BTA shares on issue: 182m. Of those, about 85m voted. That's about 47% of shareholders voting. About 80m voted "for", which is about 44% of the entire holding.
I dunno who voted for what, but here's a guess: East Hill Holding Company just bought 22.5m/12.35% of all BTA shares. East Hill Holding Company LLC is based in Boston, Massachusetts. They could just flip the shares on their own bourse. JP Morgan owns 51m/28% of all BTA shares), and probably buy and sell shares all over the world with ease. So, East Hill and JP Morgan own 40% of BTA *between them*.
To reiterate: * 47% of all shareholders voted * 73m shares of the 85m "fors" are likely to be owned by two parties. This is 86% of the "for" votes likely to be made up of only two parties.
Biota said after the meeting, that shareholders "voted overwhelmingly in favour of the merger ...". Well, yes- technically, they did. However, barely anyone voted,and there was probably two signatures on 86% of the "fors".
The share price tells the story here- not the results of the shareholder meeting. What a lucky break that East Hills joined the BTA register recently, eh, or this merger would probably have gone to the dogs- just like the share price has.
I tend to believe more in the 5% of voters who voted against the merger, because I'm going to take a guess that they had more diverse signatures on their voting cards. One day I hope holders just get 1 vote, not matter how many shares they have. East Hills and JP Morgan will win every time against the little guy. Still, 47% voted, with a couple of signatures... overwhelmingly in favour indeed.
BTA Price at posting:
61.0¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
