Centro de Documentacion de Fundación MAPFRE - Hidden dangers : taking the uncertainty out of mergers & acquisitions

MAP20071501518

Hidden dangers : taking the uncertainty out of mergers & acquisitions / by John Conley

Columbia Energy Group had its heart set last year on acquiring Carlos Leffler Inc., a Pennsylvania heating oil company. There was a problem, however. Environmental liability can significantly alter the value of a potential merger or acquisition. Even if a company can discern what it believes is the extent of risk, that estimate can fal far short of actual or realized liability. Transferring the liabilities removes any uncertainty. Indeed, the deal-breaker in many M&A transactions often is environmental uncertainty. Columbia Energy faced just that possibility. "We had hired outside environmental consultants, who did both Phase One and Two studies of the target sites, and they made a conservative estimate of what it would cost to clean them up . The question was, who would pay for this"

En: Risk Management. - New York : RIMS. - April 2000 ; p.12-22

1. Seguro de responsabilidad civil por daños al medio ambiente . 2. Daños no reparados . 3. Adquisición de empresas . 4. Valoración de daños . I. Risk and Insurance Management Society . II. Título.