09.02.2011

Manitou restructures family holdings

The Manitou board of directors has approved a restructuring of the Braud family holding that adds to its balance sheet and ensures stable family control over the next few years.

A family protocol has been signed, that will see a merger of Manitou with the family owned holding company –SFERT which currently owns 42 percent of the Manitou shares. As part of this change a new shareholders’ agreement will be signed that will see all branches of the Braud family acting in concert for at least the next six years.

In the agreement SFERT will contribute its €47 million of net assets - which include €38 million of cash and the entire share capital of Lucas G. a leading cattle-breeding business and see the 15.8 million shares in Manitou cancelled. Increasing the family's holding in Manitou by just over two percent.

Following the restructuring, which needs to go through an ‘informative consultation’ with the Manitou workers council, the share holdings will be as follows:

The Himsworth branch of the family 33.6 percent
The Braud branch of the family 31.9 percent
(Of which Marcel Braud will personally hold 9.2 percent)
This gives the two arms of the Braud family 65.6 percent of the business compared to 63.2 percent today.

The majority of the other shares are publicly traded.

The family shareholders have issued a statement that said: “This protocol is the outcome of several years of discussions between all family members, and represents an important breakthrough 18 months after the change of governance. It confirms the fundamental relationship between Manitou and the founding family, and organizes it for our common future.”

An Extraordinary General Meeting will be called in June to ratify and formalise the changes.