Latest news with #TaavetHinrikus
The Guardian
a day ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Shareholders of UK fintech Wise vote to move main stock market listing to US
The UK online payments company Wise is to move its main share listing to the US after shareholders approved the move on Monday. Investors in Wise, one of the biggest financial technology businesses in the UK with a market value of around £11bn, voted in favour of a dual listing in the US in an attempt to attract more investors and boost its value. The vote at the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) was controversial as it was bound with also agreeing an extension of the company's 'dual class' structure handing enhanced voting rights to those holding 'B' class shares. A chief beneficiary of this is co-founder and chief executive, Kristo Käärmann, with his 18% ecotnomic interest in Wise becoming 55%, although his voting power is capped at 50%. The company has said that moving its main listing would 'drive greater awareness of Wise in the US, the biggest market opportunity in the world for our products today, and enabling better access to the world's deepest and most liquid capital market.' However, Estonian co-founder Taavet Hinrikus, who has 5.1% of the shares and controls 11.8% of the votes, had publicly disagreed with the 'all or nothing' vote. Hinrikus, who left the firm soon after listing in 2021, has said that the two issues should have been the subject of separate votes and that 'Wise owners deserve governance structures that enhance value, not entrench power'. The arrangement was set at listing in 2021 and was due to expire next summer under a 'sunset' clause Wise wanted to extend by 10 years. Wise structured the vote such that if shareholders wanted the company listed in New York, and voted to do so, they would also be accepting the extension of the dual class structure. Shareholder advisory service Pirc recommended investors vote against the resolution saying that 'the retention of enhanced voting rights further suggests a shift toward entrenching management control'. The proposal required a supermajority of 75% in both classes of share by value, and a turnout of 50% in each class. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Just over 77% of class A shareholders voted while 82% of class B shareholders cast a vote. Overall, the special resolution to move the main listing and reconfirm the dual class structure passed with just over 92% of support. 'We're pleased that our owners have overwhelmingly approved the proposal, giving us a strong mandate to proceed,' said David Wells, the chair of Wise. 'We appreciate the extensive engagement with our owners. With this high level of support, our focus is firmly on moving forward, further accelerating our mission of money without borders and creating long-term value for our owners as we progress to moving trillions.' Wise expects the US listing and new structure to come into force in the second quarter of next year.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Shareholder revolt over Wise plans to move listing to New York
Wise faces a shareholder revolt today over its plan to move its primary listing to New York – after a falling out between its founders. Taavet Hinrikus – one of the fintech firm's founders – has urged investors to vote against the move on the grounds of concerns about shareholder rights that are tied up with the proposal. Wise's planned departure has been described as a 'hammer blow' to the City and will make it the latest in a string of UK-listed companies upping sticks for the US. Wise has said shareholders are 'overwhelmingly in favour' of the plans. A shareholder meeting to rubber stamp the move will be held today. Wise is led by boss Kristo Kaarmann, who founded it with Hinrikus, a fellow Estonian, in 2011. Hinrikus has since left the company but still owns a 5.1 per cent stake via his firm Skaala Investments.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
British fintech boss accused of ‘backdoor' power grab in row over US move
The boss of British fintech champion Wise has been accused of a 'backdoor' power grab over claims he is hijacking a crunch shareholder vote to tighten his grip on the company. Kristo Käärmann, chief executive of Wise, has been attacked by his former partner for allegedly 'blindsiding' investors with a proposal that will award him extra rights. Taavet Hinrikus, who co-founded Wise with Mr Käärmann in 2010, told The Telegraph that the measures were 'buried' in a plan to move the £11bn payments business's main listing to the US, which will go to a shareholder vote on Monday. As well as proposing the shift from London to New York, Wise is seeking shareholder approval for a 10-year extension to super-voting shares held by a handful of insiders, including Mr Käärmann. Those shares, which represent 90pc of the total voting rights at Wise, had been set to expire in July 2026. Mr Hinrikus, 44, has claimed that bundling the two issues into one vote is 'entirely inappropriate and unfair', as he urged other investors to reject the plan. He said: 'The fact that most of the investors were surprised or blindsided is telling. Most of them agree that this governance change does not make Wise a better company.' Growing rift The row reveals a stark rift between Mr Hinrikus and Mr Käärmann, who launched the business together in 2010. Mr Hinrikus previously served as chief executive of Wise until 2017. He then served as chairman until Wise's listing in London in 2021 before stepping down. Mr Hinrikus said bosses appeared to be seeking to tighten their grip on Wise 'through the backdoor'. Super-voting shares are widely used by Silicon Valley founders to gain extra control over the business they set up. For example, Mark Zuckerberg holds ultimate voting control at Meta thanks to his special shares. However, critics argue they can undermine shareholder democracy and hand too much power to the chief executive. Mr Käärmann, who is worth close to £2bn, currently controls nearly 50pc of the voting rights in the company but owns just 18pc of shares. Meanwhile, Mr Hinrikus has about 12pc of voting control and a 5pc overall stake, worth more than £500m. The vote on Monday requires a 75pc majority to pass. Dissolving bond Mr Käärmann, 44, and Mr Hinrikus founded Wise – originally Transferwise – after bonding over their shared bugbear of sending money back home to Estonia. The business aimed to make sending money overseas cheap and painless. It has since expanded into savings products and spending cards. After attracting venture capital from Silicon Valley investors, the company went public at a valuation of around £8bn. It is now worth close to £11bn and reported profits before tax of £564.8m last year. In June, Mr Käärmann confirmed Wise planned to shift its main listing to New York while maintaining a secondary listing in London. He said this would help 'accelerate our mission' and bring 'capital market benefits to Wise and our owners'. The loss of such a substantial technology business risks fuelling fears of a death spiral for the London Stock Exchange, which has struggled to hang on to blue-chip listings and suffered an exodus of companies. Were it not for its unusual share structure, Wise would be a FTSE 100 company given its market capitalisation. On the shift to the US, Mr Hinrikus has said he is not 'in principle' opposed to the re-listing, but he claimed he did not see the 'urgency'. 'We have not had any clear answers as to why there is an urgency to move the listing to the US,' he said. Wise this week said it was 'disappointed' by Mr Hinrikus's opposition and that it 'disagreed' with his comments. It said: 'The dual-class share structure is essential to ensuring our continued successful performance.' David Wells, Wise's chairman, said last week the company had been 'clear and upfront' about the proposal. Even though Mr Hinrikus, through his fund Skaala Investments, stands to benefit from the extension to Wise's golden shares, he has forcefully opposed them. Mr Hinrikus said he believes he has changed some minds ahead of Monday's vote. He has also raised the spectre of legal action, warning that the voting process could be challenged in court by disgruntled shareholders. However, he adds that the row with one of his oldest business partners is, for him, merely part of doing business. 'In any business relationship, there are differences of opinion,' he said. 'Sometimes you need to argue – and sometimes you need to argue hard.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Sign in to access your portfolio
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
British fintech boss accused of ‘backdoor' power grab in row over US move
The boss of British fintech champion Wise has been accused of a 'backdoor' power grab over claims he is hijacking a crunch shareholder vote to tighten his grip on the company. Kristo Käärmann, chief executive of Wise, has been attacked by his former partner for allegedly 'blindsiding' investors with a proposal that will award him extra rights. Taavet Hinrikus, who co-founded Wise with Mr Käärmann in 2010, told The Telegraph that the measures were 'buried' in a plan to move the £11bn payments business's main listing to the US, which will go to a shareholder vote on Monday. As well as proposing the shift from London to New York, Wise is seeking shareholder approval for a 10-year extension to super-voting shares held by a handful of insiders, including Mr Käärmann. Those shares, which represent 90pc of the total voting rights at Wise, had been set to expire in July 2026. Mr Hinrikus, 44, has claimed that bundling the two issues into one vote is 'entirely inappropriate and unfair', as he urged other investors to reject the plan. He said: 'The fact that most of the investors were surprised or blindsided is telling. Most of them agree that this governance change does not make Wise a better company.' Growing rift The row reveals a stark rift between Mr Hinrikus and Mr Käärmann, who launched the business together in 2010. Mr Hinrikus previously served as chief executive of Wise until 2017. He then served as chairman until Wise's listing in London in 2021 before stepping down. Mr Hinrikus said bosses appeared to be seeking to tighten their grip on Wise 'through the backdoor'. Super-voting shares are widely used by Silicon Valley founders to gain extra control over the business they set up. For example, Mark Zuckerberg holds ultimate voting control at Meta thanks to his special shares. However, critics argue they can undermine shareholder democracy and hand too much power to the chief executive. Mr Käärmann, who is worth close to £2bn, currently controls more than 50pc of the voting rights in the company but owns just 18pc of shares. Meanwhile, Mr Hinrikus has about 12pc of voting control and a 5pc overall stake, worth more than £500m. The vote on Monday requires a 75pc majority to pass. Dissolving bond Mr Käärmann, 44, and Mr Hinrikus founded Wise – originally Transferwise – after bonding over their shared bugbear of sending money back home to Estonia. The business aimed to make sending money overseas cheap and painless. It has since expanded into savings products and spending cards. After attracting venture capital from Silicon Valley investors, the company went public at a valuation of around £8bn. It is now worth close to £11bn and reported profits before tax of £564.8m last year. In June, Mr Käärmann confirmed Wise planned to shift its main listing to New York while maintaining a secondary listing in London. He said this would help 'accelerate our mission' and bring 'capital market benefits to Wise and our owners'. The loss of such a substantial technology business risks fuelling fears of a death spiral for the London Stock Exchange, which has struggled to hang on to blue-chip listings and suffered an exodus of companies.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Wise set for resounding victory in battle with co-founder Hinrikus
The £10bn payments company Wise is poised to win a resounding triumph in a battle with its co-founder over plans to shift its primary stock market listing to the US. Sky News understands that Wise will disclose on Monday that only a small minority of investors have backed efforts by Skaala - the investment vehicle of Taavet Hinrikus - to derail moves to extend its dual-class voting structure until the mid-2030s. Skaala has argued that the move, which would entrench the power of his former business partner, Wise's chief executive Kristi Kaarmann, is undemocratic and has not been handled transparently. The dual-class voting extension is wrapped up in the wider vote on the US listing, while Mr Hinrikus has argued that the issues should be put to shareholders separately. Banking and investor sources said on Sunday that they expected Skaala to win "very limited" support given the short timeframe in which it had been trying to persuade other investors to oppose Wise's resolutions. An extraordinary general meeting will take place on Monday, with 75% of each of the A and B class shareholders by value and a simple majority of the number of shareholders who vote needed to carry the resolutions. Last week, Skaala accused Wise of "misleading" its own investors and warned that a move to extend its current governance arrangements could be derailed in the High Court, . Skaala said a Wise statement claiming support from three key independent advisory firms had been inaccurate, and queried why a correction had not been issued through formal stock market channels. Skaala, which owns just over 5% of the company, also accused Wise's chairman, David Wells, of making claims which were "legally and commercially unfounded". "Skaala has put forward several practical, legally viable options for Wise to address shareholder concerns," it told Sky News on Thursday. "These include proposing two alternative schemes of arrangement - both facilitating the US dual-listing, but offering shareholders the choice to approve it either with or without the 10-year extension of the dual-class voting rights. "Wise has thus far rejected these proposals out of hand." Skaala also claimed there was "a substantial risk the [High] Court will decline to sanction [the proposals] at the sanctions hearing in [the second quarter of 2026], given the procedural, fairness and transparency issues surrounding the scheme as presented". "In such a scenario, the dual listing would be materially delayed - possibly by months - and significant cost and risk would be introduced unnecessarily. "This entirely avoidable situation is the direct result of the Company's insistence on securing enhanced voting rights for CEO Kristo Käärmann under the current proposal," Skaala said. Wise's existing dual-class structure was put in place in 2021, when the company floated in London with a pledge that it would revert to a single class of shares five years after its stock market debut. Shares in Wise, which has a market capitalisation of £10.5bn, have risen by more than 40% in the last year. Wise declined to comment.
