KJK Managing Partner Jon Pinney spoke with the Smart Business Dealmakers podcast about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on M&A deal terms and multiples, how diligence will be changed going forward, and why lawyers have been taking crash courses on force majeure and other rarely used legal doctrines.

By Dustin S. Klein & Mark Scott

Jon PinneyThe COVID-19 pandemic is bringing to life doomsday scenarios that even seasoned dealmakers like Jon J. Pinney dismissed as the stuff of Hollywood.

“You just never think you could have a situation like this,” says Pinney, managing director at Kohrman Jackson & Krantz. “I’ve read about it, seen it in the movies and thought about the possibility of a pandemic. But when you were in the middle of a deal, it wasn’t on the top of your list.”

It is now, Pinney says. And as business owners, investors and dealmakers pick up the pieces from this economic upheaval, they will take a closer look at the potential for macro- and global-level business disruptions.

“One of the things that we’re going to do is take a much harder look at insurance policies and also terms and conditions,” Pinney says.

Pinney spoke with the Smart Business Dealmakers podcast about KJK’s reaction to the pandemic and what he’s hearing from clients in the market.

Listen to the podcast here.