Clifford Chance
Recent CONSOB rulings on exemptions from the obligation to launch a public tender offer
25 June 2012
Over recent years, the legal framework applicable to public tender offers has
undergone sweeping reforms. One of the matters most reformed, first by the
legislator and then by CONSOB, is the exemption from the obligation to launch
a public tender offer upon meeting certain conditions. In four separate rulings in
just a few months, CONSOB has intervened to provide clarification on some
application-related issues of significant interest for potential investors.
The exemptions, in fact, are highly significant technical instruments in cases
involving the "rescue of companies in financial distress".
This briefing reviews the recent CONSOB notices regarding the "rescue"
exemptions (but not only) and aims to analyse the least common denominator
of CONSOB case precedents on exemptions to provide market operators with
an overview of the application of the exemptions system in practice.
