Takeovers—legal and regulatory

Public company takeovers quiz

We have prepared a public company takeovers quiz, which tests users’ knowledge on various aspects of the UK takeover regime. The quiz is in multiple choice format and at the end of each question the correct answer is displayed together with feedback and links to relevant materials. The quiz is intended for use by private practice lawyers, in-house counsel, corporate finance professionals and other parties engaged on takeover transactions. For further details, see Practice Note: Public company takeovers quiz.

Structuring a takeover—preliminary considerations

There are two primary methods of implementing a takeover of a UK public company:

1. •

   by way of a contractual takeover offer under the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006), s 974 (offer)

2. •

   by way of a scheme of arrangement under CA 2006, Pt 26 (scheme)

While takeovers of a UK public company implemented under either structure are subject to the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers (Code), the two structures possess fundamentally different characteristics.

The key differences between the two structure are in relation to:

1. •

   who drives or leads the process—in an offer,