Type
Communication / Conférence
Item number of pages
53
Abstract (EN)
In listed companies, some shareholders can be signatories to agreements that govern their
relations. This paper investigates the effects of such agreements on the valuation of firms. I
use a sample of French firms that is well suited for my analysis insofar as French law requires
the disclosure of the shareholder agreements’ clauses. In line with previous literature, a
negative relationship between firm value and the dispersion of voting rights across major
shareholders is observed. However, the existence of a shareholder agreement tends to offset
this negative effect. This countervailing effect is more pronounced when a “concerted action”
provision is in force and/or the contracting shareholders are of the same type. Shareholder
agreements thus appear as efficient coordination mechanisms rather than expropriation
mechanisms.