62.5% Skandia shareholders give go-ahead to Old Mutual |
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Published
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Wed, 21 Dec 2005 08:00
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LONDON: South African life insurer Old Mutual yesterday said it managed to win majority shareholder support for its £3.4bn bid for Swedish financial services group Skandia.
The London-listed insurer said it had received support from investors holding 62.5 percent of shares in Skandia. The company said it was expecting more and would make another announcement tomorrow.
Skandia’s management had opposed the proposed takeover by Old Mutual ever since talks began in April. They insisted Skandia could do better as an independent company. A cash and shares offer made in September also failed to bring them around. It was then that Old Mutual decided to appeal to the shareholders directly.
Initially, Old Mutual had been hoping to get support from investors with at least 50 percent holdings in Skandia. Jim Sutcliffe, Old Mutual’s CEO said he was happy that his offer has received support from investors who held a majority of Skandia’s shares.
A considerable bulk – 63.1 percent of the Swedish company’s shares was owned by foreign investors. Sutcliffe said he relied on this huge percentage to swing the vote in favour of the Old Mutual deal. He said he expected more acceptances although “it doesn’t matter if the amount rises further”. He also hoped to close the transaction by end of next month by which time the new merged company could hold its first extraordinary general meeting.
In the meanwhile, Old Mutual has also been working to clear all regulatory hurdles and said it was “progressing well”. It plans to declare the offer unconditional after all approvals have been obtained and now extend the offer until January 12.
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Old Mutual to persist with bid on Skandia 