Last month, a team of four Baker Hostetler partners conducted day-long programs in Chennai and New Delhi, India, for prospective Indian investors in the United States. John Burke, Elliot Feldman, Neal Seth and David Grant, all authors of the firm’s treatise, Mergers & Acquisitions in the United States: A Practical Guide for Non-U.S. Buyers, partnered with the Indian law firm PSA Legal Counsellors and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s SelectUSA, a federal program created to attract foreign investors to the United States.
SelectUSA Executive Director Barry Johnson was the keynote speaker in Chennai. His address emphasized the new U.S. commitment to welcome foreign investment, highlighting President Obama’s personal engagement to encourage international trade and investment.
The U.S. Embassy hosted the program, “Investing in America: Special Concerns Needing Special Attention,” in New Delhi. It focused on topics chosen collectively by Baker Hostetler’s team, PSA Legal Counsellors and the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service. Feldman opened the program with a discussion of the investment climate in the U.S., summarizing opportunities and obstacles; Burke addressed the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; and Grant and Seth focused on due diligence, suggesting that the potential greatest liabilities in a transaction are also the greatest potential values: an educated, trained work force with entitlements, and an intellectual property portfolio. PSA Legal Counsellors provided commentary throughout the program, comparing U.S. concerns to conditions and law in India.