23 January 2010
How a Hostile Takeover of a company is possible ? Company which doesn't want to get merged with other one, can protect itself by self acquiring its shares to more 51% from the market, then how it is possible for other company to acquire that? Plz clear the strategy from both company's point of view i.e. how a company protect itself from takeover and how a company can takeover other one against its willingness. plz give ref to Arcelor-Mittal also.
A hostile takeover is a type of corporate takeover which is carried out against the wishes of the board of the target company. This unique type of acquisition does not occur nearly as frequently as friendly takeovers, in which the two companies work together because the takeover is perceived as beneficial. Hostile takeovers can be traumatic for the target company, and they can also be risky for the other side, as the acquiring company may not be able to obtain certain relevant information about the target company.
27 January 2010
Well,Hostile takeovers are now quite common.It means one company tries to acquire controlling interest or becomes the holding company of another without the consent of the Board of the target company.Usually the acquiring company increases its bid price and thus sweetens the offer making it irresistable to the Board and Shareholders as happened in Kraft takeover bid of Cadburys.Or a section of shareholders may act in concert with the hostile bidders.
Please find enclosed herewith Hostile takeovers:- A hostile takeover allows a suitor to bypass a target company's management unwilling to agree to a merger or takeover. A takeover is considered "hostile" if the target company's board rejects the offer, but the bidder continues to pursue it, or the bidder makes the offer without informing the target company's board beforehand. A hostile takeover can be conducted in several ways. A tender offer can be made where the acquiring company makes a public offer at a fixed price above the current market price. Tender offers in the USA are regulated with the Williams Act. An acquiring company can also engage in a proxy fight, whereby it tries to persuade enough shareholders, usually a simple majority, to replace the management with a new one which will approve the takeover. Another method involves quietly purchasing enough stock on the open market, known as a creeping tender offer, to effect a change in management. In all of these ways, management resists the acquisition but it is carried out anyway. The main consequence of a bid being considered hostile is practical rather than legal. If the board of the target cooperates, the bidder can conduct extensive due diligence into the affairs of the target company. It can find out exactly what it is taking on before it makes a commitment. But a hostile bidder knows about the target by only the information that is publicly available, and so takes a greater risk. Also, banks are less willing to back hostile bids with the loans that are usually needed to finance the takeover. However, some investors may proceed with hostile takeovers because they are aware of mismanagement by the board and are trying to force the issue into public and potentially legal scrutiny (this happened during the Crazy Eddie collapse).[citation needed] Friendly takeovers Before a bidder makes an offer for another company, it usually first informs that company's board of directors. If the board feels that accepting the offer serves shareholders better than rejecting it, it recommends the offer be accepted by the shareholders. In a private company, because the shareholders and the board are usually the same people or closely connected with one another, private acquisitions are usually friendly. If the shareholders agree to sell the company, then the board is usually of the same mind or sufficiently under the orders of the equity shareholders to cooperate with the bidder. This point is not relevant to the UK concept of takeovers, which always involve the acquisition of a public company. Reverse takeovers A reverse takeover is a type of takeover where a private company acquires a public company. This is usually done at the instigation of the larger, private company, the purpose being for the private company to effectively float itself while avoiding some of the expense and time involved in a conventional IPO. However, under AIM rules, a reverse take-over is an acquisition or acquisitions in a twelve month period which for an AIM company would: • exceed 100% in any of the class tests; or • result in a fundamental change in its business, board or voting control; or • in the case of an investing company, depart substantially from the investing strategy stated in its admission document or, where no admission document was produced on admission, depart substantially from the investing strategy stated in its pre-admission announcement or, depart substantially from the investing strategy Financing a takeover Funding Often a company acquiring another pays a specified amount for it. This money can be raised in a number of ways. Although the company may have sufficient funds available in its account, this is unusual. More often, it will be borrowed from a bank, or raised by an issue of bonds. Acquisitions financed through debt are known as leveraged buyouts, and the debt will often be moved down onto the balance sheet of the acquired company. The acquired company then has to pay back the debt. This is a technique often used by private equity companies. The debt ratio of financing can go as high as 80% in some cases. In such a case, the acquiring company would only need to raise 20% of the purchase price. Loan note alternatives Cash offers for public companies often include a "loan note alternative" that allows shareholders to take part or all of their consideration in loan notes rather than cash. This is done primarily to make the offer more attractive in terms of taxation. A conversion of shares into cash is counted a disposal that triggers a payment of capital gains tax, whereas if the shares are converted into other securities, such as loan notes, the tax is rolled over. All share deals A takeover, particularly a reverse takeover, may be financed by an all share deal. The bidder does not pay money, but instead issues new shares in itself to the shareholders of the company being acquired. In a reverse takeover the shareholders of the company being acquired end up with a majority of the shares in, and so control of, the company making the bid. The company has managemental rights. Mechanics In the United Kingdom Takeovers in the UK (meaning acquisitions of public companies only) are governed by the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers, also known as the "City Code" or "Takeover Code". The rules for a takeover, can be found what is primarily known as 'The Blue Book'. The Code used to be a non-statutory set of rules that was controlled by City institutions on a theoretically voluntary basis. However, as a breach of the Code brought such reputational damage and the possibility of exclusion from City services run by those institutions, it was regarded as binding. In 2006 the Code was put onto a statutory footing as part of the UK's compliance with the European Takeover Directive (2004/25/EC) [1]. The Code requires that all shareholders in a company should be treated equally. It regulates when and what information companies must and cannot release publicly in relation to the bid, sets timetables for certain aspects of the bid, and sets minimum bid levels following a previous purchase of shares. In particular: • a shareholder must make an offer when its shareholding, including that of parties acting in concert (a "concert party"), reaches 30% of the target; • information relating to the bid must not be released except by announcements regulated by the Code; • the bidder must make an announcement if rumour or speculation have affected a company's share price; • the level of the offer must not be less than any price paid by the bidder in the three months before the announcement of a firm intention to make an offer; • if shares are bought during the offer period at a price higher than the offer price, the offer must be increased to that price; The Rules Governing the Substantial Acquisition of Shares, which used to accompany the Code and which regulated the announcement of certain levels of shareholdings, have now been abolished, though similar provisions still exist in the Companies Act 1985.
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