1 Meaning of “old public company”.E+W+S
(1)For the purposes of the M1Companies Act 1985 (“the principal Act”) and this Act, an “old public company” is a company limited by shares or by guarantee and having a share capital in respect of which the following conditions are satisfied—
(a)the company either existed on 22nd December 1980 or was incorporated after that date pursuant to an application made before that date.
(b)on that date or, if later, on the day of the company’s incorporation the company was not or (as the case may be) would not have been a private company within section 28 of the M2Companies Act 1948, and
(c)the company has not since that date or the day of the company’s incorporation (as the case may be) either been re-registered as a public company or become a private company.
(2)References in the principal Act (other than so much of it as is derived from Part I of the M3Companies Act 1980, and other than section 33 (penalty for trading under misleading name)) to a public company or a company other than a private company are to be read as including (unless the context otherwise requires) references to an old public company, and references in that Act to a private company are to be read accordingly.