What is the survival period?
The survival period of representations and warranties (and covenants) is the duration after closing during which the buyer may bring indemnification claims for breach. In US/Delaware practice, survival periods are contractually defined because case law (e.g., GRT Inc. v. Marathon GTF Tech. Ltd.) treats reps as not surviving closing unless the contract expressly provides otherwise. Survival is a critical deal-economic term — its length determines the temporal scope of buyer’s recourse and seller’s risk exposure.
Typical survival tiers
- General representations: 12-24 months (most commonly 18 months) — aligned with the buyer’s first audit cycle and operational discovery period.
- Fundamental representations: often longer — statute of limitations, or 6+ years, or indefinite.
- Tax representations: statute of limitations + 60-90 days (to allow buyer to receive tax assessments).
- Environmental representations: sometimes longer (3-7 years) given delayed discovery.
- Specific indemnities: case-by-case, often longer than general.
- Fraud: typically no survival limit (statute of limitations governs).
- Covenants: until performed, or specified survival post-performance.
R&W insurance and survival
R&W insurance policies typically have their own survival periods aligned with policy terms (typically 3 years for general reps, 6 years for fundamentals/tax). Where R&W insurance is used, the contractual survival may be reduced for seller — buyer recovers from insurance for the longer period, seller is off the hook earlier.
Türk M&A uygulamasında
Türk hukukunda zamanaşımı süreleri TBK Madde 146-147 ile düzenlenir (genel 10 yıl); ancak M&A sözleşmelerinde taraflar bu süreyi sözleşmeyle değiştirebilir (TBK Madde 26). Türk işlemlerde genel taahhütler için 18-24 ay, vergi için 5-7 yıl, dolandırıcılık için sınırsız uygulama yaygındır. AB/ABD modellerinin doğrudan uyarlanması Türk şartlarına genel olarak uyar; ancak Türk zamanaşımı baz seviyesinin uzun olması seller-friendly sınırlamayı haklı kılar.
Do: tier survival periods by risk category; carve fraud and fundamentals out of the general period; document explicitly that no implied common-law survival applies.
Don’t: agree to identical survival for all reps — fundamentals and tax demand longer; general reps should match buyer’s discovery cycle.