Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, whether the Government is taking steps to protect retail shareholders in circumstances where a majority shareholder uses its blocking stake to prevent minority shareholders from accepting a higher competing takeover offer.

There are protections in Part 30 of the Companies Act 2006 that allow a shareholder to apply to the court for a remedy if the company’s action (or inaction) is unfairly prejudicial to the interests of that member, or a larger set of shareholders that includes them. The Government is committed to implementing legislation over the course of this Parliament to improve how retail shareholders can exercise their rights through intermediaries, in line with the recommendations of the Dematerialisation Market Action Taskforce (DEMAT), chaired by Mark Austin CBE.