Book contents
- The European Corporation
- The European Corporation
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Anglo-Saxon Countries
- Part II Central European Countries
- 3 Austria
- 4 Germany
- 5 Switzerland
- Part III Scandinavian Countries
- Part IV Mediterranean Countries
- Part V European Transition Countries
- References
- Index
3 - Austria
from Part II - Central European Countries
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 June 2023
- The European Corporation
- The European Corporation
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Anglo-Saxon Countries
- Part II Central European Countries
- 3 Austria
- 4 Germany
- 5 Switzerland
- Part III Scandinavian Countries
- Part IV Mediterranean Countries
- Part V European Transition Countries
- References
- Index
Summary
This chapter examines ownership and control structures in Austria. As many other European countries, Austria experienced a shake-up in securities law, mainly induced by EU Directives (such as those on shareholder rights, takeovers and transparency). Despite of investor favourable changes in the securities law, ownership concentration remain very high in Austria in listed and unlisted companies alike. Thus, large shareholders remain the predominant corporate governance model in Austria. The identities of the controlling shareholders remained very much the same during the past decades with one important exception, banks. Pyramidal ownership structures have remained prevalent as of 2018–2019 in Austria, since non-financial firms and holding companies together controlled nearly half of the top 100 Austrian firms. Thus, families and individuals which stand behind those companies remained the most important ultimate controlling owners. There was a remarkable decline of state control of listed companies after privatization but the state retained an important role as large and controlling shareholder in many of the largest (listed and unlisted) Austrian companies. While around twenty-five years ago foreign owners already controlled around 20% of the largest Austrian companies, this percentage kept increasing. The chapter discusses the role of ‘complementary institutions’, the preferences of both controlling owners and prospective buyers, and a missing political will to embrace a more shareholder oriented model.
Keywords
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- Chapter
- Information
- The European CorporationOwnership and Control after 25 Years of Corporate Governance Reforms, pp. 55 - 83Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023