Takeover law in the United Kingdom, before and after the implementation of the Takeover Directive

Magistrsko delo obravnava ureditev področja prevzemov v Združenem kraljestvu Velike Britanije in Severne Irske, pred in po implementaciji Direktive EU o prevzemnih ponudbah. Naloga sistematično predstavi temeljne institute in organe v postopkih prevzemov v Združenem kraljestvu ter njihovo ureditev in razmerja med njimi po implementaciji direktive, ki je deloma posegla v tradicionalno in zelo uspešno zasnovo prejšnje ureditve. Avtor na kratko opiše tudi postopek razvoja direktive in zadržke, ki so jih imele posamezne države članice, predvsem Združeno kraljestvo, do nekaterih določb direktive. Osrednji del naloge podrobneje obravnava normativno ureditev prevzemov v Združenem kraljestvu. Opisana je zgodovina prevzemov v Združenem kraljestvu in pravil, ki so jih spremljala, vse od nezavezujočih aktov, ki so jih avtonomno sprejeli pomembnejši deležniki tamkajšnjega trga vrednostnih papirjev, do celovite in zakonsko obvezujoče ureditve The City Code on Takeovers and Mergers in ključnega organa v postopkih prevzemov – The Takeover Panela. Poseben poudarek je namenjen prav posledicam, ki jih je povzročila zahteva direktive po ustanovitvi obveznega organa v postopkih prevzemov in podelitvi zakonske narave prevzemnim pravilom. Takšna zahteva je temeljito posegla v konceptualno zasnovo The Takeover Panela, ki je vse do takrat deloval na podlagi dogovora s temeljnimi akterji trga prevzemov v Združenem kraljestvu, prav ti akterji so tudi imenovali njegove organe in praviloma vedno spoštovali njegove odločitve. Med preučevanjem področja je avtor ugotovil, da implementacija Direktive EU o prevzemih, ni pomembneje spremenila temeljnih značilnosti prevzemnega prava v Združenem kraljestvu. Drži, da imata po implementaciji, tako The Takeover Panel kot The City Code on Takeovers and Mergers zavezujočo pravno naravo, ki je v diametralnem nasprotju z njuno tradicionalno zasnovo, pa vendar se zaradi vseh političnih kompromisov v postopku sprejemanja direktive, kot tudi možnosti izvzetja od uporabe nekaterih določb, njuna vloga ni pomembneje spremenila. The Takeover Panel je de facto še vedno edini, ki bdi nad izvrševanjem prevzemnih pravil v Združenem kraljestvu, saj so sodišča omejila svojo vlogo le na pomoč The Takeover Panelu pri izvrševanju njegovih odločitev. Tudi vsebinske določbe The City Code on Takeovers and Mergers v postopku implementacije direktive niso doživele korenitejše spremembe. Že prejšnja ureditev je vsebovala večino zahtev direktive, potrebne so bile le manjše spremembe, ki udeležencem v postopkih prevzemov v Združenem kraljestvu ne bi smele povzročati večjih problemov. Takšna ugotovitev je skladna tudi z dejstvom, da so politični kompromisi v postopku sprejemanja direktive ključno zmanjšali njen harmonizacijski učinek, zato implementacija v Združenem kraljestvu, v nasprotju s prvotnimi pomisleki, ni pomembneje posegla v tradicionalno ureditev tamkajšnjih prevzemnih postopkov.This master thesis deals with the regulation of takeovers in The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, before and after the implementation of the EU\u27s Takeover Directive. The thesis systematically describes the most prominent institutes and subjects, which are present during takeovers in The United Kingdom, as well as their regulation and relationships among them after the implementation of the directive, which partially changed the traditional and very successful design of the previous takeover regulation in The United Kingdom. Author also describes the development of the Takeover Directive and reservations, which were expressed by certain member states, especially the United Kingdom, towards some provisions of the directive. The central part of the thesis focuses on the detailed structure of the normative regulation of takeovers in the United Kingdom. In light of that, author presents the history of takeovers in the United Kingdom and the rules, that accompanied them, from the unbinding, voluntary acts, that were autonomously accepted by the majority of most important representatives of the United Kingdom\u27s securities market, to the statutory nature of The City Code on Takeovers and Mergers and the key takeover authority in the United Kingdom – The Takeover Panel. Special attention is given to consequences, which were caused by the directive\u27s requirement, regarding the formation of a mandatory authority during the course of takeovers and granting statutory nature to the existing takeover rules. Such a requirement significantly reformed The Takeover Panel\u27s conceptual basis, which operated, until the implementation, on the basis of an agreement among the main subjects of the United Kingdom\u27s takeovers market. With respect to the issues raised above, author concluded, that the implementation of the Takeover directive did not significantly alter the main characteristics of the United Kingdom\u27s takeover regulation. Although it is true, that after the implementation, The Takeover Panel, as well as The City Code on Takeovers and Mergers were given statutory nature, the culmination of political compromises in the process of directive\u27s development and the possibility of opting-out of certain provisions, maintained their previous status. The Takeover Panel is de facto still the only authority supervising takeover bids in the United Kingdom, as the courts limited their role only to helping The Takeover Panel to enforce its decisions. The implementation of the Takeover directive did not significantly modify the substantial provisions of The City Code on Takeovers and Mergers either. This is due to the fact, that the previous regulation of takeovers in the United Kingdom, already contained most of the directive\u27s requirements, only minor changes were needed, which should not cause any major problems to takeovers participants in the United Kingdom. Such findings are consistent with the fact, that the political compromises in the process of directive\u27s development substantially reduced its harmonising effect. Therefore, the Takeover Directive\u27s implementation in the United Kingdom did not notably change the traditional regulation of the takeovers in the United Kingdom, despite initial concerns