Foreign Investment Mergers And Acquisitions-A Comparative Overview Of Legislation,Regulatory Framework,Execution And Other Issues In China And The United Kingdom

This thesis is intended to provide a comparative overview of the inbound and outbound investment regimes in China and the United Kingdom.In addition,it is also aims to explore the various manners in which investment can be executed in each of these jurisdictions including the ways in which assets and shares can be acquired and in the case of China,how Chinese and foreign parties can structure their investments and cooperation.Chapter 2 focuses on the inbound investment regime into China and explores the ways in which Chinese and foreign entities can cooperate in respect of business ventures in China.Chapter 3 explores the inbound investment regime into the United Kingdom including the ways in which foreign investors,namely those outside the European Economic Area are able to structure their investments into the United Kingdom,along with the restrictions and limitations that exist for foreign investors.Chapter 4 follows on with this theme by exploring the ways in which Chinese investors are able to make investments to territories outside of Mainland China including a considerations of the approvals and notifications that are required by different categories of investors.As this is a fast evolving area of Chinese law and regulation,the latest changes to the investment regime which came into effect from 1 March 2018 are also explored.Chapter 5 provides a comparative overview of the key differences between a share and asset acquisition in China and the United Kingdom.While the jurisprudence of these countries are considerably different in many respects,this comparative overview will reveal that there are in fact a considerable number of similarities between these two jurisdictions when it comes to merger and acquisition activities.Chapters 6 and 7 are intended to cover the key elements of share and asset acquisitions as effected in China and the United Kingdom,while chapter 8 is intended to provide a distinctly practical flavor of execution and aims to highlight the day to day operational difficulties that can arise on such transactions.The next part of the thesis explores certain distinct and important issues such as debt financing and merger control aspects of transactions in the foreign investment landscape involving Chinese and British parties.Chapters 11 and 12 of the thesis then moves onto analyse certain selected substantive legal issues that arise on cross border M&A transactions from the perspective of criminal law and constitutional law.Finally,Chapter 13 of the thesis concludes with identifying the issues and problems with the current investment regimes in the PRC and the UK and recommend legislatives solutions from a practical perspective for consideration by legislative bodies in order to enhance the rate of success of cross border mergers and acquisitions.