The minimum share level required to announce a compulsory share buy-back set to increase – New laws intended to counteract bargain-basement buy-outs

The last 3 years have witnessed a spike in share tenders by companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The statistics indicate that, over this period, 68 companies were taken private. The final stage of such a call is comprised in compulsory buy-back of the shares once the entity issuing the call achieves a 90% share in the votes at the company’s meeting of shareholders. In 2020, the stake enabling issue of a call for compulsory buying up of shares is set to increase to 95%, the idea being to protect minority shareholders and to prevent scenarios where companies are taken private at artificially low prices.

These changes result from amendments to the legislative Act on public offering, conditions governing the introduction of financial instruments to organised trading, and on public companies (…)

Full text (in Polish) is available on www.strefainwestorów.pl