One critical issue for an acquiring company in any proposed merger or acquisition is how to retain executives and key employees of the target. The introduction of a third party — an acquirer — into an employer-employee relationship can stress its bonds to the snapping point and generate a variety of reasons for an executive to want to leave.
Some executives with change-in-control agreements who can earn more money by leaving than by staying on with the new company will prefer to take the payout if they are not offered substantial financial and other incentives to remain.
