In a Q&A with Texas Lawbook, Corporate associate Ethan Post, Dallas, talked about the last two years of practice, the busiest of his career. Businesses in every sector were responding to pandemic-related disruptions. Even businesses reluctant to engage in M&A found themselves using acquisitions and divestitures as strategic responses.
"Given the constantly changing nature of the pandemic, deals were more complex and completed at a much faster pace than in prior years," Ethan said. At the same time, Ethan experienced significant personal and career highlights. He and his wife welcomed their third child and he had the opportunity to continue leading roles with M&A work, from drafting and negotiating purchase agreements to managing deals as a whole.
Challenges in the field included the increased complexity and speed of deals. Clients, he said, were "eager to complete a deal before the regulatory or economic situation changes and oftentimes this means closing deals on a very tight timeline — sometimes in less than 30 days." Regulatory issues related to COVID-19 relief and a dramatic increase in the use of earnouts added new levels of complexity to most deals.
Asked if the pace is slowing, Ethan said no. "Unlike most previous years, where deal flow slowed in the beginning of the year following the typical end of year glut, my deal flow has continued to surge in 2022," he said.
"Q&A with Katten's Ethan Post," Texas Lawbook, March 4, 2022
Dallas
