Cooper Shareholders Approve Eaton Acquisition

DUBLINNov. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — As previously announced on October 26, 2012, the shareholders of both Cooper Industries plc andEaton Corporation approved the proposals relating to Eaton’s acquisition of Cooper through the formation of a new Irish holding company that will be renamed Eaton Corporation plc (“New Eaton”).  The acquisition of Cooper will be effected by a “scheme of arrangement” under Irish law and, in connection with the acquisition, Eaton will merge with Turlock Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of New Eaton. 

Following the consummation of these transactions, both Eaton and Cooper will be wholly owned subsidiaries of New Eaton.

Cooper and Eaton each separately filed a Form 8-K on October 26, 2012 setting forth the detailed results for the votes cast for and against each proposal presented at their special shareholder meetings.  The Irish Takeover Rules requires that Cooper also disclose the detailed voting results for each of the proposals in a press release.

Following are the voting results for Cooper’s Special Court-Ordered Meeting and Extraordinary General Meeting that were held on October 26, 2012, as previously reported in Cooper’s Form 8-K.

Of the 161,489,215 Cooper shares outstanding as of the record date and entitled to vote at the special meetings, 68% were represented in person or by proxy at the meetings, constituting a quorum for the transaction of business.  Abstentions are not considered votes cast at the meetings.  Because approval of all proposals is based on votes properly cast at the meeting, abstentions do not have any effect on the outcome of the voting.

Special Court-Ordered Meeting

 

Proposal 1: To approve the scheme of arrangement.

Cooper shareholders approved the proposal with the following voting results including the percentage of votes cast for and against the proposal:

For

Against

Abstain

108,642,916    99.45%

594,461                       .55%

562,022

In addition, of the 2,699 record shareholders voting on the proposal, 2,483 record shareholders or 91.99% voted in favor of the proposal.

Extraordinary General Meeting

 

Proposal 1:  To approve the scheme of arrangement and authorize the directors of Cooper to take all such actions as they consider necessary or appropriate for carrying the scheme of arrangement into effect.

Cooper shareholders approved the proposal with the following voting results including the percentage of votes cost for and against the proposal:

For

Against

Abstain

108,980,764    99.46%

581,241                       .54%

502,491

Proposal 2:  To approve the cancellation of any Cooper ordinary shares in issue prior to 10:00 p.m., Irish time, on the day before the Irish High Court hearing to sanction the scheme.

Cooper shareholders approved the proposal with the following voting results including the percentage of votes cast for and against the proposal:

For

Against

Abstain

108,882,896    99.45%

592,644                       .55%

588,956

Proposal 3:  To authorize the directors of Cooper to allot and issue new Cooper shares, fully paid up, to New Eaton in connection with effecting the scheme.

Cooper shareholders approved the proposal with the following voting results including the percentage of votes cast for and against the proposal:

For

Against

Abstain

108,909,358    99.46%

587,002                       .54%

568,136

Proposal 4:  To amend the articles of association of Cooper so that any ordinary shares of Cooper that are issued at or after 10:00 p.m., Irish time, on the last business day before the scheme becomes effective are acquired by New Eaton for the scheme consideration.

Cooper shareholders approved the proposal with the following voting results including the percentage of votes cast for and against the proposal:

For

Against

Abstain

108,910,655    99.47%

575,556                       .53%

578,285

Proposal 5:  To approve the reduction of the share premium of New Eaton resulting from (i) the issuance of New Eaton shares pursuant to the scheme and (ii) a subscription for New Eaton shares by Eaton Sub prior to the merger, in order to create distributable reserves of New Eaton.

Cooper shareholders approved the proposal with the following voting results including the percentage of votes cast for and against the proposal:

For

Against

Abstain

108,957,679    99.49%

554,610                       .51%

552,207

Proposal 6:  To approve, on a non-binding advisory basis, specified compensatory arrangements between Cooper and its named executive officers relating to the transaction.

Cooper shareholders did not approve the proposal with the following voting results including the percentage of votes cast for and against the proposal:

For

Against

Abstain

43,390,009      40.67%

63,284,396      59.33%

3,390,091

Proposal 7: To adjourn the Cooper extraordinary general meeting, or any adjournments thereof, to solicit additional proxies if there are insufficient proxies at the time of the extraordinary general meeting to approve the scheme of arrangement or resolutions 2 through 6.

Proposal 7 was not voted upon at the meeting because there were sufficient proxies at the time of the extraordinary general meeting voting in favor of all the proposals necessary to approve and implement the scheme of arrangement.