Poundland (PLND) shareholders have overwhelmingly backed the £610m takeover bid from South Africa’s Steinhoff Group despite fears activist investor Elliott Capital could derail the deal.
Poundland announced today that votes representing 97.9% of shares at its Court Meeting and 98.4% of shares at its general meeting voted to back the deal today.
The vote, which required 75% approval to proceed, will see Steinhoff buy up all the remaining Poundland shares it does not already own for 225p per share plus a 2p dividend payment.
Steinhoff was forced to increase its 220p plus 2p dividend per share offer for Poundland by 5p per share after US hedge fund Elliott Capital pushed for a better deal after building a 17.5% stake in the discounter.
Elliott has subsequently grown that stake to almost 23%, but did not ultimately chose to vote the deal down.
The acquisition has already received unconditional merger clearance from the European Commission.
The transaction is scheduled to complete on 16 September.
Poundland shares rose 1.3% to 226.8p on the news. The shares dipped to 158p in mid-June before Steinhoff’s bid become public.
No comments yet