The demise of the publishing giant, that was once an iconic Peterborough company employing thousands of people, was witnessed by just a handful of shareholders meeting in a little known hotel in the back streets of London.

The vote at the Holiday Inn, in Corum Street, went overwhelmingly in favour of the company's break up and sale.

More than 110 million shares were cast in favour of the £1.14 billion sale of Emap consumer magazine and radio interests to the German publisher Bauer. The vote means the end of Emap's presence in Peterborough after 61 years.

Read more:
Feature: Emap: Story of the city publishing giant 1947 - 2008
The story of city publishing giant Emap and its sale to German publisher Bauer in January 2008.
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All that remains to be done is for lawyers to complete the legal technicalities, after which the two divisions will be handed over to Bauer along with the 700 staff in Peterborough, based largely at Lynch Wood.

Little more than 560,000 shares were cast against the sale.
And in the drab conference room, just five shareholders valiantly did their bit to preserve the company – but to no avail.

With the majority of the 215,842,000 shares largely controlled by about seven major companies, there was little chance of a shock defeat for the board of directors' two resolutions. Each controls between four per cent and seven per cent. Among the seven largest shareholders are Shroders, Barclays, Legal and General and Aberdeen Asset Management.
Chairman Alun Cathcart was at pains to stress that directors felt they had done as much as possible to save the company.

But, he said, the board had not been able to deliver the high returns demanded by the major shareholders.

Instead, the sale has meant that Mr Cathcart has been able to pledge that £1 billion will be returned to shareholders at 461 pence per share.
He told the meeting that since 2003 directors had invested about £921 million in the company, including the development of new products plus a further £800 million what had effectively been returned to shareholders.

He said: "Unfortunately the city of London does not reflect the value that we all see in the company.
"Nothing has gone terrifically badly with the company."
Wishing farewell to Emap, Mr Cathcart said he felt a profound
sorrow at what was happening.
After a brief applause, he added: "The company will not disappear – it is going to be in very good hands."
His comments were followed by six questions from the floor, but after just half an hour the votes were cast and the issue was settled.

Afterwards, Russell Hole, who worked for Emap for 28 years and is the former publishing director of the magazine and former managing director and chairman of a number of its various local newspaper companies, said: "It is a very sad time for a once great company."

And Bob Feetham, who worked for Emap for 36 years and was managing director of the consumer division and for eight years was chief executive of the newspaper division, said: "It is an extremely sad day. Emap was a magnificent company and a beacon of excellence in the
communications industry.

He added: "I think Emap never really recovered after the sale of its local newspapers division 12 years ago."

And a spokeswoman for Bauer said: "Naturally we are delighted at the
outcome of the extraordinary meeting of shareholders, and look forward to completing the acquisition in the very near future.

"Emap has been a wonderful success story in the UK over the past 10 years in particular and we look forward to continuing that success long into the future.

"Bauer itself has been a success in the UK market becoming the number three publishing house in just 20 years."

Shareholders will meet for a second time next month to vote on proposals to sell its business-to-business and trade exhibitions sections, which are the last remaining parts of Emap, for £1.2 billion to Eden Bidco, which represents the Guardian Media Group and private equity firm Apax Partners.