Law Schedule of Classes

NOTE: Course offerings change. Classes offered this semester may not be offered in future semesters.

248.52 sec. 001 - M&A on the Ground: Hostiles, Proxy Fights and the M&A Ecosystem (Fall 2024)

Instructor: Steven Lipin  (view instructor's teaching evaluations - degree students only)
View all teaching evaluations for this course - degree students only

Units: 1
Grading Designation: Credit Only
Mode of Instruction: In-Person

Meetings:

Th 6:25 PM - 8:25 PM
Location: Law 132
On 2024-10-24

F 10:00 AM - 12:15 PM
Location: Law 132
On 2024-10-25

F 3:10 PM - 5:15 PM
Location: Law 132
On 2024-10-25

Th 6:25 PM - 8:25 PM
Location: Law 132
On 2024-10-31

F 10:00 AM - 12:15 PM
Location: Law 132
On 2024-11-01

F 3:10 PM - 5:15 PM
Location: Law 132
On 2024-11-01

Course Start: October 24, 2024
Course End: November 01, 2024
Class Number: 32225

Enrollment info:
Enrolled: 20
Waitlisted: 0
Enroll Limit: 60
As of: 01/10 02:03 PM


This course is taught by a longtime M&A practitioner through the lens of active dealmaking. Steve Lipin runs Gladstone Place Partners, a strategic public relations/investor relations firm specializing in financial transactions, and earlier in his career covered M&A and was finance editor at The Wall Street Journal.

This lively and entertaining class will give students a real-world perspective on hostile takeovers, offense and defense, activist proxy fights, the marketing of an M&A deal, the rise of SPACS as an M&A alternative to IPOS, and other topics.

The class will attempt to look at examples through the prism of both offense and defense, and include the financial, legal, investor relations, and communications strategies each side deploys.

This class will lean heavily on case studies of deals and contested transactions, some of which Steve worked on, and the class will include guest speakers who are part of the M&A ecosystem, which includes media, bankers, arbitrageurs, shareholder activists, PR/IR firms and others. Becoming aware of this ecosystem now will make you a better deal lawyer later.

Case studies include:

InBev's hostile bid for Anheuser-Busch
AB InBev’s bid $100 billion bid for SAB Miller PLC
Elon Musk's bid for Twitter
The Walt Disney's defense against Nelson Peltz (twice)
The Rise and Fall of SPACs

Prerequisites:
No requirements, corporate law, corporate finance, helpful.

View teaching evaluations for this class - degree students only

Exam Notes: (P) Final Paper  
(Subject to change by faculty member only through the first two weeks of instruction)
Course Category: Business Law

Files:

If you are the instructor or their FSU, you may review any previously attached files like a syllabus or a first assignment.

Class materials may also be available on bCourses.berkeley.edu

Readers:
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Books:
Instructor has indicated that no books will be assigned.

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