Mixed results for Murray & Roberts in crucial Competition Tribunal decision
How many shares German investor Aton can vote, will depend on how many other shareholders turn up to the meeting on M&R’s Aveng takeover
Murray & Roberts (M&R) failed to persuade the Competition Tribunal that German investor Aton should not be allowed to vote its recently acquired shares at its shareholder meeting on Tuesday. But M&R did succeed in getting the tribunal to potentially prevent Aton from voting its full 44% holding. In its ruling on Monday, the tribunal allowed Aton to vote "50% less one vote of the votes cast" at tomorrow’s meeting to decide if M&R is permitted to proceed with its proposed all share acquisition of Aveng. This means Aton will need at least one other shareholder to support its opposition to M&R acquiring Aveng to block the deal. On Friday, the tribunal heard an urgent application from M&R requesting that Aton have its voting rights limited to about 30%. M&R argued that if Aton were permitted to vote its full 44% holding, "Aton would effectively be able to exercise control over voting decisions of the company based on historical attendances (in person and by proxy) at recent shareholder m...
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