Unilever NV settles preference share action
In November last year, Unilever NV (Euronext: UNA; NYSE: UN) settled the action brought against it, regarding a certain preference share conversion, with the Vereniging van Effectenbezitters (Dutch Investors’ Association) and ’several institutional shareholders’. (press release) It has recently announced this settlement is offered to all other preference shareholders affected who were not part of the original settlement, for which it has set aside a provision of €300 million. (notice)
In March 2004, Unilever announced its intention to convert the main part of the notional value of the NLG 0.10 cumulative preference shares it had issued in 1999, as an alternative to a cash dividend, into ordinary shares. The announcement was followed by an action in the Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal to request an enquiry into the valuation of the conversion, which was granted later that year. (case LJN AR7861, in Dutch)
Plaintiffs’ counsel: Houthoff Buruma and Pels Rijcken & Droogleever Fortuijn NV; Defendant’s counsel: De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek NV
The cash settlement, with a value of €1.38 plus €0.16 interest per preference share, takes the total amount received per preference share to €5.98 (excluding interest) against a notional value and expectation of €6.58, or 91%. (For a timeline of events, see here.) The deadline to register with claims administrator NV Algemeen Nederlands Trustkantoor (no link) to take up the settlement offer is 20 April 2007.
To download a claim form and learn more, see Prefcompensatie (a VEB site, in Dutch) or Prefsettlement (an ANT site). With thanks to Eric J. Belfi of Labaton Sucharow & Rudoff LLP for the notification.