Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger, Robert Kistler, an attorney at Barrett McNagny. We hope you enjoy Robert's wisdom and perspective.

With mergers and acquisitions, employee benefit plans and transition issues are often among the last things considered when negotiating the purchase agreement terms or conducting due diligence. Given the complexity of maintaining and administering plans in compliance with numerous laws (ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code, ACA, COBRA, HIPAA, FMLA, ADA, GINA [1], and some state insurance laws—that are regulated by countless government agencies) it is no surprise that buyers, and sellers, are often surprised by complicated benefit issues that arise shortly before the transaction closing date.

Do you know “who” and “what” you are getting during a merger or acquisition and have you done your safety due diligence?  If your organization is in the process of an M&A, a question to ask yourself is: Does environment, health, and safety (EHS) and sustainability have a seat at the M&A table? If not, you’ll likely miss out on valuable insights that can help ensure a smooth process from start to finish.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Larry Linne, entrepreneur, advisor, and author. We hope you enjoy Larry's wisdom and perspective.

In this thriving economy, savvy leaders are preparing themselves to capitalize on Merger and Acquisition (M&A) opportunities to supplement organic growth. According to a recent study from Deloitte, “Corporations and private equity firms foresee an acceleration of M&A activity in 2018—both in the number of deals and the size of those transactions.”