Joined Cases C-654/16, C-657/16 and C-658/16: Order of the Court (Eighth Chamber) of 11 January 2018 (requests for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale per il Lazio — Italy) — Amber Capital Italia Sgr SpA (C-654/16), Amber Capital Uk Llp (C-654/16), Bluebell Partners Limited (C-657/16), Elliot International LP (C-658/16), The Liverpool Limited Partnership (C-658/16), Elliot Associates LP (C-658/16) v Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (Consob) (Reference for a preliminary ruling — Company law — Directive 2004/25/EC — Takeover bids — Second subparagraph of Article 5(4) — Possibility of altering the price of the bid in specific circumstances and in line with clearly determined criteria — National legislation providing for the fixing of the price of the bid at the price ascertained in the event of collusion between the offeror or persons acting in concert with it and one or more sellers — Concept of ‘clearly determined criterion’)
Date: 2018-01-11
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: fixing of prices, offer price, takeover bid








C_2018083EN.01000801.xml










5.3.2018   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 83/8





Order of the Court (Eighth Chamber) of 11 January 2018 (requests for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale per il Lazio — Italy) — Amber Capital Italia Sgr SpA (C-654/16), Amber Capital Uk Llp (C-654/16), Bluebell Partners Limited (C-657/16), Elliot International LP (C-658/16), The Liverpool Limited Partnership (C-658/16), Elliot Associates LP (C-658/16) v Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (Consob)
(Joined Cases C-654/16, C-657/16 and C-658/16) (1)

((Reference for a preliminary ruling - Company law - Directive 2004/25/EC - Takeover bids - Second subparagraph of Article 5(4) - Possibility of altering the price of the bid in specific circumstances and in line with clearly determined criteria - National legislation providing for the fixing of the price of the bid at the price ascertained in the event of collusion between the offeror or persons acting in concert with it and one or more sellers - Concept of ‘clearly determined criterion’))
(2018/C 083/10)
Language of the cases: Italian

Referring court

Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale per il Lazio

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicants: Amber Capital Italia Sgr SpA (C-654/16), Amber Capital Uk Llp (C-654/16), Bluebell Partners Limited (C-657/16), Elliot International LP (C-658/16), The Liverpool Limited Partnership (C-658/16), Elliot Associates LP (C-658/16)

Defendant: Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (Consob)

Interveners: Hitachi Rail Italy Investments Srl, Hitachi Rail Italy SpA, Ansaldo Sts SpA (C-654/16), Finmeccanica SpA

Operative part of the order

The second subparagraph of Article 5(4) of Directive 2004/25/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on takeover bids must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which allows the national supervisory authority to adjust upwards the price of a takeover bid in the event of collusion between the offeror or persons acting in concert with it and one or more sellers, by merely providing that, with regard to the price to which that takeover bid may thus be increased, that price is to correspond to the price ascertained by that authority, on condition that that price can be deduced in a sufficiently clear, precise and foreseeable manner from the body of national legislation, using methods of interpretation recognised by domestic law.


(1)  OJ C 121, 18.4.2017.