GVC shareholders approve relocation to UK

Shareholders in GVC Holdings have voted to approve a measure to relocate the Ladbrokes Coral and bwin.party owner’s place of management and control – and therefore also its tax residence – to the UK.

GVC is currently located in the Isle of Man, but last month announced that it was considering a proposal to move across to the UK.

Shareholders this week overwhelmingly backed the plans, with 99.98% voting in favour of the special resolution at an extraordinary general meeting hosted in Gibraltar.

Some 481,356,880 votes were cast in favour of the relocation measure, with just 5,744 going against the proposal.

Speaking to iGaming Business at the time of the initial announcement last month, GVC’s head of media relations Jay Dossetier said that the relocation would improve the operator’s efficiencies by allowing key meetings to be based closer to its largest market.

“The main reasons for making the move is that under the group’s current Articles of Association and tax residency we are unable to hold Board meetings or shareholder meetings within the UK,” Dossetter said.

“The proposed change will give us the ability to hold full board and board committee meetings in the UK, which will reduce operational complexity and enhance governance, and in turn, will increase efficiency and reduce costs. It also means that future shareholder meetings can be held in the UK.”

Dossetter added that the move would not mean changes for GVC’s operations.

“The relocation is just for the top holding company and has no impact on staffing or the operational side of the business,” Dossetter said. “It has no impact of our tax bill or the effective tax rate we pay. Operationally, the online business will continue to be run from Gibraltar and the UK retail estate from the UK.”