Good morning. Welcome to PointsBet Holdings Limited 2023 annual meeting. My name is Brett Paton, and I'm your Chair. We have quorum, and I'm pleased to declare the meeting open. I'd like to welcome the shareholders who have joined us here today in person, and together with our shareholders who are participating through our hybrid online meeting platform. I now request all mobile phones be turned off. Thank you. Turning to the agenda for today's meeting, it is now past 9 A.M., and that this is a properly constituted meeting. As quorum for a general meeting is present, I formally declare this meeting now open. Let me introduce you to the people who are with me this morning.
Going to my left, in the room is our CEO and Managing Director, Sam Swanell, together with Non-Executive Directors Peter McCluskey, Tony Symons, Rajesh Ghai. Also, we have here today our Group CFO, Andrew Mellor, and our Group General Counsel and Company Secretary, Andrew Hensher. Participating online from the United States, our Non-Executive Directors, Becky Harris, Manjit Singh, and William Grounds. Good evening to the three of you. Thank you. The notice of the meeting was issued to all shareholders and is also available online. I take note, I take the notice of the meeting as read. As set out in the notice of the meeting, voting will be started on a poll in order to provide everybody with an opportunity to vote in case anyone cannot stay for the whole meeting. I will now formally declare the poll open. You can start casting your vote now.
All votes. I'll give you plenty of notice before the end of the meeting to ensure you're able to cast your vote. I'll now ask our Company Secretary, Andrew Hensher, to outline the procedures for voting. Andrew?
Thank you. So Computershare, the company share registry, is appointed to act as scrutineers, and Mr. Peter Render is appointed as the Returning Officer for the purposes of the poll. For those in attendance in person, the blue voting cards handed out contain the resolutions, and you should complete the voting cards before the end of the meeting. Shareholders who wish to abstain from voting and proxy holders who have been directed to abstain from voting do not need to complete the blue voting cards. For those participating online, you can select the Vote icon on the top of your screen. You can then cast your vote, and you will see the vote in confirmation. We'll also have the opportunity to ask for questions. If you are in attendance online, you can start by submitting questions by now clicking the Q&A icon.
You can also ask a verbal question by following the instructions on the broadcast window. Please note that only shareholders, proxy holders, and authorized shareholder representatives may vote. Any undirected proxy votes given to the chairman will be voted in favor of the resolutions. Any directed proxies given to you by a shareholder will automatically be cast as directed when the poll is closed. Results will also be released to the ASX after the conclusion of the meeting. Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Andrew. I will now move to the formal business of the meeting. Resolution 1, Return of Capital. On 30 June 2023, shareholders approved the sale of the company's U.S. business to Fanatics Betting and Gaming, a subsidiary of Fanatics Holdings Inc., for headline cash consideration of $225 million. Completion of the transaction is intended to take place over a multi-stage completion process, with the first stage being referred to as the initial completion and the second stage being referred to as the subsequent completion. Completion of the transaction is subject to certain regulatory approvals and other customary conditions. $175 million is to be received at the initial completion, and $50 million is to be received at the subsequent completion.
Following the sale of the U.S. business, the funding requirements of the company's remaining assets will be fundamentally different to the status quo. Accordingly, PointsBet intends to distribute to shareholders the net sale proceeds after applicable taxes and transaction costs, together with the majority of the company's corporate cash reserves, that will be surplus to the needs of the remaining business. The distribution is intended to be in the form of two capital return tranches. The first capital return is expected to be approximately AUD 317 million, which equates to approximately AUD 1 per share, and is intended to be implemented soon after the initial completion, anticipated to be in mid-September.
The second capital return is expected to be about between AUD 125 million and AUD 143 million, which equates to between AUD 0.39 a share and AUD 0.44 a share, and is intended to be implemented soon after the subsequent completion, anticipated to be around March 2024. Approval of Resolution 1 will establish the approval framework required to give effect to both capital returns without the need to approach shareholders for approval on each occasion. Approval of Resolution 1 will establish the approval framework as discussed. The directors recommend that shareholders vote in favor of the resolution. There's the proxies received on the whiteboard. The resolution summary of the votes received before the meeting now appear on the screen. I now open for questions and discussion. Anything online?
No, there's nothing online.
Please note, the questions should be limited to the resolution being put before shareholders today, and we ask that shareholders limit their questions to two each, to ensure all shareholders have an equal opportunity to ask a question. The company will release its full year results later in the week. And thus I will be unable to answer, or any of the executives will be unable to answer any questions regarding the company's financial or trading performance today. Questions from those in attendance? Lara, any online questions to Resolution 1? I'll move to Resolution 2. Resolution 2 seeks approval pursuant to Section 200C of the Corporations Act, for KMPs to receive a benefit in the, in the form of early vesting of Performance Share Rights on a pro rata basis as a result of the sale of the U.S. business.
In accordance with the Key Employee Equity Plan rules, the board has determined that unvested Performance Share Rights held by members of the Group Leadership Team (including the named executives for which approval is being sought) will vest on a pro rata basis, calculated as time served between the commencement of the performance period, which was 1 August 2022, and the expected completion of the proposed transaction being 31 March 2024. In making this determination, the board took into consideration various factors and alternatives. Firstly, the U.S. business is the company's main undertaking, and as such, the performance conditions attached to the PSRs are intrinsically linked to the U.S. operations.
Similar to the treatment typically applied in a change of control scenario, the sale of the U.S. business is taken away from the executives' ability to achieve the performance criteria over the full term of the performance period. The strategy to shift focus away from expansion and growth towards maximizing the amount of capital to be returned to shareholders following the sale of the U.S. business, was a deliberate course of action and in the best interest of shareholders, and the board was pleased that over 99% of the votes cast at the June AGM were in favor of that sale. The second factor considered was how critical it was for the sale, that the sale of the U.S. business complete satisfactorily, as failure would have had significant implications for the company.
Completion is estimated at this stage to occur in March 2024, with the company contractually responsible for ongoing operations of the U.S. business until this date. It is important that the remaining PointsBet business, post-sale of the U.S., is set up for success. The successful separation of the U.S. business, and in particular, the technology platform, will ensure that both Fanatics and our company can fully exploit the technology assets into the future. Board discretion with regard to the treatment of the unvested PSRs, in particular, the fact that they do not vest until the second completion of the sale, is a vital retention and motivation tool for all staff, in particular, the executives, to ensure a successful separation of the two businesses over a long transition period to March 2024.
Pro rata vesting for time served to second close, rather than full vesting, was also deemed appropriate in this regard. It is important to note that the members of the leadership, Group Leadership Team are located in various jurisdictions, and in seeking to ensure equal and fair treatment for all executives, the board had to take into account the local tax, securities law, and market practices in each jurisdiction. The timing and structure of the capital returns and the implications on the value of the PSRs and the underlying shares also form part of the board's considerations. For example, early vesting and application of a holding lock was not considered practical given the withholding tax obligations upon vesting in certain jurisdictions, and the requirement to immediately sell shares to cover the equity to comply with these obligations.
Ultimately, the board believes that the pro rata vesting in the second at the second close, calculated at, as time served to second close, strikes an appropriate balance to motivate and retain key executives to ensure successful completion of the sale of the U.S. business. And to also establish the framework for a successful and well-managed business moving forward. The directors, along with Mr. Swanell abstaining, recommend that shareholders vote in favor of the resolution. The resolution summary of the votes received before the meeting now appear on the screen. I now open up for questions and discussion. Please note that questions should be limited to the resolution being put to shareholders today. Firstly, are there any questions from the shareholders present in attendance here? Lara, any written questions that you've received online?
Not yet.
Cool. Pause for a second to see if anything comes through. No further questions? Well, no questions. Well, we've reached the conclusion of the meeting. I would like to advise that shortly the voting will be closed, and we'll take a few more moments now to allow people to finish the voting. Please complete the voting now. All done, Peter, with the physical votes? All done. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, voting is closed. Thank you for joining us. Please, the update of the final vote will be notified to the ASX in due course. Thanks for your attendance, all. As the business is now finished, the meeting is done. I declare the meeting closed. Thank you. Thanks for attending.