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Company Law Reform Bill [HL]

I am grateful to the Attorney-General for that explanation. This is a very important issue. While he dealt with a hard irrevocable undertaking, there remains the still more difficult, grey area of soft irrevocable undertakings, which people give provided that their offer is not trumped by a certain percentage. The practitioners will feel a lot of concern about this, because an important part of the armoury of bidding companies is being able to secure a bridgehead. They are entering considerable expense—professional fees, diversion of management time and so on—and want to achieve the maximum amount of certainty. Indeed, it is sometimes in the interests of the target company for that situation to persist. We need to read carefully what the noble and learned Lord said, but I rather suspect that we will come back to the matter and press the Government on it. In the mean time, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.