43. Document containing offer of shares or debentures for sale to be deemed a prospectus

Official English translation. The Sinhala text prevails. Open the official Sinhala text, official PDF on documents.gov.lk

(1)

Where a company allots or agrees to allot any shares in or debentures of the company with a view to offering all or any of those shares or debentures for sale to the public, any document by which the offer for sale to the public is made shall for all purposes be deemed to be a prospectus issued by the company, and provisions of any written law which relates to the contents of prospectuses, liability in respect of statements in and omission from prospectuses or otherwise generally relating to matters dealing with or connected to prospectuses, shall apply and have effect accordingly, as if the shares or debentures has been offered to the public for subscription and as if persons accepting the offer in respect of any shares or debentures were subscribers for those shares or debentures, but without prejudice to the liability, if any, of the persons by whom the offer is made, in respect of untrue statements contained in the document or otherwise in respect thereof.

(2)

For the purposes of this Act, it shall, unless the contrary is proved, be deemed that an allotment of or an agreement to allot shares or debentures was made with a view to the shares or debentures being offered for sale to the public, if it is shown—

(a)

that an offer of the shares or debentures for sale to the public was made within six months after the allotment or agreement to allot ; or

(b)

that at the date when the offer was made, the whole consideration to be received by the company in respect of the shares or debentures had not been so received.

(3)

The provisions of section 40 shall be applicable in relation to this section, as though the persons making the offer were persons named in a prospectus as directors of a company, and the provisions of section 37 shall be applicable in relation to this section, as if it required a prospectus to state, in addition to the matters required by that section to be stated in a prospectus—

(a)

the net amount of the consideration received by the company in respect of the shares or debentures to which the offer relates ; and

(b)

the place and time at which the contract under which the said shares or debentures have been or are to be allotted, may be inspected.

(4)

Where a person making an offer to which this section relates is a company or a firm, it shall be sufficient if the document aforesaid is signed on behalf of the company or firm by two directors of the company or not less than half of the partners, as the case may be, and any such director or partner may sign through his agent authorised in writing.

Read on from s 44

Part V