Company takeovers have taken place in the past where the announcement of the takeover is made 6 months before the takeover takes place. An example was when my former employers, now defunct Focus DIY, announced in early 2001 it had acquired Great Mills from RMC, though the takeover and final signing off of the legal documents didn't take place until that May, four months later.
The reason for the timespan is that there may be a cooling off period, where both parties can change minds. In addition, there may be negotiations with staff, management and/or trade unions. There could be an examination of suppliers, customers, and any contracts. A reason for the delay with the acquisition of Great Mills was that RMC, as Great Mills parent company at the time, supplied GM with their aggregates, such as gravel and decorative chippings. Focus used a different supplier, Supamix. In the end, Focus went to a new supplier, Mixit.
To further this on, and explain again why takeovers take a long time to complete, in 2004, Mixit were then taken over by Supamix, although it wasa few months before it was completed. During this time, Supamix had to inform Focus, Dobbies, Klondyke, and Jewsons, who all used Mixit, of the new arrangements, and to inform them of the fact the current contracts would be vaild, but that products would change from Mixit to Supamix, and so there would be changes in range.
And of course Mixit staff found themselves working for supamix, which led to negotiations no doubt.
That example demonstrates why takeovers can often be protracted affairs. It doesn't always work out that long; the 2011 Rotala acquisition of Preston Bus from stagecoach saw Rotala do the examination of staff contracts and suppliers AFTER the acqusition was completed, not before. Which reminds us of something in law that can affect takeovers, ever so slightly, TUPE. Whilst John Asquith of Rotala Preston Bus confirmed to me that takeover went through with no issues, TUPE protects an employees rights if undertakings transfer from one employer to another.
Going back to Focus, when it called in Administrators in May 2011, B&Q bought 31 sites (though the OFT blocked the purchase of one site subsequently), but by buying only the site, the staff at the Focus stores affected all had to reapply for their jobs, as they were being made redundant by the administrators at Focus. B&M homestores bought 10 stores, as did Wickes, and all staff transfered over, and in that instance TUPE covered the staff, namely any new staff could be employed on worse conditions, and worse pay, but the ex Focus staff were still covered by their Focus conditions. However, the staff did have the right to not move if they so wished.
Which is the last thing to consider - you need to know how many staff are going to stay with your new acquisition. It's no good buying a depot, only to find that the staff don't want to join you. But, TUPE exists to encourage staff to stay with their new employer, and to do so under their existing conditions, if they so wish. It can also help keep the dole queue down.
so were back to Square one.