译海拾贝： “优先购买权”研究

                                                                                         文/王学勇 律师

在国际并购交易文件中，股东协议（Shareholder Agreement/Stakeholder Agreement）中常涉及优先购买权条款。

优先购买权（ROFR, Right of first refusal或Preemptive Right）指在欲转让股权的股东，在和第三方达成潜在交易之前，需要将达成的条件，包括但不仅限于价格、谈判的交易条件等，披露给公司的其他股东，其他股东在相同条件下与转让方股东优先达成购买该等拟转让股权的交易，ROFR是一个在实务中容易引发争议的条款，特别在Package Deal(一揽子交易)、COC（Change of Control）或者对价不全是现金的情况下，其他股东是否有优先购买权。股东协议需要对拟出让股权方股东的披露义务及其他股东在一定期限内回复是否行使优先购买权的义务进行细节控制，这是两个重要的风险控制点。在国际并购中，如果潜在第三方买家将交易价格谈得非常理想，其他股东往往面临行使优先购买权的风险。

ROFR条款的示例性写法：

In the event of an intended sale by Shareholder A of any or all of the Shares in the Corporation at any time and from time to time, Shareholder A shall direct to Shareholder B a notice in writing of such intended sale, at the address for notices as set out herein, setting out the purchase price for which the said shares are to be sold, all of the terms of sale and the name and address of the proposed purchaser, who shall at all times be a bona fide, arms-length third party(hereinafter referred to as the “Notice”). Shareholder B shall have 10 days from the date of receipt of the aforesaid notice with in which to exercise the right of first refusal. In the event of the acceptance by Shareholder B of the price and terms upon which the said shares are to be sold, then Shareholder B shall exercise the right of first refusal by notice in writing given to Shareholder A at the address herein provided, and upon receipt of such Notice, Shareholder A shall be bound to sell the said shares to Shareholder B at the price and upon the terms set out in the Notice.

在股权购买这一语境下，right of first refusal和preemptive right往往作为含义相同的通用的称呼，但right of first refusal比较常用；但在其他商事交易中，关于preemptive right、preemption right、right of preemption和right of first refusal 的含义略有差异。

在翻阅Black’s Law Dictionary和Garner’s Dictionary of Legal Usage (3rd edition)后，preemptive right是在股权/股票认购这一背景中使用的“优先认购权”，而preemption right是claiming land subject to preemption的“优先购买权”，是在购买土地这一背景中使用的词。元照把preemption right译为「公地先买权」，是美国法律中的概念；把preemptive right译为「优先认购权；优先购股权」。

Right of preemption: a potential buyer’s contractual right to have the first opportunity to buy, at a specified price, if the seller chooses to sell within the contracted period.

比如张三在李四的房子上有个right of preemption, 约定好如果李四打算在3年内卖房子，张三有以20万元购买李四房子的“优先购买权”。如果是在3年内卖房子，那么张三有权优于其他人花20万元买下房子。张三也可以拒绝购买，这时候李四就可以去找其他买主。李四也可以等3年后再卖房子，这时张三的right of preemption已经失效。Right of preemption也叫first option to buy。

Right of first refusal的不同之处在于它是指a potential buyer’s contractual right to meet the terms of a third party’s higher offer。比如张三在李四的房子上有个right of first refusal，如果小明（也就是第三方）提出以30万元购买李四的房子，那么张三有优先权去match this offer，花30万买房子，不让小明或其他人得逞。这个“优先购买权”是指在第三方提出更高价格时，要约人可以优于其他人购买某物，但购买的价格和条件要和第三方提出的价格和条件一样。

元照把right of preemption和right of first refusal都译为「优先购买权」。如果不了解两个术语的英文具体含义，光看中文术语是难以弄清其中的差别。也许可以把right of preemption翻成「第一购买权」（强调the first opportunity to buy，也与其另一种说法first option to buy相吻合），把right of first refusal翻成「优先取舍权」，以「舍」映「refusal」。但感觉这么翻译依然欠妥，接着查资料，发现了下面这份文件：

Pre-emption rights and rights of first refusal-first mover disadvantage.pdf

作者解释了right of first look、right of first refusal和right of last refusal的含义，抄录如下：

Taking the example of a shareholder intending to sell shares, pre-emption rights can be viewed as falling within one of the following three categories:

• a right of first look, giving the preferred party the opportunity to offer terms, including as to the purchase price to buy the seller’s shares. If the seller rejects that offer, it will not be permitted to sell those shares to a third party at a price less than the offer price or on other terms more favorable to the third party than the terms of the rejected offer;

• a right of first refusal, being similar to a right of first look, except that the preferred party has the opportunity to accept or reject terms offered by the seller for the sale of the shares, rather than the opportunity to offer terms to the seller; and

• a right of last refusal, giving the preferred party the opportunity to accept or reject terms conditionally agreed between the seller and a third party for the sale of the shares.

总结下，在“卖股份”这个背景中谈preemption right，分为以下这几种“优先权”。

In the context of selling shares:

根据维基百科（https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-emption_right），在“购买新股份”这个背景中谈论preemption right：the most common form of preemption right is preemptive right, also called subscription right or subscription privilege，也就是“优先认购权”。

看来在不同的context中谈论preemption right/right of preemption，会有不同的“优先权”，有可能是优先购买公共土地的“公地先买权”，也有可能是公司法中涉及卖股份和买新股份的各种“优先权”。这么来看，从学理上看，preemption right是个涵盖范围比较广的权利，不如就叫「先买权」，以中文的模糊性对应英文的不确定性。Right of first look译为「优先报价权/优先要约权」，right of first refusal为「优先取舍权/优先购买权」，right of last refusal作「最终取舍权」，preemptive right翻成「优先认购权」。

本文是基于理解并翻译英美法词汇的角度对形形色色的优先购买权做一个理论的探讨，疏漏之处难免贻笑大方，由于英美判例法系与成文法系不同的法律背景，中文翻译难免产生在翻译中迷失的现象。