Die informationelle Gleichbehandlung konkurrierender Bieter im Übernahmerecht

»Equal Treatment of Competing Bidders in Terms of Information Under Takeover Law«: In a bidding competition, the due diligence process can become a political football for the target company’s board of directors. Its decision to grant due diligence access to only one of two bidders (or prospective bidders) can thus have a major impact on the success or failure of a potential takeover. In light of this enormous significance, this thesis adopts a comparative law approach to examine whether the board of directors of the target company is obligated to treat competing bidders equally in terms of information, even though such an obligation of equal treatment is not codified in law. The thesis focuses on the due diligence review as a tool for gathering information.