'Represents' Vs. 'Warrants' — Reviving An Old Debate

Law360, New York (August 8, 2016, 3:18 PM EDT) -- In virtually every acquisition or merger agreement there is a section that contains certain contractual statements of purported fact concerning the company or asset being acquired. Those statements have been famously described by then-Vice Chancellor Leo Strine, in ABRY Partners V LP v. F & W Acquisition LLC, 891 A.2d 1032, 1035 (Del. Ch. 2006), as the "factual predicate[s]" for the parties' decision to enter into the deal. In the United States, deal convention dictates that the person making these contractual statements introduce them with the phrase "represents and warrants," while in England, deal convention is that the introduction only include the word "warrants," but not "represents." The reason for not using the word "represents" in English agreements is purportedly to avoid potential tort liability that can arise from a representation, but not from a warranty....

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