Tips for Writing Buy-Sell Agreements

Properly written buy-sell agreements are essential to the smooth transaction of any deal involving mergers and acquisitions. So why are most written so poorly, if at all? If the agreement in any way favors one party over the other, is based on an unreliable calculation method or excludes any pertinent information, the seller can find themselves in court. So how do you avoid litigation? What steps should you take to ensure that your buy-sell agreement is as iron-clad as possible? Those are just some of the questions we ask Michael Blake, CFA and director of Valuation Services at Habif, Arogeti & Wynne LLP in Atlanta, on this edition of “Deal Talk.”