Preface to the First Edition

• Author: Christopher C. Nicholls
• Profession: Faculty of Law, University of Western Ontario
• Pages: 19-22

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PREFACE TO

THE FIRST EDITION

In January 2007, participants at the World Economic Forum in Davos,

Switzerland met for a session entitled, “The M & A Landscape: De-

veloping the 2007 Heatmap.”1 The notice for the session trotted out one

of the dazzling M & A number s of the past year: the volume of world-

wide acquisitions in 2006 had reached a record-breaking $3.8 tri llion.

The Davos cognoscenti reportedly predicted continued high deal levels

for 2007, with especi ally lively activity expected in the Amer ican media

and entertainment indust ry, and in the f‌inancial services and energ y

sectors in many other part s of the world.2

It is the best of times for M & A lawyers and deal makers. Even the

image of M & A protagonists is a little glossier today than it was dur ing

an earlier merger wave in the 1980s. As it has f requently been observed,

yesterday’s corporate raiders have become today ’s shareholder activists.

Seasoned Wall Street and Bay Street veteran s know, of course, that

all good things must eventually come to an end. Economics demands

it, and history proves it. In 2001, a previous merger wave that lifted

everyone’s boats (and helped pay for a number of new ones) rapidly,

and rather painfully, receded. The wreck of Enron and the spate of cor-

porate scandals that followed ruined careers, destroyed fortunes and,

for a time, even diverted the attention of the leader of the free world

from an otherwis e unrelenting “war on terror” precipitated by the hor-

rif‌ic events of September 11. Business was bad, and m any lawyers and

1 See www.weforum.org/en /events/AnnualMeeting 2007/Programme/in dex.

htm?id =18904.

2 Andrew Ross S orkin, ed. “Forecast From Davos: More Medi a Deals Ahead”

New York Times (19 February 2007) on line at dealbook.blogs.nytime s.

com/2007/02/06.