Corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is a field as complex in law as it is in finance. The environment is heavily regulated: it draws on corporate, securities, antitrust and national security law involving obligations at the federal, provincial and self-regulatory levels. This note is designed to introduce non-lawyer managers and finance professionals to the technical securities law issues related to changes of corporate control. While this note deals primarily with the legal aspects of M&A in Canada, deals involving Canadian companies will often involve foreign counterparts. The topic of cross-border M&A is beyond the scope of this note, but, where relevant, distinctions will be drawn throughout between legal terminology, processes and approaches as they differ across the border – most often with the United States.
