Computershare is to purchase CPV AG, a specialist for the preparation, execution and postprocessing of annual general meetings (AGMs) with immediate effect.
CPV, based in Ursensollen near Amberg in Germany’s Upper Palatinate region, provides technologies that support annual general meeting procedures. The company also has an internet-based instruction system enabling voting for shareholders unable to attend meetings in person. And it has also created a web-based Q&A solution which enables companies to control the entire process from preparing for shareholder questions in advance of an AGM to preparing responses to these questions and notification of Executive Boards. Leveraging these technologies will mean that Computershare will be able to offer an ever greater range of annual general meeting services from a single source.
With the purchase, Computershare said it will become Germany’s number 1 AGM service provider. With a total of 190 annual general meetings of all sizes in 2004, Computershare and CPV supported more AGMs than any other service provider. This is based on the results of a February 2005 survey by GoingPublic magazine.
Market entry in Austria with new Vienna office Computershare’s acquisition of CPV also means that it will be intensifying its commitment to the Austrian market. The company will shortly be opening a sales office in Vienna and providing local support for existing clients.
Computershare steps up consolidation of market for issuer services. Before taking over CPV, Computershare also acquired the AGM consultancy imagine at the start of the year. “Consolidation of what is an extremely fragmented market for issuer services is long overdue,” says Dr. Florian Schtz, Group Managing Director Germany, Austria and Switzerland. “Computershare is actively involved in this process with the aim over the next two years to be the global leader as a bank-independent provider in the German speaking market as well.”