控制權交易下之控制權私利與少數股東權利之救濟

Abstract

於現今商業環境中，企業多藉由併購增加企業的競爭性並爭取新的獲利機會。在我國之控制權交易下，控制股東之力量足以影響公司交易之進行並從中獲取控制權私利。控制權交易當中的控制權私利分為逐出少數股東與出售控制權股份獲得控制權溢價。少數股東於此往往受到控制股東之壓迫與侵害，被迫以低價出售股份而非自願的離開公司，或控制股東不正當的獲取控制權溢價而侵害少數股東獲得該溢價之機會。對於上述情況，本文認為應以加強事後救濟之方向進行法制上之檢討與改進。 事後救濟途徑可分為「受託義務」與「股份收買請求權」。我國法上並未對控制股東賦予受託義務，但控制股東於控制權交易中往往存在嚴重的利益衝突，是故控制股東之受託義務有引進之必要。再者，我國法院對於股份收買請求權之公平價格估算之概念不清，此乃造成該權利無法真正發揮保護少數股東之效果。而美國法上對於此等救濟途徑之發展甚遠，因此本文之討論將借鏡美國法上之控制股東受託義務以及股份收買請求權之內涵，作為我國修正改進之參考。

In today's business environment, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are great strategies for enterprises to enhance their competitiveness and seek new profitable opportunities. In many control transactions in Taiwan, the controlling shareholders could abuse its dominant position in corporate deals and gain private benefits of control from therein. In fact, we could divide “private benefits of control” into two parts: freezing out the minority shareholders and acquiring control premiums by selling a block of shares. Under such circumstances, the minority shareholders may become oppressed or unfairly prejudiced by majority shareholders. To be exact, the majorities may force minorities to involuntarily sell their shares at low price or improperly gain control premiums, which may undermine minorities’ opportunities to earn such premiums. In the above situation, this paper will discuss the possible solutions to the problem and put emphasis on the importance of ex post facto relief. The ex post facto relief may include “fiduciary duty” and “appraisal right”. Nevertheless, in Taiwan while there is usually severe conflict of interest in the control transactions, controlling shareholders do not have fiduciary duty. Therefore, this paper argues that it is necessary to introduce fiduciary duty on controlling shareholders into Taiwan’s legal regime. Furthermore, the courts’ reasoning in determining the fair price under appraisal right is not very clear, which leads to the result that the appraisal right cannot necessarily play its role in protecting minority shareholders. Due to the long history in developing these two ex post facto reliefs under U.S. law, this paper will discuss the concept of fiduciary duty of controlling shareholders and appraisal statutes respectively in the U.S. Then this paper will proceed to propose the possible revisions under Taiwan’s legal regime.