Golden shares
Golden shares are shares with extraordinary special powers, for example the right to block a takeover. The UK government holds golden shares in a number of privatised firms, e.g. BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce. So if you own shares in Rolls-Royce do not expect a takeover from a Russian oligarch with links to the Kremlin; the UK government will stop it.
Golden shares are also useful if a company wishes to preserve certain characteristics it possesses. Football clubs can have golden shares dictating, for example, that 80% of revenues from transfer fees be reinvested in new players (e.g. Nottingham Forest) – but Russian oligarchs are welcomed!
Get Get Started in Shares now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
