Bob Buhr

The existence of so-called special shares in some European companies enables governments to block certain transactions such as acquisitions and LBOs. Understanding how they work is necessary for bondholders in assessing LBO risk, says the head of credit research at Credaris in London

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Q: Can you describe what special shares are and in what countries, companies and situations they come into play?

A: A number of European corporate issuers have 'special' or 'golden' shares. In fact, 'shares' is a bit of a misnomer: they're actually special rights that governments hold in companies that were at one time state owned, but have since been partially or completely privatised. Governments retain these shares as a means of exercising some degree of control over management actions that

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