Mergers & Acquisitions - LAW00113M
- Department: The York Law School
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: M
- Academic year of delivery: 2025-26
Module summary
This module will develop students' functioning legal knowledge, and professional skills in the field of providing legal advice to corporate clients on mergers and acquisitions.
Students will develop knowledge and skills in the context of client-focused transactional scenarios, using practitioner know-how - including legal documentation - to advise on specific issues, and progress transactions for their clients.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 2 2025-26 |
Module aims
The aim of this module is to enable students to develop functioning legal knowledge, and professional skills in the field of providing legal advice to corporate clients on mergers and acquisitions. Students will develop knowledge and skills in the context of client-focused transactions, using practitioner know-how - including legal documentation - to advise on specific legal issues, and progress transactions for their clients. The knowledge, skills and professionalism gained from the module align with competencies required in professional legal practice at this level.
Module learning outcomes
By the end of this module, students should be able to, in the context of specific forms of business acquisition:
- demonstrate a systematic functioning knowledge of the law and processes applicable that form of acquisition
- analyse client instructions and supporting legal and factual documentation, to identify legal, commercial and practical issues
- research, using practitioner know-how sources, to identify relevant law and procedure
- analyse and interpret legal documentation, to advise on the intended effect of specific clauses
- critically apply relevant legal principles and rules to solve client problems and develop solutions aligned with client interests
- explain the processes and procedural steps required to progress transactions for business clients
- demonstrate the application of a range of written and oral professional legal skills, in advising clients and communicating with other professionals
- work independently and collaboratively on a range of specified tasks
Module content
The module will focus on a number of forms of acquisition, including share and business purchases, comparing a number of the legal, commercial and risk-based factors, and procedures. These will include: the strategic and commercial rationales for the acquisition; due diligence and disclosure; dealing with employees; taxation; finance; and how lawyers attempt to manage risk for their clients.
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Additional assessment information
The Client Advice to be submitted for assessment may include one or more legal documents or extracts thereof, which the student will be required to prepare or amend as part of the assessment.
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Module feedback
Students will receive regular feedback from their tutor in workshops, including on any outputs created in the context of the simulated client transactions on which they will work during the module. Individual feedback on the assessed client advice submitted for the final assessment will be provided in the summer semester period.
Indicative reading
Students will have access to Westlaw's Practical Law, a source of practitioner know-how, including precedent documentation.
Due to the professional nature of the module, there will be no set reading: students will be expected to use research skills to identify relevant primary and secondary sources, including practitioner know-how and precedents.