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Birleşme ve Devralma Sözleşmelerinde Yer Alan “Break Fee” Klozlarının Birleşik Krallık Hukuku Çerçevesinde Finansal Yardım Yasağı Yönünden Değerlendirilmesi

Yıl 2024, Sayı: 27, 141 - 154, 15.01.2024

Öz

Finansal yardım yasağının amacı, şirket kaynaklarının şirket dışı çıkarlar için kullanılmasını önlemek ve böylelikle hissedarları ve alacaklıları korumaktır. Bu yasak ile şirket kaynaklarının, şirket hisselerinin satın alımı için kullanılması engellenmek istenmiştir.
Break fee anlaşmaları, hedef şirketin, satın alma işlemi tamamlanmadığı takdirde alıcıya belirli bir ücret ödemesini gerektiren bir anlaşma koruma mekanizmasıdır. Bu anlaşmalar anlaşmayı koruma amacının yanı sıra başka amaçlara da hizmet etmektedir. Bu anlaşmalar alıcının; due diligence giderleri, avukatlık ücretleri veya gerekli regulasyonel onaylar için yapılan masrafları geri alabilmesini sağlamaktadır. Hedef şirket açısından ise; satım anlaşmasının tamamlanmasını bilinen bir maliyetle reddetme fırsatı olarak görülebilmektedir.
Öte yandan, break fee anlaşmaları “hisselerin satın alma yolunu kolaylaştırdığı” gerekçesiyle Birleşik Krallık Hukuku kapsamında finansal yardım türlerinden olan “diğer mali yardım” olarak nitelendirilmektedir. Bu bağlamda, “diğer mali yardım” niteliğindeki break fee anlaşmaları, şirketin net varlıklarını önemli ölçüde azaltmakta ise yahut hedef şirketinin net varlığı bulunmuyorsa, 2006 tarihli Birleşik Krallık Şirketler Kanunu gereğince hukuka aykırı şekilde bir finansal yardım gerçekleşmiş olacaktır.

Etik Beyan

There is no requirement of Ethics Committee Approval for this study.

Kaynakça

  • Andre P, Khalil S and Magnan M, ‘Termination Fees in Mergers and Acquisitions: Protecting Investors or Managers?’ (2007) 34 3-4 Journal of Business Finance & Accounting 541.
  • Bagot S, Hamilton-Foyn M, Tierney D and Brume U, ‘England and Wales’ in Alan M Klein (ed), Public M&A 2019 (Law Business Research Ltd 2019).
  • Benoliel U, ‘Contract Interpretation Revisited: The Case of Severability Clauses’ (2019) 3 1 The Business & Finance Law Review 90.
  • Butler F. C and Sauska P, ‘Mergers and Acquisitions: Termination Fees and Acquisition Deal Completion’ (2014) 26 1 Journal of Managerial Issues 44.
  • Chaston v. SWP Group plc [2002] EWCA Civ 1999.
  • Dignam A and Lowry J, Company Law (11th edn, OUP Oxford 2020).
  • Ferran E, ‘Corporate Transactions And Financial Assistance: Shifting Policy Perceptions But Static Law’ (2004) 63(1) Cambridge Law Journal 225.
  • Ferran E, Company Law and Corporate Finance (Oxford University Press 1999).
  • Islam M. S, ‘The Doctrine of Capital Maintenance and its Statutory Developments: An Analysis’ (2013) 4 The Northern University Journal of Law 47.
  • Jackson O, ‘The pros and cons of merger break fee reintroduction’ (2018)InternationalFinancialLawReview<https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/pros-cons-merger breakfeereintroduction/ docview/2041531753/se-2?accountid=14182> accessed 27 December 2021.
  • Marshall P, ‘Unlawful financial assistance: rising from the dead’ (2017) October Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law 531.
  • Meng C. W and Balan S, ‘The Civil Consequences for Breach of the Prohibition against the Giving of Financial Assistance: The Malaysian Approach’ (2008) 10 Austl J Asian L 77.
  • Officer M. S, ‘Termination fees in mergers and acquisitions’ (2003) 69 Journal of Financial Economics 431.
  • Ooi M, ‘The Financial Assistance Prohibition: Changing Legislative and Judicial Landscape’ (2009) 2009 Sing J Legal Stud 135.
  • Paros Plc v. Worldlink Group Plc [2012] EWHC 394 (Comm).
  • Restrepo F and Subramanian G, ‘The Effect of Prohibiting Deal Protection in M&A: Evidence from the United Kingdom’ (2017) 60, 1 The Journal of Law and Economics 75.
  • Ridley A, Key Facts Company Law (4th edn, Taylor & Francis Group, 2011) 70.
  • Tarbert H. P, ‘Merger Breakup Fees: A Critical Challenge to Anglo-American Corporate Law’ (2003) 34 Law & Pol’y Int’l Bus 627.
  • The Takeover Panel Report On the Year Ended 31 march 2001<https://www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/report2001.pdf> accessed 27 December 2021.
  • Youngblood D. H, Jr. and Flocos P. N, ‘Drafting And Enforcing Complex Indemnification Provisions’ (2010) August The Practical Lawyer 21.

EVALUATION OF BREAK FEE CLAUSES IN M&A CONTRACTS WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF UK LAW IN TERMS OF UNLAWFUL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

Yıl 2024, Sayı: 27, 141 - 154, 15.01.2024

Öz

The ban on financial assistance aims to prevent the usage of company resources for external interests and protect the shareholders and creditors of the company. The justification for this restriction is that a company’s resources should be exclusively for the benefit of that company itself, not to facilitate the acquisition of its shares.
A break fee clause (or agreement) is a deal protection mechanism which requires a target company to pay a bidder a certain amount of fee if the target doesn’t complete the proposed transaction. Break fees serve another purposes in addition to protecting the deal. In terms of the bidder, it enables the bidder to recover its costs arising from due diligence, legal fees, or applications to obtain regulatory approvals required for the transaction. On the other hand, from the target company’s point of view, a break fee clause can be viewed as an opportunity for the target to refuse the completion of the deal at a known cost.
Break fee agreements could be characterized as “other financial assistance” under UK case law because they “smooth the path towards the acquisition of the shares”. In this context, if a break fee agreement as “other financial assistance” reduces the net assets of the company to a material extent or the target company has no net assets, unlawful financial assistance occurs under the Companies Act 2006.

Kaynakça

  • Andre P, Khalil S and Magnan M, ‘Termination Fees in Mergers and Acquisitions: Protecting Investors or Managers?’ (2007) 34 3-4 Journal of Business Finance & Accounting 541.
  • Bagot S, Hamilton-Foyn M, Tierney D and Brume U, ‘England and Wales’ in Alan M Klein (ed), Public M&A 2019 (Law Business Research Ltd 2019).
  • Benoliel U, ‘Contract Interpretation Revisited: The Case of Severability Clauses’ (2019) 3 1 The Business & Finance Law Review 90.
  • Butler F. C and Sauska P, ‘Mergers and Acquisitions: Termination Fees and Acquisition Deal Completion’ (2014) 26 1 Journal of Managerial Issues 44.
  • Chaston v. SWP Group plc [2002] EWCA Civ 1999.
  • Dignam A and Lowry J, Company Law (11th edn, OUP Oxford 2020).
  • Ferran E, ‘Corporate Transactions And Financial Assistance: Shifting Policy Perceptions But Static Law’ (2004) 63(1) Cambridge Law Journal 225.
  • Ferran E, Company Law and Corporate Finance (Oxford University Press 1999).
  • Islam M. S, ‘The Doctrine of Capital Maintenance and its Statutory Developments: An Analysis’ (2013) 4 The Northern University Journal of Law 47.
  • Jackson O, ‘The pros and cons of merger break fee reintroduction’ (2018)InternationalFinancialLawReview<https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/pros-cons-merger breakfeereintroduction/ docview/2041531753/se-2?accountid=14182> accessed 27 December 2021.
  • Marshall P, ‘Unlawful financial assistance: rising from the dead’ (2017) October Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law 531.
  • Meng C. W and Balan S, ‘The Civil Consequences for Breach of the Prohibition against the Giving of Financial Assistance: The Malaysian Approach’ (2008) 10 Austl J Asian L 77.
  • Officer M. S, ‘Termination fees in mergers and acquisitions’ (2003) 69 Journal of Financial Economics 431.
  • Ooi M, ‘The Financial Assistance Prohibition: Changing Legislative and Judicial Landscape’ (2009) 2009 Sing J Legal Stud 135.
  • Paros Plc v. Worldlink Group Plc [2012] EWHC 394 (Comm).
  • Restrepo F and Subramanian G, ‘The Effect of Prohibiting Deal Protection in M&A: Evidence from the United Kingdom’ (2017) 60, 1 The Journal of Law and Economics 75.
  • Ridley A, Key Facts Company Law (4th edn, Taylor & Francis Group, 2011) 70.
  • Tarbert H. P, ‘Merger Breakup Fees: A Critical Challenge to Anglo-American Corporate Law’ (2003) 34 Law & Pol’y Int’l Bus 627.
  • The Takeover Panel Report On the Year Ended 31 march 2001<https://www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/report2001.pdf> accessed 27 December 2021.
  • Youngblood D. H, Jr. and Flocos P. N, ‘Drafting And Enforcing Complex Indemnification Provisions’ (2010) August The Practical Lawyer 21.
Toplam 20 adet kaynakça vardır.

Ayrıntılar

Birincil Dil İngilizce
Konular Hukuk (Diğer)
Bölüm Araştırma Makalesi
Yazarlar

Güray Özsu 0000-0001-6842-6321

Yayımlanma Tarihi 15 Ocak 2024
Gönderilme Tarihi 24 Ekim 2023
Kabul Tarihi 27 Aralık 2023
Yayımlandığı Sayı Yıl 2024 Sayı: 27

Kaynak Göster

APA Özsu, G. (2024). EVALUATION OF BREAK FEE CLAUSES IN M&A CONTRACTS WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF UK LAW IN TERMS OF UNLAWFUL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE. Law and Justice Review(27), 141-154.