British insurance company Standard Life said that its members voted in favor of demutalization today, a move that paves the way for the company to list on the London Stock Exchange this summer.
Edinburgh-based Standard Life said 98 per cent of the members that voted chose to approve the demutalization, well above the minimum 75 per cent approval threshold. Around 1.6 million of the 2.4 million members entitled to vote did so.
The company said that the vote means that 65 per cent of its total members support the demutualization and subsequent flotation. Subject to court approval, Standard Life plans to launch its share offers on June 15th, with its listing on the London Stock Exchange scheduled for July.
These dates may be influenced by court approval, market conditions and business performance, the company said. Since April, the company's flotation plans have been under close scrutiny due to recent declines in the UK stock market.
Several other companies have delayed their listings on the London Stock Exchange, citing volatile equity market conditions.
Standard Life said last month that it plans to raise £1.1 billion sterling ($1.94 billion) of net new capital from the floatation and intends to use the new capital to finance growth of its UK business and support its capital adequacy ratios.
The company's advisers estimated that, had the shares already been listed on the London Stock Exchange, they would have traded in a likely price range of 240 pence to 290 pence a share on April 13th, implying a total market capitalization of between £4.8 billion and £5.5 billion.
Standard Life also said in April that it has received several approaches, including a merger proposal, but added that these potential deals were not in the best interests of members.
Standard Life is expected to shortly announce the banks mandated for its IPO. Merrill Lynch and UBS advised the company on its demutualization process.