ARTICLE · 20 MAY 1998

Proposed Corporate Law Economic Reform Program - Changes To Australian Takeover

Minter Ellison

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AustraliaEmployment and HR

In April 1998 the Australian Treasury, the government department responsible for corporate law reform, issued an exposure draft of proposed reforms to Australia's takeover laws. The stated objective of the proposals is to improve the efficiency of the market for corporate control in Australia.

The most controversial change is the proposed introduction of a mandatory bid rule. At present a party wishing to buy control of a public company cannot buy more than 20% of its shares without passing through one of several gateways. The most commonly used gateways are:

obtaining target shareholder approval; or

making a takeover bid for the whole of the target company.

It is currently not possible to enter into an arrangement to acquire more than 20% of the target's shares before passing through one of the gateways.

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