27 Mar 2024 15:50
abrdn Private Equity Opportunities Trust plc
Legal Entity Identifier (LEI): 2138004MK7VPTZ99EV13
27 March 2024
Result of Annual General Meeting & Investment Manager Update
Result of AGM
At the Annual General Meeting of abrdn Private Equity Opportunities Trust plc (the "Company" or "APEO") held on Wednesday, 27 March 2024, all the Resolutions as set out in full in the Notice of Meeting included within the Company's Annual Report for the year ended 30 September 2023, available on the Company's website www.abrdnpeot.com*, were duly passed.
Proxy votes
The proxy votes received in respect of the AGM resolutions proposed at the meeting are shown in the table below:
| For and Discretionary | Against | Votes | Total Votes | ||
Resolution Number | No. of Votes | % of Votes Cast | No. of Votes | % of Votes Cast | Withheld | (excluding Votes Withheld) |
1. Receive the Annual Report and Financial Statements | 109,836,666 | 100.00 | 3,722 | 0.00 | 11,691 | 109,840,388 |
2. Approve the Directors' Remuneration Report | 109,660,172 | 99.86 | 155,541 | 0.14 | 36,366 | 109,815,713 |
3. Approve the Dividend Policy | 109,838,935 | 100.00 | 3,722 | 0.00 | 9,422 | 109,842,657 |
4. Re-elect Mr Agble | 109,783,542 | 99.98 | 20,309 | 0.02 | 48,228 | 109,803,851 |
5. Re-elect Mr Devine | 109,748,143 | 99.95 | 51,436 | 0.05 | 52,500 | 109,799,579 |
6. Re-elect Ms Seymour-Williams | 109,778,477 | 99.99 | 15,957 | 0.01 | 57,645 | 109,794,434 |
7. Re-elect Ms Stillhart | 109,788,129 | 99.99 | 15,722 | 0.01 | 48,228 | 109,803,851 |
8. Re-elect Mr Thomson | 109,779,716 | 99.98 | 24,135 | 0.02 | 48,228 | 109,803,851 |
9. Re-appoint BDO LLP as Auditor | 109,787,683 | 99.96 | 47,269 | 0.04 | 17,127 | 109,834,952 |
10. Remuneration of the Auditor | 109,823,435 | 99.99 | 15,573 | 0.01 | 13,071 | 109,839,008 |
11. Allotment of new equity | 109,814,610 | 99.98 | 27,015 | 0.02 | 10,454 | 109,841,625 |
12. Disapply pre-emption rights | 109,174,155 | 99.41 | 653,166 | 0.59 | 24,758 | 109,827,321 |
13. Authorise market purchases of ordinary shares | 107,895,091 | 98.23 | 1,941,487 | 1.77 | 15,501 | 109,836,578 |
14. Approve holding meetings on less than 14 days' notice | 109,722,870 | 99.90 | 111,598 | 0.10 | 17,611 | 109,834,468 |
15. Adoption of new Articles of Association | 109,738,298 | 99.92 | 83,135 | 0.08 | 30,646 | 109,821,433 |
Copies of the resolutions passed under special business will shortly be submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will be available for inspection at: https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism*.
*Neither the NSM website nor the Company's website nor the content of any website accessible from hyperlinks on those websites (or any other website) is (or is deemed to be) incorporated into, or forms (or is deemed to form) part of this announcement.
Investment Manager Update
At the AGM, Mr Devine, the APEO Chair, also provided an update, further to the Company's announcement on 16 October 2023, on the status of sale by abrdn plc ("abrdn") of its European-headquartered Private Equity business, including the Company's investment manager, abrdn Capital Partners LLP, to an indirect subsidiary of Patria Investments Limited ("Patria")(the "Transaction").
Mr Devine said:
"In October 2023, abrdn announced the conditional sale of its European-headquartered Private Equity business, which includes APEO's investment manager, abrdn Capital Partners LLP, to an indirect subsidiary of Patria Investments Limited, a global alternative asset manager established in Latin America.
As I mentioned in our Annual Report, the Board has been undertaking extensive diligence on the proposed Transaction with abrdn, our investment management team, and with Patria, to fully understand the impact of the sale, and what it means for APEO and its shareholders.
I am pleased to confirm that the Board has completed its due diligence exercise and has agreed to consent to the Transaction by waiving the "Manager Change of Control" provisions set out in our Investment Management Agreement.
During our diligence, we received various assurances, including that there will be: (i) no change to the management and administration services which are provided to APEO; (ii) no change to APEO's investment management process; and (iii) no change to the personnel managing APEO. Importantly, we also received comfort that the Transaction will be cost neutral for the Company - there are not expected to be any additional costs to the Company (and so shareholders) as a result of it.
The Transaction remains subject to regulatory approval and, upon receipt of that approval, the Board is excited to continue to work with APEO's management team, and the wider team at Patria."
For abrdn Private Equity Opportunities Trust plc
abrdn Holdings Limited
Company Secretary
27 March 2024