On 5 September 2011, the Takeover Panel announced that recent amendments to the Takeover Code will take affect from the expected date of Monday 19 September 2011.
The amendments, which were the subject of lengthy consultations following Kraft's controversial £11.4 billion hostile takeover of Cadbury, focus on the following issues:
- the naming and deadline of virtual bids
- prohibition of deal protection
- target board opinion on an offer
- disclosure of advisor's fees
- disclosure of bid financing and historical financial information
- disclosure of intentions regarding the target company and its employees
- greater rights for employee representatives
The Takeover Panel have also announced that from 19 September there will be a Disclosure Table available, which gives details of the deadline (if any) by which a potential offeror is required to announce a firm intention to make an offer or that it does not intend to make an offer, under the new rule 2.6.
For background on these amendments, please click here to read a news story about the most recent consultation. We are also planning to produce a more detailed analysis of the changes and how it could affect quoted companies.
