The expression 'corporate raid' is a "loose, convenient and pejorative" shorthand to describe an attempt to exploit a minority shareholding in a company to obtain effective management or voting control without paying what other shareholders would regard as a proper price.

One of the tools available to a public company to resist covert acquisition of control by raiders is a statutory disclosure notice calling for information about persons interested in its shares; if those interested fail to comply with a disclosure notice then the exercise of rights attached to the shares can be restricted.

In this article, Andrew Bowen QC looks at the case of Eclairs Group Ltd v JKX Oil and Gas Plc [2016] 1 B.C.L.C. 1 which considered the proper purposes for such restrictions.

This article was first published in Greens Business Law Bulletin, Issue 144 (published October 2016) and is reproduced here with the kind permission of W. Green, the Law Publishers.