AGM Information • Oct 14, 2015
AGM Information
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THIS DOCUMENT IS IMPORTANT AND REQUIRES YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION. If you are in any doubt about the contents of this document, you should consult a person authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, if you are within the United Kingdom, or a person licensed to carry on investment business in accordance with the Financial Services Act 2008, if you are within the Isle of Man and, in either case, who specialises in advising on the acquisition of shares and other securities.
If you have sold or otherwise transferred all of your shares, please send this document, together with the other 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.
(incorporated in the Isle of Man with company number 113389C)
14th October 2015
Dear Shareholder,
The Directors of Hansard Global plc (the "Company") wish to take the opportunity at the forthcoming annual general meeting (the "Annual General Meeting"), notice of which appears in the document accompanying this letter, to propose three items of special business. I set out below reasons why these proposals will be put to Shareholders.
If you would like to vote on the resolutions, but you are unable to attend the Annual General Meeting, please complete the proxy form attached to this notice and return it to the Isle of Man office of the Company's share registrars, Capita Registrars (Isle of Man) Limited, Clinch's House, Lord Street, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM99 1RZ by no later than 11.00 am on 10th November 2015.
The approval of Shareholders is sought for the Company to be authorised to purchase its own shares, within the limits set out in the attached notice, until whichever is the earlier of: (i) the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting in 2016 or (ii) 15 months after the date on which the proposed resolution is passed.
Shares will only be repurchased under the authority granted pursuant to this resolution if the Directors consider such purchases to be in the best interests of Shareholders generally. The authority will only be used after careful consideration, taking into account market conditions prevailing at the time, the constitution of the Company's existing shareholder base, other investment opportunities, appropriate gearing levels and the overall financial position of the Company.
The Directors' authority to allot shares will expire on 12th November 2015 and it is proposed to renew this authority for the period commencing 12th November 2015 and ending on the date of the Company's next annual general meeting in 2016 or (if earlier) 15 months following the Annual General Meeting, subject to this authority being limited to 6,000,000 ordinary shares (being approximately 4.4% of the issued share capital of the Company).
In accordance with the recommendations of the UK Corporate Governance Code the Directors will each retire and seek re-election at the Annual General Meeting. The Board believes that the performance of the Directors continues to be effective and that they continue to demonstrate commitment to their roles. The Company therefore also considers each of the independent Directors to be an effective Director. None of the independent Directors seeking re-election have any existing or previous relationship with the Company, the other directors, nor any controlling shareholder of the Company or any associate of a controlling shareholder of the Company within the meaning of Listing Rule 13.8.17R(2)
As a result of recent changes to the Listing Rules, independent Directors are now required to be elected or re-elected by a majority of votes cast by independent shareholders as well as by a majority of votes cast by all shareholders. Therefore the votes cast by independent shareholders and all shareholders will be calculated separately and the relevant resolution will only be passed if a majority of votes cast by independent shareholders are in favour, in addition to a majority of votes cast by all shareholders being in favour. In the event that this formulation results in a resolution not being passed, another vote will be organised after 90 days. The resolutions impacted by the dual voting structure at the meeting are Resolutions 5 and 8.
The Directors consider that the Company's Articles of Association require updating to cater for:-
The Company Secretary has advised the Board that it is more appropriate to adopt new Articles of Association rather than make piecemeal amendments to the existing Articles. A summary of the proposed amendments is set out in Appendix A.
As required under the recent revisions to the Listing Rules the Company confirms that it has in place an Agreement with Dr Polonsky CBE, as a controlling shareholder which is available for inspection in the same way as the Company's articles of association.
The Directors consider that all the resolutions to be proposed at the Annual General Meeting are in the best interests of the Company and its Shareholders as a whole. The Board will be voting in favour of the said resolutions and they unanimously recommend that you do so as well.
Yours faithfully,
Philip Gregory Chairman
| Article | Amendment | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 6. A Treasury Shares | Additional article catering for Treasury Shares following a change in Isle of Man under the Companies Act 1931 – 2004 (Treasury Share) Regulations 2010 |
||
| 63 Method of Voting | Changes to reflect the fact that treasury shares do not have any voting rights | ||
| 81 Number of Directors | Deletion of the requirement that a majority of the Directors shall at all times be resident outside the United Kingdom |
||
| 82 Power of Company to appoint Directors |
Deletion of references to retirement by rotation of Directors | ||
| 83 Power of Board to appoint Directors |
Deletion of references to retirement of Directors by rotation | ||
| 84 Eligibility of new Directors | Deletion of references to retirement of Directors by rotation | ||
| 88.1 Number of Directors and reappointment |
Replacement of existing Article 88.1 to cater for the retirement of all Directors at each annual general meeting |
||
| 89 Removal by ordinary resolution |
Deletion of references to retirement of Directors by rotation | ||
| 90(k) Vacation of office by Director |
Deletion of article (k) "subsequent to his appointment, he becomes resident in the United Kingdom and as a result thereof the majority of the Directors are resident in the United Kingdom" in light of changes to Article 81. |
||
| 92.1 Identity of appointee | Deletion of references to retirement of Directors by rotation | ||
| 96 Revocation of appointment | Deletion of references to retirement of Directors by rotation | ||
| 113 Board Meetings | Deletion of the requirement that a majority of Directors present are resident in the United Kingdom |
||
| 115 Quorum | The provision has been changed to remove any restriction on a majority of the Directors being resident in the United Kingdom |
||
| 117 Voting | The provision has been changed to remove any restriction on a majority of the Directors being resident in the United Kingdom |
||
| 124 (d) Interested Director not to vote or count for quorum |
The provision has been changed to make it clear that such treasury shares do not have any voting rights. |
Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the Company will be held on 12th November 2015 in the Board Room, Harbour Court, Lord Street, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM99 1QL at 11.00 am for the transaction of the following business:
| Ordinary Resolution No 1 | that the Company's financial statements for the year ended 30th June 2015, together with the Directors' report and auditor's report on those financial statements be and they are hereby adopted. |
|---|---|
| Ordinary Resolution No 2 | that the Remuneration Report of the Board of Directors for the year ended 30th June 2015 be and it is hereby adopted. |
| Ordinary Resolution No 3 | that a final dividend for the year ended 30th June 2015 of 5.25 pence per ordinary share in the capital of the Company be and is hereby declared payable on 19th November 2015 to shareholders registered in the books of the Company on 2nd October 2015. |
| Ordinary Resolution No 4 | that Dr L S Polonsky CBE be and is hereby re-appointed as a Director of the Company. |
| Ordinary Resolution No 5 | that Mr M Dyson be and is hereby re-appointed as a Director of the Company. |
| Ordinary Resolution No 6 | that Mr P C Gregory be and is hereby re-appointed as a Director of the Company. |
| Ordinary Resolution No 7 | that Mr G S Marr be and is hereby re-appointed as a Director of the Company. |
| Ordinary Resolution No 8 | that Mr A C Frepp be and is hereby re-appointed as a Director of the Company. |
| Ordinary Resolution No 9 | that Mr M A L Polonsky be and is hereby re-appointed as an Alternate Director of the Company (being an alternate for Dr L S Polonsky CBE). |
| Ordinary Resolution No 10 | that PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC, Isle of Man be and they are hereby appointed as auditor of the Company from the conclusion of the meeting to the conclusion of the next meeting at which accounts are laid before the Company and that the Directors be and they are hereby authorised to determine their remuneration. |
| Special Resolution No 11 | that the Company be generally and unconditionally authorised for the purposes of Section 13 of the Companies Act 1992 to make market purchases of ordinary shares of the Company provided that: |
|
|---|---|---|
| (i) | the maximum aggregate number of ordinary shares which may be purchased is 5,000,000; |
|
| (ii) | the maximum price (excluding expenses) which may be paid for any ordinary share does not exceed the higher of: (1) 5% above the average closing price of such shares for the five business days on the London Stock Exchange prior to the date of purchase and (2) the higher of the last independent trade and the highest current independent bid on the London Stock Exchange; |
|
| (iii) | the minimum price (excluding expenses) which may be paid for any ordinary share is 50 pence per share; and |
|
| (iv) | this authority shall expire upon the earlier of: (1) the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting of the Company to be held in 2016; and (2) fifteen months from the date upon which this resolution is passed, unless such authority is renewed prior to that time (except in relation to the purchase of ordinary shares the contract for which was concluded before the expiry of such authority and which might be executed wholly or partly after such expiry). |
|
| Special Resolution No 12 | that the Directors be and are hereby generally and unconditionally authorised to exercise in respect of the Allotment Period (as defined in the Company's articles of association) commencing on the day following the Company's Annual General Meeting convened for 12th November 2015 and ending on the earlier of the date of the Company's Annual General Meeting to be held in 2016 and (if earlier) fifteen months following the Annual General Meeting convened for 2015, all the powers of the Company to allot for cash equity securities up to an aggregate nominal amount equal to £3,000,000 (6,000,000 ordinary shares) as if article 6 of the Company's articles of association did not apply to such allotment. |
|
| Special Resolution No 13 | to delete the Company's Articles of Association in their entirety and adopt in their place the Articles of Association produced to the meeting and, for the purposes of identification, initialled by the Chairman [see note 7]. |
By order of the Board M B Patel
Company Secretary Dated: 14h October 2015
Holders of ordinary shares are entitled to attend and vote at general meetings of the Company. The total number of issued ordinary shares in the Company on 10 October 2015, which is the latest practicable date before the publication of this document, is 137,388,669. 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. On a poll vote every member who is present in person or by proxy has one vote for every ordinary share of which he is the holder.
Entitlement to attend and vote at the meeting, and the number of votes which may be cast at the meeting, will be determined by reference to the Company's register of members at 6.00 pm on 10th November 2015 or, if the meeting is adjourned, 48 hours before the time fixed for the adjourned meeting (as the case may be). In each case, changes to the register of members after such time will be disregarded.
Members may vote electronically, by no later than 11.00 am on 10th November 2015, by visiting www.capitashareportal.com. They will be asked to enter the Investor Code shown on their share certificate or dividend tax voucher and to agree to certain terms and conditions.
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 CRESTCO's specifications and must contain information required for such instructions, as described in the CREST Manual. The message must be transmitted so as to be received by the issuer's agent (ID RA10) by the latest time(s) for receipt of proxy appointments specified in this Notice. 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 Application Host) from which the issuer's agent is able to retrieve the message by enquiry to CREST in the manner prescribed by CREST.
CREST members and, where applicable, their CREST sponsors or voting service providers should note that CRESTCO 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.
Hansard Global plc (the "Company")
I/We
being (a) member(s) of the Company hereby appoint:
whom failing the Chairman of the Meeting, as my/our proxy to vote for me/us on my/our behalf at the Annual General Meeting of the Company to be held in the Board Room, Harbour Court, Lord Street, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM99 1QL on 12 November 2015 at 11.00 am and at any adjournment thereof.
I/We request such proxy to vote on the following resolutions as indicated below:
(Please mark with an "X" how you wish to vote)
Please tick here if this proxy appointment is one of multiple appointments being made
Vote
| For | Against | Withheld | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ordinary Resolution 1 | to receive the 2015 Annual Report and Accounts and the auditor's report thereon. |
|||
| Ordinary Resolution 2 | to approve the Remuneration Report for the year ended 30th June 2015. |
|||
| Ordinary Resolution 3 | to declare the final dividend of 5.25 pence per ordinary share for the year ended 30th June 2015. |
|||
| Ordinary Resolution 4 | to re-appoint Dr L S Polonsky CBE as a Director. | |||
| Ordinary Resolution 5 | to re-appoint Mr M Dyson as a Director. | |||
| Ordinary Resolution 6 | to re-appoint Mr P P C Gregory as a Director. | |||
| Ordinary Resolution 7 | to re-appoint Mr G S Marr as a Director. | |||
| Ordinary Resolution 8 | to re-appoint Mr A C Frepp as a Director. | |||
| Ordinary Resolution 9 | to re-appoint Mr M A L Polonsky as an Alternate |
Director (alternate to Dr L S Polonsky CBE).
Isle of Man as auditor and to authorise the Directors to determine their remuneration.
Ordinary Resolution 10 to re-appoint PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC,
| For | Against | Vote Withheld |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Special Resolution 11 | to renew the Company's authority to purchase its own shares. |
|||
| Special Resolution 12 | to renew the Directors' authority to allot shares. | |||
| Special Resolution 13 | to adopt the new Articles of Association |
Signature:_____________________________________________________________
Dated:________________________________________________________________
Joint Holders (if any): ____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
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