Capital & Counties has received shareholder approval for the second stage of its investment in fellow West End landlord Shaftesbury – and has promised to work with shareholders who may still have concerns about the deal.
More than a quarter of the Capco shareholder votes cast at a meeting today were against the second stage of the £436m acquisition, which sees Capco take a 26.3% stake in Shaftesbury across two tranches.
Votes for the deal accounted for 72.2% of those cast, while votes against stood at 27.8%.
Capco said: “The company notes the percentage of votes cast against the resolution and will continue to engage with shareholders to address any concerns.”
The company added that some proxy agencies had “focused on short-term share price movements which have been driven by relatively low trading volumes”, and said that “discussions with shareholders to date have indicated a strong level of support for the investment”.
Sarah Corbett, Capco’s head of investor relations, told EG that the “overwhelming majority” of shareholders had voted in favour of the second investment tranche, and declined to comment on the concerns the company may have to discuss with shareholders that voted against it.
Today’s vote was to gain approval for the acquisition of 16.3m shares, or 5.31% of Shaftesbury’s stock, for £88.2m.
That phase of the deal follows the acquisition of 64.4m shares, or 20.94% of Shaftesbury’s stock, for £347.7m in a deal that closed in early June.
To send feedback, e-mail tim.burke@egi.co.uk or tweet @_tim_burke or @estatesgazette
