TPG shareholders on Wednesday voted in favour of the merger of the two companies and also in favour of a special resolution to change the company's name from TPG Telecom to TPG Corporation.
VHA chief executive Iñaki Berroeta said in a statement the vote was one of the final steps towards implementation of the merger.
“Today is a significant milestone in the merger process and subject to final court approval, we will be bringing VHA and TPG together in two and a half weeks,” he said.
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TPG chairman David Teoh said: “TPG shareholders have voted overwhelmingly in favour of the proposed merger with VHA. This is an important milestone to have reached as we work to bring together our two highly complementary businesses to create a leading integrated, full-service telecommunications company with a comprehensive portfolio of fixed and mobile products in the Australian telecommunications market."
The merger, announced in August 2018, was given the go-ahead by the Federal Court in February, after the two companies challenged a decision by the competition regulator to block the deal because of it causing was said to be less competition in the sector.
The scrip deal would create a company with an enterprise value of about $15 billion, according to the initial announcement made to the ASX. It said 50.1% of the merged entity would be owned by Vodafone with the remainder to be owned by TPG.
In March, the two companies said they had received the necessary permissions from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US and the US Federal Communications Commission.
Last month, the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board gave VHA the final regulatory approval needed for the merger.
TPG said in a statement to the ASX that it would now seek orders from the Supreme Court of New South Wales for approval of the vote at a hearing scheduled for 26 June . If this is approved, TPG proposes to lodge the orders of the court with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission on 29 June and the merger will become effective on that date.
TPG shares will then be suspended from trading on the ASX from the close of trading on 29 June. Shares in VHA are expected to be admitted to ASX’s official list on 30 June under the ASX code TPG. Trading will begin on a deferred settlement basis until the merger comes into effect on 13 July 2020 and ordinary settlement trading is expected to begin on 14 July.
Shares in Tuas Limited, which will be distributed to TPG shareholders as part of the demerger of TPG’s Singapore business, are expected to be admitted to ASX’s official list on 30 June under the ASX code TUA. Trading will commence on a conditional and deferred settlement basis until the Implementation of merger, expected on 13 July, and ordinary settlement trading is expected to commence from 14 July.
