Counsel for the transaction that crosses a border.
A cross-border transaction is not a domestic transaction with travel. It is a transaction the regulatory perimeter, the tax structure, and the governance design make different on the first day.
Cohen Capital Markets advises inbound acquirers, outbound divestors, and multi-jurisdiction sponsors on transactions that cross at least one national border. The work is partner-led from the strategic assessment through the multi-jurisdiction closing — with the regulatory sequencing, the tax-efficient structure, and the currency hedging set deliberately rather than discovered late.
The firm has advised on transactions with counterparties across the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Australia, and the Gulf, among others. We do not outsource the senior attention that complex cross-border situations demand; the partner running the engagement is in the room with the client and in the room with the counterparties.
Four regions, named jurisdictions.
Six cross-border capabilities.
Inbound M&A Advisory
Foreign acquirers entering the U.S. market — sell-side or buy-side counsel, regulatory navigation through CFIUS and other inbound screens, and the structure that survives political and financial scrutiny.
Outbound Acquisition Advisory
U.S. and other home-jurisdiction acquirers pursuing targets abroad. Local counterparty diligence, regulatory mapping, tax-efficient holding structure, and multi-jurisdiction closing.
CFIUS & FDI Advisory
CFIUS jurisdiction analysis, mandatory and voluntary filing strategy, mitigation negotiation, and parallel work across foreign-direct-investment regimes in the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Asia-Pacific.
Currency & Hedging Advisory
FX exposure assessment across signing, closing, and post-close periods. Hedging-strategy design coordinated with treasury counsel and the deal financing structure.
Tax-Efficient Structuring
Holding-company jurisdiction selection, intercompany financing design, repatriation strategy, and the multi-jurisdiction tax architecture that survives audit in every relevant jurisdiction.
Multi-Jurisdiction Governance
Cross-border board composition, decision-rights allocation across home and host country, and the governance architecture that operates across time zones and regulatory regimes without breaking.
Six steps, sequenced across jurisdictions.
Cross-Border Strategy Assessment
The strategic rationale for crossing the border. The honest read on whether the deal warrants the additional cost and complexity multi-jurisdiction work imposes.
Regulatory Mapping
CFIUS, FDI, antitrust, sectoral-investment, and other regulatory surfaces named in advance. Sequencing the filings against the commercial timeline.
Target / Buyer Identification
The named universe of credible counterparties in the home and host jurisdictions, built from primary research and direct relationships in each market.
Structure Design
Holding-company architecture, tax-efficient structure, FX-hedging strategy, and the governance design — all set before LOI rather than discovered after.
Multi-Jurisdiction Diligence
Coordinated diligence across local counsel, accountants, and operational advisors in each jurisdiction. The firm chairs the integration of findings into a single recommendation.
Closing & Post-Close Integration
Multi-jurisdiction closing coordination, regulatory filings, FX settlement, and the first-hundred-days integration framework across regulatory regimes.
The four regulatory surfaces of a cross-border deal.
Every cross-border transaction touches at least four regulatory surfaces. The partner-brief discipline is to name them all in advance, sequence the filings against the commercial timeline, and design the structure to survive scrutiny on each surface independently.
CFIUS & FDI screening.
U.S. national-security review and parallel foreign-direct-investment screens in the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, and elsewhere. The structure either passes review on the merits or carries mitigation; the gap between those outcomes is the work.
Tax structuring across treaties.
Holding-company jurisdiction, treaty network, withholding architecture, and intercompany financing design. The structure that minimizes total tax burden without triggering anti-avoidance scrutiny in any single jurisdiction.
Currency & financing exposure.
FX exposure between signing and closing, between closing and first-year repatriation, and across the financing's coupon and amortization profile. The hedge that protects the deal economics without locking in a worse outcome.
Multi-jurisdiction governance.
Decision-rights allocation across home and host country, board composition, audit and reporting standards, and the operating rhythm a board can sustain across three time zones. The governance that survives the first contentious board meeting.
Four common cross-border situations.
A foreign acquirer pursuing a U.S. target with CFIUS exposure.
The strategic rationale is sound. CFIUS jurisdiction attaches. The acquirer wants partner-led counsel on filing strategy, mitigation negotiation, and the structure that survives review on the merits.
A U.S. divestor selling a non-core business to a foreign buyer.
The seller wants the cleanest possible process. CFIUS and the foreign-direct-investment regimes in the buyer's home jurisdiction both apply. The firm sequences the filings and protects the price.
A sponsor designing a multi-jurisdiction acquisition platform.
The platform will hold operating assets in three to five countries. The sponsor wants the holding architecture, tax-efficient structure, and governance design set right before the first acquisition closes.
A U.S. company entering a strategic joint venture with a foreign partner.
The JV structure must navigate regulatory perimeters in two jurisdictions, currency exposure on intercompany flows, and a board that operates across time zones. The firm runs the design.
Read more from the firm.
Plainly answered.
How does cross-border timing differ from a domestic deal?
Cross-border deals typically run three to six months longer than comparable domestic transactions, driven by regulatory filings (CFIUS, FDI, competition), multi-jurisdiction diligence, and document execution across legal regimes. The discipline is to compress what can be compressed without compromising the regulatory or structural integrity.
Does the firm work with local counsel in each jurisdiction?
Yes. The firm coordinates with the client's existing local counsel or recommends counsel in each relevant jurisdiction. The firm does not provide legal advice in any jurisdiction; we run the commercial and structural work in coordination with named legal counsel.
How does the firm think about emerging markets?
The firm has primary experience in developed-market jurisdictions across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the named MENA markets. For transactions involving other emerging markets, the firm operates in coordination with established local-market advisors and counsel — and is candid about the limits of what we have direct experience to underwrite.
Does the firm execute the securities work itself?
No. Cohen Capital Markets is not a registered broker-dealer. Where the engagement involves securities execution, the matter is referred to a separate, unaffiliated FINRA/SIPC-registered broker-dealer partner. Cohen Capital Markets and such partners are separate, unaffiliated entities.