The word “from” in contracts

Drafting

Early in my career, an investment banker asked me how to calculate the number of days specified in a sale and purchase agreement for an M&A transaction.

The agreement required Party A to do something not later 30 days from [specified date].

Does the 30 days include the specified date or start on the next day?

I did not have a conclusive answer for that agreement.

I learned to include an interpretation clause along the following lines in contracts to avoid ambiguity.

๐˜๐˜ง ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜บ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ข ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ, ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ข ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต, ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ค๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ [๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ/๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ] ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ. ๐˜๐˜ง ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜บ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ข ๐˜‰๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜‹๐˜ข๐˜บ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ฑ๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ต ๐˜‰๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜‹๐˜ข๐˜บ.

Donโ€™t forget to define โ€œBusiness Dayโ€.

#malaysiancorporatelawyer
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#mergersandacquisitions

This post was first posted on Linkedin on 2 May 2022.

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