Some 80,000 of the 185,000 Irish members of the Automobile Association will shortly be asked to approve its takeover by British gas supply company, Centrica. They will be able to vote on the deal either by post or at a special general meeting which is likely to be held in the autumn. As the AA is currently mutually-owned by its members, if the deal is approved each one will be entitled to a payout estimated at £240 sterling (€369) as part of the £1.1 billion acquisition.
There are 185,000 AA members in the Republic. The majority of these, however, receive membership as a bonus with a credit card or are granted it through a motor distributor. The AA says that only the 80,000 who actually pay for AA membership will be entitled to claim the payout. Associate members - those covered by the AA as part of someone else's membership, such as husbands and wives or other family members - will also be excluded. The takeover must be approved by two-thirds of the AA's 4.6 million members. If enough members vote in favour of it, Centrica will join with AA to create one of the world's leading home and motoring services providers.
The buyout follows the sale of the RAC's breakdown services business to car leasing group Lex Service in April for £437 million sterling. The RAC's 12,000 full members each got a windfall of £34,000 sterling.
