Financial Times: The passing of national champions
“Senior figures from the company even had to approach Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, to gain her royal assent for the move. It is believed to be the first time the Dutch royal monicker has been applied to a UK-listed company.”
Wednesday 29 June 2005
By Thomas Catan, James Boxell and Ian Bickerton
In a historic vote on Tuesday, Royal Dutch/Shell shareholders bade farewell to a century of history, approving a plan to scrap the UK and Dutch parents of the group in favour of a single, unified company.
The vote had been locked-up with the aid of large investors ahead of Tuesday’s annual general meetings in London and Scheveningen. But the vote did not proceed before a handful of elderly investors in both meetings raised their objections to the passing of what they see as their national champions.