Conclusion

• Author: Christopher C. Nicholls
• Profession: Faculty of Law, University of Western Ontario
• Pages: 360-361

360

CH AP TER 10

CONCLUSION

One commentator has described mergers and acquisitions as “un-

doubtedly among the most signif‌icant macroeconomic phenomena of

the industrialized West during the last t wenty years.”1 Those words

were written more than ten yea rs ago, before the burst of merger and

acquisition activity in Canada and around the world in 2007, and the

subsequent international f‌inancial system cri sis.

The story, nevertheless, has become a familia r one. Businesses

have responded to the pressure s of competition and globalization. The

power of institutional and activ ist shareholders has grown. And as con-

ditions have coalesced once again to encourage and facilitate business

consolidations of ever-increasing size, we have seen the re-emergence

of a volatile but growing M & A market.

M & A transforms businesses, impacts the capital markets, tests

well-worn legal doctrines and regulatory practices, and creates ch al-

lenging opportunities for law yers, regulators, and business le aders. In

smaller countries such a s Canada, where foreign ownership of leading

f‌irms is a peren nial political concern, M & A activ ity raises broader

economic and political questions as well.

Investment bankers, fund managers, and other f‌inancial play-

ers sometimes consider law a tiresome obstacle, and lawyers a form

of deadweight loss. (I still recall from a Capital M arkets class at the

1 Yedidia Z. Stern , “A General Model for Corporate Ac quisition Law” (2001) J.

Corp. L. 675 at 676.