UK: England and Wales: schemes of arrangement and the beneficial owners of shares

The transcript for Re Sirius Minerals Plc [2020] EWHC 1447 (Ch), a decision of Mr Justice Fancourt from March this year, has recently been added to BAILII. The trial judge sanctioned a scheme of arrangement under section 899 of the Companies Act 2006, noting that the documentation had been sent to the registered members and there was no requirement to send documents to the beneficial owners of shares even if the company had records of these beneficial owners. The trial judge nevertheless noted - and this is why I note the decision here - that the law as it stood raised a "genuine issue about shareholder democracy".