Companies Act 2014 section 474

Electronic means of making certain information available for purposes of section 473

Section 474 allows merging companies to use electronic means — email and website publication — to provide shareholders with the merger documents that must be made available ahead of a general meeting to approve common draft terms of merger.

• Where a shareholder has consented to electronic communication, the company may send the merger documents listed in section 471(1) by email, and the meeting notice must state this.
• Shareholders lose the right to request individual copies of the merger documents if the company makes them available for free download and printing on its website.
• The website availability period must be continuous and last at least two months, starting at least 30 days before the general meeting and ending at least 30 days after it.
• This provision is specific to the merger approval process under section 473 and does not alter general shareholder communication rules.