AGM Abogados, a multidisciplinary firm based in Spain, consists in a large team of over 100 professionals with more than 20 years of extensive experience in their respective fields. The firm has offices in the main cities of the country including Barcelona and Madrid, and subscribes to the commitment of providing its clients and partners with opportunities to meet and exchange on the daily realities affecting their business. In this line of thoughts, AGM Abogados is organizing a special seminar on International Mergers and Acquisitions.

The event is scheduled to take place the morning of October 20, 2006 in Casa Llojat de Mar, Barcelona, Spain, and is organized in collaboration with the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce. It will feature lawyers specialists from AGM Abogados (Spain) and from their Lawrope collaborating partner firm Boyes Turner (United Kingdom). The program includes in a first time orations from Mr. Antonio Valverde and Mr Carlos Montiagudo from the Corporate and Financial departments of AGM Abogados. Both will focus on international commercial and legal aspects of mergers and acquisitions. Second, Mr. Richard Preston of Boyes Turner will inform the audience on specific facets of such international transactions in the United Kingdom.

This seminar is also underlining the collaboration between AGM Abogados and its Lawrope partners, taking into account the special participation of Boyes Turner. By uniting for this occasion, the two firms hope to contribute to the promotion of the image of the dynamic and innovative international group they are part of.

In addition, this event enters in the perspective that the last couple of years have been marked by several major corporate takeover in Europe. The adoption in 2002 of the euro as a common monetary unit has played a significant role in facilitating such type of transaction in the region. The tendency, which is now a more and more commonly observed phenomenon all around the globe is however not always happening in favourable circumstances. Some takeovers are more hostile than others and can aim at reducing market competition, cutting costs, reducing taxes, removing management, "empire building" by the acquiring managers, among other purposes.

Historically, mergers have often failed to add significantly to the value of the acquiring firm's shares. The reason of this failure is often hidden behind a lack of previous analysis of the case or a due dilligence process realized in unfriendly conditions. A more internationalized and transparent environment and the collaboration of the EU member states in creating appropriate legal frameworks has been ultimately facilitating M&A operations. Still, some elements keep preventing the ending of the dominance of small companies in Europe from happening. In fact, major social and cultural barriers, as well as legal and political obstacles are still imposed by the EU member-states. Moreover financial markets in Europe usually react negatively to news of cross-border buying and selling.

In brief, considering the complexity of such type of operations and the various realities that must be well know by entrepreneurs and corporations leaders, it is essential to remain up-to-date on the subject. For this reason AGM Abogados, as well as its partners including the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and Boyes Turner Law Firm, wish to invite you to join this special information session. This way, you can come learn about the benefits of collaborating with AGM Abogados and Lawrope, and also enjoy the opportunity of exchanging with them and making new contacts.