The Cayman Islands have brought in changes to the statutory merger law to expand its remit. Maples and Calder's Nick Evans (pictured below) and Charlotte Lindsten examine the new regime

At a time of increasing international M&A activity, recent changes to the Companies Law (2010 Revision) have significantly increased the flexibility and effectiveness of the Cayman Islands statutory merger regime. The purpose of this article is to consider the benefits of these changes (brought in by the Companies (Amendment) Law 2011, enacted in April 2011) and to provide some practical guidance on issues that have arisen in the course of advising on takeovers, reorganisations and similar transactions.

Prior to the introduction of the merger regime in 2009, these transactions were often structured as court-supervised schemes of arrangement. Although there are situations where a scheme of arrangement will continue to be the most suitable mechanism, mergers can offer a faster, simpler and less expensive alternative in appropriate circumstances.