A pivotal vote on a £1.5bn takeover of Manchester-headquartered Interactive Investor has stalled because of a shortage of paper.
UK takeover rules dictate that Abrdn must send paper versions of documents to all of its one million retail investors but the firm was unable to do so, blaming an international shortage of paper.
The company was expected to complete the ballot this month but it is now set to take place in mid-March, Sky News reported.
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An Abrdn spokesman said: "We would have liked to get the shareholder circular out a little earlier but have had to work around the paper supply problems as we are required to write to over a million shareholders."
Shares in the investment giant were up 0.9% on Monday afternoon.
Asset management giant Abrdn confirmed plans buy the stock-picking platform at the start of December.
The deal would see Abrdn acquire 100% of the shares in Interactive Investor.
In a statement issued to the London Stock Exchange at the time, the buyer said the acquisition "will significantly enhance our presence and growth opportunities within a fast-growing and attractive market".
JC Flowers & Co has owned a majority stake in Interactive Investor, the UK's second-largest fund supermarket, since 2016.
Interactive Investor's platform has more than 400,000 customers and assets under administration of approximately £55bn.
The company also has offices in London and Leeds and employs about 777 people.
It generated adjusted profit before tax of £45.5m and reported profit before tax of £41.7m for the year ended 2020 and had gross assets of £636m as at 30 June 2021.
