Austria's Takeover Act adds mandatory ESAP disclosure rules with fines up to €50,000
Bidders and target companies in Austrian takeover proceedings must now submit key documents to the Takeover Commission (Übernahmekommission) for publication on the EU's European Single Access Point (ESAP). The new §§ 30b–30d and amended § 35 take effect the day after publication of BGBl. I Nr. 61/2026 but apply only to information required to be published from 10 January 2030 onward.
What changed
New §§ 30b–30d require bidders and target companies to submit specific documents to the Übernahmekommission simultaneously with their public release so they can be accessed via the EU's central ESAP portal. Documents covered include: the notice of intent to make an offer, the offer document and any amendments, the target company's statement, competence decisions, and any further statements or corrections. All submissions must be in a data-extractable (or machine-readable) format under EU ESAP Regulation 2023/2859 and must include prescribed metadata such as entity name, Legal Entity Identifier (LEI), size class, and economic sector.
Who is affected
Any company making or receiving a takeover bid in Austria — bidders and listed target companies — as well as entities acting in concert with them. The Übernahmekommission acts as the official ESAP collection point (Sammelstelle) and is responsible for monitoring compliance with the new submission obligation.
What to look out for
Bidders and target companies must obtain a Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) if they do not already have one, as it is mandatory metadata for every submission. Violating the ESAP submission duty under § 30b is an administrative offence punishable by fines of €5,000 to €50,000, with the Übernahmekommission acting as first-instance authority. Although the legal framework is in force immediately after publication, the obligations apply to information that must be published from 10 January 2030 onward.