ICAP AGM over, Tan Teng Boo and ICAP BOD got overwhelming support from shareowners

The 8th AGM of close-end fund iCapital.biz Bhd (ICAP, 5108) which lasted from 9am to 3pm (with 2 hours lunch break to allow calculation of votes to Resolutions #3 onwards) on 10 November 2012 was finally concluded, with overwhelming support given to Tan Teng Boo and the current BOD of ICAP. It is still very far away for Laxey Partners to attempt to obtain a seat in the BOD of ICAP.

About 2000 shareowners have attended this AGM, and apparently 99.8% of the attendee headcounts are on Teng Boo's side, while 0.2% in the hall was in favour of Laxey.

Laxey Partners has recommended to use share buyback mechanism to try to minimize the discount gap between the ICAP's share price and its net asset value (NAV), which we still unsure if it is approvable for CEF in Malaysia to do so, and the method is not bulletproof and has no guarantee whether will really work or not, and even if it works, it "will only benefit short-term traders" as said by Teng Boo.

Meanwhile, Teng Boo has revealed an innovative way of introducing a dual-listing global fund with attached warrants to address the discount gap issue. He didn't disclose much as he is still working on it, and said that hopefully it will be materialized in early 2013.

From the percentage of votes casted to the resolutions, it is clear that City of London Investment Management Company Ltd. was not on Laxey's side. I doubt they are on Teng Boo's side too. They possibly did not cast any vote.

Although Teng Boo managed to beautifully win the battle this round, he has to really ensure that his proposed "dual-listing global fund with attached warrants" can get materialized and can really work. If not, that will be a good attack point from Laxey, and Teng Boo might not be getting as much support from ICAP shareowners again if he failed to deliver.

Teng Boo and the new 7-people BOD must work really hard for ICAP to sustain the victory and avoid subsequent attack. This should be good to all the shareowners of ICAP, including Laxey. After all, we believe Laxey is here to gain money from investment, and not to make trouble for no reason.

Disclaimer: This article is intended for sharing of point of view only. It is not an advice or recommendation to buy or sell any of the mentioned stock counters. You should do your own homework before trading in Bursa Malaysia.