How R&W Insurance Has Changed the M&A Landscape Part 2 

In the last few years, there’s been a game-changer slowly but surely transforming the M&A world.

The use of Representations and Warranty insurance is increasing across the board as Buyers and Sellers, PE firms, VC funds, and strategic buyers all recognize that this coverage makes negotiations less contentious and more cost-effective. Because the indemnity risk is transferred to a third-party, this insurance also gives a sense of security.

R&W insurance is changing how deals are structured.

We covered why – and some of the foundational details in the first part of this article, which you should read here first.

Now, we’re to going to get into the weeds, so to speak. Taking a look at some of the specific ways deal terms are being rethought when R&W coverage is part of the deal.

Materiality Scrape

If there is a breach of a Representation or Warranty in a Purchase and Sale Agreement, Sellers seeking to limit their exposure, prefer wording in the agreement that requires breaches to be “material” in order for the Buyer to be able to claim the breach for indemnification purposes. Depending on the deal size, “material” generally being more than $100,000 to $250,000.

Naturally, a Buyer will want to remove this qualifier by applying a Materiality Scrape (i.e. to literally scrape “material” as a determinant for breaches), giving them the ability to determine a breach and thus reduce their risk.

If R&W insurance is in place, most Sellers will agree to Materiality Scrapes because the policy coverage will mirror the Materiality Scrapes in the agreement, eliminating risk on both sides of the table. According to SRS Acquiom, 2/3 of deals with R&W include even Double Materiality Scrapes (where Buyers determine both the breach and the calculation of resulting damages).

Pro-Sandbagging Provisions

Buyers like having pro-sandbagging language in Purchase and Sale Agreements.

Say a Buyer is performing their diligence and they find a problem. They see that a Seller’s representation has been breached… but the Seller hasn’t recognized the issue.

Without R&W coverage, what happens next is…

The Buyer is under no obligation to tell the Seller what they found. They can go through the deal and then bring up the breach post-closing. That blindsides the Seller, who is left wondering why the Buyer didn’t inform them sooner to avoid having to pay damages. Making a claim against the Seller like this is referred to as “sandbagging.”

An R&W policy will have a warranty statement – a pro-sandbagging provision – that says the Buyer certifies they have no knowledge of any breaches. If it turns out they do have knowledge and don’t inform the Seller before the deal closes, that breach will be excluded.

As you can imagine, this is great motivation for the Buyer to be forthcoming if any issues show up in their due diligence efforts. They will tell the Seller as soon as possible because otherwise they won’t get the benefit of the insurance later.

This also enables the parties to address “known” issues before closing rather than the having a future “surprise” sprung on an unsuspecting Seller.

Disappearing Escrows

Before R&W Insurance emerged, the prevailing belief of Buyers was that large escrow accounts provided both security and a more “honest” Seller. As R&W began replacing escrows, Buyers and their advisors argued that having cash on hand was safer than hoping an insurance company would pay claims.

After a successful period where R&W policies have incurred and promptly paid claims, confidence in R&W has only increased, while escrow amounts have decreased. So much so, that according to SRS Acquiom, the average escrow amount has fallen from 10% of transaction value on uninsured deals to 1% of transaction value on insured deals.

Catch-All Reps

There are certain Buyer-friendly “catch-all” reps out there, officially known as 10b-5 representations, or full-disclosure representations. Among all the other specific representations in a Purchase and Sale Agreement, this catch-all states that the Seller doesn’t know of any potential breaches or other issues. Therefore, any future unexpected event could potentially trigger these reps, greatly exposing Sellers.

These open-ended reps can’t be underwritten, so they are routinely excluded by R&W policies.

In response to the insurers’ position, Buyers and Sellers have agreed to remove these 10b-5 reps entirely so the corresponding exclusion is eliminated. SRS Acquiom reports that some 90% of deals with R&W no longer contain 10b-5 reps as compared with 62% in uninsured deals.

Non-Reliance Provisions

In a recent report on M&A trends from SRS Acquiom, the company noted that they are seeing more non-reliance provisions, which are very Seller-favorable, in Purchase and Sale Agreements.

With this provision, the Seller is telling the Buyer that the Buyer cannot rely on information provided by the Seller, like a tax report or financial statements. The Buyer must perform their own diligence and use those findings to make any determinations.

This protects the Seller if the Buyer claims that they were provided inaccurate financial statements or similar diligence reports. This shifts risk in the direction of the Buyer. But if R&W insurance is in place, the Buyer is not worried because the coverage would cover and pay the claim for any breach.

Deductibles

In the event of loss, there are deductibles due before a claim is paid. In the past, there was a tipping basket. For example, if there was a deductible of $500,000, the Buyer had to eat the first $250,000. However, the minute it goes over $500,000, the Seller is responsible for the entire deductible.

With R&W coverage in place, the two sides are now agreeing to split the deductible 50/50, simplifying the deductible issue.

On a side note, it’s amazing how many claims of breaches are reported at least one year post-closing. Most policies have a deductible dropdown. If after one year there have been no claims, the deductible goes from 1% of transaction value to ½%.

Next Steps

It’s clear that Representations and Warranty insurance is taking the M&A world by storm. I see it becoming standard in the next few years. You can get ahead of the curve by learning about this specialized type of insurance and how it could change the terms of your next M&A deal – whether Buyer or Seller. Just contact me, Patrick Stroth, at pstroth@rubiconins.com for all the details.

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