Missing Shares After Demerger

xx_Law_Grad_xx

My grandmother has a large number of shares in BT. Whilst visiting her a number of weeks ago she received a letter which detailed the dividends which she is due to receive.

After reading an article on BT a few days ago it was mentioned that after a demerger BT shareholders were given O2 shares.

Unfortunately she has been diagnosed with dementia so it would be difficult for her to recall whether she was ever informed of the O2 shares.

How would she go about determining whether she was ever entitled to them and if so how does she go about receiving the shares?

ChiefGrasscutter

I suspect she would have simply been sent a letter as a registered BT shareholder at that time explaining the share demerger by BT share registrars (The administration company who manages the BT shareholder register of holders names addresses etc)
The letter would have enclosed the share certificate for the O2 shares.
This assumes she was a BT share holder on the registered date when the split occured.
It is not a case of her having to claim them at the time - she would have been given them by default.
As to what she did with them afterwards.......ah, yes, who knows.....

Thrugelmir

xx_Law_Grad_xx wrote: »

After reading an article on BT a few days ago it was mentioned that after a demerger BT shareholders were given O2 shares.

O2 was acquired by Telefonica some years back. Shareholders were offered 200p a share in a compulsorily purchase.

So I fear that there's no good news.

xx_Law_Grad_xx

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Equiniti are the registrars for BT so I may get my mother to call on her behalf (after consent is given) to see what information she can obtain. She has held the shares since they were listed on the stock exchange so am confident she would have been entitled to them.

Thrugelmir wrote: »

O2 was acquired by Telefonica some years back. Shareholders were offered 200p a share in a compulsorily purchase.

So I fear that there's no good news.

Presuming she was entitled to receive O2 shares and was not informed or did not understand the compulsory purchase would she have received any money or would the failure to respond mean she is not entitled to anything?

ChiefGrasscutter

Good background stuff from poster Thrugelmir as usual!

I'd guess she have been sent a cheque in the post - again with a letter of explanation of the compulsory liquidation of the shareholding due to the takeover. Minority shareholders even if they disagree with the takeover and voted against it can have their holding liquidated by law to prevent them obstructing an 100% takeover approved by the majority of the shareholders.

These things are arranged such that if the shareholder doesn't cooperate/reply, the default position is that they just get sent it (whatever it is share/cheque etc) by post to the shareholder registered address and this is deemed to have "discharged the registrars reponsibility" in the matter.

Yes, I'd give equiniti a call, Share registrar's records are usually pretty impecable, they will probably even tell you the date it was sent and the date it was cashed/cleared.

Goodness knows what is the position if a cheque was sent and never cashed....................

xx_Law_Grad_xx

ChiefGrasscutter wrote: »

Good background stuff from poster Thrugelmir as usual!

I'd guess she have been sent a cheque in the post - again with a letter of explanation of the compulsory liquidation of the shareholding due to the takeover. Minority shareholders even if they disagree with the takeover and voted against it can have their holding liquidated by law to prevent them obstructing an 100% takeover approved by the majority of the shareholders.

These things are arranged such that if the shareholder doesn't cooperate/reply, the default position is that they just get sent it (whatever it is share/cheque etc) by post to the shareholder registered address and this is deemed to have "discharged the registrars reponsibility" in the matter.

Yes, I'd give equiniti a call, Share registrar's records are usually pretty impecable, they will probably even tell you the date it was sent and the date it was cashed/cleared.

Goodness knows what is the position if a cheque was sent and never cashed....................

A big thanks for all your help. At first it was all quite daunting but now does not seem so bad. Equiniti are the registrar for BT, O2 and Telefonica so hopefully they will have all of the information. Me and my mum shall have a dig through all her correspondence relating to her shares and see if we can find any further information.