M&A legal fees

Here at Fox Williams in the UK we are flexible but understand the need for certainty. We can offer flexible payment terms, abort fee arrangements, fixed fee or hourly, the choice is yours.

We work with our Searchers to agree an appropriate fee and scope of work (for instance if you can do some of the due diligence yourself then this will reduce your legal spend).

we offer flexible structures -- fixed rate, percent of EV, or hourly rate. however, each deal is different, and EV is not the best yard stick. the factors that drive fees higher are often (1) who is on the other side as lawyer (2) timing and delays; if closing is repeatedly pushed out and progress drags, fees pile up at hourly rates (or caps/fixed fee engagements may expire after a time period), (3) complexity of structure (an all-cash, paperwork light deals is going to be lower cost than one with a Rollover, multiple classes of investors, SBA loan and other debt financing, a seller note, escrow, lots of offer letters or incentive plans, real estate, leases, etc. -- more documentation and more moving pieces means more work -- and some $20mm deals are more simply structured than some $2 million deals) (4) regulatory climate (businesses that are heavily regulated or litigious may require more sophisticated and time-consuming specialist advice).

For single digit million, you can often get very good service and excellent legal work for $15k-$40k -- closer to the bottom of range if you are the favorable side of each of the points above. I've recently seen several biglaw firms go well over $200k on single-digit million deals. Be careful choosing a firm that is built to handle your deal efficiently and prioritize it. If the firm's average deal size is 100+ times your deal size, you might think what level of service and priority you'll receive.