Good morning, everyone. My name is Peter McBride, Chairman of the Board of Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited. I have pleasure in welcoming you to this virtual special meeting of shareholders of Fonterra to consider the proposed capital return. Thank you for joining. I now declare the meeting open. The notice of meeting was sent to all shareholders listed on the share register as at 19 June 2023, and will be taken as read. Not less than 50 shareholders, who between them hold not less than 2% of the voting rights, have cast postal votes either by mail or electronically, or are present in person online. This means we have the requisite quorum. The agenda for the meeting is set out on the slide. Shortly, I will address the meeting.
We will move to the resolution, which relates to the approval of the scheme of arrangement relating to the capital return. There will be an opportunity to ask questions and vote online. I will close the meeting. If you have any technical difficulties during the meeting, please click on the Help button in the top menu bar. If you cannot access this, please call 09 300 3069 for technical support. I would like to acknowledge my fellow directors who have joined this virtual meeting from around New Zealand and Australia. This includes Cathy Quinn, who has joined the meeting today virtually and will second the resolution later during the meeting. I'm joined in person today by Miles Hurrell, Chief Executive Officer, Neil Beaumont, Chief Financial Officer, and Mike Cronin, Managing Director of Co-operative Affairs.
I would also like to acknowledge the members of the Co-operative Council who have joined us virtually today. Your Co-op has been working to deliver the proposed capital return related to the sale of Soprole as early as possible. In May, we announced our intention to bring forward the payment date for the capital return from October to August. The capital return of NZD 0.50 per share, which is approximately NZD 800 million, will be implemented using a scheme of arrangement under the Companies Act, which is a common process for this type of transaction. Subject to approval by shareholders and receipt of final court orders, the Co-op is on track for the capital return to be paid in August this year. Indicative timings of the key steps related to the proposed scheme are set out on this slide.
The dates on this slide may change, depending on when final court orders are received. Subject to the scheme being approved by shareholders and final court orders, the payment process will happen in the background. You don't need to do anything, but we want to let you know about the mechanics of the scheme for your awareness. One of the key points is that the shareholders will hold the same number of shares as they held immediately before the capital return. Further details on how it will work are as follows: Fonterra will purchase one out of every six shares held by each shareholder for NZD 3 per share repurchased. This is equivalent to NZD 0.50 for each of the six shares.
At the same time, one share held by each shareholder, which is not bought by Fonterra, will be subdivided so that each shareholder will end up holding the same total number of shares as they held before the repurchase. This is to avoid creating share compliance issues for farmers or impacting shareholders' voting rights. Fonterra has obtained a binding tax ruling from Inland Revenue, that the amount paid to shareholders will be treated as a return of capital and not as a dividend for New Zealand income tax purposes. This means the capital return that shareholders receive will generally not be taxable. More information of this is in the notice of meeting. The scheme will also apply to the shares held by the custodian of the Fonterra Shareholders' Fund. The custodian will pass on the payment directly to unit holders.
There will be no change to the number of units on issue. The resolution relates to the approval of the scheme of arrangement relating to the capital return. The specific wording of the resolution is set out in the notice of meeting and has been taken as read. The resolution will be by way of a poll. Postal and electronic voting was approved by the board for this resolution, and Electionz.com Limited were appointed to receive and count these votes, which will be included in the poll. The resolution must be agreed to by a majority of 75% of the votes of shareholders entitled to vote and actually voting on the resolution for it to be passed. The resolution will be moved and seconded by a director. I will then invite comments and questions on the resolution from shareholders.
You can submit a question by clicking the Ask a Question button in the top menu bar. For questions to be put to the meeting, your supply number must be included. If you have not already voted, you may vote by clicking on the Click Here to Vote button in the top menu bar. The scrutineers will treat non-compliant votes as invalid, please take care to follow the instructions. I will share the result of the vote once it is known in my chairman's email and on the NZX. Let's move to the resolution. I would now like to propose the motion. Once it has been seconded, I will open the motion for discussion. Accordingly, I move the resolution. I will now call on Cathy Quinn to second the motion.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I second the motion and fully support it.
Thank you, Cathy. I now open the resolution for discussion. We will take questions from online which relate to the resolution. There's no questions online. We'll keep moving. The resolution requires 75% support. I will now put the resolution, which has been moved and seconded. Please vote by clicking on the Click Here to Vote button in the top menu bar. You will need your PIN and password sent with your voting paper or in your voting credentials, email, or text message. For any assistance with voting, please phone the electionz.com helpline on the freephone number shown on the slide. Voting will be kept open for a few minutes to give those shareholders who have not yet voted enough time to do so. Voting has now closed. I would like to thank you all for attending this special meeting. I will share the results of the vote once available.
That concludes the business of the special meeting of Fonterra. Thanks, everyone.