The sale of Hirequip New Zealand to Australia-based PES Finance was approved by shareholders yesterday.
The sale, announced in November, needed shareholder approval to proceed.
Hirequip will remain listed because it still has some legacy assets to sell including Clifford Bay Marine Farms and shares in biotechnology companies.It will also help shareholders trade for longer in the stock.
A quick sale was on the cards with more than 98 per cent of the proxy votes in favour of the motion.
But none of the 35 shareholders on the meeting floor asked any questions and the three resolutions regarding the sale and future payout were passed in about 10 minutes.
The longest part of the special general meeting involved chairman Graeme Wong reading out the text on the powerpoint presentation.
The sale, due to go through tomorrow, will raise about $168 million after which Hirequip will repay about $44 million of debt.
Wong said Hirequip could be delisted to save costs, but there would be another shareholders' meeting some time after the annual accounts were released in June of next year to debate that.
All the people working in the 55 branches of the hire equipment business would remain.
He was unsure what the company's founder and executive director Stuart McKinlay had planned for the future.
There had been no conflict of interest for any of the shareholders in dealing with PES, he said.
