Pre-Annual General Meeting Information • Jun 13, 2017
Pre-Annual General Meeting Information
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THIS DOCUMENT IS IMPORTANT AND REQUIRES YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION. If you are in any doubt as to the action you should take, you are recommended to seek your own personal financial advice from your stockbroker, bank manager, solicitor, accountant or other independent financial adviser (who in the United Kingdom should be authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000).
If you have sold or otherwise transferred all your holding of Ordinary Shares in HICL Infrastructure Company Limited, please send this document, together with the attached Form of Proxy, 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 transferee. If you have sold any part of your holding of Ordinary Shares in HICL Infrastructure Company Limited, please contact your stockbroker, bank or other agent through whom the sale or transfer was effected immediately.
(an authorised closed-ended investment company incorporated in Guernsey with limited liability and with registered number 44185)
This document should be read as a whole. Your attention is drawn to the letter from your Chairman which is set out on pages 3 to 8 of this Document and which recommends that you vote in favour of each of the resolutions to be proposed at the Annual General Meeting to be held at 4 PM on Monday, 17 July 2017.
Your attention is also drawn to the Notice of Annual General Meeting which is set out on pages 9 to 12 of this document.
Proxy Forms for the Annual General Meeting must be received by the Company's Receiving Agent and UK Transfer Agent, Capita Asset Services, PXS 1, 34 Beckenham Road, Beckenham, Kent, BR3 4TU by no later than 4 PM on Thursday 13th July 2017.
The Company is a Guernsey domiciled authorised closed-ended investment scheme pursuant to Section 8 of the Protection of Investors (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 1987, as amended and Rule 6.02 of the Authorised Closed-Ended Investment Scheme Rules 2008. Neither the Guernsey Financial Services Commission nor the States of Guernsey Policy Council has taken any responsibility for the financial soundness of the Company or for the correctness of any of the statements made or opinions expressed with regard to it in this document.
| LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN 3 | |
|---|---|
| Ordinary Business 3 | |
| Directors 4 | |
| Directors' Remuneration Report 4 | |
| Directors' Remuneration 4 | |
| Dividend Policy (resolution 11) 6 | |
| Special Business 6 | |
| Scrip Dividend (resolution 12) 6 | |
| Share Buy Back Authority (resolution 13) 7 | |
| Increase in Share Capital (resolution 14) 7 | |
| Waiver of pre-emption for limited issue of Ordinary Shares (resolution 15) 7 | |
| ACTION TO BE TAKEN 7 | |
| NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 9 | |
| ORDINARY BUSINESS 9 | |
| Ordinary Resolutions 9 | |
| SPECIAL BUSINESS 9 | |
| Special Resolutions 11 | |
| Notes 11 | |
| Additional Notes (CREST Members) 12 | |
| FORM OF PROXY 13 |
(an authorised closed-ended investment company incorporated in Guernsey with limited liability and with registered number 44185)
Directors:
Ian Russell (Chairman) Sally-Ann Farnon Simon Holden Frank Nelson Kenneth Reid Christopher Russell
Registered Office:
East Wing, Trafalgar Court Les Banques St Peter Port Guernsey Channel Islands GY1 3PP
12 June 2017
Dear Shareholder,
This document should be read in conjunction with the Annual Report and Financial Statements of HICL Infrastructure Company Limited (the "Company") for the year ended 31 March 2017 (the "Annual Report") which can be found on the Company's website (www.hicl.com), under the Investor Relations, Reports & Publications, 'Results & Updates' section. The purpose of this letter is to provide you with information relating to the business to be considered and resolutions to be put forward to shareholders at the Annual General Meeting to be held at the offices of Aztec Group, secretary to the Company (at the registered office above) at 4 PM on Monday, 17 July 2017 (the "2017 AGM").
The Notice convening the AGM of the Company and setting out the resolutions to be proposed is set out on pages 9 to 12 of this document.
The ordinary business proposed for the 2017 AGM comprises the consideration of and, if thought fit, the passing of ordinary resolutions to:
approve the Directors' remuneration report (as set out in the Annual Report), which incorporates the Directors' remuneration policy and both the remuneration paid for the year ended 31 March 2017, and proposed remuneration payable for the year ending 31 March 2018, to the Chairman, the Senior Independent Director and each other non-executive Director, for routine business and additional corporate work (resolution 8; see section entitled "Directors' Remuneration Report" below);
approve the re-appointment of KPMG Channel Islands Limited as auditors of the Company and to authorise the Board to set the remuneration of the auditors (resolutions 9 and 10, respectively); and
In accordance with the Company's Articles of Incorporation, each of the Directors is seeking re-election. Their biographical details are contained within the Company's Annual Report and are also available on the Company's website (www.hicl.com).
The Directors' remuneration report is set out in the Annual Report. It includes the Directors' remuneration policy as well as details regarding the current and proposed remuneration of the Directors (based on the findings of the Trust Associates' Independent Report), extracts of which are set out below in the 'Directors' Remuneration' section.
All Directors of the Company are non-executive and are paid a fixed annual remuneration for routine business of the Company. In addition, fixed fees are paid for additional corporate work.
In February 2017, a formal review of the Directors' remuneration was undertaken by an independent consultant, Trust Associates, whose report concluded that:
Taking account of these factors and the remuneration paid to directors of investment companies of a similar size and with similar characteristics, Trust Associates recommended the following changes to remuneration for routine business for the 2017-18 year:
In addition, Trust Associates re-affirmed that the current practice, pursuant to which the Director who also acts as a director of the two Luxembourg subsidiary company boards receives an additional fee annually for such role, was appropriate and should therefore continue. Trust Associates recommended an increase to such fee to £6,000 from £5,000, to reflect the ongoing additional responsibility in this role.
For comparative purposes the table below sets out the Directors' remuneration approved and actually paid for the year to 31 March 2017 as well as proposed for the year ending 31 March 2018.
| Director | Role | Total fixed fees proposed for year ending 31 March 20181 |
Total fixed fees paid in year ended 31 March 20172 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ian Russell | Non-executive Chairman | £72,000 | £67,000 |
| Susie Farnon | Non-executive Director and Chair of Audit Committee |
£54,000 | £45,000 |
| Frank Nelson | Non-executive Director and Senior Independent Director |
£55,000 | £45,000 |
| Chris Russell | Non-executive Director and Luxembourg Subsidiary Director |
£49,000 | £46,000 |
| Simon Holden3 | Non-executive Director and Chair of Risk Committee |
£50,000 | £30,750 |
| Kenneth Reid4 | Non-executive Director | £43,000 | £23,917 |
| TOTAL | £323,000 |
The figures do not include additional payments made to Directors for additional corporate work, as set out further below.
Excludes the additional fees paid in the year for the corporate actions described below.
As in previous years, should the Company require Directors to work on specific corporate actions such as further equity raisings (other than scrip dividend alternative or tap issues), or should a Director undertake incremental work, such as that currently undertaken by Mr C Russell in relation to the Luxembourg subsidiaries, then this is remunerated appropriately as determined by the Remuneration Committee.
In the year to 31 March 2017, the Remuneration Committee determined, and the Board approved, the following additional payments to Directors above their fixed fee for acting in their respective roles:
The effect of the above recommendation for the year ending 31 March 2018 is to increase aggregate Directors' fees (including the subsidiary company fee) to £323,000 (from £285,000) a level which is approximately 0.012% of the Company's market capitalisation as at 31 March 2017. Trust Associates confirmed that, in percentage terms, this is towards the low end of the range for investment companies.
The total fees paid to Directors in the year to 31 March 2017 were within the annual fee cap of £450,000 which was approved by shareholders at the previous AGM on 19 July 2016.
The Remuneration Committee has considered the recommendations of the independent consultant and recommended them to the Board. The Board has approved the proposed increase and is seeking shareholder approval for the revised Directors' Remuneration Policy.
As a non-UK issuer domiciled in Guernsey, whilst the Company is not obligated to seek approval from shareholders for the payment of dividends (either interim or final), pursuant to The Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008, the Board recognises that best practice, corporate governance and shareholder expectations may be such that it would be appropriate for shareholders to be provided with an opportunity to review and, if appropriate, approve the Company's dividend policy on an ongoing basis.
Accordingly, shareholders are being asked to approve the Company's policy with respect to the payment of dividends for the year ending 31 March 2018.
The Company is targeting an aggregate dividend of 7.85p per share for the year to 31 March 2018 to be paid in four quarterly instalments. The first interim quarterly dividend is expected to be paid in September 2017 and the other three interim quarterly dividends with respect to the year ended 31 March 2018 are expected to be paid in December 2017, March 2018 and June 2018.
The above dividend payments are targets only and not profit forecasts. There can be no assurance that these targeted payments can or will be met and they should not be seen as an indication of the Company's expected or actual results or returns.
The special business proposed for the 2017 AGM comprises the consideration of and, if thought fit, the passing of the following resolutions:
Based on the historical take-up of scrip dividends, shareholders are requested to approve, by way of ordinary resolution, the renewal of the authority to provide shareholders with the opportunity to elect to receive future dividends wholly or partly in the form of new Ordinary Shares in the Company rather than cash. Providing such an alternative enables shareholders to increase their holdings of Ordinary Shares in the Company without incurring dealing costs and in a tax efficient manner. The advantage to the Company is that it is able to retain cash which would otherwise be paid out as dividends.
Whilst shareholders will need to take their own advice, election by certain shareholders to receive a distribution by way of scrip dividend may be advantageous to them.
Shareholders are requested to approve, by way of ordinary resolution, the authority for the Company to make market acquisitions of its own Ordinary Shares up to a maximum of 14.99% of the Ordinary Shares in issue as at the date upon which this resolution is passed (this equates to 267,647,544 Ordinary Shares as at the date of the notice of the 2017 AGM).
The authority will expire at the conclusion of next year's annual general meeting or 18 months after the passing of the resolution (whichever is earlier) and, as previously stated by the Company, it is presently intended that a resolution for the renewal of such authority will be proposed at each subsequent AGM of the Company.
The Board would consider holding, as Treasury Shares, any Ordinary Shares which the Company acquires pursuant to the authority provided by this resolution.
It is currently envisaged that Ordinary Shares acquired and held in treasury following any buyback will be used to support liquidity in the Company's Ordinary Shares. Any sales out of treasury will only be made at a price per Ordinary Share equal to or greater than the price per Ordinary Share paid by the Company and in accordance with the UK Listing Rules and subject to dis-application authority.
The current authorised share capital is £199,999.99 divided into 1,999,999,900 Unclassified Shares of 0.01p. and there are currently 1,785,507,302 Ordinary Shares in issue as at the date of the notice of the AGM.
In order to provide the Company with flexibility for fund raising by allotting and issuing new shares as and when appropriate for future investment opportunities and other corporate purposes, the Board proposes to increase the authorised share capital of the Company to £300,000 divided into 3,000,000,000 Unclassified Shares of 0.01p each (which may be issued as Ordinary Shares, C Shares or Deferred Shares or otherwise on such terms and conditions as the Directors determine from time to time).
It should be noted that a special resolution of shareholders is required to authorise the Board to issue shares for cash on a non pre-emptive basis.
At the extraordinary general meeting of the Company held on 20 March 2017, shareholders renewed the Board's authority to allot Ordinary Shares for cash without first offering them to existing shareholders on a pro rata basis. Such authority expires at the earlier of the 2017 AGM or 15 months after the extraordinary general meeting held on 20 March 2017. Shareholders are requested to approve, by way of special resolution, the renewal of the current authority until the earlier of the next annual general meeting or 15 months from the date upon which this resolution is passed.
The number of Ordinary Shares which may be so allotted under such authority is limited to the number of Ordinary Shares representing 10% of the Ordinary Shares in issue as at the date of the passing of this resolution (this equates to 178,550,730 Ordinary Shares as at the date of the notice of the AGM). This will allow the Company to continue to issue Ordinary Shares at a premium to the prevailing net asset value per Ordinary Share when there is sufficient demand for the Company's Ordinary Shares, and thereby to help to manage any share premium.
You will find attached at the end of this document a Form of Proxy. You are invited to complete and return the Form of Proxy as soon as possible in accordance with the written instructions, whether or not you propose to attend the 2017 AGM in person. The Form of Proxy should be lodged with the Company's Receiving Agent and UK Transfer Agent, Capita Asset Services, PXS 1, 34 Beckenham Road, Beckenham, Kent, BR3 4TU, so as to be received not later than 4 PM (UK Time) on Thursday 13th July 2017. Shareholders may appoint more than one proxy provided that each proxy is appointed to exercise rights attaching to different Ordinary Shares. Completing and returning the Form of Proxy will not prevent you from attending the 2017 AGM and voting in person, should you wish to do so. Any proxy need not be a member of the Company.
The Directors are unanimously of the opinion that the resolutions to be proposed at the 2017 AGM are in the best interests of shareholders as a whole and the Board recommends that you vote in favour of each of the resolutions.
Yours faithfully,
Ian Russell CBE Chairman
(an authorised closed-ended investment company incorporated in Guernsey with limited liability and with registered number 44185)
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Annual General Meeting of HICL Infrastructure Company Limited (the "Company") will be held at the offices of Aztec Group, East Wing, Trafalgar Court, Les Banques, St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands, GY1 3PP at 4 PM on Monday, 17 July 2017 (the "2017 AGM"), to consider and, if thought fit, pass the following resolutions.
The Directors propose a renewal of the annual approval that offers shareholders the opportunity to take future dividends wholly or partly in the form of new Ordinary Shares in the Company rather than cash.
The Directors propose in the following resolution to permit the Company to make market acquisitions and to arrange tender offers of Ordinary Shares within certain conditions. This resolution succeeds the authority which was granted at the previous annual general meeting and which expires on the date of the 2017 AGM.
The Directors propose the following resolution to allow the Company to increase its authorised share capital, and give Directors the ability to issue further shares in the Company in accordance with the Articles and approved shareholder resolutions.
The Directors propose a partial disapplication of the pre-emption rights in order to allow the Company to issue new Ordinary Shares. This is seeking re-approval for the disapplication which was most recently approved at the extraordinary general meeting held on 20 March 2017 and allows the Company to issue Ordinary Shares at a premium to current net asset value per share by way of tap issues.
References to the Prospectus in this document refers to the Company's New Ordinary Shares prospectus dated 23 February 2017, available from the Company's website (www.hicl.com).
By Order of the Board
12 June 2017
Registered Office
East Wing, Trafalgar Court
Les Banques, St Peter Port, Guernsey GY1 3PP
Channel Islands
(an authorised closed-ended investment company incorporated in Guernsey with limited liability and with registered number 44185)
FORM OF PROXY for use by shareholders at the Annual General Meeting of HICL Infrastructure Company Limited (the "Company") to be held at the offices of Aztec Group, East Wing, Trafalgar Court, Les Banques, St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands, GY1 3PP at 4 PM on Monday, 17 July 2017 (the "2017 AGM"), to consider and, if thought fit, pass the following resolutions.
I/We
(full name(s) in block capitals)
of
(address in block capitals, including post code)
member/members of the Company, hereby appoint the Chairman of the meeting (refer to Note 1)
or, failing him,
of
(name and address of proxy in block capitals)
as my/our proxy to attend, speak, and vote in my/our names(s) and on my/our behalf at the 2017 AGM and at any adjournment thereof.
Your Board recommends that you vote 'For' each of the resolutions.
If you wish to support the Board's recommendations and to appoint the Chairman of the 2017 AGM as your representative to vote for you at the 2017 AGM (or at any adjournment) in accordance with the Board's recommendations and otherwise as he sees fit on any other matter that arises at the 2017 AGM (or at any adjournment), tick the box below and then proceed directly to Step 2 to sign and date the declaration. Please note that if you tick the box below and complete the individual resolutions on the proxy card, the quick vote will override any other voting instructions on this form.
I/We wish the Chairman of the 2017 AGM to vote in accordance with the Board's recommendations in respect of the special resolutions and the ordinary resolutions to be proposed at the meeting.
(tick here)
I/We wish my/our proxy to vote as indicated below in respect of the special resolutions and the ordinary resolutions to be proposed at the meeting. Please indicate which way you wish your proxy to vote by ticking the appropriate box alongside each resolution and then proceed to Step 2 to sign and date the declaration. (Refer to Note 2).
| FOR | AGAINST | ABSTAIN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORDINARY BUSINESS | ||||
| Ordinary Resolutions | ||||
| 1. | TO receive and consider the Annual Report, including the Directors' Report and the auditors' report for the year ended 31 March 2017. |
|||
| 2. | TO re-elect Ian Russell as a non-executive Director. | |||
| 3. | TO re-elect Sally-Ann Farnon as a non-executive Director. | |||
| 4. | TO re-elect Simon Holden as a non-executive Director. | |||
| 5. | TO re-elect Frank Nelson as a non-executive Director. | |||
| 6. | TO re-elect Kenneth Reid as a non-executive Director. | |||
| 7. | TO re-elect Christopher Russell as a non-executive Director. | |||
| 8. | TO approve the Directors' Remuneration Report (as set out in the Annual Report) including both the remuneration paid for the year ended 31 March 2017, and proposed remuneration payable for the year ending 31 March 2018, to the Chairman, the Senior Independent Director, the Chairs of each Committee of the Board and each other non-executive Director, for routine business and additional corporate work. |
|||
| 9. | THAT KPMG Channel Islands Limited be re-appointed as auditors of the Company. |
|||
| 10. THAT the Directors be authorised to agree the remuneration of the auditors. |
||||
| 11. TO approve the company's dividend policy for the year ending 31 March 2018 |
||||
| SPECIAL BUSINESS Ordinary Resolutions |
| 12. THAT the Board may, in respect of dividends declared for any financial period or periods of the Company ending prior to the next annual general meeting of the Company, offer shareholders the right to elect to receive further shares, credited as fully paid, in respect of all or any part of such dividend or dividends declared in respect of any such financial period or periods. |
||
|---|---|---|
| 13. TO authorise the Company to make market acquisitions of up to 14.99% of its own issued Ordinary Shares and also to make or arrange tender offers for up to 15% of its own issued Ordinary Shares. |
||
| 14. TO authorise the Company to increase the share capital of the Company to £300,000 divided into 3,000,000,000 Unclassified Shares of 0.01p each. |
||
| Special Resolutions | ||
| 15. TO re-approve the partial disapplication of the pre-emption rights under Article 9 of the Company's Articles of Incorporation, thereby giving the Directors the power to allot and issue up to 10.0%. of the Ordinary Shares in issue as at the date of this resolution. |
| Signature: | Date: | |
|---|---|---|
| Print Name: |
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