Henderson Global Investors, which voted against Hong Kong businessman Dickson Poon's GBP137.5 million (about HK$1.7 billion) buyout bid for the British luxury retailer Harvey Nichols Group, has called for an inquiry to ensure Monday's vote counting method was accurate.
The call came after a minority shareholders' vote in London on Monday turned in a result of 55.2 per cent for and 44.8 per cent against Mr Poon's bid to buy out the 49.9 per cent of Harvey Nichols he does not own.
The vote temporarily blocked Mr Poon, as he needed 75 per cent approval for the buyout.
But Mr Poon, who controls 51 per cent of Harvey Nichols, will proceed with a new bid pitched at the original offer of 250p pence but conditional on only 50 per cent approval of minority investors.
A prospectus for the new offer is expected to be issued by the end of the week, with shareholders being given a further 21 days to cast their vote.
Colin Hughes, a fund manager at Henderson Global, expressed doubt on the way the votes were counted. 'A majority of the minority shareholders have voted in favour to the proposal. . . [we have an] enquiry on how those votes were counted,' he said.
