We study how common ownership among potential acquirers influences the firm selling process. We find that, when potential acquirers share a common owner, the target firm is more likely to be sold through auction rather than negotiation with a single acquirer. The presence of common owner does...

We analyze the dynamics of takeover contests where hostile raiders compete against white knights involved by a lead blockholder of the target firm (the incumbent). We assume that the incumbent has the power to bargain with the potential bidders to set a minimum takeover price. We characterize...

Law and Finance theory stresses the importance of shareholder rights for the reliability and development of capital markets. Many European Parliaments picked up this corporate governance issue. We expand the analysis of Lele and Siems (2007) and show that the number of shareholder rights grew...

This note presents my position regarding the hidden ownership schemes currently employed by the Schaeffler group to build up stakes in Continental AG in preparation for an unsolicited surprise cash-bid for Continental's shares. It summarizes the information publicly available on the Schaeffler /...

This article brings into focus the impact of employee buyouts on corporate governance ten years after the large-scale privatization in Russia. The analysis shows that although employee buyouts have helped to reduce unemployment and prevent major social conflicts, it otherwise had a negative...

I analyze the allocation of the power to decide on hostile takeovers between directors and shareholders. My contribution is to show who actually has power in a takeover and what factors are at work to give such power. Although directors are traditionally considered to be in charge in deciding...

A great merger wave occurring in the United States between 1897 and 1903 was the single most important event in a process that yielded the pattern of managerial control and dispersed share ownership which currently distinguishes America's corporate economy from arrangements in most other...

This essay appears in a book entitled the Nordic Corporate Governance Model (Per Lekvall ed. 2014). It presents the Nordic country’s governance pattern as an ownership model, in contrast to the Anglo-Saxon model of dispersed shareholders. An ownership model contemplates an active controlling...

There is ongoing academic interest in understanding share ownership and control dynamics in publicly listed companies, given the corporate governance and regulatory implications arising therefrom. This article presents a new dataset and analysis of shareholder information, focusing on the...

The Fortis Bank takeover court case demonstrates how shareholders' claims can make a merger and takeover case less speedy and, indeed, more costly. The case also raises a number of legal issues relating to corporate governance in a takeover situation such as the role of minority shareholders,...