Biocartis: shareholders resist ‘expropriation’

Biocartis is yet another Belgian listed company in trouble that is disappearing from the Brussels stock exchange, at a time when the company is finally expected to become profitable after years of investment and mounting losses.

illustration

Some Biocartis shareholders feel they have been cheated and are talking of outright 'expropriation'. They point out that the new Biocartis aims to become operationally profitable in the course of 2024. [We are in a situation where a company is being completely stripped for the benefit of a few creditors. This goes against the sense of justice and possibly also against several rules of law.

In this article, I do not wish to express an opinion on the merits of the action announced by WATT legal, nor on possible violations of corporate governance legislation by Biocartis, nor on fraudulent or unethical aspects in this case. However, I would like to comment on the reference to the Nyrstar case by the law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, which states that "the shareholder proceedings have so far yielded little".

In this case, I can confirm with great certainty that there are numerous indications of violations of civil and criminal law and that a group of minority shareholders led by RSQ Investors has been waging a fierce battle for years for transparency, justice and better protection for minority shareholders and Belgian listed companies.

The slow legal process in Belgium, the complexity of the procedures to be followed and the numerous built-in asymmetries and protections in favour of the reference shareholders, the board of directors, the management and the consultancies and law firms acting on their behalf ensure that proceedings drag on for years and that the costs are often prohibitively high. This, of course, is not lost on vulture funds and shrewd businessmen with their own profit interests at heart, nor on the many professional service providers who see this as an ideal livelihood.

The result is a climate of impunity for these actors and increasing powerlessness for their victims.

The loss of social welfare is enormous. The exodus from the stock market is a symptom of this. If Belgium really wants to be a model of good governance, it urgently needs to redefine (read: strengthen) the interests and protection of minority shareholders. This should include a drastic reduction in deadlines and the possibility to invoke 'exceptions' in procedures, as well as an increased focus on the 'fairness' aspect of restructurings carried out, rather than on the letter of the law. And finally, a significant expansion of the powers of the Market Authority to include preventive, remedial and sanctioning measures.

Go to original article 'De Tijd'

---

Automated translation (Chat GPT)