MALTA Law and Practice Contributed by: George Bugeja, Stuart Firman, Nicholas Curmi and Luke Hili, Ganado Advocates
11. Activism 11.1 Shareholder Activism
Information on arbitration awards would, understand- ably, not be available to the public and therefore an accurate picture on the frequency of litigation is not possible. That said, based on the experience of the authors, litigation in M&A matters is uncommon and typically disputes are amicably and commercially resolved between the parties. 10.2 Stage of Deal Based on the experience of the authors, litigation (which is rare) is brought post-completion. 10.3 “Broken-Deal” Disputes The authors are not aware of any publicly available information on local broken-deal disputes.
Malta has traditionally lacked a shareholder activist culture, probably owing to the limited size and liquid- ity of the Maltese capital markets, as well as it being largely composed of retail investors – with the market not necessarily appealing to large funds and/or stra - tegic investors which (unlike retail investors) have the will and the resources to support such activism. 11.2 Aims of Activists Given the general lack of shareholder activism in Mal- ta, it is, accordingly, not common for activist share- holders to encourage companies to enter into M&A transactions, spin-offs or major divestitures. This said, a recently increased focus on investor education, coupled with the steadily increasing sophistication of the Maltese market, provides some hope that share- holders will be better placed to pose meaningful and well-founded questions/challenges to their respective boards. 11.3 Interference With Completion Activists do not seek to interfere with the completion of announced transactions in Malta.
805 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook