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Dentons partner Bill Kaiser said merger and acquisition work has always been intertwined with his 35-year career as a lawyer. His practice has grown alongside Dentons’ global outreach, including when the firm combined with Bingham Greenebaum and Doll LLP in 2020.
As 2025 winds down, Kaiser said he’s expecting more movement in the M&A market as more money flows to make deals possible. He associates that movement with living in a country where risk takers thrive.
“My expectation is that we’ll see a lot of transactions in the fourth quarter that will complete in 2026,” he said. “It might not get red hot, but it will continue forward.”
Here’s what else he had to say about his M&A experiences.
How did you come to be involved in merger and acquisition work?
Thirty-five years into this, I’ve probably spent the last 30 years as a corporate attorney. M&A has always been a part of that practice. As my primary clients have grown, M&A has become increasingly involved in my practice. Even in the last 5 years with the Dentons platform, we’ve seen our firm take on a larger international M&A component, and it’s been a great opportunity for us to increase our M&A practice.
What about it interests you?
The most interesting thing about the sector is when a client comes in and tells you they have an opportunity to grow…they’re bringing you in under the tent—and you’re figuring out what the best way to bring the company in is, and how it’ll impact their business and their operations. You’re really in confidence with your client and that is very exciting.
What kind of M&A work are you best known for?
The areas I’m primarily involved in are manufacturing and agriculture. We deal with companies with primarily Midwest impacts but have impacts nationwide and are all privately-owned companies.
What’s the biggest deal you’ve worked on?
Historically, I represented a grocery client and we were involved with a public company where we took 20 of their grocery stores private and that was complicated. We recently represented an Indiana-based company in its $200+ million purchase of a leading multi-state residential plumbing contractor based in Georgia.
What are the keys to closing a deal?
In closing a deal, I think the Number 1 key is organization because there’s generally a lot of things happening and people involved to make it happen. You’re dealing with people’s lives and physical locations, too. So to keep things marching forward, organization is key, and usually the attorneys are primarily tasked with making sure everything is marching forward.
Patience is also important, because, when people are ready to close, your client thinks it’s time, but sometimes it’s educating your clients on when things need to happen. The other thing is roadblocks…everybody’s timeline might not be your client’s timeline.
What are the biggest lessons you’ve learned?
Some life lessons that I practice daily are:
- Clients want to know you’re thinking; they want your partnership; they want your opinion—good, bad, indifferent. Don’t be afraid to share that opinion.
- Clients want unequivocal recommendations or advice; they want you to stick your neck out. Your advice will become the client’s baseline.
- Clients want to know their options, and they will rely on you to provide them.
- Clients understand that things will go wrong. Iif you made a mistake, own it and apologize; be accountable for your advice.
What’s your best advice for aspiring M&A attorneys?
Find a good practitioner that you can look up to. Having a mentor is really important in understanding how to structure and run an M&A deal.
What are your best M&A predictions for the coming year? What sectors do you think will heat up or cool down?
There certainly is still a lot of money that is chasing a lot of deals yet. The good news is that we live in a country where a lot of people are willing to take risks. There continues to be idea flow; it’s definitely gone up and down because of other factors (like tariffs).
We’re seeing transactions and letters of intent still happening. My expectation is that we’ll see a lot of transactions in the fourth quarter that will complete in 2026. It might not get red hot, but it will continue forward. •
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