Despite all the drama ahead of the Sirius Minerals (SXX) shareholder meeting yesterday, investors have backed a 5.5p per share takeover offer by FTSE 100 mining giant Anglo American (AAL).
Shares in potash miner Sirius were trading 30% below the offer price yesterday, which raised the possibility the deal could have been rejected.
But the controversial £405m takeover is set to go ahead after a majority of shareholders voted to approve the deal, with Sirius expected to be delisted from the stock market shortly and shareholders set to receive their cash by early April.
AROUND 80% BACK ANGLO OFFER
In a highly anticipated general meeting yesterday, around 80% of shareholders by value approved Anglo’s 5.5p offer, above the 75% threshold required.
The deal also required majority support from individual voting investors, and despite the fractious meeting in which the Anglo offer was criticised, the deal was approved by 62% of shareholders by number.
Sirius shares responded accordingly today, rising 17.4% to trade roughly in line with the offer price at 5.48p.
Russell Scrimshaw, chairman of Sirius, said ‘The positive outcome from today’s meeting secures a return for shareholders, and provides greater certainty in terms of safeguarding the project, protecting the jobs of our employees, and allowing the community, region and the UK to continue to benefit from the project.’
Some of the several thousand small shareholders who invested in Sirius could be facing losses as a result of the Anglo takeover, with the Sirius share price having been as high as 45p in August 2016.
READ MORE ABOUT SIRIUS MINERALS HERE
But at least they will still recoup some of their investment. The company’s board of directors insisted if the deal wasn’t accepted Sirius would have gone into administration and the potash project would have collapsed, with shareholders losing all of their investment.
The share price of the former FTSE 250 constituent collapsed six months ago when it admitted it was struggling to raise money to fund the build of its Woodsmith potash mine in Yorkshire.
