TY  - JOUR
AU  - Franks,Julian
AU  - Mayer,Colin
AU  - Rossi,Stefano
TI  - Spending Less Time with the Family: The Decline of Family Ownership in the UK
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 10628
PY  - 2004
Y2  - July 2004
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w10628
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w10628.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Julian Franks
London Business School
Finance Department
Regent's Park, London NW1 4SA
UNITED KINGDOM
E-Mail: jfranks@london.edu

Colin Mayer
Said Business School
University of Oxford
Park End Street
Oxford OX1 1HP, UK
Tel: 44-1865-288919
Fax: 44-1865-288805
E-Mail: colin.mayer@sbs.ox.ac.uk

Stefano Rossi
Krannert School of Management
Purdue University
403 W. State Street
West Lafayette, IN 47907
U.S.A.
Tel: 765 494 4416
E-Mail: stefanorossi@purdue.edu
AB  - Family ownership was rapidly diluted in the twentieth century in Britain. The main cause was equity issued in the process of making acquisitions. In the first half of the century, it occurred in the absence of minority investor protection and relied on directors of target firms protecting the interests of shareholders. Families were able to retain control by occupying a disproportionate number of seats on the boards of firms. However, in the absence of large stakes, the rise of hostile takeovers and institutional shareholders made it increasingly difficult for families to maintain control without challenge. Potential targets attempted to protect themselves through dual class shares and strategic share blocks but these were dismantled in response to opposition by institutional shareholders and the London Stock Exchange. The result was a regulated market in corporate control and a capital market that looked very different from its European counterparts. Thus, while acquisitions facilitated the growth of family controlled firms in the first half of the century, they also diluted their ownership and ultimately their control in the second half.
ER  -