Abrdn forced to delay £1.5bn Interactive Investor takeover due to global paper shortages
Edinburgh headquartered asset manager Abrdn has been forced to delay a shareholder ballot on its plans to launch a £1.5bn takeover of online investment platform Interactive Investor, because of an international paper shortage.
Abrdn had hoped to let shareholders vote on its plans to takeover Interactive Investor ahead of its results.
However, the Scottish asset manager has been forced to delay its ballot until mid-March, because it has been unable to get enough paper to send out the right documents to shareholders, Sky News’ Mark Kleinman reported yesterday.
Under UK takeover rules, companies must send out paper versions of documents to shareholders. The rules mean Abrdn must send out hard copies of its documents to its more than one million shareholders.
However, Abrdn’s plans to hold a ballot before its results have been scuppered by the global paper shortage, meaning the investment company will be forced to wait until two weeks after its results before it puts its plans to shareholders.
Labour shortages and global supply chain issues have caused major problems in the paper industry, with some buyers having forced to wait for up to 12 weeks for paper deliveries.