The buyer typically wants to obtain clear title to any plants or other real estate owned by the target, since these are material to the operation of the business. Title to real estate is transferred by a deed, which is publicly recorded.

The federal government and some state governments, as well as many collective bargaining agreements, require advance notice when certain employment sites are closed. Depending on the degree of continuity in an acquisition, such statutes or contract provis

In a stock purchase or merger, the buyer is bound by any collective bargaining (i.e., labor) agreement to which the target corporation is a party. A buyer will be bound in an asset acquisition only if it expressly assumes the collective bargaining agreeme

Unlike many non-US jurisdictions, there are no US statutes requiring that employees be retained or given specific severance pay upon termination of employment in an acquisition, although as described in Section 6.3 (Labor and Employment – Special Problems