MAC-klausuler i svenska avtal om företagsförvärv - En undersökning avseende avtalstolkningsproblem
(2025) JURM02 20252Faculty of Law
Department of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Vid företagsförvärv är det vanligt att avtalssigneringen och tillträdet sker som två separata moment en viss tid från varandra. En viktig anledning till denna uppdelning är att det ofta föreligger lagkrav som måste vara upp-fyllda innan tillträdet, exempelvis att företagsöverlåtelsen ska godkännas av Konkurrensverket eller av bolagsstämman. Detta medför dock risker för köparen. Vem ska bära ansvaret för fel som inträffar under perioden mellan avtalssigneringen och tillträdet, eller för tidigare dolda fel som uppdagas då? Här har parterna stor frihet att själva reglera risken inom ramen för sin avtalsfrihet. En vanlig lösning är att parterna inför en så kallad MAC-klausul i överlåtelseavtalet. Innebörden av en MAC-klausul kan översiktligt... (More)
- Vid företagsförvärv är det vanligt att avtalssigneringen och tillträdet sker som två separata moment en viss tid från varandra. En viktig anledning till denna uppdelning är att det ofta föreligger lagkrav som måste vara upp-fyllda innan tillträdet, exempelvis att företagsöverlåtelsen ska godkännas av Konkurrensverket eller av bolagsstämman. Detta medför dock risker för köparen. Vem ska bära ansvaret för fel som inträffar under perioden mellan avtalssigneringen och tillträdet, eller för tidigare dolda fel som uppdagas då? Här har parterna stor frihet att själva reglera risken inom ramen för sin avtalsfrihet. En vanlig lösning är att parterna inför en så kallad MAC-klausul i överlåtelseavtalet. Innebörden av en MAC-klausul kan översiktligt beskrivas så att den ger köparen rätt att dra sig ur transaktionen, om en vä-sentligen negativ förändring inträffar under perioden mellan avtalssigne-ring och tillträde. MAC-klausuler har sitt ursprung främst i amerikansk rättspraxis, men har fått stor spridning internationellt och används därför även frekvent i svenska förvärvsavtal. Problemet är att rättsläget är oklart hur MAC-klausuler ska tolkas i svensk rätt, eftersom prejudicerande svensk rättspraxis saknas. Detta skapar osäkerhet för parterna, vilket riskerar leda till mindre effektiva företagsöverlåtelser och därmed lägre ekonomisk ef-fektivitet.
Syftet med den här uppsatsen är därför att, ur ett kritiskt perspektiv, under-söka möjliga tolkningar av MAC-klausuler i svensk rätt, för att på så vis belysa den avtalstolkningsproblematik som kan uppstå när en avtalsklausul med ursprung i utländsk rätt används i ett svenskt förvärvsavtal. För att uppfylla detta syfte används som ett första steg rättsdogmatisk metod för att utreda hur en svensk domstol sannolikt skulle tolka en MAC-klausul enligt gällande rätt, vilket utgör uppsatsens första frågeställning. Uppsatsens andra frågeställning är hur domstolar i allmänhet bör tolka MAC-klausuler för att bäst främja ekonomisk effektivitet, vilket besvaras med hjälp av rättsekonomisk metod och utifrån svaret på den första frågeställningen.
Slutsatsen blir att rättsläget är oklart, varför endast mycket försiktiga svar kan ges avseende gällande rätt. Med det sagt är det dock mycket troligt att en svensk domstol, i linje med vad som är fallet inom amerikansk rätt, skulle tolka MAC-klausulen mycket restriktivt och uppställa ett högt väsentlighetsrekvisit. Rättsläget är dock som mest oklart avseende den närmare innebörden av ett sådant strikt väsentlighetsrekvisit. Det finns dock visst stöd för att omfattningen skulle begränsas till målbolagsspecifika omständigheter inom säljarens kontroll, samt att vissa krav på långsiktighet och försämring av målbolagets värdering eller vinst skulle fastslås. Gällande uppsatsens andra frågeställning är slutsatsen att den ekonomiska effektiviteten skulle förbättras genom en mindre restriktiv och mindre ensidigt säljarvänlig tolkning, samt genom förtydligade och kvantifierbara rek-visit för väsentlighetskravets uppfyllande. (Less) - Abstract
- In company acquisitions, it is common for the signing of the agreement and the transfer of ownership to take place as two separate steps at different times. A major reason for this division is that there are often legal require-ments that must be met before the transfer of ownership can occur, such as the transfer having to be approved by the Swedish Competition Authority or by the company general meeting. However, this entails potential risks for the buyer. Who should bear responsibility for errors that occur during the period between signing and closing, or for previously hidden errors that come to light at the time? In this regard, the parties have considerable free-dom to regulate the risk themselves within the framework of their... (More)
- In company acquisitions, it is common for the signing of the agreement and the transfer of ownership to take place as two separate steps at different times. A major reason for this division is that there are often legal require-ments that must be met before the transfer of ownership can occur, such as the transfer having to be approved by the Swedish Competition Authority or by the company general meeting. However, this entails potential risks for the buyer. Who should bear responsibility for errors that occur during the period between signing and closing, or for previously hidden errors that come to light at the time? In this regard, the parties have considerable free-dom to regulate the risk themselves within the framework of their freedom of contract. A common solution is for the parties to include a so-called MAC clause in the agreement. A MAC clause can broadly be described as giving the buyer the right to withdraw from the transaction if a materially adverse change occurs during the period between signing and closing. MAC clauses originate primarily from American case law, but have be-come widespread internationally and are therefore also frequently used in Swedish acquisition agreements. The problem is that the current legal posi-tion is unclear as to how MAC clauses should be interpreted in Swedish law, as there is no precedent in Swedish case law. This creates uncertainty for the parties, risking lowered economic efficiency.
The purpose of this thesis is therefore to examine, from a critical perspec-tive, possible interpretations of MAC clauses in Swedish law, to highlight the problems of contract interpretation that can arise when a contract clause originating from foreign law is used in a Swedish acquisition agreement. This purpose is achieved by, as a first step, using the legal dogmatic meth-od to investigate how a Swedish court would likely interpret a MAC clause under current law, which constitutes the first question of this thesis. The second question addressed in this thesis is how courts generally should in-terpret MAC clauses to best promote economic efficiency, which is an-swered using a legal economic method based on the first answer.
The conclusion is that the current legal position is unclear, which is why only very cautious answers can be given regarding the current law. That said, it is very likely that a Swedish court, in line with what is the case in American law, would interpret the MAC clause very strictly and establish a high materiality requirement. However, the current legal position is the most unclear concerning the precise meaning of such a strict materiality requirement. There is, however, some support for the scope being limited to company-specific circumstances within the sellers’ control, as well as cer-tain requirements of longevity and deterioration in value. Regarding the thesis’ second question, the conclusion is that economic efficiency would increase by adopting a less restrictive and less unilaterally seller-friendly interpretation, as well as by clarifying and quantifying the requirements for meeting the materiality requirement. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9216463
- author
- Broander, Martin LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- MAC-Clauses in Swedish Company Acquisition Contracts - A Study Concerning Contract Interpretation Problems
- course
- JURM02 20252
- year
- 2025
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- förmögenhetsrätt, komparativ rätt, rättsekonomi
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9216463
- date added to LUP
- 2026-01-14 12:17:19
- date last changed
- 2026-01-14 12:17:19
@misc{9216463,
abstract = {{In company acquisitions, it is common for the signing of the agreement and the transfer of ownership to take place as two separate steps at different times. A major reason for this division is that there are often legal require-ments that must be met before the transfer of ownership can occur, such as the transfer having to be approved by the Swedish Competition Authority or by the company general meeting. However, this entails potential risks for the buyer. Who should bear responsibility for errors that occur during the period between signing and closing, or for previously hidden errors that come to light at the time? In this regard, the parties have considerable free-dom to regulate the risk themselves within the framework of their freedom of contract. A common solution is for the parties to include a so-called MAC clause in the agreement. A MAC clause can broadly be described as giving the buyer the right to withdraw from the transaction if a materially adverse change occurs during the period between signing and closing. MAC clauses originate primarily from American case law, but have be-come widespread internationally and are therefore also frequently used in Swedish acquisition agreements. The problem is that the current legal posi-tion is unclear as to how MAC clauses should be interpreted in Swedish law, as there is no precedent in Swedish case law. This creates uncertainty for the parties, risking lowered economic efficiency.
The purpose of this thesis is therefore to examine, from a critical perspec-tive, possible interpretations of MAC clauses in Swedish law, to highlight the problems of contract interpretation that can arise when a contract clause originating from foreign law is used in a Swedish acquisition agreement. This purpose is achieved by, as a first step, using the legal dogmatic meth-od to investigate how a Swedish court would likely interpret a MAC clause under current law, which constitutes the first question of this thesis. The second question addressed in this thesis is how courts generally should in-terpret MAC clauses to best promote economic efficiency, which is an-swered using a legal economic method based on the first answer.
The conclusion is that the current legal position is unclear, which is why only very cautious answers can be given regarding the current law. That said, it is very likely that a Swedish court, in line with what is the case in American law, would interpret the MAC clause very strictly and establish a high materiality requirement. However, the current legal position is the most unclear concerning the precise meaning of such a strict materiality requirement. There is, however, some support for the scope being limited to company-specific circumstances within the sellers’ control, as well as cer-tain requirements of longevity and deterioration in value. Regarding the thesis’ second question, the conclusion is that economic efficiency would increase by adopting a less restrictive and less unilaterally seller-friendly interpretation, as well as by clarifying and quantifying the requirements for meeting the materiality requirement.}},
author = {{Broander, Martin}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{MAC-klausuler i svenska avtal om företagsförvärv - En undersökning avseende avtalstolkningsproblem}},
year = {{2025}},
}