Global Reorganizations

Organizations may need to restructure their workforces for a number of reasons. These include mergers and acquisitions, post-merger integrations (PMI), cost-cutting initiatives, and reorganizations of group structure to improve, among other things, business performance, operations, and efficiencies.

When a multinational employer engages in a global corporate reorganization, the legal issues and processes are particularly complex. Laws differ substantially from one country to another, and a successful restructuring may require reviewing processes with employees, negotiating with works councils or unions, and notifying governing authorities. Balancing global compliance against the reality of business objectives and local operations while simultaneously ensuring seamless, coordinated, and on-track management of an entire process requires skillful handling and deep commercial understanding from experienced attorneys.

Ogletree’s Global Reorganizations Practice Group is a team of cross-border practitioners from our global offices who possess this unique skill set. We work with clients to maximize corporate benefit by delivering insight and guidance—both innovative and risk-mitigating—from the inception of projects to their conclusion and beyond.

We assist employers by providing commercially-savvy advice in several key areas:

Every human capital aspect of PMI to ensure seamless integration of separate workforces while helping clients recognize the full value of a transaction through continued business momentum, synergy capture, and transformational change
Management of global reductions in force (RIF)
Supervision of employee transfers and/or employment terminations, including advice on the European Union Acquired Rights Directive/Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE)
Negotiation with works councils and/or unions
Harmonization of terms of employment with new and existing employees
Consultation with employees and their representatives
Notification to the appropriate authorities

Representative Experience

Some key examples of projects we have managed include the following:

A global technology company’s acquisition of more than 8,000 employees across 38 countries involving the transfer of employees, amendments to terms of employment, and employment terminations.
A software client’s acquisition of a global technology company involving more than 1,500 employees across more than 30 countries and necessitating employee transfers, amendments to terms of employment, and employment terminations.
Numerous global headcount–reduction projects across workforces located in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), the Asia-Pacific region (APAC), and the Americas.

We work in tandem with company leadership, human resources personnel, and legal departments to offer pragmatic and innovative solutions for successfully navigating challenges arising in connection with PMI, reorganizations, and restructurings of multinational businesses.