A public company (plc) can be re-registered as a private company limited by shares provided:
The holders of 5% of the shares (or any class of shares) or any 50 members may object to the court within 28 days of the passing of the special resolution, and then the court has a discretion to allow the resolution to proceed or to cancel it, or to adjourn proceedings for a compromise to be attempted, or to order that dissenting shareholders' shares be bought out.
The Executive of the Takeover Panel has to be informed of the proposed re-registration and must approve the notice of the General Meeting at which the special resolutions are to be passed. The notice must include details of the rights that shareholders in the company will be giving up when the company ceases to be a public company and so they will no longer be protected by provisions of the Takeover Code.
If the company is to be registered with a different name (apart from the compulsory change from "plc" to "Limited" at the end of the name) the new name must be acceptable for registration.
Our service
The Company Law Solutions service provides all required:
Costs
Most conversions of this type will be covered by our benchmark price for this service. If there are special requirements as to the company's articles or shareholders object to the re-registration, there will be additional charges. Please see our prices guide.