Pre-Annual General Meeting Information • Mar 22, 2024
Pre-Annual General Meeting Information
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THIS DOCUMENT IS IMPORTANT AND REQUIRES YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION. If you are in doubt as to the action you should take you are recommended to seek your own personal financial advice from your stockbroker, bank manager, solicitor, accountant or other independent financial adviser authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
Please see the Chairman's letter and the notes on the meeting at the end of this Notice concerning the venue and format of the meeting.
If you have sold or otherwise transferred all your Ordinary Shares in the Company, please send this document and the accompanying documents at once to the purchaser or transferee or to the stockbroker, bank or other agent through whom the sale or transfer was effected for transmission to the purchaser or transferee.
Notice of the Annual General Meeting of the Company convened for 10.00 a.m. on Thursday, 25 April 2024 is set out in Part II of this document.
A Form of Proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting is enclosed. To be valid, the Form of Proxy must be completed and returned so as to reach the registrars by hand or by post at Computershare Investor Services PLC, The Pavilions, Bridgwater Road, Bristol BS99 6ZY (the "Registrars") by no later than 10.00 a.m. on Tuesday, 23 April 2024. As an alternative to completing the hard copy form, shareholders can appoint proxies electronically via www.clsholdings.com/evoting so that it is received by the Registrar by no later than 10.00 a.m. on Tuesday, 23 April 2024. CREST members can also appoint proxies by using the CREST electronic proxy appointment service and transmitting a CREST Proxy Instruction in accordance with the procedures set out in the CREST Manual so that it is received by the Registrar (under CREST participant 3RA50) by no later than 10.00 a.m. on Tuesday, 23 April 2024. The time of receipt will be taken to be the time from which the Registrar is able to retrieve the message by enquiry to CREST in the manner prescribed by CREST. If you are an institutional investor you may be able to appoint a proxy electronically via the Proxymity platform, a process which has been agreed by the Company and approved by the Registrar. For further information regarding Proxymity, please go to www.proxymity.io. Your proxy must be lodged by 10.00 a.m. on Tuesday, 23 April 2024 in order to be considered valid. Before you can appoint a proxy via this process you will need to have agreed to Proxymity's associated terms and conditions. It is important that you read these carefully as you will be bound by them and they will govern the electronic appointment of your proxy. 1
CLS Holdings plc (the "Company") (Incorporated and registered in England with registered number 2714781)
16 Tinworth Street London SE11 5AL
Lennart Sten (Non-Executive Chairman) Anna Seeley (Non-Executive Vice Chair) Fredrik Widlund (Chief Executive Officer) Andrew Kirkman (Chief Financial Officer) Elizabeth Edwards (Non-Executive Director) Bill Holland (Non-Executive Director) Eva Lindqvist (Non-Executive Director) Bengt Mortstedt (Non-Executive Director)
22 March 2024
Dear Shareholder,
The purpose of this circular is to give you details of the Company's Annual General Meeting ("AGM") which is to be held on Thursday, 25 April 2024 at 10.00 a.m. and the resolutions to be proposed at it. I am pleased to confirm the publication of our Company's Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2023 (the "Annual Report"), which can be found on the Company's website at www.clsholdings.com, or have been enclosed if you have requested a copy.
As we reported when we announced our annual results on 6 March 2024, it is your Directors' intention to propose a distribution by way of a final dividend for the year ended 31 December 2023 of 5.35 pence per share. This is subject to the passing of Resolution 3.
In accordance with the Articles, the AGM will be a physical meeting. As in previous years, voting on the resolutions to be proposed at the AGM will be conducted on a poll, rather than a show of hands. Therefore, shareholders are encouraged to vote via proxy, where possible, online at www.clsholdings.com/evoting, appointing the Chairman of the meeting as their proxy to ensure their vote is counted.
As we appreciate some shareholders may prefer not to attend, or may be unable to attend, in person, questions to the Board may be submitted in advance of the AGM by emailing questions to [email protected], or in writing addressed for the attention of the Company Secretary at our Registered Office. The deadline for submitting questions is 10.00 a.m. on Tuesday, 23 April 2024 and responses which are relevant to the business of the meeting will be uploaded to our website at www.clsholdings.com. We also encourage shareholders to view the recording of the presentation of our annual results, details of which are available on our website at www.clsholdings.com/investors.
The purpose of the Annual General Meeting is to seek shareholders' approval for the Resolutions set out below.
The Companies Act 2006 (the "Act") enables us, if shareholders agree to it, to supply shareholder documents by email or by use of website access instead of posting documents to them. If you would like to receive shareholder communications in this way, please go to www.investorcentre.co.uk to sign-up. If you have previously elected to receive documents electronically but would now like to receive documents by post, you may request this service by writing to our Registrar, Computershare Investor Services PLC, The Pavilions, Bridgwater Road, Bristol BS99 6ZZ or by contacting them online at www.investorcentre.co.uk/contactus.
The AGM is to be held at our newly built building The Coade, 98 Vauxhall Walk, London, SE11 5EL, on Thursday, 25 April 2024 at 10.00 a.m. You will find on pages 8 to 12 of this document, the Notice convening the AGM. A form of proxy for use in connection with the AGM is enclosed with this document.
Resolutions 1 to 14 are ordinary resolutions. For these to be passed, more than half of the votes cast must be in favour of the relevant resolution. Resolutions 15 to 17 are special resolutions. For each of these to be passed, at least three quarters of the votes cast must be in favour of the resolution. I set out below further information on certain of the resolutions proposed.
Pursuant to the Board's recommendation, the authority sought from shareholders under this resolution is to declare a final dividend of 5.35 pence per ordinary share for the financial year ended 31 December 2023, of which 1.50 pence per ordinary share is to be paid as a Property Income Distribution and 3.85 pence per ordinary share as a Non-Property Income Distribution. If approved, the final dividend will be paid on 2 May 2024 to those shareholders on the Company's statutory register of members as at the close of business on 22 March 2024.
The Board notes that the UK Corporate Governance Code (the "Code"), which applies to the Company, requires that all Directors be subject to annual re-election by shareholders. Accordingly, resolutions 4 to 11 propose the election of Eva Lindqvist and the re-election of each of the other Directors.
I can confirm to shareholders that, following a formal performance evaluation, the performance of each of the Directors continues to be effective and demonstrates commitment to their roles.
Biographies of all the Directors proposed to be elected or re-elected, which contain specific details of their skills and experience that highlight why their contribution is, and continues to be, important to the Company's long-term sustainable success, are set out on page 7 of this Notice. Further details on Board composition can be found on pages 60 and 61 of the Annual Report.
The Company is required to comply with the provisions of the UK Listing Rules of the Financial Conduct Authority (the "Listing Rules") relating to controlling shareholders and the election or re-election of independent directors. Listing Rule 9.2.2E requires that the election or re-election of an independent director by the shareholders be approved by an ordinary resolution of the shareholders as a whole and separately approved by the non-controlling shareholders. For the purposes of the Listing Rules, certain companies directly held and beneficially owned by the Sten and Karin Mortstedt Family & Charity Trust (through Creative Value Investment Group Limited) control more than 30% of the voting rights of the Company.
This means that any resolutions for the election or re-election of any independent directors must be approved by a majority vote of both:
Therefore, resolutions 4, 8, 9 and 10 are being proposed as ordinary resolutions which all shareholders can vote on, but in addition the Company will separately count the number of votes cast by independent shareholders in favour of the resolutions (as a proportion of the total votes cast by independent shareholders cast on the resolutions) to determine whether the second threshold referred to in ii) above has been met. The Company will announce the results of those resolutions on this basis as well as announcing the results of the ordinary resolutions of all shareholders.
CLS Holdings plc (the "Company") (Incorporated and registered in England with registered number 2714781)
If a resolution to elect or re-elect an independent director is not approved by a majority vote of both the shareholders as a whole and the independent shareholders, the Company may propose a further resolution to elect or re-elect that director at a meeting to be held between 90 and 120 days from the date of the original vote. Therefore, if any of resolutions 4, 8, 9 and 10 are not approved by a majority of the independent shareholders at the AGM, the relevant director will be treated as having been elected or re-elected only from the period of the date of the AGM to the earlier of:
In the event that the director's election or re-election is approved by a majority vote of all shareholders at a second meeting, the director will then be elected or re-elected until the next AGM.
The Company is also required to provide certain information in relation to the proposed election or re-election of independent directors, being Lennart Sten, Elizabeth Edwards, Bill Holland and Eva Lindqvist. This includes details of any existing or previous relationship, transaction or arrangement the independent director has with the Company, its directors, any controlling shareholder or an associate of a controlling shareholder, together with a description of why the Company considers the independent directors will be effective, how it has determined their independence and the process followed for their selection. The Company:
As set out in the 2023 Annual Report, the Board undertook a review of the independence of both Lennart Sten and Elizabeth Edwards, who have both served for more than 9 years and concluded that in light of their other commitments and their continued contributions in Board meetings they remained independent.
It is proposed to authorise the Board to allot shares or grant such subscription rights as are contemplated by sections 551(1) (a) and (b) respectively of the Act up to a maximum aggregate nominal value of £3,311,752 representing approximately one-third of the issued share capital of the Company excluding treasury shares (as set out in the paragraph entitled "Further information" below). This is under the parameters permitted by best practice corporate governance guidelines. This will replace the equivalent resolution passed at the last annual general meeting and will expire at the conclusion of the next annual general meeting or at 6.00 p.m. on 25 July 2025, whichever is the earlier. Your Directors have no present intention of exercising this authority but the Board wishes to ensure that the Company has maximum flexibility in managing the financial resources of the Company.
The Board notes the Pre-Emption Group Statement of Principles dated November 2022, which included increased thresholds. At this time, the Board considers it appropriate to continue to only seek a general dissaplication of pre-emption rights up to five percent. of the Company's issued share capital. Such authorisation would only be utilised to expediently take advantage of opportunities as they arise both in the market and from within its own portfolio, which, in the opinion of the Board, are expected to drive growth and long-term shareholder returns.
It is therefore proposed to empower the Board to allot equity securities for cash without first offering them to existing shareholders in proportion to their holdings, subject to certain limits which comply with best practice corporate governance guidelines. The authority under Resolution 15 would be limited to: (i) allotments in connection with pre-emptive offers and offers to holders of other equity securities if required by the rights of those shares or as the Board considers necessary, allot shares without having to first offer them to existing shareholders; and (ii) allotments up to an aggregate nominal value of up to £496,762, being up to 19,870,480 ordinary shares of 2.5 pence each in the Company ("Ordinary Shares") and representing approximately five per cent of the issued equity share capital of the Company (excluding treasury shares) as at 22 March 2024 (being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this document). The allotment of equity securities as referred to in this resolution includes the sale of any shares which the Company holds in treasury. This will replace the equivalent resolution passed at the last annual general meeting and will expire at the conclusion of the next annual general meeting or at 6.00 p.m. on 25 July 2025, whichever is the earlier. The Directors confirm that, in considering the exercise of the authority under Resolution 15, they intend to follow the shareholder protections set out in Part 2B of the Pre-Emption Group's Statement of Principles to the extent applicable and reasonably practicable.
It is proposed to renew the authority to make market purchases of Ordinary Shares, such authority being limited to the purchase of 10 per cent of the Ordinary Shares in issue as at 22 March 2024 (being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this document). Shares purchased further to this authority will be cancelled, unless the Company decides otherwise, in which case they may be held as treasury shares, subject to any applicable limits. No dividends are paid on shares while held in treasury and no voting rights attach to treasury shares.
The minimum price which may be paid for any Ordinary Shares pursuant to this authority will be 2.5 pence (being an amount equal to the nominal value of an Ordinary Share). The maximum price which may be paid for any Ordinary Share is the higher of an amount equal to 5 per cent above the average of the closing middle-market quotations for the Ordinary Shares as derived from SEDOL for the five dealing days immediately preceding the day on which the purchase is made, and an amount equal to a price no higher than the higher of the price of the last independent trade and the highest current independent bid on the London Stock Exchange Trading System SETS, in each case exclusive of expenses.
The maximum per cent aggregate number of Ordinary Shares hereby authorised to be purchased is 39,741,026 Ordinary Shares (representing 10 per cent of the Ordinary Shares in issue as at 22 March 2024 (being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this document)). This authority will expire at the conclusion of the Company's next annual general meeting, or, if earlier, at 6.00 p.m. on 25 July 2025, being 15 months from the date of the passing of this resolution.
The authority to purchase the Company's own shares will only be exercised if the Directors consider that there is likely to be a beneficial impact on earnings per Ordinary Share and that it is in the best interests of the Company at the time. The Directors have no present intention of exercising this authority.
It is proposed to seek authority from shareholders to hold general meetings (other than Annual General Meetings) on 14 clear days' notice. This is permissible under the Articles of Association of the Company and the Act. Under the Act, specific shareholder approval is required annually in order to retain this option. The Directors believe that there may be circumstances in which it will be important for the Company to be able to call meetings at such short notice. Accordingly, the Directors believe that it is important for the Company to retain this flexibility.
The Company will only use the shorter notice period where it is merited by the purpose of the meeting, the proposals are time sensitive and it would clearly be to the advantage of shareholders as a whole.
CLS Holdings plc (the "Company") (Incorporated and registered in England with registered number 2714781)
You will find enclosed with this document a Form of Proxy for use in respect of the AGM. Shareholders are encouraged to complete and sign the Form of Proxy and return it, in accordance with the instructions printed on it to Computershare Investor Services PLC, The Pavilions, Bridgwater Road, Bristol BS99 6ZY (the "Registrar") as soon as possible and, in any event, to arrive by no later than 10.00 a.m. on Tuesday, 23 April 2024.
As an alternative to completing the Form of Proxy, you can appoint proxies electronically via www.clsholdings.com/evoting to be received by the Registrar by no later than 10.00 a.m. on Tuesday, 23 April 2024. CREST members can also appoint proxies by using the CREST electronic proxy appointment service and transmitting a CREST Proxy Instruction in accordance with the procedures set out in the CREST Manual so that it is received by the issuer's agent (under ID 3RA50) by no later than 10.00 a.m. on Tuesday, 23 April 2024. The time of receipt will be taken to be the time from which the issuer's agent is able to retrieve the message by enquiry to CREST in the manner prescribed by CREST.
If you are an institutional investor you may be able to appoint a proxy electronically via the Proxymity platform, a process which has been agreed by the Company and approved by the Registrar. For further information regarding Proxymity, please go to www.proxymity.io. Your proxy must be lodged by 10.00 a.m. on Tuesday, 23 April 2024 in order to be considered valid. Before you can appoint a proxy via this process you will need to have agreed to Proxymity's associated terms and conditions. It is important that you read these carefully as you will be bound by them and they will govern the electronic appointment of your proxy.
At 22 March 2024 (being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this document), the issued share capital of the Company was 438,777,780 Ordinary Shares, of which 41,367,512 Ordinary Shares are held by the Company as treasury shares. As at 22 March 2024, the total number of voting rights in the Company was, therefore, 397,410,268.
At 22 March 2024, the Company operates a Performance Incentive Plan (the "Plan") which sets out share awards made to participants of Element B of the Plan and a Long-Term Incentive Plan (the "LTIP"). As at this date, there were awards outstanding under Element B of the Plan in respect of 16,784 shares and options outstanding under the LTIP in respect of 5,964,488 shares. Together, these represented 1.36 per cent of the Company's issued share capital on that date. If the authority to purchase shares set out in resolution 16 was exercised in full and those shares were subsequently cancelled, the share awards would represent 1.50 per cent of the Company's issued share capital as at 22 March 2024.
Your Directors consider that the proposals in this document are in the best interests of shareholders as a whole and unanimously recommend that shareholders vote in favour of the Resolutions proposed in the Notice as they intend to do in respect of their interest in, and/or own shareholdings of, 27,347,503 Ordinary Shares, representing approximately 6.88 per cent of the Company's issued share capital (excluding treasury shares).
Yours faithfully
Lennart Sten
Non-Executive Chairman
As at 22 March 2024 (being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this document)
| Lennart Sten | Andrew Kirkman |
|---|---|
| Independent Non-Executive Chairman | Chief Financial Officer |
| Appointment as a Director | Appointment as a Director |
| 1 August 2014 | 1 July 2019 |
| Tenure | Tenure |
| 9 years 7 months | 4 years 8 months |
| Former roles: CEO, GE Capital Real Estate | Former roles: Finance Director, Harworth |
| Europe. President, GE Real Estate Nordic. | Group plc. Finance Director, Viridor. |
| CEO Fabege AB. General Counsel, GE | Chief Finance Officer, Balfour Beatty Capital. |
| Capital Equipment Finances AB. Partner, | Global Head of Corporate Finance, Bovis |
| Baker & McKenzie, Stockholm. Founder and | Lend Lease |
| CEO of Svenska Handelsfastigheter. | Qualifications: Masters in Politics, Philosophy |
| Qualifications: Degree in Law, | and Economics, Oxford University. Fellow, |
| Stockholm University | Institute of Chartered Accountants |
| Experience: International property industry. | Experience: Extensive plc, property, finance |
| Board member, Interogo Holding AG. | and operational experience. Non-Executive |
| Chairman, Klara Bo Sverige AB | Director, A2Dominion Housing Limited, a |
| Anna Seeley | housing association. Member, Audit and |
| Non-Executive Director and Vice Chair | Scrutiny Committee, University of Oxford |
| Appointment as a Director | Elizabeth Edwards |
| Tenure | 11 May 2015 |
| 8 years 10 months | Senior Independent Director |
| Former roles: European Property Surveyor, General Electric Corporation and BT Group. Group Property Director, CLS Holdings plc. Chartered Surveyor, Chestertons Qualifications: Degree in Property Valuation and Finance, City University and Chartered Surveyor |
Appointment as a Director 13 May 2014 Tenure 9 years 10 months |
| Former roles: Managing Director, Landesbank Berlin London. Head of BerlinHyp London office. Senior positions with National Australia Bank, Westdeutsche Immobilien. Management Consultant, PWC. Trustee, Refuge |
|
| Experience: 20+ years of property industry and business experience |
Qualifications: Fellow, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Honours Degree in Estate Management, South Bank University |
| Fredrik Widlund | Experience: Extensive commercial property |
| Chief Executive Officer | investment and finance expertise in the UK and |
| Appointment as a Director 3 November 2014 |
Europe (primarily Germany), Governance. Non |
Tenure 9 years 4 months Former roles: Global Commercial Leader, GE Capital International. Regional CEO, GE's European Leasing businesses. Managing Director, GE Capital Real Estate. CFO, GE Capital Equipment Finance. Various positions with Royal Dutch Shell Qualifications: Degree in Business Administration, Stockholm University Experience: Business leadership, property and finance experience in global organisations. Trustee of Morden College, a social and
housing charity
Executive Director, Schroders European REIT plc. Trustee, Central School of Ballet, Chair Audit Committee. Past Warden, the St Olaves and St Saviours Schools Foundation, member Finance and General Purposes Committee. Past Master, Worshipful Company of Chartered Surveyors, member Charity Committee.
Independent Non-Executive Director
Appointment as a Director 22 September 2023 Tenure 6 months
Former roles: Senior roles, Ericsson. Senior Vice President, Telia Sonera telecoms division. Chief Executive, Telia Sonera international carrier. CEO, Xelerated Holdings AB
Qualifications: MSc, engineering degree in Applied Physics. Marketing Diploma. Master of Business Administration. Melbourne Graduate School of Management. Helen Schytt Fellowship
Experience: NED, Tele2AB. NED, Greencoat Renewables plc, member Audit, Management Engagement, Nomination and Remuneration Committees. NED, Keller Group plc, Chair Remuneration Committee, member Audit and Risk, Nomination, and Governance and Sustainability Committees. Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences
Non-Executive Director
| Appointment as a Director | 7 March 2017 |
|---|---|
| Tenure | 7 years |
Former roles: Director, CLS Holdings plc (1992–2010). Former Junior District Court Judge in Sweden
Qualifications: Degree in Law, Stockholm University
Experience: European property market and Group business. Developed and runs hotels
in St Vincent & Grenadines, West Indies
Independent Non-Executive Director
| Tenure | 4 years 4 months |
|---|---|
| Appointment as a Director | 20 November 2019 |
Former roles: Senior Partner, KPMG real estate audit practice
Qualifications: Fellow, Institute of Chartered Accountants. Degree in Economics from Durham University
Experience: Real estate, finance and audit experience. Non-Executive Director, Urban&Civic and Ground Rents Income Fund plc. Governor, Winchester College
CLS Holdings plc (the "Company") (Incorporated and registered in England with registered number 2714781)
Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of CLS Holdings plc ("the Company") will be held at The Coade, 98 Vauxhall Walk, London, SE11 5EL, on 25 April 2024 at 10.00 a.m. for the following purposes:
so that all previous authorities of the Directors pursuant to the said section 551 be and are hereby revoked.
and so that the Directors may impose any limits or restrictions and make any arrangements which they consider necessary or appropriate to deal with treasury shares, fractional entitlements, record dates, legal, regulatory or practical problems in, or under the laws of, any territory or any other matter;
b. the allotment of equity securities or sale of treasury shares (otherwise than pursuant to paragraph a. above) up to an aggregate nominal amount of £496,762,
such authorities to expire at the conclusion of the annual general meeting of the Company to be held in 2025 or at 6.00 p.m. on 25 July 2025 whichever is sooner (unless previously renewed, varied or revoked by the Company at a general meeting). The Company may before these authorities expire, make an offer or enter into an agreement which would or might require equity securities to be allotted (and treasury shares to be sold) after such expiry and the Directors may allot equity securities (and sell treasury shares) in pursuance of that offer or agreement as if the power conferred by this resolution had not expired.
BY ORDER OF THE BOARD
Company Secretary 22 March 2024
CLS Holdings plc (the "Company") (Incorporated and registered in England with registered number 2714781)
Completion of the Form of Proxy or the appointment of a proxy electronically via www.clsholdings.com/evoting or through CREST will not prevent a member from attending and voting in person.
CREST members who wish to appoint a proxy or proxies by utilising the CREST electronic proxy appointment service may do so for the AGM and any adjournment(s) thereof by utilising the procedures described in the CREST Manual. CREST personal members or other CREST sponsored members, and those CREST members who have appointed (a) voting service provider(s), should refer to their CREST sponsor or voting service provider(s), who will be able to take the appropriate action on their behalf.
In order for a proxy appointment made by means of CREST to be valid, the appropriate CREST message (a "CREST Proxy Instruction") must be properly authenticated in accordance with Euroclear UK & International's specifications and must contain the information required for such instructions, as described in the CREST Manual (www.euroclear.com). The message must be transmitted so as to be received by the issuer's agent (ID 3RA50), by 10.00 a.m. on Tuesday, 23 April 2024.
For this purpose, the time of receipt will be taken to be the time (as determined by the timestamp applied to the message by the CREST Applications Host) from which the issuer's agent is able to retrieve the message by enquiry to CREST in the manner prescribed by CREST. After this time any change of instructions to proxies appointed through CREST should be communicated to the appointee through other means.
CREST members and, where applicable, their CREST sponsors or voting service providers should note that Euroclear UK & International does not make available special procedures in CREST for any particular messages. Normal system timings and limitations will therefore apply in relation to the input of CREST Proxy Instructions. It is the responsibility of the CREST member concerned to take (or, if the CREST member is a CREST personal member or sponsored member or has appointed (a) voting service provider(s), to procure that his CREST sponsor or voting service provider(s) take(s)) such action as shall be necessary to ensure that a message is transmitted by means of the CREST system by any particular time. In this connection, CREST members and, where applicable, their CREST sponsors or voting service providers are referred, in particular, to those sections of the CREST Manual concerning practical limitations of the CREST system and timings.
The Company may treat as invalid a CREST Proxy Instruction in the circumstances set out in Regulation 35(5)(a) of the Uncertificated Securities Regulations 2001 (as amended). Please refer to the CREST Manual at www.euroclear.com/CREST.
CLS Holdings plc (the "Company") (Incorporated and registered in England with registered number 2714781)
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