Rules to protect target companies in a takeover from a “siege situation” appear to be working well, according to a report by a Takeover Panel committee, but lawyers have warned that the pendulum has swung too far in the direction of protecting target companies.

The panel's code committee, which has reviewed the 2011 amendments to the takeover rules, concluded that there had been "no evidence of offeree [target] companies having been put under siege for protracted periods".