22% vote against incentive plan but it’s not enough to scupper Berkeley’s plans to become an urban regeneration specialist.
Shareholders have overwhelmingly voted in favour of Berkeley Group’s plan to restructure the company and provide its senior managers with incentives of up to £100m.
The restructuring plan will see the housebuilding arm of the company scaled down to provide £1.45bn for shareholders over the next six years. Four managers including Berkeley founder Tony Pidgley will receive up to 15% of the streamlined company, which could be worth up to £100m.
Shareholders this morning voted to approve both the board’s strategy and the managers’ long-term incentive plan. 92% of shareholders voted in favour of the change of strategy, which will see Berkeley focus on urban regeneration rather than housebuilding.
The vote for the long-term incentive plan was not so cut and dried, with 21% of shareholders voting against the proposal. For both resolutions to be passed the incentive plan required the approval of 50% of shareholders and the restructuring proposal required 75% approval.
Group chairman Roger Lewis said: “We are delighted that the overwhelming majority of shareholders have supported these proposals. The scheme of arrangement returns £12 per existing ordinary share to shareholders over six years of which £5 is payable in December of this year. This combined with the new long term incentive plan aligns the interests of shareholders and the executive directors.”
