Mergers & Industry Structure
Our experts offer analyses, strategic support, and expert testimony with respect to financial and regulatory considerations of numerous energy facilities, power plants, and pipelines. Industry mergers often require approval from federal and state regulators, so our analyses typically target the potential for transactions to have anticompetitive impacts.
We have conducted analyses of vertical and horizontal market power in the context of specific mergers. We have also supported clients in the design of appropriate mitigation measures to address any transaction-created anticompetitive impact and in the development of expert witness testimony and other material for filing with federal and state regulators. Additionally, we have estimated the economic value of mergers for customers of the affected companies and for the economy of affected states.
Our experts have also assisted in suits filed after a merger, in which we have analyzed:
- Earn-out clauses: In which disputes may center on provisions around the deal price, which include a future payment contingent on meeting an agreed-upon performance bar
- Post-close price adjustment: In which the disputed issue is the amount of the target firm’s working capital that is transferred to the acquirer, and whether and by how much the threshold should be adjusted
- Misrepresentation: In which fraudulent or inaccurate disclosures, representations and warranties, or inadequate due diligence are alleged
We have advised electric suppliers on other regulatory issues relating to mergers and provided competitive analyses involving the restructuring of assets as part of bankruptcy proceedings. These clients have included major suppliers, such as Ameren, Constellation, EDF, Exelon, FirstEnergy, MidAmerican, PacifiCorp, PSEG, and The Southern Company.
