Jardines kills HK re-listing move

United States fund manager Brandes Investment Partners is understood to have been denied a shareholder's resolution demanding that Jardine Matheson Holdings (JMH) and Jardine Strategic Holdings (JSH) re-list their shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange after the Jardines board rejected the proposal.

Investors in recent years have called on Jardines to move its main listing back to Hong Kong, but the board is understood to have rejected the proposed resolution on procedural grounds.

The shareholder activist action against Jardines is the result of San Diego-based Brandes' unprecedented six resolutions to be heard at the annual meetings of JMH and JSH on June 1, which aim to break the cross-shareholding between the two firms and make directors more accountable.

Templeton Emerging Markets head Mark Mobius, whose funds own a 2 per cent stake in JMH and a 0.5 per cent stake in JSH, said he was aware of the abandoned resolution for the two firms to re-list in Hong Kong and supported it.

'I was aware of the resolution, I wasn't aware it had been dropped,' he said.

Neil McNamara, Jardines company secretary, said: 'I'm not going to start commenting on speculation.' Mr Mobius said Templeton might instigate legal action against the companies should the boards of JMH and JSH vote down Brandes six proposals as they have indicated they will do.

'We are exploring that. It is a difficult route, because obviously legal action is expensive and time consuming. We prefer not to take these kind of actions.' Reacting to the dropped Hong Kong re-listing resolution, Mr Mobius said: 'We are interested in trying to get liquidity into the stock and changing the structure for shareholders.' Since Jardine group companies de-listed from the Hong Kong exchange in 1994 they have not featured in major international benchmark indices, have experienced less trading liquidity and have under-performed the market.