Toll Group shareholders vote in favour of takeover by Japan Post
Toll Holdings Ltd shareholders have voted in favour of Japan Post’s proposed takeover of the company. In order to be approved, the proposal required a vote by the holders of at least 75% of shares, with the majority in favour. At yesterday’s (13 May) vote in Melbourne, 95.88% of Toll shareholders present and voting (either in person or by proxy) were in favour of the resolution.
The Supreme Court of Victoria has today made orders approving the takeover, and Toll has suspended its shares from trading on the ASX.
Toll Group Managing Director Brian Kruger thanked shareholders for their support over Toll’s 22-year history of listing on the ASX, adding: “We now look forward to the official start of our very exciting future as part of the Japan Post family.”
State-owned Japan Post (which is set to launch an IPO this year) sees the acquisition of Toll Holdings as a way to expand its international business in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond in order to counter the declining postal market at home.
Toll had sales of A$8.8bn ($6.9bn USD) in 2014, and profits of A$293m ($229m USD).
The Toll business includes large logistics operations for the energy and mining sectors, the government and defense sectors, and contract logistics for major corporations. The Group also operates express delivery services, and is growing its business-to-consumer delivery business in the Australian e-commerce market.
