修正後企業併購法與三角合併

我國企業併購法（下稱「企併法」）於2002年2月6日經總統公布施行，2004年第一次修正，於2015年全面翻修，修正條文於2016年1月8日正式生效施行。企併法之最高宗旨為法規鬆綁，便利企業併購組織調整。惟國外實務由來已久，但國內卻罕見的「三角合併」，在本次修法後是否就可以無障礙地順利進行，成為國內企業在規劃併購架構時之選項之一？本文簡介美國法律與實務所定義之三角合併、正、反三角合併之態樣、美國法有關之規定與適用，討論進行三角合併之優點、比較三角合併與股份轉換之異同，並檢視我國企併法規定是否有進行三角合併之空間。結論為既然三角合併在企併法於2002年立法之初即已埋伏於企併法條文文字之中，也在當時之立法理由中有所揭示，而於2015年修正理由中再度肯認，且修正後之企併法第8條亦已排除過去相關障礙，應可確認我國企併法確實允許企業以美國以及業界習知之三角合併之方式進行合併，三角合併正式成為企業進行併購之選項之一。為便利三角合併之進行，避免破壞良法美意，兼及併購交易之可確定性與穩定性，本文認為於現行法制之下，進行三角合併時，母公司（收購公司）無須專為進行三角合併召開股東會通過股東會決議（除非涉及修改章程或其他法律需要經過股東會決議之事項），且母公司（收購公司）之異議股東亦無向母公司（收購公司）請求收買其股份之權利。本文希望經過本次修法再對三角合併放寬相關限制之後，相關主管機關亦能秉持開放鼓勵態度，配合辦理相關行政程序，以期發揮便利企業併購之功效。

The Mergers and Acquisitions Act of Taiwan (the “M&A Act”) was enacted in 2002; it was amended for the first time in 2004 and significantly revised in 2015. The amended M&A Act became effective on January 8, 2016. The M&A Act is aimed at removing regulatory hurdles and facilitating the M&A activities of the private industry. However, would the “triangular merger”, which has been commonly adopted in foreign countries, be an option for companies to conduct M&A activities in Taiwan following the the latest amendments to the M&A Act？ The author briefly introduced “triangular merger” as defined under the U.S. law and practice and the concept of “forward triangular merger” and “reverse triangular merger”. The author also discussed the purpose of conducting “triangular merger”, compared the difference between a “triangular merger” transaction and a share exchange transaction, and examined whether according to the M&A Act, a triangular merger would be legally permissible. The conclusion is that given the legislative intent and the removal of regulatory barriers by the recent amendments to the M&A Act, it indeed permits companies to conduct “triangular merger” transactions, as commonly conducted in the US and in the industry. Triangular merger has become one of the options that companies may consider when structuring an M&A transaction in Taiwan. Considering the purpose of facilitating triangular merger and ensuring the certainty and steadiness of the procedure to conduct an M&A transaction, the author further concluded that under the current M&A Act, when conducting a triangular merger, the parent company (the acquiring company) does not need to convene a shareholders meeting to approve thetransaction and the objecting shareholders shall not have appraisal right to request the parent company (the acquiring company) to purchase their shares. The author hopes that the relevant authority will facilitate the administrative procedure with regard to the consummation of triangular mergers pursuant to the amended M&A Act, which has removed the obstacle of conducting triangular mergers, so as to achieve the purpose of revitalizing the local M&A market.