The National Security and Investment Act 2021 came into force on 4 January 2022. The Act gives the UK Government power to scrutinise a wide range of transactions on national security grounds.
Key points to note are:
- notification of transactions will be mandatory in some sectors. Failure to notify when required will result in the transaction being void;
- it applies to all buyers and investors, not just those outside the UK or from certain jurisdictions;
- the regime can be triggered on the acquisition of "material influence" in an entity, which may arise in relation to a low shareholding, potentially even below 15%;
- it may apply to intra-group transactions; and
- it may apply to transactions involving non-UK companies or assets.
For further information, see our briefing on the regime. We also discuss it in the context of public M&A transactions in the latest episode of our public M&A podcast series.
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The articles published on this website, current at the dates of publication set out above, are for reference purposes only. They do not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Specific legal advice about your specific circumstances should always be sought separately before taking any action.