Link proxy investors approve $782 mln buyout from Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ (updated)

Link Administration Holdings

24/04/2024 06:54

(Adds proxy results in third paragraph and deal details from
fourth paragraph on)
    By Scott Murdoch
       SYDNEY, April 24 (Reuters) - Link Administration's
 LNK.AX  proxy investors approved Mitsubishi UFJ Financial
Group's  8306.T  A$1.2 billion ($782 million) buyout bid at a
shareholder meeting on Wednesday.
    Mitsubishi UFJ in December lodged a bid that would see Link 
shareholders receive A$2.10 in cash, as well as a A$0.16 per
share dividend if the offer was approved.
        Nearly 97% of proxy votes and 78.3% of individual
investors voted in favour of the bid, a presentation at the
meeting showed.
  
        The bid values Link, a pension administration business,
at A$1.2 billion on an equity basis and was a 33% premium to
Link's closing share price on the last day of prior trading
before the bid arrived. Link's enterprise value, which includes
debt, stands at $A2.1 billion under the offer's terms.
  
        Link shares were trading at A$2.24 ahead of the
Wednesday vote and are nearly 3% higher so far in 2024,
according to LSEG data.
  
        The stock was trading at A$1.09 in late November before
Mitsubishi UFJ emerged as a buyer in mid-December.
  
        The Japanese financial conglomerate was already a Link
shareholder with a 6.4% stake in the firm prior to the bid.
  
        Link is considered the largest Australian pension
administration company, providing services to 10 million
accounts, or approximately 41% of Australian private pension
members.
  
        It also has a share registry business in Australia,
Britain and India. 
  
        
  

 (Reporting by Scott Murdoch in Sydney; Editing by Tom Hogue and
Kim Coghill)
 ((Scott.Murdoch@thomsonreuters.com;))