Baloise Shareholders Back End of Restrictions to Voting Rights

Baloise Holding AG shareholders abolished a rule curbing voting rights to 2% irrespective of shares held at its annual general meeting in Basel, making the company a potential takeover target.

Zug-based Investor zCapitalasked the company to vote to “increase shareholder democracy” and “improve corporate governance at Baloise” in January. Proxy advisers, including Institutional Shareholder Services Inc and Glass Lewis as well as Swiss Ethos Capital Partners and Inrate supported the motion from zCapital, citing a more balanced power relation between shareholders and the board.

To contact the reporters on this story:
Paula Doenecke in Zurich at pdoenecke@bloomberg.net; ...