11.6 Summary 40311.6 Summary
Business acquisitions can take various forms: The acquirer can buy shares in the
target company (share deal) or assets (asset deal). The acquirer can also subscribe
for new shares issued by the target, or the takeover can be a formal merger. There
can two parties or multiple parties. The target company can be listed or unlisted. If
it is a listed company, the acquirer can either make a public bid for its shares or
buy them privately. If the acquirer is a private-equity firm, the takeover will nor-
mally be executed in one way, but if the acquirer is an industrial firm, it might be
executed in another way. The acquisition can be funded in various ways. If the
parties are major companies, takeovers can be constrained by competition laws.
About the following chapters. The most simple acquisition form is the acquisi-
tion of a private company by one private acquirer for cash. This acquisition form
will therefore be discussed next. The acquisition of assets, the acquisition of a
company by way of merger, and the particular aspects of the acquisition of a com-
pany whose shares have been admitted to trading on a regulated market will be
discussed in later parts of this book. Other questions that will be discussed include
the duties of the board in takeovers, takeover defences, competition law aspects,
and acquisition finance.