The 17th amendment to the German Foreign Trade and Payment Ordinance ("AWV") adopted by the federal government on April 27, 2021, included—compared to the original draft—a number of changes relevant to M&A transactions with a...more
The Development: The UK government has put before Parliament draft legislation introducing a new regime for governmental scrutiny and intervention in respect of investments that may pose a risk to national security in the...more
The lowered threshold for foreign direct investments into France will apply to non-EU and non-EEA investors or to any investor fiscally domiciled outside the European Union and European Economic Area.
On July 23, 2020,...more
7/27/2020
/ EU ,
European Economic Area (EEA) ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Investment ,
France ,
French Commercial Code ,
Investors ,
National Security ,
New Regulations ,
Threshold Requirements ,
Voting Rights
One effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has been to accelerate the implementation of new or stricter controls on inward-bound foreign direct investment activity ("FDI"), particularly in the European Union. For example, in March...more
Proposed retroactive application could expose investments made as from June 2, 2020, to ex post scrutiny.
On June 2, 2020, the Dutch Government ("Government") announced that it plans to apply a proposed comprehensive...more
The Situation: The UK Government has expanded the scope of the UK's foreign direct investment ("FDI") screening controls to include businesses responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the UK has lowered the...more
The Situation: The French government issued on December 31, 2019, new rules substantially revising the French Foreign Direct Investments ("FDI") regulation. These new provisions mostly implement the recent PACTE law and the...more
2/10/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Dual Use Goods ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Investment ,
France ,
Ministry of Economy ,
National Security ,
New Regulations ,
New Rules ,
PACTE Act ,
Screening Procedures
Over the past few years, Germany has strengthened the AWV regime. In parallel, the relevance of Germany's foreign direct investment control investigations for M&A transactions involving non-EU investors has grown. Even...more
The Situation: Germany prevented State Grid Corporation of China ("SGCC") from acquiring a 20 percent minority stake in 50Hertz, one of Germany's four providers of high-voltage transmission systems, as well as the acquisition...more
8/10/2018
/ Acquisitions ,
CFIUS ,
China ,
Cross-Border ,
EU ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Investment ,
France ,
Germany ,
Mergers ,
National Security ,
UK
A consultation paper on national security and investment published by the UK government advocates extensive changes to current provisions regarding foreign investment in UK businesses. In essence, the proposed changes would...more
8/3/2018
/ Acquisitions ,
CFIUS ,
Controlled Foreign Corporations ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cross-Border ,
EU ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Investment ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Mergers ,
National Security ,
Partnerships ,
Proposed Regulation ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
The Situation: New legislation came into force on 11 June 2018, allowing the UK Government to scrutinise a wider range of mergers that may raise public interest or national security issues.
The Context: This is the outcome...more
The Situation: The UK government is introducing new protectionist measures concerning acquisitions of businesses operating in the United Kingdom.
The Impact: The government intends to expand the scope of acquisition...more