MMA postpones annual meeting

MMA Offshore has postponed its annual meeting after a complaint from major shareholder Halom Investments to the Takeovers Panel regarding a $97 million capital raising.

However, the panel’s decision does not support the major shareholder’s application request to deny new shareholders voting rights at the annual meeting.

Instead, the panel has accepted MMA's undertaking to delay its shareholder meeting until December 19, thus allowing all new shareholders to be eligible to vote at the meeting.

Halom asked the panel to revise MMA’s planned capital raising, claiming the deal was designed to entrench the control held by the incumbent board.

The major shareholder is seeking the removal of managing director Jeff Weber and appointment of two of its own nominees to the board at the annual meeting.

The company’s meeting was set to be held on Thursday, which would have meant shares issued under the retail entitlement component of the raising were ineligible to vote.

“The panel considered that the timing of, and the quantum of new shares issued under, the placement and the institutional entitlement offer will have the effect of disenfranchising part of the share register of MMA,” the panel said in a statement.

The new date for the meeting undertaken by MMA now allows all new shareholders the ability to vote at the annual meeting.

“While the panel has accepted this undertaking from MMA in relation to the application, it agrees with the concerns expressed in ASIC policy regarding the potential for early allotment to institutional investors in an accelerated rights issue to distort voting at a meeting,” the panel said.

“The panel would be concerned if the timetable initially adopted by MMA in this case were to occur again.”

Shares in MMA finished flat at 23 cents.