Lessons From the Recent Stock Exchange Merger Activity

Posted by D. Daniel Sokol

Ioannis Kokkoris (OFT) and Rodrigo Olivares-Caminal (Warwick School of Law) offer Lessons From the Recent Stock Exchange Merger Activity.

ABSTRACT: Stock markets across the globe have been the subject of merger discussions following pressure to cut costs and become more competitive. Cross-border mergers trigger a series of different issues to be analyzed. From a transactional point of view, some of these aspects include the synergies that a merger creates, the complexities in achieving an optimal financial structure, protection of minority shareholders, etc. From a regulatory standpoint, there is an array of issues that should also be considered. This article provides an overview of competition issues affecting financial entities—because if there is a breach of competition laws the whole merger might not take place. This will be the pillar of our analysis in this paper.