Mergers and acquisitions — The ins and outs of earnout provisions

Description

Abstract: Earnout provisions require business buyers to make future payments to their seller. Often used when the parties have trouble negotiating a sale price, earnouts require the company to achieve certain post-transaction financial targets. To be successful, such negotiations involve give and take as well as attention to detail. This article shows how earnouts work, and how their provisions should address certain contingencies that could affect the business’s ability to reach the agreed-upon milestones.