Skip to content

9 July, 2025

  • Saved Articles
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
  • Log In
  • Log Out

Board Agenda

  • Governance
  • Strategy
  • Risk
  • Ethics
  • News
  • Insight
    • Categories

      • View all
      • Governance
      • Strategy
      • Risk
      • Ethics
      • Board Expertise
      • finance
      • Technology
    • EU sustainability

      Omnibus package must not undermine EU sustainability

      Now is the time for Europe to speed up green transition, rather than slow it...

    • high pay

      Pay gap transparency needs to be better

      It’s not unknown for a CEO to earn 500 times as much the median employee,...

    • executive pay

      Executive pay trends in 2025

      Opposition to remuneration reports has grown sharply, according to Georgeson’s analysis of voting outcomes in...

  • Comment
      • View all
    • EU sustainability

      Omnibus package must not undermine EU sustainability

      Now is the time for Europe to speed up green transition, rather than slow it...

    • high pay Pay gap transparency needs to be better

      It’s not unknown for a CEO to earn 500 times as much the median employee,...

    • future-proof governance levers How to future-proof your business

      For boards to bolster resilience and create value in a polycrisis, a combination of hard...

  • Interviews
      • View All Interviews
      • Podcasts
      • Webinars
    • UK Corporate Governance Code Board meetings ‘are not up to scratch’

      Nearly three-quarters of board members believe the board’s performance in meetings needs improvement, an expert...

    • financial sanctions Tariffs chaos drives boardroom focus on resilience

      Business leaders will prioritise the resilience of their organisations in the face of economic upheaval...

    • supply chain oversight Act now on supply chain oversight, boards warned

      Board directors need to critically engage with the business’s supply chain activity, a panel of...

  • Board Careers
  • Resource Centre
      • White Paper Downloads
      • Book Reviews
      • Board Advisory & Corporate Services
    • C-suite barometer: outlook 2025 – UK insights

      Forvis Mazars draws UK insights from its global study and looks at UK executives’ strategic...

    • Talent Management 2025 Mind Gym

      Talent Management in 2025

      From rethinking leadership to wrestling with AI, MindGym's report reveals the trends shaping talent strategies...

    • Korn Ferry CHRO 2025 (Copy)

      On The Highwire: Being a CHRO in 2025

      Korn Ferry surveyed 750 senior HR leaders (including 450 CHROs) to understand their key priorities...

  • Events
  • Search by topic
    • Governance
    • Strategy
    • Risk
    • Ethics
    • Regulation
    • ESG
    • Investor Relations
    • Careers
    • Board Expertise
    • finance
    • Technology

Broaden evaluation of foreign investors’ intentions, urges EEF

by Kevin Reed on November 1, 2017

Plans to broaden takeover rules should go much further, covering the impact of foreign investor-led deals on UK supply chains and skills base, says lobby group EEF.

Kraft

KraftTown. Photo: Todd Rosenberg for Kraft Corporate Communications

Plans to widen the scope of UK takeover adjudications to consider more clearly the acquirer’s intentions fail to go far enough, according to manufacturing lobby group EEF.

It also says the plans should include the impact on the supply chain, plus the loss of “technological capability”.

The Takeover Panel currently assesses whether parties in a deal are following the right steps in managing the process, particularly in maintaining fairness for all shareholders. It has run a consultation, ending 31 October, which aims to increase disclosure concerning the acquirer’s intentions for the business, employees and pension schemes of the company being acquired.

The EEF, which represents several thousand manufacturers, said the consultation outlined “a step in the right direction”, but wants the panel to go further.

Firstly, it highlights the need for the revision to take into account the impact of deals upon the broader supply chain. Secondly, it flagged what it sees as a “fundamental” issue with the current takeover framework.

It has proposed a move away from an “assurance-based approach”, and the rules underpinning the panel should form a wider framework aimed at protecting “key economic assets”.

The EEF wants a new “foreign investment evaluation” process carried out by an independent panel, which would take into account a range of effects in gauging whether a takeover would be beneficial for the UK economy.

The impact of foreign direct investment hit the public consciousness following Kraft’s takeover of Cadbury, which saw the acquirer backtrack on a pledge to keep open Cadbury’s Somerdale factory.

More recently Pfizer’s attempted takeover of AstraZeneca was shelved after the acquiree refused a final share offer—and in light of political concerns in the US and UK.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • Mail

Related Posts

  • UK government to review corporate takeover security law
    November 15, 2023
    security takeover

    The deputy prime minister seeks ‘flexible’ and ‘frictionless’ deals in cases where there are no security concerns.

  • How to streamline workplace supply chains
    March 4, 2024
    streamline workplace

    Sometimes it pays—in terms of efficiency, sustainability and a healthier bottom line—to consolidate your suppliers.

  • Can the UK achieve net zero by 2050?
    February 7, 2023
    mission zero

    To gain economic benefits, UK businesses will need resilient and flexible supply chains to provide the materials critical for manufacturing.

  • Calls grow for tougher rules on human rights in supply chains
    July 7, 2021
    Hands in chains

    The Corporate Justice Coalition says the UK cannot be viewed as a leader on human rights based upon the current Modern Slavery Act.

Search


Follow Us

Register Free

Stay in the know! Register to access the latest governance news; plus receive updates about our events and podcasts – Sign up here

 

Most Popular

Featured Resources

wef global risks 2025

The Global Risks Report 2025

The 20th edition of the Global Risks Report reveals an increasingly fractured global...
Supply chain management cover

Strategic Oversight in Supply Chain Management: A Guide for Corporate Boards 2025

Supply chains have become complex, interdependent and opaque and—according to research...
OB-Cyber-Security

Cyber Security: What Boards Need to Know

Maintaining firewalls, protecting servers and filtering malicious emails rarely make...

The IA’S Principles Of Remuneration 2024 2025

This guidance from the Investment Association is aimed at assisting remuneration...
Diligent 2024 leadership tech cover

Leadership, decision-making & the role of technology: Business survey 2024

This research report by Board Agenda and Diligent sheds light on how board directors...

Director Reference Guide: Navigating Conflict in the Boardroom

The 'Director Reference Guide' on navigating conflict in the boardroom provides practical...
Nasdaq 2024 governance report cover

Nasdaq 2024 Global Governance Pulse

This Nasdaq survey gathered data from more than 870 board members, executives, and...

Becoming a non-executive director (4th edition)

Board composition is the subject of much debate, while the role of the non-executive...
art & science brainloop new cover

The Art & Science of Creating an Effective Board

Boards are coming under more scrutiny and pressure than ever before from regulators,...
SAA First time NED guide

First Time Guide for Non-Executive Directors

The role of the non-executive director has never been more vital: to advise, support,...

Register Free

Stay in the know! Register to access the latest governance news; plus receive updates about our events and podcasts. Register


  • Editors & Contributors
  • Editorial Advisory Board
  • Board Advisory & Corporate Services
  • Media Marketing Solutions
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Board Director Network
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
|

Copyright © 2025 Questor Media Group Ltd.

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap