FRANCE: Draft bill on France takeovers proposes more power to works councils

Thursday October 3 2013

It is being reported that the French National Assembly has adopted rules that would give employees a larger role in takeover bids. The bill on France takeovers is expected to become law once it has been discussed and voted in the Senate and then passed by parliament.

Under the proposed new rules, the workers’ committee of a target company will be able to name an accountant to assess a bid and would have a month to render its view, which would be required before the board of the target company publishes its official response to a takeover offer.

The works council could ask a judge to intervene if it feels it didn’t get satisfactory responses to its queries, potentially delaying any deal.

The law would also force a company with more than 1,000 employees that wants to close down a site to look for a buyer for three months. If it fails to do so or turns down a “serious” offer, a judge may impose a fine of up to 20 times the minimum wage for each job loss, or a maximum of 2 percent of annual sales.

This information will be updated as further details become available.