On Tuesday, IMAX Corporation (IMAX) announced that it would not buy out the remaining IMAX China 96.3 million shares listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. This follows a vote cast at an extraordinary general meeting of the IMAX China shareholders held on Monday.
IMAX China votes against privatisation transaction
Despite 70% of shareholders voting in favour of the $124m buyout, the votes against surpassed the 10% limit stipulated by Hong Kong Law to defeat a privatisation deal. Currently, the IMAX Corporation, which is parent to IMAX China, owns 71.6% of its subsidiary. It needed 75% of the votes to get the deal through.
In July, it offered to acquire the outstanding IMAX China stake for $1.28 a share. This 28.4% portion came in at approximately $98.7m at the last close of trading. IMAX China indicated its shares will trade as normal on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
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IMAX Corporation aims to collect all shares under one umbrella to streamline operations and boost its technologies in the Chinese arena. Rich Gelfond, chief executive officer of IMAX, said:
Even though our proposal received the vast majority of votes cast, and support from both leading independent proxy advisory firms, the vote did not achieve the threshold needed for approval. While disappointing, the vote demonstrates that shareholders believe, as we do, that the future of IMAX China is bright.
Gelfond also emphasised the company’s overall commitment in China. He said it continues to seek growth opportunities to expand the brand.
