AGM Information • Mar 31, 2015
AGM Information
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If you are in any doubt about the 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 recently sold or transferred all of your shares in Serco Group plc, you should forward this document and the accompanying form of proxy to your bank, stockbroker or other agent through whom the sale or transfer was effected for transmission to the purchaser or transferee.
23 March 2015
Dear Shareholder
I am pleased to invite you to join us at Serco Group plc's Annual General Meeting to be held at 3.00pm on Wednesday 6 May 2015 at the offices of Clifford Chance LLP, 10 Upper Bank Street, London E14 5JJ. The formal notice of Annual General Meeting is set out on pages 4 to 6 of this document.
If you would like to vote on the resolutions but cannot attend the AGM, please fill in the proxy form sent to you with this notice and return it to our registrars as soon as possible. They must receive it by 3.00pm on Monday 4 May 2015. For those of you that can join us at the AGM, I would like to advise you that, as in previous years, all resolutions proposed at the meeting will be voted by means of a poll, rather than on a show of hands. A poll reflects the number of voting rights exercisable by each member and so your Directors consider it a more democratic method of voting.
Explanatory notes on all the business to be considered at this year's AGM appear on pages 7 to 9 of this document. In accordance with the UK Corporate Governance Code all Directors are standing for election or re-election.
The Annual General Meeting is an important occasion for us as we reflect on the Group's business performance in 2014 and the opportunities for the future. There will be the chance for you to ask questions on the items as set out in the Notice. To that end, as Chairman, I will try to keep discussions relevant and focused.
To ensure everyone's safety and security at the meeting, I draw your attention to the information on page 11 of this document.
Your Directors believe that all the proposals to be considered at the Annual General Meeting are in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders as a whole and unanimously recommend shareholders to vote in favour of the resolutions as they themselves intend to do in respect of their own shareholdings in the Company.
On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank you for your continued support.
Yours sincerely
Alastair Lyons CBE Chairman
Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of Serco Group plc ('Serco' or the 'Company') will be held at the offices of Clifford Chance LLP, 10 Upper Bank Street, London E14 5JJ on 6 May 2015 at 3.00pm for the following business:
To receive the Annual Report and Accounts and the reports of the Directors and Auditors thereon for the year ended 31 December 2014. See note on page 7
To approve the Annual Report on Remuneration for the year ended 31 December 2014 as set out on pages 101 to 125 of the Annual Report and Accounts. See note on page 7
To consider and, if thought fit, to pass the following resolutions as ordinary resolutions:
To consider and, if thought fit, to pass the following resolutions as ordinary resolutions:
To generally and unconditionally authorise the Directors pursuant to and in accordance with Section 551 of the Companies Act 2006 to exercise all the powers of the Company to allot shares in the Company or grant rights to subscribe for or convert any security into shares in the Company:
such authorities to apply in substitution for all previous authorities pursuant to Section 551 of the Companies Act 2006 and to expire at the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting or at the close of business on 30 June 2016, whichever is the earlier but, in each case, so that the Company may make offers and enter into agreements before the authority expires which would, or might, require shares to be allotted or rights to subscribe for or to convert any security into shares to be granted after the authority expires and the Directors may allot shares or grant such rights under any such offer or agreement as if the authority had not expired.
For the purposes of this resolution, 'rights issue' means an offer to:
to subscribe further securities by means of the issue of a renounceable letter (or other negotiable document) which may be traded for a period before payment for the securities is due, but subject in both cases to such exclusions or other arrangements as the Directors may deem necessary or expedient in relation to treasury shares, fractional entitlements, record dates or legal, regulatory or practical problems in, or under the laws of, any territory. See note on page 8
THAT subject to the passing of Resolution 16 above,
as if Section 561(1) of the Companies Act 2006 did not apply to such allotment; and
ii) the Directors be generally empowered pursuant to Section 570 of the Companies Act 2006 to allot equity securities (as defined in Section 560(1) of the Companies Act 2006) for cash pursuant to the authority given by paragraphs (i) and (ii) of Resolution 16 above and/or pursuant to section 573 of the Companies Act 2006 to sell ordinary shares held by the Company as treasury shares for cash in connection with a rights issue as if Section 561(1) of the Companies Act 2006 did not apply to such allotment,
such powers to expire at the end of the next Annual General Meeting in 2016 or at the close of business on 30 June 2016, whichever is the earlier but so that the Company may make offers and enter into agreements before the power expires which would, or might, require equity securities to be allotted after the power expires and the Directors may allot shares or grant such rights under any such offer or agreement as if the power had not expired.
For the purposes of this Resolution, 'rights issue' has the same meaning as that set out in Resolution 16 above. See note on page 8
See note on page 8
provided that the total aggregate amount of political donations and political expenditure pursuant to this authority shall not exceed £130,000 for the Group as a whole, and the amount authorised under each of the paragraphs (a) to (c) shall be limited to such amount.
All existing authorisations and approvals relating to political donations or political expenditure under Part 14 of the Companies Act 2006 are hereby revoked without prejudice to any donation made or expenditure incurred prior to the date hereof pursuant to such authorisation or approval.
For the purposes of this resolution, the terms 'political donation', 'political parties', 'political organisation' and 'political expenditure' have the meanings given by sections 363 to 365 of the Companies Act 2006. See note on page 8
David Eveleigh Company Secretary 23 March 2015
Serco Group plc Serco House 16 Bartley Wood Business Park Bartley Way Hook Hampshire RG27 9UY
The Board of Directors will present the Annual Report and Accounts and the reports of the Directors and Auditors thereon for the year ended 31 December 2014.
The Annual Report on Remuneration (the 'Report') is included on pages 101 to 125 in the Annual Report and Accounts and gives details of the Directors' remuneration for the year ended 31 December 2014. Shareholders will be asked to approve the Report, which complies with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 for a report on the remuneration of all Directors, both Executive and Non-Executive. This is an advisory vote and the Directors' entitlement to remuneration is not conditional on it.
The Company's external auditor, Deloitte LLP has audited those parts of the Annual Report on Remuneration that are required to be audited and their report can be found on pages 134 to 138 of the Annual Report and Accounts.
The Report has been approved by the Board and signed on its behalf by the Company Secretary.
The Company's Articles of Association require that all Directors retire at least every three years and that all newly appointed Directors retire at the first AGM following their appointment. However, in accordance with the recommendations of the UK Corporate Governance Code, the Directors have resolved that they will all retire and submit themselves for re-election by the shareholders at each AGM of the Company.
Biographical details of all Directors, can be found on pages 80 and 81 of the Company's Annual Report and Accounts and on the Company's website (www.serco.com).
The Board believes that all Directors continue to demonstrate a great deal of commitment to their roles and that their respective skills complement each other to enhance the overall operation of the Board.
The Company has previously reported that Alastair Lyons has decided to resign as Chairman and Director of the Company once a replacement has been found. In order that Alastair can remain as a Director until a replacement is appointed, his re-election is proposed.
With reference to Angus Cockburn who is standing for election as an Executive Director following his appointment to the Board on 27 October 2014, the Board fully supports his election.
The appointment of Deloitte LLP as auditor of the Company terminates at the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting. They have advised of their willingness to stand for reappointment as auditor of the Company until the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting in 2016. The Directors recommend their reappointment and seek authority to set their remuneration.
Authority is sought to purchase up to 109,853,109 shares which is equivalent to approximately 10% of the expected ordinary issued share capital of the Company following completion of the Company's rights issue announced on 12 March 2015, until the earlier of the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting in 2016 or the close of business on 30 June 2016, continuing the authority granted by the shareholders at previous Annual General Meetings. If the Company's rights issue does not complete, and the authorities given in Resolution 15 are exercised, the Directors intend only to exercise the authorities up to limits in accordance with corporate governance guidelines based on the issued share capital of the Company at the time such authorities are exercised.
Resolution 15 specifies the maximum number of shares that may be purchased and the minimum and maximum prices at which they may be bought. The Directors would use the share purchase authority with discretion and purchases would only be made from funds not required for other purposes and in light of the market conditions prevailing at the time. The Directors will exercise this authority only when they consider to do so would be in the best interests of shareholders generally.
Pursuant to the Companies Act 2006, a Company may hold any of their own shares that they have purchased as treasury shares with a view to possible resale at a future date, rather than cancelling them, or to use them for the purposes of their employee share schemes. The Directors would be entitled to hold those shares in treasury provided that the number of shares held in treasury at any one time does not exceed 10% of the nominal value of Serco's issued share capital. No dividends would be paid on, and no voting rights would be exercised in respect of, treasury shares.
While the Company does not currently hold any treasury shares, the Board believes that the authority will provide the Company with additional flexibility in the management of its capital base, enabling it to resell treasury shares in the future or use them to satisfy awards under the various Serco share and incentive schemes.
For information, as of 23 March 2015, the latest practicable date prior to posting of this document, there were options outstanding to subscribe for 14,576,448 ordinary shares, representing 2.65% of the Company's issued ordinary share capital as at the date of this Notice. If the authority given by Resolution 15 were to be fully used, that percentage would increase to 3.32% of the Company's ordinary issued share capital. Further, in connection with the Company's rights issue as announced on 12 March 2015, the number of options will be adjusted as appropriate by the remuneration committee in due course. The Company has no warrants in issue in relation to its shares.
At this Annual General Meeting, the Directors are seeking authority under paragraph (i) of Resolution 16 to allot new shares and grant rights to subscribe for, or convert other securities into, shares up to a maximum nominal value of £7,250,305, which is equivalent to approximately 33% of the Company's expected issued ordinary share capital following completion of the Company's rights issue announced on 12 March 2015.
Further, the Directors are seeking an additional authority under paragraph (ii) of Resolution 16 to allot new shares and grant rights to subscribe for, or convert other securities into, shares only in connection with a rights issue up to a further nominal value of £7,250,305, which is equivalent to approximately 33% of the Company's expected issued ordinary share capital following completion of the Company's rights issue announced on 12 March 2015.
The Directors are also seeking authority under paragraph (i)(a) of Resolution 17 to allot new shares pursuant to the authority given by paragraph (i) of Resolution 16, or sell treasury shares, for cash up to a nominal value of £1,098,531 which is equivalent to approximately 5% of the Company's expected issued equity share capital following completion of the Company's rights issue announced on 12 March 2015, without first being required to offer such shares to existing shareholders in proportion to their existing holdings.
In addition, the Directors are seeking a further authority under paragraph (i)(b) of Resolution 17 to allot new shares up to a nominal value of £1,098,531 (which is equivalent to approximately 5% of the Company's expected issued equity share capital following completion of the Company's rights issue announced on 12 March 2015) without the shares first being offered to existing shareholders in proportion to their existing holdings. The Directors intend to use this additional 5% only in connection with an acquisition or specified capital investment details of which will be announced contemporaneously with the issue or which has taken place in the preceding six-month period and is disclosed in the announcement of the issue. This authority is in line with recent changes to the Pre-Emption Group's Statement of Principles published on 12 March 2015.
Further, the Directors are seeking authority under paragraph (ii) of Resolution 17 to allot new shares pursuant to the authority given by paragraphs (i) and (ii) of Resolution 16, or sell treasury shares, for cash in connection with a rights issue. This is in line with corporate governance guidelines. At 23 March 2015, the Company did not hold any shares in treasury.
Apart from issues of ordinary shares pursuant to the terms of the Company's employee share and incentive schemes, the Directors have no present intention of utilising these authorities to undertake a rights issue or to allot new shares. The Directors consider it desirable to have the maximum flexibility permitted by corporate governance guidelines and these limited authorities will enable the Directors to respond in the interests of the Company to any appropriate opportunities which may arise. If the resolutions are passed, the authorities will expire on the earlier of the close of business on 30 June 2016 and at the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting in 2016.
Further, the Board intends to adhere to the provisions in the Pre-emption Group's Statement of Principles not to allot shares 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% of the total issued ordinary share capital of the Company within a rolling three year period without prior consultation with shareholders.
In respect of all of the authorities set out in Resolutions 16 and 17, if the Company's Rights Issue as announced on 12 March 2015 does not complete, and the authorities given in Resolutions 16 and 17 are exercised, the Directors intend only to exercise the authorities up to limits in accordance with corporate governance guidelines based on the issued share capital of the Company at the time such authorities are exercised.
The Serco Group plc 2005 Savings-Related Share Option Scheme expires this year so no further options may be granted under it. The Directors are therefore seeking authority to adopt and operate the new Serco 2015 Sharesave Plan (the 'Plan') as a replacement plan in order to continue to offer options to Serco employees.
The Plan is drafted on similar terms to the previous plan but updated to take account of the current legislation and market practice. The main features of the Plan are summarised in Appendix 1 to the Notice of this Meeting.
The Directors are also seeking authority to adopt further plans similar to the Plan to be operated in other countries, but modified to take account of local tax, exchange control or securities laws in such countries and, where feasible, to provide favourable tax treatment. Any further plans may allow for different savings amounts and exercise periods as permitted under the equivalent tax favourable employee plans. Shares made available under these plans will count against overall participation limits as set for the Plan.
The Company's policy of not giving any cash contributions to any political party will continue. However, the Directors consider that it is in the best interests of shareholders to participate in public debate and opinion-forming on matters which affect the business.
This resolution enables the Company and any company which is or becomes its subsidiary during the period to which this resolution has effect to incur expenditure of up to a maximum aggregate amount of £130,000, for the Group as a whole, in respect of each of the heads identified (including any such expenditure by a subsidiary company) without unintentionally breaching the provisions of the Companies Act 2006, which defines political organisations and political donations in a broad manner. The authority sought will, if granted, last until the conclusion of the 2016 Annual General Meeting of the Company when the Directors intend to seek renewal of this authority.
This resolution is to allow the Company to hold general meetings (other than AGMs) on 14 days' notice. The minimum notice period permitted by the Companies Act 2006 for general meetings (other than AGMs) is 21 days. However, the Companies Act 2006 allows companies to approve a shorter notice period of 14 days (other than for AGMs). AGMs will continue to be held on at least 21 clear days' notice. Shareholders approved this at last year's annual general meeting and in order to preserve this ability, Resolution 21 seeks such approval again. The approval will again be effective until the Company's next annual general meeting, when it is intended that a similar resolution will be proposed. The shorter notice period would not be used as a matter of routine for such meetings, but only where the flexibility is merited by the business of the meeting and is thought to be to the advantage of shareholders as a whole.
The same documents will also be available for inspection at the offices of Clifford Chance LLP, 10 Upper Bank Street, London E14 5JJ, 15 minutes before the commencement of the Annual General Meeting on 6 May 2015 and until the closure of the meeting.
The Annual General Meeting of Serco Group plc will be held at the offices of Clifford Chance LLP, 10 Upper Bank Street, London E14 5JJ.
10 Upper Bank Street is fully accessible by all major transport links in the capital.
10 Upper Bank Street is situated less than five minutes' walk from Canary Wharf station on the Jubilee line. The Docklands Light Railway also connects at Canary Wharf station.
Canary Wharf station connects with local bus numbers D3, D7, D8, 277.
10 Upper Bank Street is within easy reach of principal arterial routes into London. There is no parking outside 10 Upper Bank Street however; Canary Wharf has four underground public car parks, the nearest to 10 Upper Bank Street being Jubilee Place car park.
10 Upper Bank Street features disabled access at the main entrance located on Upper Bank Street. All rooms have disabled access.
There is an integrated Audio Induction Loop in the Auditorium where the meeting will be held.
Please remember to bring your Attendance Card with you. Please bring some form of identification with you to the Annual General Meeting in case we need to verify that your name appears on our register of shareholders or proxies.
We thank you in advance for your co-operation with our security staff.
We would advise you that we reserve the right to check bags or briefcases. We do not permit behaviour that may interfere with anyone's security, safety or the good order of the meeting.
We do not permit cameras (including mobile phone cameras) or recording equipment at the meeting and we would be grateful if you could ensure that you have switched off all electronic communication devices before entering the meeting.
Please let us know at Registration if you wish to ask a question during the meeting. Alternatively, you can email your question to [email protected] prior to the meeting.
The Serco 2015 Sharesave Plan (the 'Sharesave Plan') is an all-employee savings-related share option plan which is designed to meet the requirements of Schedule 3 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 and so provide participants with certain tax advantages on exercise of options. Set out below is a summary of its main features.
An individual must be an employee or full-time director of the Company or a participating subsidiary who is tax-resident in the UK on the date that options are granted and who has been an employee or full-time director for a qualifying service period (not exceeding five years) to be determined by the Board. An individual is a full-time director if he is obliged to devote not less than 25 hours per week to his duties with the company concerned. The Company's Board has a discretion to nominate employees who do not satisfy the above conditions to participate in the Sharesave Plan. The Board can decide which subsidiaries participate in the Sharesave Plan.
The Board may at any time (but subject to any relevant regulatory restrictions outlined in the rules of the Sharesave Plan) invite all eligible employees to apply for options. No options may be granted after the period of ten years from the date of approval of the Sharesave Plan by the Company's shareholders. Options granted under the Sharesave Plan are personal to option holders and, except on the death of an option holder, may not be transferred. Options granted under the Sharesave Plan are not pensionable.
An eligible employee who applies for an option under the Sharesave Plan must also enter into a savings contract approved by HMRC for a specified period of three or five years. The Board has discretion to determine which of the savings contracts will be available in respect of any invitation to apply for options. Under this contract, the employee will agree to make monthly savings contributions of a fixed amount which is set by the Board (which may not exceed the statutory maximum (currently, £500 per month)). Shares may only be acquired on the exercise of the option using the payment under this contract. Payment will be taken as including any bonus payable under the savings contract, unless otherwise decided by the Board.
The Board shall determine the price payable for each share under option, provided that the price shall not be less than the higher of:
The number of the Company's unissued shares that may be issued or placed under option or award in any period of ten years under the Company's employee share plans may not exceed such number of shares as represents 10% of the Company's ordinary share capital in issue from time to time. Shares transferred out of treasury to satisfy options under the Sharesave Plan will count towards this limit for so long as this is required by institutional investor guidelines.
Applications to participate in the Sharesave Plan may be scaled down by the Board if applications exceed the number of shares available for the grant of options. The ways in which scaling down may be carried out are set out in the rules of the Sharesave Plan.
An option may not normally be exercised until the option holder has completed his three-year or five-year savings contract and then not more than six months thereafter. Special provisions allow early exercise in the case of death, injury, disability, redundancy, retirement or because the Company or business which employs the option holder is transferred out of the Group.
If an option holder ceases employment for any other reason within three years of the grant date, his option will lapse, however if he ceases employment for any other reason more than three years after the grant date, he may exercise his option for a period of six months. Special provisions also allow early exercise in the event of a change of control, reconstruction or winding up of the Company. Internal reorganisations do not automatically trigger the early exercise of options.
In the event of any variation in the share capital of the Company, the Board may make such adjustments as it considers appropriate to the number of shares under option and the price at which they may be acquired. Any such variation must in particular ensure that the total market value of the shares under option and the total price at which they may be acquired must be substantially the same before and after the amendment.
The Board may at any time amend the Sharesave Plan. The prior approval of the Company in general meeting must be obtained in the case of any amendment to the advantage of the option holders which is made to the provisions relating to eligibility, individual or overall limits, the basis for determining a participant's entitlement to, and the terms of, shares provided under the Sharesave Plan, and the adjustments that may be made in the event of any variation of share capital. Minor amendments to benefit the administration of the Sharesave Plan, to take account of a change in legislation or to obtain or maintain favourable tax, exchange control or regulatory treatment for participants, the Company or any member of the Group do not require the approval of the Company in general meeting. Any amendment to the material disadvantage of participants in relation to options already granted to them requires their majority consent.
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