Companies Act 1989

150 Obtaining control by stages

(1) After section 66 of the [1973 c. 41.] Fair Trading Act 1973 there is inserted—

“66A Obtaining control by stages

(1) Where an enterprise is brought under the control of a person or group of persons in the course of two or more transactions (referred to in this section as a “series of transactions”) falling within subsection (2) of this section, those transactions may, if the Secretary of State or, as the case may be, the Commission thinks fit, be treated for the purposes of a merger reference as having occurred simultaneously on the date on which the latest of them occurred.

(2) The transactions falling within this subsection are—

(a) any transaction which—

(i) enables that person or group of persons directly or indirectly to control or materially to influence the policy of any person carrying on the enterprise,

(ii) enables that person or group of persons to do so to a greater degree, or

(iii) is a step (whether direct or indirect) towards enabling that person or group of persons to do so, and

(b) any transaction whereby that person or group of persons acquires a controlling interest in the enterprise or, where the enterprise is carried on by a body corporate, in that body corporate.

(3) Where a series of transactions includes a transaction falling within subsection (2)(b) of this section, any transaction occurring after the occurrence of that transaction is to be disregarded for the purposes of subsection (1) of this section.

(4) Where the period within which a series of transactions occurs exceeds two years, the transactions that may be treated as mentioned in subsection (1) of this section are any of those transactions that occur within a period of two years.

(5) Sections 65(2) to (4) and 77(1) and (4) to (6) of this Act apply for the purposes of this section to determine whether an enterprise is brought under the control of a person or group of persons and whether a transaction falls within subsection (2) of this section as they apply for the purposes of section 65 of this Act to determine whether enterprises are brought under common control.

(6) In determining for the purposes of this section the time at which any transaction occurs, no account shall be taken of any option or other conditional right until the option is exercised or the condition is satisfied.”.

(2) This section does not apply in relation to any merger reference made before the passing of this Act.