Old Mutual‘s offer for Swedish life and savings firm Skandia has become wholly unconditional, meaning that Old Mutual has succeeded in taking over the firm.
The news follows the announcement by the South African insurer that 72.3% of Skandia shareholders had accepted its offer for the company – just short of the 75% it had hoped for. Hitting this milestone would have meant additional tax breaks in the U.K.
The only outstanding condition of the offer was getting approval from the Polish insurance regulator. However, Old Mutual waived this condition, saying that failure to get the approval would have a minimal effect on the financial performance of the enlarged group.
The board of Skandia has called an extraordinary general meeting to elect a new board. The meeting will be held on Feb. 21.
Old Mutual’s success marks the end of a drawn-out takeover battle. It first expressed its interest in Skandia in May last year, and made a firm offer for the company in September of SKr16.5 ($2.2) a share.
This bid prompted a hostile reaction from Skandia’s board, which deemed the offer inadequate and said it would not recommend it to shareholders. But it appears many shareholders disagreed – the offer price remained unchanged.