Shareholders were required to vote on both the demerger of Quilter from Old Mutual plc for its listing and transforming Old Mutual plc into a subsidiary of Old Mutual Limited, before the listing of the latter company.
Court approval was first sought for both schemes, before a general meeting where shareholder voting took place, in a process that totaled around 20 minutes.
An Old Mutual spokesperson told Portfolio Adviser the shareholder vote represents the final hurdle for the managed separation, with additional court approval simply rubber-stamping the move.
Quilter will be admitted to the London Stock Exchange on 25 June and Old Mutual Limited the following day.
Both companies will also be listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, while Old Mutual Limited will also list in Malawi, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
Each shareholder will receive one ordinary share in Quilter and three ordinary shares in Old Mutual Limited for every three shares they held in Old Mutual plc.
Old Mutual Global Investors’ (OMGI) spin-out is due to take place after Quilter’s June listing.
Incentive scheme
Shareholders also voted on six different remuneration plans.
While all ultimately passed, 22.7% voted against the Old Mutual Limited employee share ownership plan. The board said the vote against the resolution was driven by proxy voting agency ISS, which had told voters there were no performance conditions that applied within the scheme.
The Old Mutual board argued the scheme runs alongside its long-term incentive plan, which does include a long-term performance-based element.
The Quilter performance share plan also only received 85% support. In response, the board said an amendment would be made to limit ordinary and exceptional individual awards to 200% and 400% of base salary respectively.
