Mitchell Communication Group shareholders have approved the $363 million friendly takeover of the agency by London-based Aegis Media.
The resolution was passed with 99.86% of votes from 235,392,067 shares and more than 700 shareholders. Only 329,227 shares from 23 shareholders voted against and 9330 abstained.
The shareholder meeting took place at the Langham Hotel in Melbourne this morning and it was always expected that the acquisition would pass without any surprises.
The deal marks the end of era for the family-owned group and executive chairman and director Harold Mitchell, with the group now becoming a subsidiary of Aegis' global operation.
Mitchell’s family owns 40% of the media agency and they will now become the second-biggest shareholder in Aegis with a stake of approximately 5%. Harold Mitchell alone owns 30% of the agency. Aegis offered $1.20 for each Mitchell share, or 40 Aegis shares for every 67 Mitchell shares.
The merged Mitchell-Aegis group will boast combined media billings of $1.7 billion, accounting for around 20% of media placed through agencies, excluding direct deals brokered between media owners and advertisers.
Before the vote took place, Mitchell gave an opening address, in which he said: "We will help move Aegis from number 7 in Australia to number 1. And more importantly, we will deal ourselves into the great growth corridor of Asia. Aegis will move from number 5 to number 3 in the region and I suspect we won't be stopping there.
"Asia in the great future for Australia. The World Bank has made it clear that by 2050 this region, our region, will be 50% of the world's economy. Australia can dig up and sell what it has for many years to come, but its future is in taking our intellectual capacity to the world. That is what we're doing today."
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