IT'S been a month dominated by events to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement including not one, but two, US Presidential visits to Belfast.
Bill Clinton - in the city last week - has been a regular visitor in the decades since his term in office, while the arrival of Joe Biden, representing just the fourth time a sitting US President has visited Northern Ireland, was broadcast across the world.
Among the headlines from his address at Ulster University’s new Belfast campus was a remark that “scores of major American corporations want to come here, want to invest”.
In the past 10 years, investors based in the United States have pumped $2 billion into the Northern Ireland economy but President Biden told the audience he predicted that figure “will more than triple” if power sharing is restored.
The sentiment was repeated by the US special envoy Joe Kennedy III speaking at Queen’s University’s Agreement 25 conference last week (at which Clinton was also present).
America’s position as a key economic and business ally of Northern Ireland cannot be easily underestimated.
There are around 230 US-owned companies operating in the region, employing upwards of 30,000 people.
The type and size of businesses are varied but there is a particularly strong presence in fast-growth sectors such as cyber and technology – each of those cited by the President during his keynote speech.
Certainly, advising local and global businesses alike, we are increasingly in conversations with American organisations, be they US entities that have already chosen Northern Ireland as a base, or investors seeking to enter the market for the first time.
Recent examples include advising on an investment by New York venture capital firm Eckuity into MedTech business Sonrai Analytics while we also advised Hastings Hotels Group on the sale of the Slieve Donard Resort and Spa to a real estate developer and hotel operator headquartered in Nashville.
While Biden’s focus was on the need for political stability to create the most attractive conditions, there are also important legal considerations to be made both for investors and vendors.
With mergers and acquisitions including an international dimension, pre-deal considerations such as contract structure and the purchase method follow the norm.
However, legal advisors must also understand the financial, social and political nuances of each jurisdiction involved in the transaction, whether that be Northern Ireland, the United States or any other part of the world.
These issues can have a significant bearing on the long-term success of the purchase following completion.
Differences in legal systems must also be fully understood and explained so that the deal structure can be adapted accordingly. Variances in civil and common law systems must be addressed at the outset of any process to avoid negotiations becoming fraught or protracted.
It is also important that pre-deal antitrust analysis is carried out early in the process and that rules on foreign ownership are considered.
Northern Ireland is home to some incredible indigenous businesses with an increasingly diverse economy bolstered by international corporations that have identified the region as a good place to grow.
It has been a busy period for mergers and acquisitions locally, and if President Biden is correct, we may still only be at the beginning.
:: Lynsey Mallon is head of corporate and commercial at Arthur Cox
