David W. Hammer has significant experience in domestic and international mergers, acquisitions and divestitures across multiple industry lines. The businesses he has advised have included computer software, consumer electronics, medical technology, personnel/staffing, insurance, architectural, engineering, restaurant, plastics fabrication, machine tool manufacturing, cable television and pharmaceutical companies. Hammer has represented NYSE buyers and sellers, as well as selling entrepreneurs, in transactions ranging in size from tens of thousands of dollars to over $150 Million. He has advised sellers on how to position their businesses for sale, valuation and the negotiation of the terms of sale. Hammer has both conducted and supervised buyer due diligence investigations as well as the preparation of seller disclosure schedules. As a director of 10 different privately held companies, Hammer has made the decisions as a board member which have led to the successful sale of three of these companies. Hammer continues as a director of seven of these same companies.
Previously, Hammer served 10 years with the law firms of Allen, Knuths & Cassell and Reynolds, Shannon, Miller, Blinn, White & Cook. He also spent two years with Haskins & Sells, a public accounting firm (now Deloitte & Touché). His career focused on buying and selling companies with emphasis on technology acquisitions and securities matters pertaining to public company clients. Hammer received his Doctor of Jurisprudence from the Texas Tech University School of Law and his Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting from Texas Tech University. Hammer is a licensed attorney (TX Lic. #08854600) and a certified public accountant (TX Lic. #014233).
The recent advent of the kindle, the iPad and other paper eliminating devices serves as an interesting marker of just how archaic a practice it is to produce physical books for an industry as fast paced as M&A. Using a virtual data room to manage this process can accelerate the transaction process from the beginning, help manage costs and provide security measures that often fall through the cracks
Most of Firmex’s clients are now using the internet to distribute seller’s books or confidential information memorandums when managing a sell-side M&A transaction. However, there are firms that are continuing to create physical books, which can range from 50 to 200 pages. These books are typically distributed to a large number of potential buyers, particularly if an advisory firm routinely markets transactions to a database of private equity firms.
