Co-Chair
Bertrand Cardi
Co-Chair
Nicola Charlston
Corporate and M&A Law Committee
The Corporate and M&A Law Committee connects corporate, compliance, private equity, and M&A practitioners globally. Focused on education, networking, and collaboration, we address key challenges in corporate law and M&A.
Our goals include: promoting knowledge-sharing through conferences and legal guides, enhancing participation in IBA activities, and supporting professional development. We also contribute to legal education through training, book donations, and programming on emerging trends like ESG, compliance, and cross-border M&A. We publish a newsletter annually.
Committee podcasts
Podcast: Brazilian private equity
How is private equity navigating the current market, with its high inflation and interest rates and with risk aversion being a dominant force in so many markets around the globe? To find out and to assess the situation in Brazil in particular, Camila Goldberg, Secretary of the IBA Corporate Membership Subcommittee, interviewed Rodrigo Boscolo, Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer at GP Investments, an alternative investment firm established in 1993.
Forthcoming conferences and webinars View All Conferences
22nd Annual International Mergers & Acquisitions Conference
04 Jun - 05 Jun 2025
New York , USA
IBA Private Equity Transactions Symposium 2025
17 Sep 2025
London , England
IBA Annual Conference Toronto 2025
02 Nov - 07 Nov 2025
Toronto , Canada
10th Annual Corporate Governance Conference
03 Dec - 04 Dec 2025
Frankfurt , Germany
14th IBA European Corporate and Private M&A Conference
05 Feb - 06 Feb 2026
Paris , France
Asia Pacific Mergers & Acquisitions Conference
09 Apr - 10 Apr 2026
Tokyo , Japan
Publications
Balancing sovereignty and innovation - the Doliprane deal controversy
A controversial proposed transaction in the pharma sector in France has raised questions about how to balance openness to foreign investment with the protection of national interests.
Released on Nov 06, 2024
Sandbagging in merger and acquisition transactions in India: uncovering the legal landscape
This article explores the relevance of sandbagging in M&A transactions, highlighting the implications for buyers and sellers when adopting a pro-sandbagging or anti-sandbagging approach. It examines the significance of buyer knowledge, the doctrine of caveat emptor and Indian judicial precedents, while framing the sandbagging clause. Additionally, this article advocates for clearly defined sandbagging provisions in contracts to mitigate potential disputes and ensure fair negotiations between the relevant parties.
Released on Nov 06, 2024
Family foundation: a new legal concept in Poland in the context of M&A transactions
The concept of the family foundation was introduced into Polish law based on the Family Foundations Act (FFA) of 22 May 2023. The concept of family foundation has been introduced as a new legal entity, which aims to manage property and assets in accordance with the founder’s intentions and plans, as well as providing the beneficiaries, who are often the founder’s closest family members, with benefits related to the foundation’s funds.
Released on Sep 09, 2024
Healthcare and life sciences M&A (2024)
The healthcare/life sciences sector is one of the most active for mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Panellists discussed a variety of related topics, including strategic drivers; where the opportunities and risks lie; regulatory trends; and practical aspects of getting healthcare deals done.
Released on Sep 09, 2024
Projects and reports
Takeover Guide 2023
This latest edition of our guide on takeovers aims at presenting an overview of takeover rules in 20 countries, divided by jurisdiction. In some jurisdictions, there have been substantial changes in recent years as a result of the influence of prominent authorities, as well as regulatory action, in order to preserve a delicate balance between the interests of various stakeholders.
Foreign direct investment guide 2022
The Corporate and M&A Law Committee has produced a new guide covering the highly relevant topic of foreign investment control across 29 countries. This guide is intended to offer practitioners easy access to the relevant applicable rules, answering, in a consistent fashion across jurisdictions, the most frequently raised questions in relation to foreign direct investment (FDI) rules relevant to M&A transactions. To further facilitate research work, each national report includes an alphabetical index of the key relevant topics. The guide is up-to-date as of mid-2022, with an update provided for one guide for 2025.
Minority shareholder rights guide 2022
The Corporate and M&A Law Committee has prepared a minority shareholder rights guide with chapters for over 20 countries around the world. This guide is intended as a high-level, practical guide for practitioners who are looking for an introduction to the laws of each relevant jurisdiction relating to the rights of, and protections for, minority shareholders. The guides include a summary of those rights and the percentage threshold at which the various protections become available. The guide has been updated for 2022.
Corporate and M&A Law/Corporate Counsel Forum: Directors’ Duties Checklist
The Directors' Duties Checklist is a joint project of the Corporate and M&A Law Committee and the Corporate Counsel Forum.
The checklist provides a practical perspective on the duties of directors imposed by jurisdictions around the world and includes an overview of the applicable statutory and regulatory regime in each jurisdiction.
IBA Corporate and M&A Law Committee Legal Due Diligence Guidelines
The IBA Corporate & M&A Law Committee, with contributions from a significant number of IBA Committees across various areas of practice, has published a set of guidelines for conducting legal due diligence investigations in the context of M&A transactions.
The objective of these guidelines is to provide useful information on topics that are relevant in M&A legal due diligence, as well as practical guidance for conducting well-organised due diligence processes. In this regard, these Guidelines are intended to serve as an overview and baseline to legal practitioners around the world, promoting a broader comprehension of what would be expected by clients and, therefore, helping to improve the quality of due diligence investigations.
Financial assistance guides 2022
The Corporate and M&A Law Committee has updated its financial assistance guide with chapters for more than 35 countries around the world. This guide is intended as a high-level, practical guide for practitioners who are looking for an introduction to the laws of each relevant jurisdiction relating to financial assistance when purchasing shares.
Negotiated M&A guides 2022
The Corporate and M&A Law Committee has updated its negotiated M&A guide with chapters from more than 40 countries. The negotiated M&A guides deal with negotiated acquisitions of private companies and are aimed at providing a general overview of acquisition structure options and the essential provisions contained in a standard acquisition agreement in each jurisdiction. The material is intended as a high-level, practical guide for practitioners and others who are looking for an introduction to the laws of each relevant jurisdiction relating to negotiated acquisitions.
Subcommittees and other groups
The Corporate and M&A Law Committee also coordinates the activities of the following subcommittees/working groups.
- Corporate and M&A Law Committee Advisory Board
- Corporate Governance and Activism Subcommittee
The Corporate Governance Subcommittee of the Corporate and M&A Law Committee is responsible for reviewing corporate governance issues and trends and encourages and promotes knowledge-sharing among its members, through publications and participation in conferences.
- Corporate Membership Subcommittee
The Current Legal Developments Subcommittee (CLD) of the Corporate and M&A Law Committee provides updates and analysis on legal developments to practitioners and other parties interested in international corporate and M&A law. The focus is on current trends and anticipated changes in the law affecting corporate and M&A practice.
- Private Equity Subcommittee
The Private Equity Subcommittee (PE) of the Corporate and M&A Law Committee provides updates and analysis on legal developments to practitioners and other parties interested in international private equity law.
Join us on LinkedIn
If you are a member of the Corporate and M&A Law Committee, for additional networking opportunities, programs, interviews with fellow members and tips all exclusive to members, join our LinkedIn page at: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12836252/.