AGM Information • Jun 19, 2019
AGM Information
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Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
To be held at the registered office of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc at: 50 Bedford Square London WC1B 3DP
On Wednesday 17 July 2019 at 12.00 noon
If you are in any doubt as to any aspect of the contents of this document or what action you should take, you are recommended to seek your own financial advice immediately from your stockbroker, bank manager, solicitor, accountant, fund manager or other appropriate independent financial adviser authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
If you sell or have sold or otherwise transferred all of your shares in Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, please send this document together with the accompanying documents as soon as possible to the purchaser or transferee or to the stockbroker, bank or other agent through whom the sale or transfer was effected for delivery to the purchaser or the transferee.
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21 May 2019

I am pleased to inform you that this year's Annual General Meeting ("AGM") of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (the "Company") will be held at 50 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3DP on Wednesday 17 July 2019 at 12.00 noon.
Information regarding the AGM, including the information required by section 311A of the Companies Act 2006 is available from www.bloomsbury-ir.co.uk.
The AGM is an important opportunity for the Directors to listen to the shareholders and respond to their questions. It is also when shareholders are asked to vote in favour of various resolutions related to the running and management of the Company. This document provides details of the resolutions to be voted upon at the AGM and includes the formal notice convening the AGM. You will also find notes in the section entitled "Explanatory Notes to the Resolutions" relating to the resolutions that you will be asked to consider and vote on at the AGM. Resolutions 1 to 13 will be proposed as ordinary resolutions and resolutions 14 to 16 will be proposed as special resolutions.
If you have elected to receive information from the Company in hard copy, you will have received the Annual Report & Accounts 2019 with this document. Shareholders who have not elected to receive hard copy documents can view or download the Annual Report & Accounts 2019 and this Notice from our website at www.bloomsbury-ir.co.uk.
This year, you will not receive a form of proxy for the AGM in the post. Instead, you will find instructions in the section entitled "Explanatory Notes to the Notice" to enable you to vote electronically and how to register to do so. To register, you will need your Investor Code, which can be found on your share certificate. Submission of a proxy vote will not preclude you from attending and voting at the AGM in person and you may request a paper form of proxy from our Registrar, Link Asset Services. Proxy votes should be submitted as early as possible and in any event by no later than 12.00 noon on Monday 15 July 2019 in order to count towards the vote.
The Directors consider that all the resolutions that are to be considered at the AGM are in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders as a whole and are most likely to promote the success of the Company for the benefit of shareholders as a whole. The Directors unanimously recommend that you vote in favour of all the proposed resolutions as they intend to do so in respect of their own interests (both beneficial and non-beneficial).
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Yours faithfully
Maya Abu-Deeb
General Counsel & Group Company Secretary Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 21 May 2019

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Annual General Meeting of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (the "Company") will be held at 50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP on Wednesday 17 July 2019 at 12.00 noon.
You will be asked to consider and vote on the resolutions below. Resolutions 1 to 13 will be proposed as ordinary resolutions and resolutions 14 to 16 will be proposed as special resolutions.
Shareholders are asked to consider and, if thought fit, to pass the following resolutions as ordinary resolutions:
Shareholders are asked to consider and, if thought fit, to pass the following resolutions of which Resolution 13 will be proposed as an ordinary resolution and resolutions 14, 15 and 16 will be proposed as special resolutions.
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and shall expire at the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting of the Company after passing this resolution or, if earlier, 15 months from the date of passing of this resolution, unless previously varied, revoked or renewed by the Company in general meeting, and provided that the Company may, before such expiry, make any offer or agreement which would or might require equity securities to be allotted or Ordinary shares held by the Company as treasury shares to be sold after such expiry and the Directors may allot equity securities or sell treasury shares pursuant to any such offer or agreement as if the power hereby conferred had not expired; and all prior powers granted under section 571 of the Act revoked, provided that such revocation shall not have retrospective effect.
and shall expire at the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting of the Company after passing this resolution or, if earlier, 15 months from the date of passing of this resolution, unless previously varied, revoked or renewed by the Company in general meeting, and provided that the Company may, before such expiry, make any offer or agreement which would or might require equity securities to be allotted or Ordinary shares held by the Company as treasury shares to be sold after such expiry and the Directors may allot equity securities or sell treasury shares pursuant to any such offer or agreement as if the power hereby conferred had not expired; and all prior powers granted under section 571 of the Act revoked, provided that such revocation shall not have retrospective effect.
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By order of the Board
General Counsel & Group Company Secretary Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 21 May 2019
Registered Office 50 Bedford Square London WC1B 3DP
Resolutions 1 to 13 are proposed as ordinary resolutions. This means that for each of those resolutions to be passed, more than half of the votes cast must be in favour of the resolution.
Resolutions 14 to 16 are proposed as special resolutions. This means that for each of those resolutions to be passed, at least three-quarters of the votes cast must be in favour of the resolution.
To receive the report of the Directors and the financial statements for the year ended 28 February 2019, together with the report of the Auditor.
The Directors are required to prepare the Directors' Remuneration Report, comprising an annual report detailing the remuneration of the Directors and an annual statement by the Chair of the Remuneration Committee. These are set out on pages 54 to 55 and 62 to 72 of the Annual Report & Accounts. The Company is required to seek shareholders' approval in respect of the contents of the Remuneration Report on an annual basis (excluding the part containing the Directors' Remuneration Policy) and of the annual statement. The vote for Resolution 2 is an advisory one.
The Board proposes a final dividend of 6.75p per share for the year ended 28 February 2019. If approved, the recommended final dividend will be paid on 23 August 2019 to all shareholders on the register on the record date of 26 July 2019. Payments will be made by cheque or BACS (where there is an existing dividend mandate). The final dividend equates to an aggregate distribution to shareholders of approximately £5.1 million, making approximately £6.0 million in aggregate for the interim and final dividend together for the year ended 28 February 2019.
In accordance with best practice for issuers listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange and the Articles of Association of the Company ("Articles"), all the Directors will retire at the AGM and, being eligible, offer themselves for re-appointment except for Jill Jones who will resign as a Director of the Company. Shareholders will be asked to vote on the appointment of Leslie-Ann Reed as a Director of the Company with effect from 17 July 2019. The Nomination Committee recommended Leslie-Ann's appointment to the Board following its review of the skills, knowledge and experience needed and a rigorous and thorough search process.
Leslie-Ann is currently an Independent Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee of the AIM-listed company Learning Technologies Group plc, and a Non-Executive Director of the German-listed company ZEAL Networks SE where she is Vice Chair of the Supervisory Board and Chair of the Audit Committee. Until May 2018 she was a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee of the London listed publisher Quarto Group, Inc. Leslie-Ann is a Chartered Accountant. She graduated from Leeds Metropolitan University with a BA (Hons) in Accountancy and began her career at Arthur Anderson. She has since held senior finance roles in various media and professional services companies, namely Universal Pictures, Polygram Music, EMI Music and Warner Communication Inc, acted as an advisor to Marwyn Investment Management, and was Chief Financial Officer of the B2B media group Metal Bulletin plc and the online auctioneer Go Industry plc.
The Board has considered the appraisal of the performance of each Director offering themselves for re-appointment and has concluded that each of them makes positive and effective contributions to the meetings of the Board and the committees on which they sit and that they demonstrate commitment to their roles.
The Board is satisfied that each Non-Executive Director offering themselves for appointment or re-appointment is independent in character and there are no relationships or circumstances likely to affect their character or judgement.
Biographies of each of the Directors are available from the Company's website: www.bloomsbury-ir.co.uk.
The Board unanimously recommends the appointment or re-appointment of each of the Directors.
The Board recommends that the incumbent External Auditor, KPMG LLP (who have been in office since the 2013/14 financial year), be reappointed for a further year so that they are able to audit the Company's report and accounts for the year ending 29 February 2020.
The Board proposes that it be authorised to determine the level of the Auditor's remuneration for the year ending 29 February 2020.
This is an ordinary resolution to replace the general authority, last given at the 2018 AGM, for the Directors to be authorised to allot Ordinary shares pursuant to section 551 of the Act. This resolution, if passed, would give the Directors the authority to allot up to 25,109,523 Ordinary shares of 1.25 pence with a nominal value of £313,869, representing approximately 33.33% of the issued Ordinary share capital of the Company at the date of this Notice.
This authority, if granted, will expire on the earlier of the conclusion of the Company's next AGM and 15 months from the date of passing this resolution. The Board has no present intention of exercising the authority granted by this resolution save in the circumstances referred to below. The Board intends to seek its renewal at subsequent AGMs of the Company.
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As at the date of signing the Directors' Remuneration Report for the 2019 Annual Report & Accounts, the Directors had beneficial holdings of Ordinary shares in the Company which, in aggregate, amounted to approximately 1.43% of the Ordinary shares in issue. The Directors have been granted awards under the Company's share award schemes that, if they were to fully vest, would entitle the Directors to further Ordinary shares which in aggregate would amount to approximately a further 1.53% of the Ordinary shares in issue.
If the Directors wish to allot new shares and other equity securities, or to sell treasury shares, for cash (other than in connection with an employee share scheme), Company Law requires that these shares are offered first to shareholders in proportion to their existing shareholdings.
The Statement of Principles on Disapplying Pre-Emption Rights most recently published by the Pre-Emption Group prior to the date of this Notice supports the annual disapplication of pre-emption rights in respect of allotments of shares and other equity securities and sales of treasury shares for cash representing no more than 5% of the issued Ordinary share capital of the Company (exclusive of treasury shares), without restriction as to the use of proceeds of those allotments.
Accordingly, the purpose of Resolution 14 is to authorise the Directors to allot new Ordinary shares pursuant to the allotment authority given to them by Resolution 13, or to sell treasury shares, for cash (i) pursuant to the terms of the Company's employees' share schemes, (ii) in connection with a pre-emptive offer or rights issue to shareholders or (iii) otherwise up to a nominal value equivalent to 5% of the issued Ordinary share capital (exclusive of treasury shares) without the shares first being offered to existing shareholders in proportion to their existing shareholdings.
The Board also intends to adhere to the provisions in the Pre-Emption Group's Statement of Principles and not to allot shares or other equity securities or to sell treasury shares for cash on a non pre-emptive basis pursuant to the authority in Resolution 14 in excess of an amount equal to 7.5 per cent of the issued Ordinary share capital (excluding treasury shares), within a rolling three-year period, other than: with prior consultation with shareholders; or 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 allotment.
The Pre-Emption Group's Statement of Principles also supports the annual disapplication of pre-emption rights in respect of allotments of shares and other equity securities and sales of treasury shares for cash representing no more than an additional 5% of issued Ordinary share capital (exclusive of treasury shares), to be used only in connection with an acquisition or specified capital investment in respect of which sufficient information is made available to shareholders to enable them to reach an assessment of the potential return.
Accordingly, and in line with the template resolutions published by the Pre-Emption Group, the purpose of Resolution 15 is to authorise the Directors to allot new shares and other equity securities pursuant to the allotment authority given by Resolution 13, or sell treasury shares, for cash up to a further nominal amount equivalent to 5% of the issued Ordinary share capital (exclusive of treasury shares) only 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. If the authority given in Resolution 15 is used, the Company will publish details of the placing in its next annual report.
If Resolutions 14 and 15 are passed, the authority will expire on the earlier of the conclusion of the Company's next AGM and 15 months from the date of passing the resolutions.
The Board considers the authorities in Resolutions 14 and 15 to be appropriate in order to allow the Company flexibility to finance business opportunities or to conduct a pre-emptive offer or rights issue without the need to comply with the strict requirements of the statutory pre-emption provisions. The Directors have no current intention to exercise the authorities granted by Resolutions 14 and 15. The Company has not allotted Ordinary shares or sold treasury shares for cash on a non-pre-emptive basis in the previous five years other than 869,054 shares allotted during December 2014 in connection with the acquisition of Osprey Publishing, 247,393 shares allotted during August 2016 in connection with the acquisition of Berg Fashion Library and shares allotted under employee share option schemes.
This is a resolution to replace the general authority, last given at the 2018 AGM, for the Company to purchase its own Ordinary shares and either to cancel them or to hold them as treasury shares. The Company would be authorised to make market purchases of up to 7,532,857 Ordinary shares with a nominal value of £94,161, being equivalent to 10% of the issued Ordinary share capital (excluding treasury shares) at the date of this Notice.
Treasury shares are not taken into account in calculations of earnings per share and may only be transferred pursuant to an employee share scheme, cancelled or sold for cash. Shares would only be purchased if the Directors consider such purchases are in the best interests of shareholders generally and can be expected to result in an increase in earnings per share. The authority will only be used after considering the prevailing market conditions, other investment opportunities, appropriate gearing levels and the overall financial position of the Company. Any purchases would be market purchases through the London Stock Exchange. The upper and lower limits on the price which may be paid for those shares are set out in the resolution itself.
This authority would, if granted, expire on the earlier of the conclusion of the Company's next AGM and 15 months from the date of passing this resolution.
The Directors believe it is prudent to seek this general authority to be able to act if circumstances arise in which they consider such purchases to be in the best interests of shareholders generally. The Directors have no current intention to exercise the authority granted by this resolution. The Company has not purchased its own Ordinary shares in the previous five years and holds no shares in treasury as at the date of this Notice.
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Shareholders are recommended to vote their shares electronically at www.signalshares.com. On the home page, search "Bloomsbury Publishing Plc" and then register or log in, using your Investor Code. To vote at the AGM, click on the "Vote Online Now" button by not later than 12.00 noon on Monday 15 July 2019 (or 48 hours (excluding weekends and public holidays) before the time appointed for any adjournment of it). Electronic votes and proxy votes should be submitted as early as possible and in any event, to be received by no later than 12.00 noon on Monday 15 July 2019. Any power of attorney or other authority under which the proxy is submitted must be sent to the Company's Registrar (Link Asset Services, PXS1, 34 Beckenham Road, Beckenham, Kent BR3 4ZF) so as to have been received by the Company's Registrars by not later than 12.00 noon on Monday 15 July 2019 (or 48 hours (excluding weekends and public holidays) before the time appointed for any adjournment of it).
You are entitled to request a hard copy form of proxy directly from the Registrar, Link Asset Services, whose contact details can be found in Note 14. If a paper form of proxy is requested from the Company's Registrar, it must be completed and sent to the Company's Registrar (Link Asset Services, PXS1, 34 Beckenham Road, Beckenham, Kent, BR3 4ZF) so as to have been received by the Company's Registrars by not later than 12.00 noon on Monday 15 July 2019 (or 48 hours (excluding weekends and public holidays) before the time appointed for any adjournment of it).
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 & Ireland Limited's ("EUI") specifications and must contain the 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) not later than 48 hours before the time appointed for holding the AGM. 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 a proxy appointed through CREST should be communicated to the proxy by other means. For further information on CREST procedures, limitations and systems timings, please refer to the CREST Manual. In all cases, for a proxy form to be valid, the CREST Voting Service information must be received by the Company's Registrar no later than 48 hours before the time appointed for the holding of the AGM.
CREST members and, where applicable, their CREST sponsors or voting service providers should note that EUI 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 their 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.
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