Voting instruction forms and details of these alternatives are included in each notice of meeting sent to CDI holders by the Company.
Conversion of CDIs to shares of Common Stock
CDI holders may at any time convert their CDIs to a holding of shares of Common Stock by instructing the share registry for the CDIs, either:
| • | | Directly in the case of CDIs held on the issuer sponsored sub-register operated by the Company (holders of CDIs will be provided with a CDI issuance request form to return to the share registry for the CDIs); or |
| • | | Through their “sponsoring participant” (usually their broker) in the case of CDIs which are held on the CHESS sub-register (in this case, the sponsoring broker will arrange for completion of the relevant form and its return to the share registry for the CDIs). |
In both cases, once the share registry for the CDIs has been notified, it will arrange the transfer of the relevant number of shares of Common Stock from the Depositary Nominee into the name of the CDI holder in book entry form or, if requested, deliver the relevant shares of Common Stock to their DTC participant in the United States Central Securities Depositary. The share registry for the CDIs will not charge a fee for the conversion (although a fee may be payable by market participants). Holding shares of Common Stock will, however, prevent a person from selling their shares of Common Stock on the ASX, as only CDIs can be traded on that market.
Conversion of shares of Common Stock to CDIs
Shares of Common Stock may be converted into CDIs and traded on the ASX. Holders of shares of Common Stock may at any time convert those shares to CDIs by contacting the Company’s transfer agent. The underlying shares of Common Stock will be transferred to the Depositary Nominee, and CDIs (and a holding statement for the corresponding CDIs) will be issued to the relevant security holder. No trading in the CDIs may take place on the ASX until this conversion.
The Company’s transfer agent will not charge a fee to a holder of shares of Common Stock seeking to convert their shares of Common Stock to CDIs, although a fee may be payable by market participants.
In either case, it is expected that each of the above processes will be completed within 24 hours, provided that the Company’s transfer agent is in receipt of a duly completed and valid request form. No guarantee can, however, be given about the time required for this conversion to take place.
Dividends and Other Shareholder Entitlements
Holders of CDIs are entitled to receive all the direct economic benefits and other entitlements in relation to the underlying shares of Common Stock that are held by the Depositary Nominee, including dividends and other entitlements that attach to the underlying shares of Common Stock.
It is possible that marginal differences may exist between the resulting entitlement of a holder of CDIs and the entitlements that would have accrued if a holder of CDIs held their holding directly as shares of Common Stock. As the ratio of CDIs to Common Stock is not one-to-one, and any entitlement will be determined on the basis of shares of Common Stock rather than CDIs, a holder of CDIs may not always benefit to the same extent (e.g. from the rounding up of fractional entitlements). We will, however, be required by the ASX Settlement Rules to minimize any such differences where legally permissible. If a cash dividend or any other cash distribution is declared in a currency other than Australian dollars, we currently intend to convert that dividend or other cash distribution to which a holder of CDIs is entitled to Australian dollars and distribute it to the relevant holder of CDIs in accordance with their entitlement.
Due to the need to convert dividends from United States dollars to Australian dollars in the above mentioned circumstances, holders of CDIs may potentially be advantaged or disadvantaged by exchange rate fluctuations, depending on whether the Australian dollar weakens or strengthens against the United States dollar during the period between the resolution to pay a dividend and conversion into Australian dollars.