AGM Information • Mar 30, 2022
AGM Information
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to be held at: InterContinental London Park Lane, One Hamilton Place, Park Lane, London W1J 7QY with a live webcast accessed at https://web.lumiagm.com/168-056-633 at 11.30am on Friday, 6 May 2022
Please read the accompanying Chair's letter carefully, as it contains important information on the arrangements for this year's Annual General Meeting.
If you are in any doubt as to what 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 (as amended) immediately.
If you have sold or otherwise transferred all your shares in InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (the 'Company'), please pass this document and the accompanying Form of Proxy to the stockbroker, bank or other agent through whom you made the sale or transfer for forwarding on to the purchaser or transferee.
The Company remains conscious that the Covid-19 pandemic situation continues to evolve. Accordingly, shareholders should note that the Company may need to put special measures in place for this year's Annual General Meeting ('AGM'), which may include measures to deny shareholders' access to the meeting if this is mandated or considered necessary given the circumstances at the time. Before seeking to attend the AGM in person, we therefore encourage all shareholders to consult relevant Government guidelines and our corporate website (www.ihgplc.com), which we will use to update shareholders. Shareholders will also be notified of any changes to arrangements in respect of the AGM by stock exchange announcement as necessary.
Shareholders who are not able to attend the AGM in person can be represented by the Chair of the meeting acting as proxy. Shareholders may also view the AGM via live webcast accessed at https://web.lumiagm.com/168-056-633, further details on how to join are included below and a user guide is also included as the Appendix to this Notice of AGM.
A Form of Proxy for the AGM is enclosed and, to be valid, should be completed, signed and returned so as to reach the Company's Registrar, Equiniti, at Aspect House, Spencer Road, Lancing, West Sussex BN99 6DA by no later than 11.30am on Wednesday, 4 May 2022 (or, if the AGM is adjourned, 48 hours before the time of the adjourned AGM (excluding any UK non-working days)). Completion and return of the Form of Proxy will not prevent you from attending the AGM and voting in person, if you so wish.
Electronic Proxy Appointment is available for this AGM. This facility enables shareholders to lodge their proxy appointment by electronic means through the Registrar's website at www.sharevote.co.uk or, for those who hold their shares in CREST, through the CREST electronic proxy appointment service. Further details are set out in the notes to this document.
Votes will be taken by poll. The results of the polls will be announced as soon as practicable and will appear on the Company's website at www.ihgplc.com/investors under Shareholder centre in the AGMs and meetings section.
Lumi AGM can be accessed online using most well-known internet browsers such as Edge, Chrome, Firefox and Safari on a PC, laptop or internet-enabled device such as a tablet or smartphone. If you wish to access the AGM using this method, please go to https://web.lumiagm.com/168-056-633 on the day.
On accessing the AGM website, you may be asked to enter a Meeting ID which is 168-056-633.
You will then be prompted to enter your unique Shareholder Reference Number (SRN) and PIN which is the first two and last two digits of your SRN. These can be found printed on your Form of Proxy. Access to the meeting via the website will be available from 10:30am on Friday, 6 May 2022.
The meeting will be broadcast with presentation slides. Once logged in, and at the commencement of the meeting, you will be able to listen to the proceeding of the meeting on your device, as well as being able to see the slides of the meeting which will include the resolutions to be put forward to the meeting, these slides will progress automatically as the meeting progresses.
There will be no live facility for shareholders attending electronically to ask questions during the AGM. Shareholders who are not able to attend the meeting in person and who have any questions relating to the business of the AGM are able to submit them in advance to the Company by email to [email protected], including your SRN (shown on your Form of Proxy). It is requested that questions be submitted by 5pm on Tuesday 3 May 2022.
An active internet connection is required at all times in order to allow you to listen to the audiocast. It is the user's responsibility to ensure you remain connected for the duration of the meeting.
To receive your unique SRN and PIN, please contact the Company's registrar, Equiniti, by emailing: [email protected]. To avoid any delays accessing the meeting, contact should be made at least 24 hours prior to the meeting date and time.
Mailboxes are monitored 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays in England & Wales).
Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting ('AGM') of InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (the 'Company') will be held at InterContinental London Park Lane, One Hamilton Place, Park Lane, London W1J 7QY with a live webcast accessed at https://web.lumiagm.com/168-056-633 on Friday, 6 May 2022 at 11.30am, or at any adjournment thereof, for the following purposes:
To consider and, if thought fit, to pass the following resolutions, of which numbers 1 to 8 will be proposed as ordinary resolutions and numbers 9 to 12 as special resolutions. Explanations of certain resolutions are given on pages 5 and 6 of this Notice of AGM.
THAT the Company's annual accounts, Strategic Report and the reports of the Directors and the Auditor for the year ended 31 December 2021 be received.
THAT the Annual Report on Directors' Remuneration for the year ended 31 December 2021, set out on pages 115 to 125 of the Company's Annual Report and Form 20-F 2021, be received and approved.
THAT a final dividend on the ordinary shares of 20340/399 pence each in the capital of the Company ('ordinary share(s)') be declared payable on 17 May 2022 to shareholders on the register of members at the close of business on 1 April 2022.
As separate resolutions, THAT (a) Graham Allan, (b) Daniela Barone Soares, (c) Keith Barr, (d) Patrick Cescau, (e) Arthur de Haast, (f) Ian Dyson, (g) Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson, (h) Duriya Farooqui, (i) Jo Harlow, (j) Elie Maalouf, (k) Jill McDonald and (l) Sharon Rothstein be re-elected as Directors of the Company.
THAT PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP be reappointed as the Auditor of the Company to hold office until the conclusion of the next General Meeting at which accounts are laid before the Company.
THAT the Audit Committee of the Board be authorised to determine the Auditor's remuneration.
provided that the aggregate amount of any such donations and expenditure made by the Company or any subsidiary shall not exceed £100,000;
i THAT the Directors be and are hereby generally and unconditionally authorised pursuant to, and in accordance with, Section 551 of the 2006 Act to exercise all powers of the Company to allot shares in the Company and to grant rights to subscribe for, or to convert any security into, shares in the Company:
(a) up to an aggregate nominal amount of £12,790,440; and
and so that the Directors may impose any limits or restrictions and make any arrangements which they consider necessary or appropriate to deal with treasury shares, fractional entitlements, record dates, shares represented by depositary receipts, legal, regulatory or practical problems under the laws of, or the requirements of, any recognised regulatory body or any stock exchange in any territory or any other matter whatsoever.
This authority shall hereby take effect from the date of the passing of this resolution until the conclusion of the Company's AGM in 2023, or the close of business on 1 July 2023, whichever is the earlier, provided that, in each case, the Company may, before this authority expires, make offers and enter into agreements which would, or might, require shares in the Company to be allotted or rights to subscribe for or convert any security into shares to be granted after this authority expires and the Directors may allot shares in the Company or grant rights under any such offer or agreement as if this authority had not expired;
THAT, subject to the passing of Resolution 8 above, and in place of the power given to them pursuant to the special resolution of the Company passed on Friday, 7 May 2021, the Directors be authorised to allot equity securities (as defined in the 2006 Act) for cash under the authority given by Resolution 8 and/or to sell ordinary shares held by the Company as treasury shares for cash as if section 561(1) of the 2006 Act did not apply to any such allotment or sale, such authority to be limited:
and so that the Directors may impose any limits or restrictions and make any arrangements which they consider necessary or appropriate to deal with treasury shares, fractional entitlements, record dates, shares represented by depositary receipts, legal, regulatory or practical problems under the laws of, or the requirements of, any recognised regulatory body or any stock exchange in any territory or any other matter whatsoever; and
ii to the allotment of equity securities or sale of treasury shares (otherwise than under paragraph (i) above) up to a nominal amount of £1,918,556,
and such authority to expire at the end of the next AGM of the Company (or, if earlier, at the close of business on 1 July 2023), but, in each case, prior to its expiry the Company may make offers, and enter into agreements, which would, or might, require equity securities to be allotted (and treasury shares to be sold) after the authority expires and the Board may allot equity securities (and sell treasury shares) under any such offer or agreement as if the authority had not expired.
THAT subject to the passing of Resolution 8, the Board be authorised, in addition to any authority granted under Resolution 9, to allot equity securities (as defined in the 2006 Act) for cash under the authority given by that resolution and/or to sell ordinary shares held by the Company as treasury shares for cash as if section 561 of the 2006 Act did not apply to any such allotment or sale, such authority to be:
THAT the Company be and is hereby generally and unconditionally authorised for the purpose of Section 701 of the 2006 Act to make market purchases (within the meaning of Section 693(4) of the 2006 Act) of its ordinary shares on such terms and in such manner as the Directors think fit provided that:
THAT a General Meeting of the Company, other than an AGM, may be called on not less than 14 clear days' notice during the period from the date of the passing of this resolution to the date upon which the Company's AGM in 2023 concludes.
By order of the Board Registered in England and Wales
Company Secretary 5134420 24 March 2022
Denham, Buckinghamshire UB9 5HR
Supporting information on the re-election of Directors and an explanation of some of the technical items of business are presented below.
Resolutions 1 to 8 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 9 to 12 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.
The Annual Report on Directors' Remuneration set out on pages 115 to 125 of the Company's Annual Report and Form 20-F for the year ended 31 December 2021 sets out how the Directors' Remuneration Policy was implemented in 2021 and the resulting payments each of the Executive Directors received. The vote on the Directors' Remuneration Report is an annual requirement of the 2006 Act.
In accordance with the 2006 Act, the vote on the Directors' Remuneration Report is advisory in nature, which means that payments made or promised to Directors will not have to be repaid, reduced or withheld in the event that this resolution is not passed. The Company's Auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, has audited those parts of the Directors' Remuneration Report that are required to be audited.
The Board has proposed a final dividend of 85.9 cents per ordinary share. A final dividend can only be paid after the shareholders have approved it. If approved, the final dividend of 85.9 cents per ordinary share will be paid on 17 May 2022 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 1 April 2022. The Pounds Sterling amount of the final dividend will be announced on 27 April 2022, calculated based on the average of the market exchange rates for the three working days commencing 22 April 2022, using WM/ Reuters closing midpoint spot rate as at 4.00pm.
The Company's Articles of Association require annual retirement and re-election of Directors at the AGM.
The Company announced on 18 January 2022 that Patrick Cescau will retire as Non-Executive Chair of the Board with effect from 31 August 2022. Accordingly, Patrick is seeking re-election at the AGM, however solely in respect of the period from the AGM until his retirement from the Board. The Company also announced that Deanna Oppenheimer will be appointed as Non-Executive Director and Chair Designate from 1 June 2022, to succeed Patrick as Chair of the Board from 1 September 2022. In line with Provision 19 of the UK Corporate Governance Code, the extension of Patrick's tenure for this limited period is considered appropriate to facilitate an orderly transition to Deanna.
As Deanna's appointment will not take effect until 1 June 2022, she will seek election at the AGM in 2023. All other Directors are retiring and seeking re-election at this AGM.
Following internal performance assessments of the Directors, the Board has concluded that each of the Directors proposed to be re-elected continues to contribute effectively and to demonstrate commitment to their respective roles, including devoting the necessary time.
Accordingly, the contribution of each Director seeking re-election is considered to be important to the Company's long-term sustainable success.
Each re-election will be put as a separate resolution. The Board believes that the proposed composition of the Board provides an appropriate balance of Executive Directors and independent Non-Executive Directors who collectively have the appropriate balance of skills, experience, independence, knowledge and diversity to enable the Board to discharge its duties and responsibilities effectively.
The Board as a whole is fully committed to the successful development of the business, to meeting the Company's strategic objectives and to the delivery of shareholder value.
Biographies of all current Directors, including details of their contribution to the Board, are shown on pages 82 to 84 of the Company's Annual Report and Form 20-F for the year ended 31 December 2021 and also on the Company's website at www.ihgplc.com/about-us under Our leadership.
The Board recommends that all Directors seeking election or re-election continue to serve as Directors of the Company1 .
The Company is required to appoint an Auditor to serve for each financial year of the Company. The appointment must be made before the end of the general meeting before which the accounts are laid. Shareholder approval is now being sought to confirm the reappointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as Auditor for the Company until the conclusion of the next general meeting at which the accounts are laid before the shareholders.
It remains the policy of the Company not to make political donations under the 2006 Act. However, to avoid inadvertent infringement of the widely drafted relevant provisions of the 2006 Act, the Directors are seeking shareholders' authority for the Company and its UK subsidiaries to make political donations and to incur political expenditure, up to a maximum aggregate amount of £100,000 during the period from the date of this AGM until the conclusion of the Company's AGM in 2023 or the close of business on 1 July 2023, whichever is the earlier.
Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries made any political donations under the 2006 Act during the year and the Company proposes to maintain its policy of not making such payments.
The Investment Association's ('IA') guidelines state that IA members will permit, and treat as routine, (i) a request for authorisation to allot up to one-third of the current total issued share capital of the Company, together with the number of shares required to be allotted in respect of share incentive schemes; and (ii) a request for authorisation to allot up to a further one-third of the Company's current total issued share capital, provided that such additional allotment is only applied to fully pre-emptive rights issues.
The Board considers it appropriate that the Company should follow these guidelines.
Accordingly, under Resolution 8i(a), the Directors are seeking authority to allot shares and grant rights to subscribe for, or convert securities into, shares up to an aggregate nominal amount of £12,790,440 pursuant to Section 551 of the 2006 Act, which is equivalent to approximately one-third of the total issued share capital
1 Copies of contracts of service or letters of appointment for each of the Directors will be available to members for inspection at the Registered Office of the Company during normal business hours from the date of publication of this Notice of AGM until the date of the AGM and, on that day, at the place of the AGM at least 15 minutes prior to the commencement of the AGM until its conclusion.
of the Company (excluding treasury shares1 ) as at 24 March 2022, the latest practicable date prior to publication of this Notice of AGM ('Latest Practicable Date'). Under Resolution 8i(b), the Directors are seeking authority to allot ordinary shares in connection with a rights issue in favour of ordinary shareholders up to a further aggregate nominal amount of £12,790,440, which is equivalent to approximately one-third of the total issued share capital of the Company (excluding treasury shares) as at the Latest Practicable Date.
Therefore, the total authorisation sought by Resolution 8 is equal to approximately two thirds of the total issued share capital of the Company (excluding treasury shares) as at the Latest Practicable Date.
The Directors have no present intention of exercising this authority other than in connection with the Company's share incentive schemes, but they consider it desirable to have the maximum flexibility permitted by corporate governance guidelines. If such authority is exercised, the Directors intend to follow best practice with respect to its use as recommended by the IA.
This authority will expire on the conclusion of the Company's AGM in 2023 or at the close of business on 1 July 2023, whichever is the earlier.
The Directors consider it desirable to have the maximum flexibility permitted by corporate governance guidelines to respond to market developments and to enable allotments to take place to finance business opportunities without making a pre-emptive offer to existing shareholders. This cannot be done under the 2006 Act unless the shareholders have first waived their pre-emption rights. Resolutions 9 and 10 ask shareholders to grant this limited waiver. The resolutions will be proposed as special resolutions.
Resolution 9 contains a two-part waiver. The first is limited to the allotment of shares for cash in connection with a rights issue to allow the Directors to make appropriate exclusions and other arrangements to resolve legal or practical problems which, for example, might arise in relation to overseas shareholders. The second is limited to the allotment of shares for cash up to an aggregate nominal value of £1,918,556 (which includes the sale on a non-pre-emptive basis of any shares held in treasury), which represents approximately 5% of the total issued ordinary share capital as at 24 March 2022 (the Latest Practicable Date).
The waiver granted by Resolution 10 is in addition to the waiver granted by Resolution 9. It is limited to the allotment of shares for cash up to an aggregate nominal value of £1,918,556 (which includes the sale on a non-pre-emptive basis of any shares held in treasury), which represents a further 5% (approximately) of the total issued ordinary share capital as at the Latest Practicable Date. This further waiver may only be used for an allotment of shares for cash for the purposes of financing (or refinancing, if the waiver is used within six months of the original transaction) a transaction which the Directors determine to be an acquisition or other capital investment of a kind contemplated by the Pre-Emption Group's March 2015 Statement of Principles.
The Directors do not intend to allot shares non-pre-emptively for cash in excess of an amount equal to 7.5% of the issued ordinary share capital (excluding treasury shares) in any rolling three-year period, in accordance with the Pre-emption Group's March 2015 Statement of Principles.
This authority will expire on the conclusion of the Company's AGM meeting in 2023, or at the close of business on 1 July 2023, whichever is the earlier.
The Company is seeking authority to make market purchases of up to 18,401,631 of its own ordinary shares (being approximately 10% of its total issued share capital (excluding treasury shares) as at the Latest Practicable Date. The maximum price (exclusive of expenses) which may be paid for each share shall be an amount equal to the higher of:
The minimum price (exclusive of expenses) per share shall be 20340/399 pence, being the nominal value of an ordinary share.
This power would be used only after careful consideration by the Directors, having taken into account market conditions prevailing at that time, the investment needs of the Company, its opportunities for expansion and its overall financial position. The Directors would exercise this authority to purchase ordinary shares only if they considered it to be in the best interests of shareholders and if the purchase could be expected to result in an increase in earnings per share. The Company may either cancel any shares it purchases under this authority or transfer them into treasury.
At the Latest Practicable Date, there were no outstanding options to subscribe for ordinary shares in the Company.
This authority will expire on the conclusion of the Company's AGM in 2023, or at close of business on 1 July 2023, whichever is the earlier.
The 2006 Act sets the notice period required for general meetings at 21 days unless shareholders approve a shorter notice period, which cannot be less than 14 clear days. The Company is able to preserve the authority to call a General Meeting, other than an AGM, on not less than 14 clear days' notice, provided shareholders have approved this by passing a special resolution annually. Accordingly, Resolution 12 is seeking to renew the authority granted at the AGM in 2021. The Company will give due consideration as to whether to use the reduced notice period for the calling of a General Meeting, as permitted by the passing of this resolution, and will not use it as a matter of routine but only where such flexibility is necessary. If this authority is used, the Company will comply with the requirement to provide appropriate facilities for shareholders to vote by electronic means at General Meetings held on less than 21 clear days' notice.
If given, this authority will be valid until the Company's AGM in 2023, whereby a similar resolution is intended to be proposed.
The Directors believe that the adoption of all the Resolutions set out in this Notice of AGM are in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders as a whole. Accordingly, the Directors unanimously recommend that you vote in favour of the Resolutions, as each Director intends to do in respect of his or her own beneficial holdings.
1 Treasury shares are shares in the Company which are owned by the Company itself. The Company, following purchase of its own shares, is able to hold such shares in treasury instead of cancelling them. Such shares may subsequently be resold for cash, transferred to an employee share scheme or cancelled. Any shares bought back by the Company and held in treasury will not rank for dividends and will not carry any voting rights. The Company's Articles of Association provide for dealing with treasury shares, including ensuring that the sale of treasury shares by the Company is subject to the same pre-emption rights (and exceptions) as the allotment of new shares. As at the Latest Practicable Date, the Company held 3,701,408 ordinary shares as treasury shares representing approximately 2.01% of the total issued share capital (excluding treasury shares).
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.
User Guide to Joining the IHG 2022 AGM Remotely

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