17th Sep 2018 06:58
LONDON (Alliance News) - Aviva Investors said it plans to vote against Unilever's PLC proposal to move its headquarters to the Netherlands, The Financial Times reported on Sunday.
The asset management arm of insurer Aviva, Unilever's ninth largest shareholder, said it does not believe that scrapping the company's dual UK-Dutch structure is the best thing for investors, the FT reported.
Next month, Unilever will hold meetings with both its UK and shareholders to secure the majority of votes for the move. The consumer good's company will need 75% favourable votes from UK shareholders and 50% from Dutch investors for the relocation to take place.
If approved, the move will mean that Unilever will be forced out of the FTSE 100 index, forcing passive funds that use it as benchmark to sell their holdings, the FT said.
https://www.ft.com/content/559eba16-b848-11e8-b3ef-799c8613f4a1
Last week, Unilever said it will delist the shares of its current UK and Dutch entities on December 21 and list shares of its new single Dutch entity on December 24, as part of a previously announced simplification strategy.
Shares of new single entity will be listed in Amsterdam, London and, in the form of American depositary shares, New York.
This comes after the Dove soap maker in March said it would simplify itself into a single legal entity incorporated in the Netherlands.
The company - which currently has headquarters in Rotterdam and London and two separately listed entities, a UK PLC and a Dutch NV - attributed the decision to the fact its Dutch NV shares account for 55% of the company's combined ordinary share capital and trade with greater liquidity than London-listed shares.
The NV shareholder meeting will take place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on October 25 and the PLC shareholder meeting will take place in London on October 26.
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