LETTERS OF INTENT, PRELIMINARY AGREEMENTS, AND BINDING ACQUISITION AGREEMENTS

In a typical acquisition scenario, there may be a letter of intent, fo llowed by one or more preliminary agreements, and then a binding acqui sition agreement. At what point have the parties legally bound themsel ves merely by virtue of the preliminary writings? The author examines leading cases in the Second Circuit and the factors used by the court in deciding the issue of when preliminary agreements may be considered to have bound the parties.