Billabong’s last day on the Exchange

Monday will be Billabong International’s last day of trading on the ASX after the Federal Court approved Quiksilver parent Boardriders Inc’s scheme of arrangement to acquire all of the issued shares in the company.

The surf wear business will suspend from quotation and the close of trading on April 9, notifying the market that the $1.05 per share Boardriders offer was legally effective on Monday morning.

Billabong shareholders who hold shares at the record date for the scheme (16 April) are due to receive payment under the scheme on 24 April.

The Boardriders deal passed its major hurdle late last month when shareholders voted in favour of the scheme, despite a last-minute change to the deal that saw the price increase by 5 cents per share.

85.87 per cent of shareholders voted in favour of the deal, passing the 75 per cent needed for the acquisition to proceed.

Not all shareholders were happy with the outcome, with a cloud dropping over the deal around the price in the lead up to the shareholder vote, but in the end Billabong chairman Ian Pollard, a staunch advocate of the proposal, said the business would be left in “good hands”.

“The outcome of today is that we will see the creation of one of the world’s strongest action sports companies,” Pollard said of the deal late last month.

“I believe the brand will be in good hands following today’s vote.”