tender and exchange offers, spin-offs, leveraged buyouts, restructurings and acquisitions out of bankruptcy, private equity investments and joint ventures. We also provide advice to boards of directors, board committees (including special committees), senior management and shareholders on a wide range of related corporate governance matters, including anti-takeover defenses and proxy contests.

Our Clients

EGS’s broad client base includes publicly listed corporations, privately held and family-owned businesses, hedge funds, private equity funds and other financial sponsors, financial advisors, investment banks, independent and special board committees, controlling stockholders and employee groups. Our long-standing clients engage our M&A Practice Group because we provide effective and efficient service driven by the commercial goals of our clients to get deals done. We advise on deals spanning a wide variety of industries and sizes, covering both ends of the middle market and beyond—from $1 million acquisitions to ten-figure de-SPAC transactions. Many of our clients’ deals have a cross-border component and we provide international and domestic clients with access to our network of foreign law firms in other jurisdictions. In the five year period ending December 31, 2024, EGS’s M&A Practice Group closed more than 90 M&A transactions with an aggregate deal value of almost $32 billion.

Our Team

EGS’s M&A Practice Group manages all aspects of a deal and works seamlessly with our colleagues in other practice groups, including tax, real estate, employment, employee benefits, intellectual property, litigation and business reorganization groups, to provide a seamless and integrated service.

EGS is differentiated from other similarly situated firms by the depth of commercial experience of our attorneys beyond legal private practice, with many of our attorneys having previously served in other roles, including as principal, CEO, general counsel, and other positions across industries. Across our transactional practice, in addition to our commitment to the highest quality of work and client service, we pride ourselves on practicality and efficiency. We are able to attract and retain clients because we work relentlessly to protect our client’s interests without over-lawyering.

Given that our clients range from startups in burgeoning markets to mature public corporations, we are adept at effectively communicating with all counterparties, whether they are represented by the country’s largest law firms or local lawyers unfamiliar with M&A transactions.

Recognition

Our M&A practice is consistently recognized by major industry publications. EGS was recognized by Mergerlinks for 2024 as a “Leading Legal Advisor” to DeSPAC deals in North America, with two of our partners recognized as the top ten legal advisors to DeSPAC deals in North America. EGS was recognized by Mergerlinks for 2023 as a “Top Legal Advisor” to DeSPAC deals in North America, an “Established” Legal Advisor to Mid Cap deals in North America and an “Established” Legal Advisor to DeSPAC deals in Europe, Middle East and Africa. In 2023, the Deal ranked EGS in the top 25 of law firms nationwide on its league tables for M&A deals with disclosed values of more than $100 million.