What is Gun Jumping | Meaning | Presentation

Meaning of Jumping the Gun

Prior to close:

Neither company can attempt to exercise control over the other
Cannot exchange competitively sensitive information
Must operate as separate entities until the transaction closes

Examples of Prohibited Activities:

No joint pricing, promotions, expansion plans (or influencing each other on these)
No coordination on competitive practices, decisions or strategies
Can’t participate in or influence each other’s day-to-day operations
No joint decision-making on operational purchases or dispositions
Acquirer employees cannot act on behalf of Target employees, nor vice versa
No coordination on sales, purchasing or contracts with suppliers or vendors
No division of customers or markets between the companies
No implementation of integration plans prior to closing
No broad unfettered access to each other’s systems (email, reports, etc)
No access to office space or sales, marketing or operational personnel

Competitively Sensitive Information:

Before closing, an acquirer should not exchange competitively sensitive information with the other party. Examples of competitively sensitive information include:

Current or future prices, price schedules, pricing policies, pricing plans or terms of sale
Product-specific costs, including materials and third-party labor supply costs and national vendor contract terms
Customer and product-specific prices, profitability, profit margins, discounts or rebates
Vendor prices, profit margins, discounts or rebates
Competitive strategies, including:
Sales, bidding and marketing plans
Specific harvesting plans
Growth or expansion plans (including product and geographic markets)
Other strategic plans
Attempts to retain specific customers, land suppliers or materials/labor suppliers...