At last week’s EGM, shareholders in Greencore overwhelmingly approved the sale of the company’s entire US business for $1.1bn (€930m), with 97% of shareholders voting in favour of the deal.

However, there was less shareholder enthusiasm for the company’s plan to redistribute £509m (€578m) of the proceeds from this sale back to shareholders via a special dividend of 72p per share. Almost 20% of shareholders voted against this plan as the proceeds from this special dividend as currently set out will incur an income tax liability for Greencore shareholders. One of Greencore’s largest investors, Polaris, has recommended the company use the proceeds to finance a share buyback programme, which would be more tax-efficient for shareholders.

Greencore chief executive Patrick Coveney said the company was aware of shareholder concerns. However, he said advice given to Greencore management was that a once-off dividend payment was the most appropriate method for redistributing the proceeds from the US sale and treating all shareholders equally.