The UK Takeover panel proposes changes to treatment of offers conditions and offer timetable

The Code Committee (“Code Committee”) of the UK Takeover Panel (“Panel”) has published a consultation paper proposing a number of amendments to the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers (“Code”) which, if adopted, will mark a significant departure from the current rules. The Code Committee is inviting responses to the consultation paper by 15 January 2021 and expects to publish the final amendments to the Code in spring 2021. Executive Summary The main objectives of the proposed changes are to: simplify the offer timetable and amend it to accommodate regulatory approval processes which are now more complex and of longer duration than was the case when the current timetable was originally devised;remove the historic distinction between the treatment of UK and European Commission competition