Der Rückzug von der Börse

According to section 39 of the Stock Exchange Act, delistings require an exit offer to protect minority shareholders. The section was enacted rather fast by the legislator in reaction to a 2013ruling of the German Federal court of Justice. Empirical event studies have shown that the announcement of a delisting does affect share prices. Whether or not the section is in accordance with the empirical facts is critically analysed with regard to all different types of delisting. After demonstrating the need for shareholder protection and discussing several means of protection abstractly, the detailed analysis of the new section 39 leaves no question unanswered. Subsequently, the system of legal protection is critically examined in order to answer the question whether elements pursuant to the German Act on Appraisal Proceedings (SpruchG) should be implemented to improve shareholder protection.