DCC Energy has won backing from proxy advisers ISS and Glass Lewis for its £5.73 billion (€6.67 billion) sale to KKR and Energy Capital Partners, a signal that matters given a contested shareholder vote on 18 September.

DCC Energy is a Dublin-headquartered energy distribution group listed on the FTSE 100, being acquired by KKR and Energy Capital Partners at up to 6,672p a share.

ISS and Glass Lewis are the two leading global proxy advisory firms whose recommendations guide institutional shareholder voting.

ISS said the offer provides a credible opportunity for shareholders to crystallise value today while avoiding the uncertainties of a standalone strategy. Glass Lewis said the offer should be judged against the fact that DCC has been unable to drive material increases in trading value, secure a revised valuation or generate any competing offers. Bid vehicle Dragon Bidco confirmed the offer is final and will not be increased.

Proxy support rarely swings a vote outright, but it narrows the argument opponents can make. Both firms pointed to the same fact: DCC's stock has failed to re-rate despite years of simplification, undercutting the case for betting on a standalone plan over cash today.

The final-offer statement removes any prospect of a bidding war, making 18 September a binary choice between certainty at 6,672p and an unquantified plan targeting £830 million operating profit by 2030, a target chief executive Donal Murphy has called "not without risk."

Fidelity International and founder Jim Flavin remain publicly opposed, arguing the offer undervalues a business that has already completed most of its transformation. But proxy advisers carry particular weight with index funds and passive holders who lack the resources to form an independent view, narrowing the practical path to a rejected vote.

For the sector, institutional backing on a deal this contested signals growing acceptance of private equity's core argument, that public markets undervalue transformed FTSE energy distributors, even against vocal founder-level resistance.

Source: The Irish Times