The State as a Minority Shareholder in Private Companies

Abstract

The article analyzes the phenomenon of minority participation by the State in business societies. It addresses: (i) the main characteristics of State-owned companies and what differentiates them from controlled companies; (ii) the way in which the State can assume the condition of controlling shareholder without a majority of the share capital and the implications of this control in the legal regime of these companies; (iii) the legal regime of companies with minority State participation under private control and the main causes that justify State participation without control power. It is concluded that the company controlled by the State suffers a partial influx from the publicist regime, since the State cannot detach itself, as a controlling shareholder, from the principles that govern its intervention in the economic domain. On the other hand, minority State participation does not exempt the State from adopting governance and control practices proportional to the relevance, materiality and risks of the business.