Have you ever been on a deal that closed on Christmas?

To what extent are these end-of-year/before Christmas signing/closing deadlines adhered to in your experience? Or do these things invariably get pushed to January?

always adhered to. there is no option.

 

i fondly remember the double all-nighter in 2002. I'd finished for Christmas on the 19th, got a call on the 20th, to come in to help on a deal that wasn't even mine on the 21st.  Got the office in the morning on the 21st and I got home at about 5pm on the 24th, having not slept BUT THE DEAL SIGNED AND THE CLIENT WAS HAPPY.  now that's the way it should be.

 

ah, the good old days, eh?

US year end accounting has previously borked New Year (once in London and then missing last flight home from Moscow) and I had a US MD who made it an auto de fe to be on a call on Christmas Day.  He had a very lonely conference call with that awful hold music.  Moron

Mine are:

  • worked on a big deal ($43bn - humblebrag) where we worked on Christmas Day.
  • worked on an executive hire that I worked on from the morning of Boxing Day to 2 January barely seeing my family throughout
  • had an injunction case where I was being targeted by a former employee where I had to review death threats on Christmas Day, which was lovely
  • did an executive exit on Christmas Eve where the exiting person threatened suicide if he didn't get more money, and told him to fvck off.  He signed

Makes me feel all festive just reminiscing! 

Once had a freezing injunction served on a chap on New Years Eve (at about 7pm) as he'd been stealing £££ from his employer.  Had a meeting with him in our offices on New Year's day.  He's probably out by now come to think of it.

I worked for an ocean going real estate finance bellend who said we'll complete on 26 December after calling me about something on 24 December at 4 p.m. Luckily people more powerful than me told him to fook off. 

The only time this can ever be justified is a restructuring where people lose their jobs if it doesn't get done. Otherwise you are aunt for insisting on this, and a spineless lickspittle if you force your juniors to do it. 

Have you ever been on a deal that closed on Christmas?

Yup - for a Saudi based client, who seemed to take great delight in knowing that he was ruining my Christmas hols!