29Obtaining control by stages
(1)Where an enterprise is brought under the control of a person or group of persons in the course of two or more transactions (in this section a “series of transactions”) to which subsection (2) applies, those transactions may, if the decision-making authority considers it appropriate, be treated for the purposes of a reference as having occurred simultaneously on the date on which the latest of them occurred.
(2)This subsection applies to—
(a)any transaction which—
(i)enables that person or group of persons directly or indirectly to control or materially to influence the policy of any person carrying on the enterprise;
(ii)enables that person or group of persons to do so to a greater degree; or
(iii)is a step (whether direct or indirect) towards enabling that person or group of persons to do so; and
(b)any transaction by virtue of which that person or group of persons acquires a controlling interest in the enterprise or, where the enterprise is carried on by a body corporate, in that body corporate.
(3)Where a series of transactions includes a transaction falling within subsection (2)(b), any transaction occurring after the occurrence of that transaction is to be disregarded for the purposes of subsection (1).
(4)Where the period within which a series of transactions occurs exceeds two years, the transactions that may be treated as mentioned in subsection (1) are any of those transactions that occur within a period of two years.
(5)Sections 26(2) to (4) and 127(1), (2) and (4) to (6) shall apply for the purposes of this section to determine—
(a)whether an enterprise is brought under the control of a person or group of persons; and
(b)whether a transaction is one to which subsection (2) applies;
as they apply for the purposes of section 26 to determine whether enterprises are brought under common control.
(6)In determining for the purposes of this section the time at which any transaction occurs, no account shall be taken of any option or other conditional right until the option is exercised or the condition is satisfied.