While a shareholders’ resolution is still required, the FCJ left open the question of whether notarization of the resolution is necessary.
By Christian Thiele and Otto von Gruben
The German Federal Court of Justice (FCJ) decided on 8 January 2019 that Section 179a (1) of the German Stock Corporation Act (AktG) does not apply mutatis mutandis to a German GmbH (II ZR 364/18). The decision contradicts the prevailing view in legal literature so far, pursuant to which a notarized shareholders’ resolution approving the sale and transfer of all or substantially all assets of a GmbH was required.
Background
Section 179a (1) AktG provides that an agreement, pursuant to which a German stock corporation undertakes to transfer all of its assets requires an approving shareholders’ resolution. If a respective agreement is executed without such resolution, it remains provisionally invalid until it is approved by way of a shareholders’ resolution in accordance with Section 179a (1) AktG. If the shareholders refuse to approve such agreement, it becomes permanently void.
The Higher Regional Court of Cologne (HRC Cologne) has ruled that a property seller is liable for the difference between the rent shown in the rent roll attached to a property purchase agreement and the actual rent — irrespective of the general exclusion of warranty claims in a purchase agreement. As a consequence, a seller may have to compensate a purchaser for all future losses resulting from such lower actual rent for up to 30 years. The decision highlights the high commercial relevance of rent rolls and the legal risks resulting from rent rolls in the context of real estate transactions.