Conference report: “Corporate acquisitions and access to entrepreneurial financing in the post-accession period”
On 5 and 6 October 2015, the international scientific conference “Corporate acquisitions and access to entrepreneurial financing in the post-accession period” was held at the Jean Monnet Interuniversity Centre of Excellence, Opatija, Croatia. More than 100 conference participants gathered, among them in-house lawyers, Croatian judges from the Constitutional Court and commercial courts, CEOs, attorneys-at-law, public notaries and academics. Speakers at the conference were academics and practitioners representing institutions from Croatia, Italy, Germany, Slovenia, Netherlands and Denmark. With both legal and economic background, they covered variety of topics related to company and capital market regulation, tax, competition and intellectual property in national and EU context.
Tutto che fai, fai con cuore
The Conference was organised by the Department of Company and Financial Law of the Faculty of Law, University of Rijeka, in cooperation with Croatian Association of Corporate Lawyers. The conference was one of the key activities in the first year of this research project, partially funded by the Croatian Science Foundation as well as by the research grant of the University of Rijeka, under the auspices of scientific project “Protection of the Beneficiary on the Croatian/European Financial Services Market”. This conference also received support from the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency. Welcome speeches at the conference were given by Prof. Dr. Pero Lučin, Rector of the University of Rijeka, Prof. Dr. Eduard Kunštek, Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Rijeka, and Mrs. Marina Kralj Miliša, Vice President of the Association of Corporate Lawyers Croatia.
Tutto che fai, fai con cuore
Work was divided into four conference sessions. The first session was devoted to innovative / SME companies and their access to capital. It was noted that, in contrast to more developed EU countries, a great number of Croatian SMEs still rely more on traditional (i.e. bank loans) then on alternative sources of financing, such as private equity / venture capital funds and/or crowdinvesting. Besides, papers focused on alternative market participants (such as private equity funds) acting as controlling shareholders, how conflict of interests is prevented and managed by investment fund industry, what are sources and the manners in which national legislators tend to attract start-ups and other.
Tutto che fai, fai con cuore
The second session was devoted to acquisition modelling. Emphasis was put on tax law issues – from the perspective of the relevant EU law (on mergers) and national laws, especially on tax law incentives as one of the important factors in business location decisions. One of the papers focused on the intricacies related to valuing IP in innovative companies especially in the course of corporate acquisition. This was followed by case study providing an actual insight into the manners in which IP is managed in companies in expansion.
Tutto che fai, fai con cuore
Speakers in the third session – devoted to regulatory competition and corporate regrouping – presented two empirical studies concerned with corporate regrouping in Croatia in the post-accession period, based on the sample of joint stock and listed companies. The studies show that major acquisitions took place in two (financial and tourist) sectors, either in the form of takeover or merger. Following papers revealed the strength of Croatian companies in the regional context where they take both roles in acquisitions: that of the target company and that of the acquiring company. Experiences from the perspective of acquiring company were shared with the participants.
Tutto che fai, fai con cuore
The fourth session focused on the position of the State as a controlling shareholder in SOEs, especially its duty to act according to market economy buyer/vendor principle. One of the questions posed was whether the pressure to privatise SOEs is justified. It was shown that privatisation is not an essential prerequisite for better governance. This was backed up by presenting a strategy of SOE as the portfolio company, and providing few focal points on how to develop a good governance model in public sector. Second part of the session was devoted to issues related to competition law, especially in cases of cross-border acquisitions. An emphasis was put on recent developments in EU competition law and practice that are aimed at introduction of a system for the control of minority shareholdings.