June 22/Web - Due Diligence in #M&A: The Corporate Buyer & Outside #Counsel Viewpoint

An event organized by Black Duck Software:
Gartner reports that free and open source software (FOSS) is “ubiquitous” with 85% of organizations using it in development. It’s not difficult to understand why as FOSS allows software development teams to accelerate innovation and do so at a reduced cost. However, the use of FOSS is often uncontrolled and invisible, potentially introducing business and legal risks including intellectual property (IP) and security issues into a company’s software assets. Depending on how FOSS is used can cause inadvertent legal obligations and impact an organization’s IP, as well as potentially affect the value of software assets, delay the acquisition process, or even cause the loss of a deal.

During the merger and acquisition process (M&A), buyers have become more aware and sophisticated in their due diligence practices to uncover issues before M&A transactions are complete. Likewise more and more companies looking to sell are ensuring their software assets are in order before a potential deal reaches the due diligence stage.

This webinar focuses on the issues related to improper use of FOSS and how it can impact M&A and other business opportunities. Michael Marchant, Senior Legal Counsel at Accenture will give insight into corporate buyer’s strategies when preparing for, and undertaking a merger or acquisition.

Michael Marchant will be joined by Anthony Waller, Partner at Olswang LLP who will cover the practicalities and guiding principles on how to manage open source during M&A from the outside counsel perspective including the typical challenges faced and risks for non-compliance.
Title:Best Practices & Principles for Technical Due Diligence in M&A: The Corporate Buyer & Outside Counsel Viewpoint
Date/Time:
Wednesday, June 22, 2011 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM BST
Credit:
Check with your jurisdiction. The announcement does not list that it has been registered for CLE credit, but the description appears appropriate for CLE credit, depending upon the rules in your jurisdiction.
More:https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/353734504