Negotiation Skills in M&A Transactions

Our M&A negotiation course trainer has more than 20 years of experience in accounting and investment banking. He is an experienced financial trainer who has delivered courses for leading financial institutions and central banks in the City of London, Wall Street and around the world in the areas of Corporate Finance, Valuation (Industrials and Banks), Financial Modelling, M&A, LBO, Financial Accounting, Capital Markets, Bank Regulatory Capital and Financial Risks, both in English and French.

He began his career as a Credit Analyst at Banque Continentale in Luxembourg, conducting credit analyses for short and long-term credits and participating in loan syndications. He then worked as a Senior Auditor for Deloitte & Touche in Luxembourg companies, auditing and preparing financial statements for various banks, insurance, investment funds, venture capital and commercial companies.

He continued his career in Investment Banking at Citigroup (ex-Salomon Smith Barney) in London and New York, where he worked on various M&A, LBO and debt offerings, mainly for financial services clients. He was involved in the EUR 20 billion public offer of Crédit Lyonnais by Crédit Agricole, one of the largest European banking transactions.

He then worked as a Vice-President in the internal M&A department of Barclays Bank in London where his experience included the acquisition of ABSA for US$ 5 billion, one of the leading South African banks, the purchase of ING Private Banking in France and the failed acquisition of Banco Atlantico in Spain.

Recently, he was a Director in the Investment Banking department of Commercial International Bank (CIB), the largest non-government bank in Egypt, where he successfully completed several transactions, including two sell-side M&A deals, one follow-on equity offering and a delisting. He worked extensively with leading sovereign wealth funds, private equity firms and prominent families in the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

The trainer is currently a senior advisor to an M&A practice based in Paris and focuses on buy-side and sell-side transactions, mainly in the technology sector.

He has an MBA in Finance from the Kellogg School of Management in Chicago and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Groupe INSEEC (“International Management Institute of Paris”). He also holds « Series 7 » and « Series 63 » US licences.

• Gain an overview of the merger and acquisition negotiation process in multiple stages, such as the preparation, planning and bargaining.
• Be introduced to the typical negotiation roles and let the experienced negotiators know how to switch roles depending on the situation including planning and preparation for negotiation steps.
• Have explained to them the ten fundamental principles of M&A negotiation methods and techniques, as well as the six rules of influence: reciprocation, scarcity, authority, commitment, liking and consensus.
• Master the BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement) and ZOPA (Zone of Possible Agreements).
• Learn about trading concessions to maximise the financial negotiation skills between the two parties.

• Live role plays on mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
• Experienced trainer, and an M&A banker with years of M&A negotiation experience in Europe and the Middle East.
• Delegates are encouraged to bring their own scenarios to ‘solve’ during the session.
• Comprehensive material covering M&A negotiation tactics, personalities, planning and preparation for negotiation.
• Practical advice on tackling negotiation issues in M&A, negotiation strategies and techniques including deadlocks.
• Learning how to understand the other party’s point of view.
• Review of underlying price mechanisms, sale and purchase agreement’s key clauses, completion mechanisms, earn-outs and key other M&A issues.

Our M&A negotiation training course is aimed at participants with experience in Sale and Purchase Agreements who want to acquire an in-depth knowledge of these key financial issues.

This M&A negotiation training course has been developed to provide principal investors, bankers, lawyers, consultants and other M&A professionals with the key soft skills to negotiate and close a sell-side or buy-side transaction in a structured and uniform approach.

Our trainer will discuss the main negotiation techniques, including reciprocity, BATNA and trading concessions. The trainer will also cover key M&A mechanisms to structure the offer to enhance value, including earn-outs, “lock-box” and “completion accounts”, synergies, representations & warranties, etc. The participants will then role-play in separate groups on an M&A case study to practise M&A negotiation tactics with participants playing buyers and sellers.

Our M&A negotiation course will refer to relevant cases drawn from both England and US jurisdictions. Participants will also be given cases to reinforce learning objectives.