Livestock Improvement Corporation shareholders have voted to simplify the co-op’s share structure.
At a special general meeting in Hamilton today, 87.69% of cooperative shareholder votes and 83.39% of investment shareholder votes cast backed the proposal. Turnout was 27.28% of co-op shares and 37.36% of investment shares.
The proposal will bring the farmer owned cooperative’s existing two classes of shares together into a single class.
For the changes to proceed they needed to be approved by both classes of shareholders, each to a level of 75% or more of the votes received.
LIC chairman Murray King, said that the result was an emphatic endorsement of the proposal from shareholders and that the board would now proceed with the next steps in implementing the simplified share structure.
“This result is good news for LIC, our shareholders and New Zealand dairy farmers. It will allow us to decisively address the increasing disparity between the two existing classes of shares and ensure a resilient and agile co-op for the future.
“I want to thank all our shareholders who took the time to vote and to attend the roadshows that we held up and down the country.
“For myself and the other directors it was great to hear shareholders feedback on the proposal and answer a range of questions they had on the move and LIC’s performance.
Under the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act, LIC is now required to seek Ministerial consent for the changes to LIC’s constitution that will enable the proposal to be implemented.
“We have written to the Minister of Agriculture seeking his consent and given the clear shareholder support for the proposal we are hopeful that this will be granted shortly,” says King.
“It is then the board’s intention to carry out the implementation of the proposal over July 2018 with the aim to have trading in the new single class of ordinary shares open on 23 July 2018.
“We will keep shareholders and the market updated on progress towards this and all shareholders will shortly receive further information on the next steps in the implementation process.
“It’s great to finally have an end in sight to what has been an exhaustive process. This has been an important step in the future proofing of LIC and the Board is pleased to see it receive strong shareholder support”, King concluded.
