Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977

26 Power to acquire securities of certain additional companies

(1) If it appears to the Secretary of State that a company which, apart from this section, would not come into public ownership—

(a) operates or owns the whole, or a substantial or essential part, of works which, at any time on or after the initial date, were operated or owned (as the case may be) by an acquired company or an excluded company or by a company which on that date was the subsidiary of an acquired company or an excluded company, or

(b) was on the initial date the wholly owned subsidiary of an acquired company but ceased to be such a subsidiary before the date of transfer of the acquired company, or

(c) was on the initial date the wholly owned subsidiary of an excluded company but ceased to be such a subsidiary before the relevant vesting date,

then, subject to subsection (2) below, the Secretary of State may, at any time before the relevant vesting date or within the period of 3 months beginning on that date, serve on that company a notice (in this Act referred to as a “notice of acquisition”) stating that, subject to the following provisions of this section, the securities of the company will vest in the Corporation specified in the notice in like manner as the securities of the acquired companies.

(2) No notice of acquisition may be served on a company under subsection (1) above if—

(a) in a case falling within paragraph (a) of that subsection—

(i) the Secretary of State has approved in writing for the purposes of this section, either before or after they were effected, all transactions entered into after the initial date resulting, directly or indirectly, in the transfer or grant to the company of rights of ownership in, or rights in respect of the user of, any of the works referred to in that paragraph, and

(ii) the Secretary of State undertook that the powers conferred by this section would not be used in relation to those works ; or

(b) in a case falling within paragraph (b) or paragraph (c) of that subsection, the Secretary of State has approved in writing for the purposes of this section, either generally or specially, the making of the arrangements which led to the company ceasing to be the wholly owned subsidiary of an acquired company or an excluded company.

(3) The Secretary of State may also serve a notice of acquisition on a company, at any time before the relevant vesting date or within the period of 3 months beginning on that date, if it appears to him—

(a) that the whole of the equity share capital of the company is held by or on behalf of the Crown, and

(b) that it has as a subsidiary an acquired company falling within Part I of Schedule 1 or Schedule 2 to this Act.

(4) A company on which a notice of acquisition has been served may, within the period of 3 months beginning on the date of the service of the notice, serve a notice on the Secretary of State contending that none of the conditions specified in subsection (1) or (3) above was fulfilled in relation to the company, and the notice shall set out the grounds of that contention.

(5) Where a notice is served on the Secretary of State under subsection (4) above and neither that notice nor the notice of acquisition is withdrawn, the question whether the contention of the company is correct shall be determined by arbitration under this Act, and, on any such arbitration, the arbitration tribunal shall, if they are satisfied that the contention of the company is correct, revoke the notice of acquisition, but shall otherwise confirm it.

(6) Every notice of acquisition shall specify a date, which shall not be earlier than the relevant vesting date nor earlier than the expiry of 3 months after the service of the notice, and, subject to subsection (7) below, the date so specified shall be the date of transfer in relation to the company on which the notice is served.

(7) The Secretary of State and the company on which a notice of acquisition is served may by agreement substitute another date for the date specified in accordance with subsection (6) above, and where a reference to arbitration is made under the preceding provisions of this section and the arbitration tribunal confirm the notice, the date of transfer shall be whichever is the latest of the following dates, namely—

(a) the date specified in the notice of acquisition in accordance with subsection (6) above ;

(b) any date substituted for that date in accordance with the preceding provisions of this subsection; and

(c) the date on which expires the period of 2 months beginning on the date of the decision of the arbitration tribunal.

(8) Where a notice of acquisition is served on a company and is not withdrawn or revoked, the securities of the company shall, on the date of transfer, vest in the Corporation specified in the notice.

(9) When a notice of acquisition has been served on a company under this section and either—

(a) the period within which the company may serve a notice under subsection (4) above has expired without such a notice being served, or

(b) the question whether or not the notice is to have effect has been finally settled in favour of the Secretary of State,

the company shall forthwith give notice to every holder of its securities of the fact that its securities are to be acquired by the Corporation specified in the notice ; and the notice—

(i) shall, in the case of security holders whose names are entered in any register kept by or on behalf of the company, be given in the same manner as the company gives notice to its members of its general meetings, and

(ii) shall, in any other case, be given by advertisement or in any way allowed by the company's articles of association for giving notice to its members.