Shareholders of Rhoen-Klinikum AG (RHK.XE) voted in favor of
changing the company's strict voting-threshold statutes, the
company said Wednesday.
To date, the private hospital operator required a 90% voting
majority for major decisions, allowing minor shareholders to create
a blocking minority more easily than at companies with lower
thresholds. Last year, an attempted takeover by Fresenius SE &
Co. KGaA (FRE.XE) failed to clear this hurdle after competitor
Asklepios Kliniken GmbH bought shares, effectively stifling the
deal.
Shareholders with just over 90.5% of voting rights voted in
favor of lowering the threshold, while those holding around 9.5%
were opposed.
Supervisory Board Chairman and major shareholder Eugen Muench
advocated the change at an annual shareholders' meeting, which
began earlier in the day.
Mr. Muench said at the meeting that new shareholders Asklepios
and pharmaceutical company B. Braun Melsungen AG were collectively
damaging the company and industry by preventing the takeover.
"Keeping a blockade for the sake of keeping a blockade without
taking responsibility for the further development of the industry,
certainly doesn't correspond to my understanding of business
ethics," he told the general assembly.
Write to Heide Oberhauser at heide.oberhauser@dowjones.com
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