Announcing the ABA’s 2017 Private Target Mergers & Acquisitions Deal Points Study

As chair of the ABA’s Private Target Mergers & Acquisitions Deal Points Study (the Private Target Deal Points Study), I am pleased to announce that we published the latest iteration of the study to the ABA’s website in December 2017.
Congratulations! But Wait. What Exactly Is This Private Target Deal Points Study, Anyway?
The Private Target Deal Points Study is a publication of the Market Trends Subcommittee of the Business Law Section’s M&A Committee. It examines the prevalence of certain provisions in publicly available private target mergers and acquisitions transactions during a specified time period. The Private Target Deal Points Study is the preeminent study of M&A transactions, widely utilized by practitioners, investment bankers, corporate development teams, and other advisors.
The 2017 iteration of the Private Target Deal Points Study analyzes publicly available definitive acquisition agreements for transactions executed and/or completed either during calendar year 2016 or during the first half of calendar year 2017. In each case, the transaction involved a private target acquired by a public buyer, with the acquisition material enough to that public buyer for the Securities and Exchange Commission to require public disclosure of the applicable definitive acquisition agreement.
The final sample examined by the 2017 Private Target Deal Points Study is made up of 139 definitive acquisition agreements and excludes agreements for transactions in which the target was in bankruptcy, rev