Blocking minority (Votes > 25%)

A blocking minority is defined by their ability to independently block the formation of a qualified majority (≥75%); in Germany this means they must hold more than 25% of votes. There can be more than one blocking minority, in which case fundamental decisions require coordinating with all of them as any one of them can unilaterally block the decision without needing to coordinate. For this reason blocking minority shareholders are also referred to as veto players.

Blocking minorities need to coordinate with other shareholders to pass ordinary decisions. If there are two blocking minorities, they can always pass ordinary decisions by coordinating, as they will always add up to more than 50.

See also: 

Qualified majority

Simple majority