Ann: Acquisition of LIFX and Share Placement, page-299

@holymoly With less than 44% of the 1.1b SOI being held by Top 20 shareholders (as at October), it is a pretty fragmented register. Which is not all that high and is a good reflection that BUD doesn't yet attract the institutions likely to take sizable chunks of ownership - just under the notification trigger of 5% - as it doesn't yet fit the profile of an investment that meets their criteria. Indeed, if you take out the two co-founder stakes....the top 20 would own about 25% of the SOI.

Which puts paid to the ridiculous notion peddled on these threads by someone, that retail shareholders should act as part owners. Part owners take a position that gives them a position of influence. Shareholders are just transferable ticket holders for a train ride. They don't influence the journey or the destination other than through the supply and demand for tickets. Their sole focus should be on whether they bought the right ticket for the right journey, and if not where they intend to get off. And occasionally voting on issues presented by the conductor and driver.  We have limited part-ownership and a lot of shareholding.

If the collective of retail holders felt strongly enough to vote in a certain way, it will be noted. Even if they don't muster enough to knock down a resolution, a metaphorical vote of no confidence would be registered. But good luck with that, as HC is (my guess) probably no more than 1 carriage of that train. And most HC readers are non-active. Judging the zeitgeist by the utterances of a few, within a self created echo-chamber, is madness. But give it a go.  Beats not voting and just bleating.

If the resolutions all pass....and I will be surprised if they do not....the Buddy co-founders will be down to about 11% (jointly) and the LiFX minority vendors will be around 23% (jointly) with Eastfield being just under 5%.  So around 40% of the (then) around 2b SOI held in hopefully a few tight hands. Perhaps more depending on the composition of the placement particpants. The vast majority of the remaining shares will be largely in the hands of retail holders. 

While I have some lingering questions/concerns around resolutions 6 and 11, I am inclined to be broadly supportive of the acquisition. I like a broader focus as it insulates the company from inevitable vagaries in any one area.....particularly in the nascent stages of the sectors.  vagaries that could be existential. I will look for signs as to whether the BoD is adding additional weaponry or just changing armaments.  If the latter then my destination approaches. If the former (as they have indicated), then lets keep riding. Obviously, will want to be comforted that the company is learning to walk and chew gum at the same time....but really, that should not be a challenge!

Looking and hoping for the introduction of less opaque reporting to shareholders and with a level of consistency that enables ongoing validation and evaluation.....and I suspect that this will be a prerequisite to getting a significantly higher portion of the SOI in the hands of non insider Top 20 holders.  Less narrative and more hard data.

GLTA.