SARAH BULLEN, Johannesburg | Thursday 3.00pm.
IN a landslide vote on Thursday, 99,5% of Sanlam policy holders approved the assurance giant’s proposal to demutualise. The demutualisation proposal, which will see Sanlam convert into an ordinary, listed company with shareholders instead of members, required only a 75% approval.
Although not required by law to hold a vote, Sanlam decided it would only proceed with the demutualisation, and subsequent listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, if 75% of its member approved the proposal.
Following months of an education and publicity campaign mounted by Sanlam to inform its members of the implications of demutualisation, policyholders voted, either in person or by proxy, at Sanlam’s Extraordinary General Meeting in Paarl.
Sanlam chairman Marius Daling said that more than one million members participated in the vote, “making this an unprecedented event in South Africa’s corporate history”.
Although the results of the vote are still subject to confirmation by an external auditor, Sanlam said that its count indicates that well over 75% of members voted in favour. Pending high court approval, Sanlam will list on the Johannesburg and Namibian stock exchanges in late November.