Highlights: On 19 March 2012 the King ratified a new act modifying the Belgian Companies’ Code with respect to the procedure for the liquidation of Belgian companies. The Act comes into force on 17 May 2012. The purpose of the Act is twofold: on the one hand, a series of procedural amendments for company liquidations … Continued
Highlights: The Singapore Code on Take-overs and Mergers was amended with effect from 9 April 2012. The main changes include updating the Code to incorporate current practices on the takeover of real estate investment trusts and business trusts, setting out when collective shareholder action amounts to acting in concert, and dealing with joint offers and … Continued
MAIN ARTICLE The Canadian government continues to propose changes to Canada’s foreign investment review regime under the Investment Canada Act (“ICA”). In its most recent announcement (available here) the government proposes to significantly increase the principal threshold used to determine whether foreign investments will be subject to review under the ICA. The government also published … Continued
Highlights: The Canadian government proposed amendments to the Investment Canada Act (the “ICA”) that would authorize the Minister of Industry (or Minister of Canadian Heritage, in respect of cultural businesses) to accept a security payment from investors in respect of any possible penalties that a court might order if the investor is subsequently held to … Continued
Highlights: The paper discusses the strategic developments in the Russian legal and tax landscape that may have an impact on M&A environment. In Q1 2012 issue GBLP discusses the top 6 legal and tax developments that happened during the first quarter of 2012, as well as provides M&A tax and legal tips, including a comparison … Continued
Five disruptive technology megatrends drove the value of global technology mergers and acquisitions (M&A) up 41% in 2011, while volume increased by 13% — even as the value of global M&A in all industries fell slightly amid economic uncertainty, according to Ernst & Young’s Global technology M&A update, October — December 2011 and year in … Continued
Executive Summary/Highlights: Global M&A volume in Q1 2012 was US$481 billion (US$1.9 trillion on an annualized basis), down 16% from Q4 2011. Many ingredients of an M&A resurgence are present, including would-be strategic and private equity acquirers’ considerable cash stockpiles and improving balance sheets, a historically low cost of debt financing for investment grade borrowers, … Continued
Highlights: On 28 January 2012 a new law came into force relating to the merger and demerger procedure under Belgian law. The new law simplifies the existing procedure by reducing the administrative reporting and documentation requirements to an absolute minimum while safeguarding the interests of shareholders and other parties. This simplification implements the European Directive … Continued
Executive summary: The U.K .government confirms the anticipated merger of the Competition Commission and the competition functions of the OFT into a single Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) to be effective by April 2014. The U.K. government has decided to retain the current voluntary regime of merger notifications, albeit with a tightening of administrative measures. … Continued
Highlights: A review of the Swedish Takeover Rules has resulted in a proposal to amend and update the Rules in a number of respects including, deal protection, top ups, and the put up or shut up regime. The revision has also resulted in the codification of a number of Securities Council statements including disclosure of … Continued
