In structuring cross-border tender offers and other business combination transactions, parties must consider carefully the potential application of U.S. federal securities laws and regulations to their transaction. By understanding the extent to which a proposed transaction will be subject to the provisions of U.S. federal securities laws and regulations, parties may be able to structure their transaction in a manner that avoids the imposition of unanticipated or burdensome disclosure and procedural requirements and also may be able to minimize potential conflicts between U.S. laws and regulations and foreign legal or market requirements. This article provides a broad overview of U.S. federal securities laws and regulations applicable to cross-border tender offers and other business combination transactions, including a detailed discussion of Regulations 14D and 14E under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the principal accommodations afforded to foreign private issuers in these regulations.
INTRODUCTION
Even though tender offers and other business combination transactions may involve only non-U.S. companies, such transactions may nonetheless be subject to various U.S. laws and regulations, including U.S. federal securities laws and regulations. The application of U.S. federal securities laws and regulations generally depends on how the transaction is structured, whether any of the companies is subject to U.S. securities law reporting obligations, and whether any of the companies’ security holders are located or resident in the United States. This article provides an overview of U.S. federal securities laws and regulations applicable to cross-border tender offers and other business combination transactions involving, in the case of a tender offer, a “target” or, in the case of a business combination transaction not involving a tender offer, a “subject company” that is organized in a jurisdiction outside the United States.1 This article is not intended to provide a comprehensive analysis of all securities laws and regulations of consequence in such transactions, but to provide practitioners and other interested persons with a general guide regarding the substance and scope of the principal U.S. federal securities laws and regulations a practitioner might encounter in such transactions.2
APPLICATION OF U.S. SECURITIES LAWS
A fundamental goal of the U.S. securities laws is the protection of U.S. investors.3 The Commission has historically taken the view that U.S. securities laws potentially apply to any transaction that is conducted in the United States or that employs U.S. jurisdictional means.4 Specifically, U.S. securities laws may be implicated as follows:
- the general antifraud provisions of the Exchange Act may be violated where fraudulent conduct occurs in the United States, or where the effects of the fraudulent conduct are felt in the United States;5
- if a tender offer is made for securities of a class that is registered under the Exchange Act, it is generally necessary for the bidder to comply with the tender offer provisions of the Exchange Act subject to available exemptions, if any;
- even where the target company does not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act, the Exchange Act proscribes certain “fraudulent, deceptive, or manipulative” acts or practices in connection with tender offers that are potentially applicable; and
- if securities are to be offered to persons in the United States, it may be necessary to register such securities pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”),6 or to confirm the availability of an exemption from registration.
U.S. federal securities laws apply to a tender offer or other business combination transaction notwithstanding the nationality of the bidder or target or the protections afforded by their respective home market regulators if extended to holders in the United States. This approach contrasts with the approach taken in many European jurisdictions, where the jurisdiction …
