Spain lowers threshold

The news that Spain will lower the threshold above which buyers will have to make a mandatory bid for the remainder of the shares from 50 to 30 percent is welcome. But it leaves open the general question of what is so magical about the 30 percent limit that it has become enshrined in the takeover regulations of several countries.

It also leads to the question of who is setting these limits and how their impact is being monitored. Closely related is the question of the way the mandatory bid has to be made after the threshold gets triggered. So far, legislators, market insiders from the producer side (banks, securities firms and investment managers) dominate the discussion and there is little regard for the voice of the ultimate owners of the businesses.