Part 14 Change in company ownership

Chapter 7 Meaning of “change in the ownership of a company”

Meaning of “change in the ownership of a company”

720 Section 719: supplementary
(1) The following provisions apply for the purposes of section 719.
(2) The circumstances at any two points in time with not more than 3 years between may be compared, and a holder (“H”) at the later time may be regarded as having acquired whatever H did not hold at the earlier time.
It does not matter what H has acquired or disposed of in between.
(3) To allow for any issue of shares or other reorganisation of capital, the comparison may be made in terms of percentage holdings of the total ordinary share capital at the respective times, so that a person whose percentage holding is greater at the later time may be regarded as having acquired a percentage holding equal to the increase.
(4) To decide if a person has acquired—
(a) a holding of at least 5%, or
(b) a holding which makes at least 5% when added to an existing holding,
acquisitions by, and holdings of, two or more persons who are connected persons are to be added together as if they were acquisitions by, and holdings of, one and the same person.
(5) Any acquisition of shares under a will or on intestacy is left out of account.
(6) Any gift of shares which is unsolicited and made without regard to the provisions of this Part is left out of account.