Pre-Annual General Meeting Information • Mar 30, 2017
Pre-Annual General Meeting Information
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If you are in any doubt as to the action you should take, you are recommended to seek your own personal advice from your stockbroker, accountant or other independent professional adviser authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
If you have sold or transferred all your shares in Computacenter plc, you should forward this document and other documents enclosed as soon as possible to the stockbroker, bank or other agent through whom the sale or transfer was effected for transmission to the purchaser or transferee.
COMPUTACENTER PLC Registered in England No: 3110569
REGISTERED OFFICE Hatfield Avenue Hatfield Hertfordshire AL10 9TW
30 March 2017
I am pleased to be writing to you with details of our 2017 Annual General Meeting ('AGM'). This will be held on Thursday 4 May 2017 at 9.00am, at 100 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8HL.
Attached on pages 2 to 4 is the Notice setting out the business to be conducted at this year's AGM. An explanation of the business of the AGM can be found at Appendix 1 on pages 5 and 6.
If you are unable to attend the AGM in person, you can appoint a proxy to exercise all or any of your rights to attend, vote and speak at the AGM, and further information on the required process is detailed under the section on this page entitled 'Action To Be Taken – Form of Proxy'.
In accordance with the UK Corporate Governance Code, the Board has decided that all of the Directors will offer themselves for election or re-election, and resolutions 5a to 5i are to elect or re-elect them as Directors. Brief biographies of all of the Directors standing for election or re-election at the forthcoming AGM can be found on pages 54 and 55 of the 2016 Annual Report and Accounts.
Since the Company's 2016 AGM, the Board and each of its Directors has been subject to a formal evaluation process carried out by an external and independent provider, further details of which can be found within the Corporate Governance Report on pages 56 to 62 of the 2016 Annual Report and Accounts. I am pleased to confirm that the performance of each Director continues to be effective and that all are able to demonstrate continued commitment to their respective roles as members of the Board and, where relevant, its Committees.
You will find enclosed a Form of Proxy for use at the AGM. Please complete, sign and return the Form of Proxy as soon as possible in accordance with the instructions printed thereon. The Form of Proxy should be returned to Equiniti, the Company's Registrar, as soon as possible and, in any event, so as to be received not later than 9.00am on Tuesday 2 May 2017.
Alternatively, shareholders may register proxy vote instructions by electronic means. If you wish to register your voting instructions in this way, please refer to the guidance set out in notes 6 to 8 to the Notice of AGM on page 3. Communications giving voting instructions by electronic means must be received by Equiniti not later than 9.00am on Tuesday 2 May 2017.
The Directors consider that the proposals being put to shareholders at the AGM are in the best interests of the Company and of the shareholders as a whole. Accordingly, the Directors recommend that you vote in favour of the resolutions set out in the attached Notice of AGM, as they intend to do in respect of their own interests (both beneficial and non-beneficial) amounting to 53,393,412 Ordinary Shares, representing approximately 43.52 per cent of the Company's issued share capital (as at 16 March 2017).
Greg Lock Chairman
Notice is hereby given that the AGM of Computacenter plc will be held at 9.00am on Thursday 4 May 2017 at 100 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8HL for the following purposes:
To consider and if thought fit, pass the following resolutions:
securities to be allotted after such expiry and the Directors shall be entitled to allot equity securities pursuant to any such offer or agreement as if the power conferred hereby had not expired.
for the period referred to in Resolution 8, save that the Company shall be entitled to make offers or agreements before the expiry of such power, which would or might require equity securities to be allotted after such expiry and the Directors shall be entitled to allot equity securities pursuant to any such offer or agreement as if the power conferred hereby had not expired.
Registered Office Hatfield Avenue, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL10 9TW
By order of the Board
Raymond Gray Company Secretary 30 March 2017
7. CREST members who wish to appoint a proxy or proxies through the CREST electronic proxy appointment service may do so for the AGM and in respect of any adjournment(s) thereof by using the procedures described in the CREST Manual, which can be viewed at www.euroclear.com. CREST personal members or other CREST sponsored members and those CREST members who have appointed 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 or instruction made using the CREST service to be valid, the appropriate CREST message (a 'CREST Proxy Instruction') must be properly authenticated in accordance with Euroclear UK & Ireland Limited's specifications and must contain the information required for such instructions, as described in the CREST Manual. The message, regardless of whether it relates to the appointment of a proxy or to an amendment to the instruction given to a previously appointed proxy must, in order to be valid, be transmitted so as to be received by Equiniti (ID RA19) not later than 9.00am on Tuesday 2 May 2017. For this purpose the time of receipt will be taken as the time (as determined by the timestamp applied to the message by the CREST Applications Host) from which Equiniti are 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(s) through other means.
CREST members and, where applicable, their CREST sponsors or voting service providers should note that Euroclear UK & Ireland Limited 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 or sponsored member or has appointed a voting service provider(s), to procure that his/her 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.
Computacenter plc may treat as invalid any CREST Proxy Instruction it receives which falls within the circumstances set out in Regulation 35(5)(a) of the Uncertified Securities Regulations 2001.
10. As at 16 March 2017 (being the latest practicable date before the publication of this document) the Company's issued share capital consists of 122,687,970 ordinary shares, carrying one vote each. The Company does not hold any ordinary shares in the capital of the Company in treasury. Therefore, the total voting rights in the Company are 122,687,970.
11. A copy of the Company's Articles of Association, copies of the Directors' service contracts with the Company and the terms and conditions of the Non-Executive Directors are available for inspection at the Registered Office of the Company during usual business hours and will be available for inspection at the place of the AGM from 8.45am on the day of the AGM until the conclusion of the AGM.
The business of the AGM will start with a resolution to lay before the shareholders, the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2016 and the reports of the Directors and Auditor thereon. Shareholders who attend the AGM will have the opportunity to ask questions regarding the financial statements and the reports, prior to the resolution being proposed at the AGM.
Page 75 and pages 82 to 90 of the 2016 Annual Report and Accounts constitute the Annual Statement from the Chairman of the Remuneration Committee and the Annual Remuneration Report respectively for the year ended 31 December 2016, which shareholders are now being asked to approve. This is an advisory vote, and will not affect the actual remuneration paid to any individual Director.
In line with the Companies Act 2006, shareholders are now being asked to approve the Directors' Remuneration Policy, as set out on pages 76 to 81 of the Annual Report and Accounts 2016. Under the Companies Act 2006, shareholder approval must be sought for the policy report at least every three years with the policy last being submitted for approval at the 2014 AGM. The Directors' Remuneration Policy sets out the Company's future policy on Directors' remuneration and, once this has been approved, the Company will not be able to make a remuneration payment to a current or former Director, unless it is either consistent with the terms of the Directors' Remuneration Policy or has been approved by way of a shareholder resolution.
The Board has recommended a final dividend of 15.0 pence per ordinary share, in respect of the year ended 31 December 2016. Members will be asked to approve this payment and if approved, the dividend will be payable on 9 June 2017, to those shareholders on the register of members at the close of business on 12 May 2017.
These resolutions deal with the election and re-election of Directors and the reasons for their election or re-election can be found in more detail at pages 56 to 62 of the 2016 Annual Report and Accounts. Biographies of each of the Directors standing for election and re-election can be found on pages 54 and 55 of the 2016 Annual Report and Accounts. The Chairman confirms that the performance of all of his fellow Directors standing for election or re-election continues to be effective and the Non-Executive Directors confirm that the performance of the Chairman continues to be effective. Please note that, as explained in the Company's 2016 Annual Report and Accounts, Ros Rivaz will be standing for election to the Board for the first time.
Copies of the Letters of Appointment between the Company and its Non-Executive Directors and Executive Directors' Service Contracts will be available at the registered office of the Company during usual business hours on any weekday (Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays excluded) until the date of the AGM and also at the place of the AGM from 15 minutes prior to the commencement of the meeting until the conclusion thereof.
Shareholders are being asked to confirm the re-appointment of KPMG LLP as the Company's Auditor, to hold office until the conclusion of the next AGM.
This resolution asks shareholders to authorise the Directors to set the Auditor's remuneration.
This resolution asks shareholders to renew, by Ordinary Resolution, the Directors' authority under Section 551 of the Companies Act 2006 to allot unissued shares and to grant rights to subscribe for, or to convert any security into, shares in the Company. This resolution, is similar to the resolutions passed in previous years. This renewed authority will, if granted, expire at the conclusion of the AGM held in 2018 or, if earlier, on 30 June 2018, although offers or agreements can be made before the expiry of that period, which might require for shares to be allotted or rights granted after the expiry of that period. In accordance with corporate governance best practice recommendations, the Directors' authority, if approved, will be limited to a maximum nominal amount of £3,089,919.24, representing a maximum of 40,895,990 ordinary shares, equivalent to approximately one-third of the issued share capital of the Company (as at 16 March 2017, being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this document). There are no present plans to allot unissued shares other than in connection with employee share and incentive schemes. The Directors believe that they should have the authority proposed in the resolution to enable such allotments to take place to finance business opportunities as they arise.
If the Directors wish to allot unissued shares and other equity securities for cash, Section 561 of the Companies Act 2006 requires that these shares are offered first to existing shareholders in proportion to their holdings. This is known as shareholders' preemption rights. There may be occasions, however, when the Directors need the flexibility to finance business opportunities as they arise without offering securities on a pre-emptive basis. The Companies Act 2006 allows a limited disapplication of these pre-emption rights in certain circumstances.
The purpose of Resolution 9 is to authorise the Directors to allot new shares (and sell treasury shares) for cash pursuant to the authority given by Resolution 8 up to a nominal value of £463,487.89, equivalent to five per cent of the total issued ordinary share capital of the Company (as at 16 March 2017), without the shares first being offered to existing shareholders in proportion to their existing holdings.
Resolution 10 seeks a separate and additional authority to dis-apply pre-emption rights in respect of an additional five per cent of the total issued ordinary share capital of the Company (as at 16 March 2017) for an acquisition or specified capital investment pursuant to guidance from the Pre-Emption Group (PEG). On 12 March 2015, the PEG issued a revised Statement of Principles ('2015 Statement of Principles'). This stated that, in addition to previous standard annual disapplication of pre-emption rights up to a maximum of five per cent, the PEG was supportive of extending the general disapplication authority by an additional five per cent for an acquisition or specified capital investment.
The Directors confirm, in accordance with the 2015 Statement of Principles, that they will only allot shares representing more than five per cent of the issued ordinary share capital of the Company for cash pursuant to the authority referred to in Resolution 10, where the allotment is in connection with an acquisition or specified capital investment, which is announced contemporaneously with the allotment or which has taken place in the preceding six-month period and is disclosed in the announcement of the issue. Where the authority granted under Resolution 10 is used, the circumstances that have led to its use and the consultation process undertaken will be disclosed by the Company in its next Annual Report.
NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2017
Resolution 9 and 10 will be proposed subject to Resolution 8 first being carried by the AGM and the authority sought, if granted, will be for the same period as that granted under Resolution 8.
In addition the Board will not (except in relation to an issue pursuant to Resolution 10 in respect of the additional five per cent referred to above) allot shares for cash on a non-pre-emptive basis pursuant to the authority granted in Resolution 8 in excess of an amount equal to 7.5 per cent of the total issued ordinary share capital of the Company, excluding treasury shares, within a rolling three-year period, without prior consultation with shareholders.
The Board has no current intention to allot shares for cash on a non pre-emptive basis, but the Directors consider that the authority sought is appropriate as it provides the Company with the necessary flexibility to take advantage of business opportunities as they arise.
Resolution 9 and 10 will expire at the conclusion of the Company's AGM in 2018 or, if earlier, 30 June 2018, at which time the Board expects to seek its renewal.
The authority, under Section 701 of the Companies Act 2006, which will be proposed as a Special Resolution, would permit the Company to purchase, on the London Stock Exchange, up to 12,268,797 ordinary shares, which is equivalent to approximately 10 per cent of the issued share capital of the Company (as at 16 March 2017) and the Company's exercise of this authority is subject to the stated upper and lower limits on the price payable.
The Company was given authority at the 2016 AGM to make market purchases of up to 12,268,797 ordinary shares. To date, no shares have been purchased under this authority. The Directors will use the authority to purchase shares only after careful consideration, taking into account market conditions, other investment opportunities, appropriate gearing levels and the overall financial position of the Company. The Directors will only purchase such shares after taking into account the effects on earnings per share and the benefit for shareholders generally.
Any shares bought by the Company under this authority will either be held in treasury, with a view to possible re-issue at a future date, or cancelled. The Directors will decide at the time of purchase whether to cancel the shares immediately or to hold them in treasury. In relation to treasury shares, the Board will also have regard to any investor guidelines, in relation to the purchase of shares intended to be held in treasury or in relation to their holding or resale, which may be in force at the time of any such purchase, holding or resale.
As at 16 March 2017, there were no warrants outstanding and options outstanding over 5,933,167 ordinary shares, granted under all share options schemes operated by the Company, representing 4.84% of the Company's issued ordinary share capital (excluding any shares held in treasury). If the authority given by Resolution 11 were exercised in full, that percentage would increase to 5.37%.
The authority will expire at the conclusion of the Company's AGM in 2018 or, if earlier, 30 June 2018, at which time the Board expects to seek its renewal.
Section 307A of the Companies Act 2006 requires the notice period for General Meetings of the Company to be at least 21 days'. For General Meetings, other than AGMs, a shorter notice period of not less than 14 clear days' may be given, provided that shareholder approval was given at the most recently held AGM (or at a General Meeting held since the last AGM) to hold such meetings on a shorter notice period.
The shareholders are being asked to authorise the convening of a General Meeting, other than an AGM, on a notice period of not less than 14 clear days'. This authority, if granted, will expire at the conclusion of next year's AGM, when it is intended that a similar resolution will be proposed.
Whilst every effort will be made to give as much notice as possible for General Meetings, the Directors believe that the ability to convene a meeting on not less than 14 clear days' notice gives a greater degree of flexibility when seeking shareholder approval. The Directors are therefore proposing this resolution, as a Special Resolution, to approve 14 clear days' as the minimum period of notice for all General Meetings of the Company, other than AGMs.
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