Old Mutual said on Tuesday that its cash-and-share offer had been accepted by 62,5% of shareholders in the Swedish savings group, well above the 50% threshold it had set.

Including the results of the mix-and-match facility, which allowed small, private shareholders to elect for a higher percentage of cash, the group had 64,28% acceptances.

“Yesterday’s announcement by Old Mutual entails that Skandia has a large number of shareholders who have not accepted the offer. It is thus clear that Skandia will continue to be a listed company,” the Swedish firm said.

It said minority shareholders in the group would retain a number of important rights.

“These rights include the ability to demand equal treatment and to prevent actions in a manner that gives undue advantage to Old Mutual or others to the detriment of Skandia or Skandia’s minority shareholders,” it said. Skandia said, though, that it was ready to engage with Old Mutual.

It said the offer remained inadequate and urged its minority shareholders to stand up for their rights if the deal went ahead.

Old Mutual also extended the final closure of the offer from last Friday to January 12, when it expected to have received full regulatory approval to buy Skandia.

While Old Mutual said it hoped Skandia would be “conciliatory” following the success of its bid, yesterday’s statement from Skandia indicated that its target was still far from happy.

“The efforts made by Skandia’s board to bring about a change in the offer have been without result. To date, Old Mutual has consistently rejected any suggestions of raising or otherwise improving the offer,” Skandia said.

A London-based analyst, who asked not to be named, said it was unclear what Skandia hoped to achieve with its latest stance.

“Are they saying it’s all over, but we have to protect remaining minority shareholders or are they trying to get more money out of Old Mutual?” he said. “I don’t think there is any chance of Old Mutual upping the offer.”

However, Old Mutual still planned to build its stake in Skandia until it eventually reached 90% and it was able to buy out minority shareholders and delist the group, it said on Tuesday.

Skandia said it would discuss future co-operation of the two groups with Old Mutual, following the change in control.

“Naturally, the forms of co-operation must be characterised by respect for Skandia as an independently listed company and thus by respect for all of the company’s shareholders,” Skandia said.

The analyst said it was positive that Skandia had acknowledged Old Mutual was likely to become the principal owner and was ready to talk.

“They have offered to work with Old Mutual which is slightly more conciliatory than they have been until today,” the analyst said. “At least they haven’t said anything which moves towards destroying the franchise, which is the most important thing for Old Mutual.”

On Tuesday, Old Mutual said it was comfortable with the level of acceptances it had received in the offer and said it had experience in working with companies in which it did not own 100%.

It owns about 50% of Nedbank and about 78% of Mutual & Federal.

“We understand Old Mutual is familiar with how large shareholders exercise influence while maintaining respect for the rights of other shareholders,” Skandia chairman Lennart Jeansson said.