The independent directors of Irish Continental Group (ICG) said a “clear majority” of investors are supportive of a €1.2 billion sale of the ferry operator to management as it delayed a crucial vote by almost two weeks while it scrambles to secure enough votes to get the deal over the line. The adjournment of the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) from Friday to September 10th was driven by “difficulties that a number of ICG shareholders had in properly casting their votes within the time allowed, requests from certain private and institutional shareholders for more time to consider their position”, they said in a statement late on Thursday evening.It added that a significant number of ICG shareholders, understood to equate to holders of about 20 per cent of the company’s stock, had not yet cast their votes.The adjournment took effect on Friday morning as ICG chairman John B McGuckian presided over a brief gathering at a hotel in Dublin for the originally-scheduled EGM, which was attended by members of the independent board and a small number of shareholders. ICG said on Wednesday night that certain resolutions on the deal had not met the 75 per cent majority threshold needed to approve the transaction on Friday under a so-called scheme of arrangement structure. The management buyout team is excluded from using its existing combined 23.7 per cent stake to vote on the transaction. It said it is aware of at least one instance where a shareholder that voted against the deal by proxy but has since changed their mind. Independent board directors are known to have been canvassing investors that had come out against the €8-a-share deal, claiming it undervalued the business and its prospects. The dissenting investors include Marathon Asset Management, Janus Henderson, Pageant Investments, Equus Global and Oxy Capital. They owned a combined stake of about 11 per cent when they first raised objections to the deal on August 12th. That has since gone up to about 12.6 per cent. However, some of more recently-acquired shares cannot be used to vote as the trades were not settled by the voting record date of August 24th – the cut-off date for deciding who controls shares that can be counted in the vote. [ How ICG’s push to close €1.2bn buyout in August’s holiday lull backfiredOpens in new window ]The independent board said it was also aware that certain intermediaries had set deadlines for shareholders to register their votes as early as two weeks in advance of the meeting, which may not have given the investors enough time to give voting instructions.It is understood that investors behind about 20 per cent of the stock had not voted by the time the decision was made to adjourn the meeting. Some disgruntled shareholders have spoken in recent days of the prospect of another EGM being called to move against McGuckian, a director of 38 years, if ICG fails to secure shareholder approval for the buyout.The hope, they say, is that this could lead to an open, formal sale process or other initiatives to boost shareholder value. Under Irish company law, shareholders with at least 5 per cent of a company’s voting rights can requisition an EGM.