AGM Information • Mar 28, 2011
AGM Information
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Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (the 'Company') will be held at The Brewery, Chiswell Street, London EC1Y 4SD on Friday, 27 May 2011, at 11.00am, or at any adjournment thereof, for the following purposes:
To consider and, if thought fit, to pass the following resolutions, of which numbers 1 to 8 will be proposed as ordinary resolutions and numbers 9 to 11 as special resolutions.
provided that the aggregate amount of any such donations and expenditure shall not exceed £100,000;
i 'THAT the Directors be and are hereby generally and unconditionally authorised pursuant to, and in accordance with, Section 551 of the 2006 Act to exercise all powers of the Company to allot shares in the Company or to grant rights to subscribe for, or to convert any security into, shares in the Company:
(a) up to an aggregate nominal amount of £13,155,166; and
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, shares represented by depositary receipts, legal, regulatory or practical problems under the laws of, or the requirements of any recognised regulatory body or any stock exchange in, any territory or any other matter whatsoever.
This authority shall hereby take effect from the date of the passing of this resolution to the date upon which the Company's Annual General Meeting in 2012 concludes or on 1 July 2012, whichever is the earlier, provided that, in each case, the Company may, before this authority expires, make offers and enter into agreements which would, or might, require shares in the Company to be allotted or rights to subscribe for or convert any security into shares to be granted after this authority expires and the Directors may allot shares in the Company or grant rights under any such offer or agreement as if this authority had not expired;
'THAT, subject to the passing of Resolution 8 above, and in place of the power given to them pursuant to the special resolution of the Company passed on Friday, 28 May 2010, the Directors shall be given the power pursuant to Sections 570 and 573 of the 2006 Act to allot equity securities (as defined in Section 560 of the 2006 Act) for cash pursuant to the authority given by Resolution 8 as if Section 561 of the 2006 Act did not apply to the allotment, but this power shall be limited:
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, shares represented by depositary receipts, legal, regulatory or practical problems under the laws of, or the requirements of any recognised regulatory body or any stock exchange in, any territory or any other matter whatsoever; and
ii in the case of the authority granted under Resolution 8i(a), to the allotment (otherwise than under paragraph i above) of equity securities up to an aggregate nominal amount of £1,973,275.
This authority shall hereby take effect from the date of the passing of this resolution to the date upon which the Company's Annual General Meeting in 2012 concludes or on 1 July 2012, whichever is the earlier, provided that before this authority expires the Company may make offers, and enter into agreements, which would, or might, require equity securities to be allotted after this authority expires and the Directors may allot equity securities under any such offer or agreement as if this authority had not expired.
This power applies in relation to a sale of shares which is an allotment of equity securities by virtue of Section 560(3) of the 2006 Act as if in the first paragraph of this resolution the words "pursuant to the authority given by Resolution 8" were omitted.'
'THAT the Company is hereby generally and unconditionally authorised to make market purchases (as defined in Section 693 of the 2006 Act) for the purpose of Section 701 of the 2006 Act of ordinary shares on such terms and in such manner as the Directors think fit provided that:
'THAT a General Meeting of the Company, other than an Annual General Meeting, may be called on not less than 14 clear days' notice during the period from the date of the passing of this resolution to such authority expiring on the date upon which the Company's Annual General Meeting in 2012 concludes.'
George Turner R egistered Office: Company Secretary Broadwater Park
By order of the Board Registered in England, Number: 5134420 14 February 2011 Denham, Buckinghamshire UB9 5HR
Supporting information on the election and re-election of Directors and an explanation of some of the technical items of business are presented below.
The Company's Articles of Association (the 'Articles') require that any new Directors appointed by the Board since the last Annual General Meeting shall retire at the next Annual General Meeting and be subject to election. All Directors shall retire at least every three years and if they wish to continue serving in office, they shall be subject to re-election. James Abrahamson and Kirk Kinsell were appointed to the Board on 1 August 2010 as Executive Directors and are therefore seeking formal election for the first time. In anticipation of the recommendations of the new UK Corporate Governance Code, which will only apply to the Company with respect to its 2011 financial year, all Directors are retiring and seeking re-election at this Annual General Meeting. Biographies of all Directors are shown on page 38 of the Annual Report and Financial Statements 2010 and on pages 36 and 37 of the Annual Review and Summary Financial Statement 2010, which are available on the Company's website www.ihgplc.com/investors under financial library.
Each election and re-election will be put as a separate resolution. The Board supports these resolutions for the following reasons. The current composition of the Board provides an appropriate balance of Executive and independent Non-Executive Directors who collectively have an appropriate balance of skills, experience, independence and knowledge to enable the Board to discharge its duties and responsibilities effectively. A Board performance evaluation was conducted internally for 2010. This included an assessment of the performance of individual Directors, and it was concluded that the performance of each Board member continues to be effective and to demonstrate commitment to the role. All Non-Executive Directors remain independent in judgement and character. The Board as a whole is fully committed to the successful development of the business, to meeting the Company's strategic objectives and to the delivery of shareholder value.
James Abrahamson, President, The Americas, was appointed as an Executive Director in August 2010 and has over 32 years' experience in hotel operations, branding, development and franchise relations. He is responsible for the business development and performance of all the hotel brands and properties in the Americas region.
Kirk Kinsell, President, EMEA, was appointed as an Executive Director in August 2010 and has over 28 years' experience in the hospitality industry. He has responsibility for the business development and performance of all the hotel brands and properties in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.
Graham Allan was appointed as an independent Non-Executive Director in January 2010. He is Chief Executive Officer of Yum! Restaurants International, a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. He has over 19 years' experience in brand management, marketing, franchising and retail development.
Andrew Cosslett, Chief Executive since February 2005, is responsible for the executive management of the Group. He joined the Group from Cadbury Schweppes plc where he had held a variety of senior regional management and marketing roles in the UK and Asia Pacific. He also has over 11 years' experience in brand marketing with Unilever. He has significant expertise in global brand marketing, strong leadership skills and a wealth of international experience.
David Kappler was appointed as Senior Independent Director in June 2004. He is also a Non-Executive Director of Shire plc. He formerly served as Chief Financial Officer of Cadbury Schweppes plc and Non-Executive Chairman of Premier Foods plc.
Ralph Kugler was appointed as an independent Non-Executive Director in April 2003. He is also Chairman of Byotrol plc and Senior Adviser to 3i plc. He was previously Global President, Unilever Home and Personal Care, and served on the boards of Unilever PLC and Unilever N.V.
Jennifer Laing was appointed as an independent Non-Executive Director in August 2005. She is a Fellow of the Marketing Society and of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising and has over 30 years' experience in advertising. She is also a Non-Executive Director of Hudson Highland Group, Inc.
Jonathan Linen was appointed as an independent Non-Executive Director in December 2005. He is also a Non-Executive Director of Yum! Brands, Inc. and Modern Bank, N.A. and was formerly the Vice Chairman of the American Express Company.
Richard Solomons, Chief Financial Officer and Head of Commercial Development, is responsible for corporate and regional finance, Group financial control, strategy, investor relations, tax, treasury, commercial development and procurement. He has worked within the Group since 1992.
David Webster was appointed as Non-Executive Chairman in January 2004. He is also Non-Executive Chairman of Makinson Cowell Limited, Non-Executive Director of Amadeus IT Holding SA, a member of the Appeals Committee of the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers and a Director of Temple Bar Investment Trust PLC. He was formerly the Chairman of Safeway plc.
Ying Yeh was appointed as an independent Non-Executive Director in December 2007. She is Vice President and Chairman, Greater China Region, Nalco Company and a Non-Executive Director of AB Volvo. She was, for 15 years, a diplomat with the US Foreign Service in Hong Kong and Beijing until 1997.
The Board recommends that all Directors continue to serve as Directors of the Company 1.
It remains the policy of the Company not to make political donations or incur political expenditure. However, to avoid inadvertent infringement of the widely drawn 2006 Act, the Directors are seeking shareholders' authority for the Company and its UK subsidiaries to make political donations and to incur political expenditure, up to a maximum aggregate amount of £100,000 during the period from the date of this Annual General Meeting to the date upon which next year's Annual General Meeting concludes or 1 July 2012, whichever is the earlier.
The Company nor any of its subsidiaries made any political donations during the year and proposes to maintain its policy of not making such payments.
1 Copies of contracts of service or letters of appointment between each of the Directors and the Company will be available to members for inspection at the Registered Office of the Company during normal business hours from the date of this Notice until the date of the Annual General Meeting and, on that day, at the place of the Meeting at least 15 minutes prior to the commencement of the Meeting until its conclusion.
The Association of British Insurers' ('ABI') guidelines state that ABI members will permit, and treat as routine, (i) a request for authorisation to allot up to one-third of the current total issued share capital of the Company, together with the number of shares required to be allotted in respect of share incentive schemes; and (ii) a request for authorisation to allot up to a further one-third of the Company's current total issued share capital, provided that such additional allotment is only applied to fully pre-emptive rights issues. The Board considers it appropriate that the Company should follow these guidelines.
Accordingly, under Resolution 8(i)(a), the Directors are seeking authority to allot shares up to an aggregate nominal amount of £13,155,166 pursuant to Section 551 of the 2006 Act, which is equivalent to approximately one-third of the total issued share capital of the Company (excluding treasury shares2) as at 14 February 2011. Under Resolution 8(i)(b), the Directors are seeking authority to allot ordinary shares in connection with a rights issue in favour of ordinary shareholders up to a further aggregate nominal amount of £13,155,166, which is equivalent to approximately one-third of the total issued share capital of the Company (excluding treasury shares) as at 14 February 2011.
Therefore, the total authorisation sought by Resolution 8 is equal to approximately two-thirds of the total issued share capital of the Company (excluding treasury shares) as at 14 February 2011.
The Directors have no present intention of exercising this authority other than in connection with the Company's share incentive schemes but they consider it desirable to have the maximum flexibility permitted by corporate governance guidelines. If such authority is exercised, the Directors intend to follow best practice with respect to its use as recommended by the ABI, including all Directors standing for re-election.
This authority will expire on the date upon which next year's Annual General Meeting concludes or on 1 July 2012, whichever is the earlier.
The Directors, pursuant to Section 561 of the 2006 Act, are seeking authority to allot shares for cash without first being required to offer such securities to existing shareholders in proportion to their existing shareholdings and to dispose of shares held in treasury, other than by way of a rights issue or in connection with any other pre-emptive offer, up to an aggregate nominal amount of £1,973,275, which is equivalent to approximately 5 per cent of the total issued share capital of the Company as at 14 February 2011.
In line with the Pre-emption Group's Statement of Principles, the Directors do not intend to allot shares for cash on a non pre-emptive basis (other than pursuant to a rights issue or pre-emptive offer) in excess of an amount equal to 7.5 per cent of the total issued ordinary share capital of the Company within a rolling three-year period without prior consultation with the shareholders.
This authority will expire on the date upon which next year's Annual General Meeting concludes or on 1 July 2012, whichever is the earlier.
The Company is seeking authority to purchase up to 28,982,476 ordinary shares, this being approximately 10 per cent of its total issued share capital as at 14 February 2011, at, or between, the minimum and maximum prices specified in this resolution. This power would be used only after careful consideration by the Directors having taken into account market conditions prevailing at that time, the investment needs of the Company, its opportunities for expansion and its overall financial position. The Directors would exercise this authority to purchase ordinary shares only if they considered it to be in the best interests of shareholders and if the purchase could be expected to result in an increase in earnings per share. Since March 2004, the Company has conducted a number of share repurchase programmes.
There were outstanding, at 14 February 2011, options to subscribe for 2,939,245 ordinary shares, representing 1.01 per cent of the Company's current total issued share capital. If the full 10 per cent share repurchase authority was utilised, the options outstanding would represent 1.13 per cent of the current total issued share capital.
This authority will expire on the date upon which next year's Annual General Meeting concludes or on 1 July 2012, whichever is the earlier.
Under the Companies (Shareholders' Rights) Regulations 2009 the notice period for general meetings (other than annual general meetings) has been extended to not less than 21 clear days. The Company is able to preserve the authority to call a General Meeting, other than an Annual General Meeting, on not less than 14 clear days' notice, provided shareholders have approved this by passing a special resolution annually. Accordingly, Resolution 11 is seeking to renew the authority granted at the Annual General Meeting in 2010. The Company will give due consideration to whether to use the reduced notice period for the calling of a General Meeting, as permitted by the passing of this resolution, and will not use it as a matter of routine but only where such flexibility is necessary. The Company will comply with the requirement to provide appropriate facilities for shareholders to vote by electronic means at General Meetings held on less than 21 clear days' notice. This resolution is valid up to next year's Annual General Meeting, when it is intended that a similar resolution will be proposed.
The Directors believe that the adoption of all the resolutions set out in this Notice of Annual General Meeting is in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders as a whole. Accordingly, the Directors unanimously recommend that you vote in favour of the resolutions, as each Director intends to do in respect of his or her own beneficial holdings.
2 Treasury shares are shares in the Company which are owned by the Company itself. The Company, following purchase of its own shares, is able to hold such shares in treasury instead of cancelling them. Such shares may subsequently be resold for cash, transferred to an employee share scheme or cancelled. Any shares bought back by the Company and held in treasury will not rank for dividends and will not carry any voting rights. The Company's Articles of Association provide for dealing with treasury shares, including ensuring that the sale of treasury shares by the Company is subject to the same pre-emption rights (and exceptions) as the allotment of new shares. The Company does not currently hold any treasury shares.
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.
6 The right to appoint a proxy does not apply to persons whose shares are held on their behalf by another person and who have been nominated to receive communications from the Company in accordance with Section 146 of the 2006 Act ('nominated persons'). Nominated persons may have a right under an agreement with the member who holds the shares on their behalf to be appointed (or to have someone else appointed) as a proxy for the Meeting. If nominated persons do not have such a right, or do not wish to exercise it, they may have a right under such an agreement to give instructions to the person holding the shares as to the exercise of voting rights.
7 Holders of ordinary shares are entitled to attend and vote at General Meetings of the Company. On a vote by show of hands, every member who is present has one vote and every proxy present who has been duly appointed by a member entitled to vote has one vote, unless the proxy has been appointed by more than one member and has been instructed by one or more members to vote for the resolution and by one or more members to vote against the resolution, in which case the proxy has one vote for and one vote against. On a poll vote, every member who is present in person or by proxy has one vote for every ordinary share of which he/she is the holder.
to be held at: The Brewery, Chiswell Street, London EC1Y 4SD, on Friday, 27 May 2011, at 11.00am.
If you are in any doubt as to what action you should take, you should consult your stockbroker, bank manager, solicitor, accountant or other professional adviser authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
If you have sold or transferred all your shares in InterContinental Hotels Group PLC, please pass this document and the accompanying Form of Proxy to the stockbroker, bank or other agent through whom you made the sale or transfer for transmission to the purchaser or transferee.
A Form of Proxy for the Annual General Meeting (the 'Meeting') is enclosed and, to be valid, should be completed, signed and returned so as to reach the Company's Registrar, Equiniti, by no later than 11.00am on Wednesday, 25 May 2011 (or, if the Meeting is adjourned, 48 hours before the time for the holding of the adjourned Meeting). Completion and return of the Form of Proxy will not prevent you from attending and voting at the Meeting in person, should you so wish.
Electronic Proxy Appointment is available for this Annual General Meeting. This facility enables shareholders to lodge their proxy appointment by electronic means through the Registrar's website, www.sharevote.co.uk, or, for those who hold their shares in CREST, through the CREST electronic proxy appointment service. Further details are set out in the notes to this document.
At the Meeting itself, the votes will be taken by poll rather than on a show of hands. The results of the polls will be announced as soon as practicable and will appear on the Company's website www.ihgplc.com/investors under financial library.
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