Securities Law Commons^™

Understanding Lockups: Effects In Bankruptcy And The Market For Corporate Control, Kermit Roosevelt Iii

All Faculty Scholarship

The article investigates the effects of lockups, devices used to compensate unsuccessful bidders. Lockups are relevant in contexts in which sales have auction-like characteristics. Bankruptcy and the market for corporate control are two such situations, since the governing legal regimes prevent sales from being swiftly consummated and require sellers to take the most favorable offer that emerges during the waiting period. Existing scholarship has considered lockups in both areas. The analysis of lockups in the market for corporate control is fairly well developed. This article shows that it is importantly incomplete because it fails both to distinguish between ex ante …