Merger And Acquisition In Belgium

The merger and acquisition field has been slow for three years but did start again in the second half of 1994. A large number of companies were declared bankrupt in 1993 and 1994, which gave the remaining ones the opportunity to increase in value, and to develop their market and their products or services. The legal developments have been quite important in 1993 and 1994. The Belgian Companies Act was amended by the Law of June 19 1993. This recent modification introduced a complete new set of rules concerning the mergers and split ups of companies. Secondly, it fixed a statute of limitation of six months for the filing of any court action against a resolution of a General Meeting of Shareholders. Moreover, the law has also extended the authority of the Superior Council of auditors to include the control of chartered accountants. Articles of the Income Tax Code relating to mergers and split ups have been substantially amended. Such a transaction is not taxable and is considered