Comparing the legal mechanisms of redemption of shares, repurchase of shares, and reduction of capital by special resolution, which mechanism is the most effective one in the United Kingdom regime of...

Essay from the year 2019 in the subject Law - Civil / Private, Trade, Anti Trust Law, Business Law, grade: A, University of Edinburgh (Edinburgh Law School), course: Company Law, language: English, abstract: In the lifecycle of a company there are situations in which the company may wish to return assets to its members. The most common option is the distribution of capital by way of a dividend. However, the company is not entirely free in this respect as the diminution of the company's assets would undermine creditor protection. Thus, the Companies Act 2006 provides for capital distribution rules which limit the amount a company can distribute to its members. Furthermore, the company may also consider to redeem or repurchase shares. This may be the case, for example, if the company wants to return unneeded equity capital to its members because it can finance its investments out of generated profits, or it wants to replace equity financing with debt financing. In addition, the management may want to buy out a reluctant group of shareholders, or give shareholders the opportunity to exit the company. By contrast, a company may reduce the amounts stated in the capital accounts either to reflect a diminution of the asset value or when the equity capital is over the company's needs. The Companies Act 2006 provides specific procedures for each of these mechanisms to ensure that the interests of creditors and shareholders concerned are adequately protected and that the capital distribution rules cannot simply be circumvented. In this essay, I will compare the legal mechanisms of redemption of shares, repurchase of shares and reduction of capital by special resolution. First of all, I will discuss the general prohibition of acquiring own shares. The following chapters then deal with the individual mechanisms and highlight the extent to which they effectively serve the principle of capital maintenance. When analysing which mechanism is the most effective one, the focus is on creditor protection, since this is ultimately the primary objective of capital maintenance. However, when considering effectiveness, the interests of shareholders as well as the practicability must also be taken into account.

Autorentext

Thomas Böhm ist ein deutscher Jurist und Rechtsanwalt. Während seines Studiums der Rechtswissenschaften an der Universität Passau spezialisierte er sich auf die Rechtsgebiete Kapitalgesellschaftsrecht, Wertpapier- und Kapitalmarktrecht sowie Internationales Privat- und Verfahrensrecht. Nach erfolgreichem Abschluss des Rechtsreferendariats im Oberlandesgerichtsbezirk Nürnberg arbeitete er mehrere Jahre als Rechtsanwalt in einer internationalen Großkanzlei. Dort beriet er schwerpunktmäßig nationale und internationale Investoren, Fonds und Unternehmen im Rahmen von Immobilientransaktionen, Mergers & Acquisitions sowie im Bereich des gewerblichen Mietrechts. Derzeit absolviert Thomas Böhm ein Master of Laws (LL.M.) Studium an der University of Edinburgh im Schwerpunkt Corporate Law. Hierbei beschäftigt er sich eingehend mit dem Englischen Gesellschaftsrecht sowie dessen Ökonomie, Corporate Governance, Europäisches Arbeitsrecht sowie Internationales Handelsrecht. Thomas Böhm is a German corporate lawyer. During his law studies at the University of Passau, he specialized in the fields of corporate law, securities and capital markets law as well as international private and procedural law. After successfully completing his legal clerkship at the Higher Regional Court of Nuremberg, he worked for several years as a corporate lawyer in a major international law firm. His practice focused on advising national and international investors, funds and companies on real estate transactions, mergers & acquisitions and commercial tenancy law. Thomas Böhm is currently studying for a Master of Laws (LLM) degree in corporate law at the University of Edinburgh. His focus is on UK company law, corporation law and economics, corporate governance, European labour law and international trade law.

Klappentext

Essay from the year 2019 in the subject Law - Civil / Private / Trade / Anti Trust Law / Business Law, grade: A, University of Edinburgh (Edinburgh Law School), course: Company Law, language: English, abstract: In the lifecycle of a company there are situations in which the company may wish to return assets to its members. The most common option is the distribution of capital by way of a dividend. However, the company is not entirely free in this respect as the diminution of the company's assets would undermine creditor protection. Thus, the Companies Act 2006 provides for capital distribution rules which limit the amount a company can distribute to its members. Furthermore, the company may also consider to redeem or repurchase shares. This may be the case, for example, if the company wants to return unneeded equity capital to its members because it can finance its investments out of generated profits, or it wants to replace equity financing with debt financing. In addition, the management may want to buy out a reluctant group of shareholders, or give shareholders the opportunity to exit the company. By contrast, a company may reduce the amounts stated in the capital accounts either to reflect a diminution of the asset value or when the equity capital is over the company's needs. The Companies Act 2006 provides specific procedures for each of these mechanisms to ensure that the interests of creditors and shareholders concerned are adequately protected and that the capital distribution rules cannot simply be circumvented. In this essay, I will compare the legal mechanisms of redemption of shares, repurchase of shares and reduction of capital by special resolution. First of all, I will discuss the general prohibition of acquiring own shares. The following chapters then deal with the individual mechanisms and highlight the extent to which they effectively serve the principle of capital maintenance. When analysing which mechanism is the most effective one, the focus is on creditor protection, since this is ultimately the primary objective of capital maintenance. However, when considering effectiveness, the interests of shareholders as well as the practicability must also be taken into account.