BMW wants to say goodbye to its non-voting preference shares and aims to convert them into voting ordinary shares. The board of directors would like to present a corresponding proposal to the general meeting on May 13, 2026, the company announced on Tuesday. The aim is to improve the transparency and tradability of BMW shares through a uniform share structure.
BMW currently has both common shareholders and preferred shareholders with voting rights, who receive an approximately 2 cent higher dividend in return for waiving their voting rights. The 54.7 million preferred shares make up almost 9 percent of Bavaria’s share capital.
After the announcement, the preference shares rose 3.2 percent to 89 euros, while the ordinary shares lost 1.3 percent to 93.94 euros. The shares should be exchanged one for one.