The UK’s M&A regulator, The Takeover Panel has concluded that the regime for hostile bids needs revision. Calls for a radical overhaul of the British approach to takeovers were made following the heated Kraft/Cadbury deal earlier this year. The Panel has rejected some of the more far reaching proposals mooted at the time but has conceded […]
Read MoreAre some European issuers trying to avoid playing fair with their minority shareholders? With the news that USS and Hermes have now tendered their Océ shares after the Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeals rejected the pension funds’ request to investigate Canon’s tender offer, shareholders might be left wondering what they can do […]
Read MoreMergers frequently result in large one-time payouts to executives of the acquired company, through change-in-control payments and acceleration of equity awards. Several recent mergers, however, have highlighted how significant those deferred costs can be for shareholders. Executives at oilfield-services company BJ Services, which is being acquired Baker Hughes in a cash-and-stock deal worth $5.3 billion […]
Read MoreThe high-profile takeovers of ABN AMRO (by a consortium of Royal Bank of Scotland, Fortis and Banco Santander) and of Alcon by Rio Tinto have seen the acquirers scrambling to raise funding in recent months. Former RBS Chairman, Sir Tom McKillop, admitted to the Treasury Select Committee that the acquisition was “a bad mistake”, while […]
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