The M&A Chronicle provides an overview of Belgian case law related to purchase agreements in the context of company acquisitions, published in the period 2000-2017 (first edition) and 2017-2024 (second edition). Together, the publications provide an overview of all published case law from the past 24 years.

The Chronicle focusses on company acquisitions that have been realized through the purchase of shares (“share deal”). However, case law concerning a transfer of assets (“asset deal”) is also included if it relates to the civil law aspects of the purchase agreement and therefore have broader relevance for the assessment of acquisition agreements in general.

The Chronicle concerns contractual company acquisitions and not forced acquisitions, for example, arising from the dispute resolution mechanisms in the Belgian Code of Companies and Associations (WVV / CSA) or the Companies Code (W.Venn / C.Soc.). Case law relating to restructuring operations (mergers, demergers, contributions, or transfers of a branch of activity or universality) is, in principle, also not included.

Our aim is to provide a concise and clear summary of the published case law. The selected case law is not critically analysed. For such in-depth analysis, we refer to the cited sources and the commentaries included therein.