Pre-Annual General Meeting Information • Apr 27, 2020
Pre-Annual General Meeting Information
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To be held at 10.00 a.m. on 20 May 2020 at Rosecroft, Malew Street, Castletown, Isle of Man IM9 1LT
Whether or not you propose to attend the Annual General Meeting, please complete and submit a form of proxy in accordance with the instructions printed on the enclosed form.
The form of proxy must be received by no later than 10.00 a.m. on 18 May 2020.
If you are in any doubt as to what action you should take, you are recommended to seek your own financial advice from your stockbroker or other independent adviser authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
If you have sold or transferred all of your shares in Playtech plc, please forward this document, together with the accompanying documents, as soon as possible either to the purchaser or transferee or to the person who arranged the sale or transfer so they can pass these documents to the person who now holds the shares.
Incorporated in the Isle of Man under company number 008505V
Ground Floor St George's Court Upper Church Street Douglas Isle of Man IM1 1EE
Final date for receipt of proxies by the registrars 18 May 2020 at 10.00 a.m. Time and date of the Annual General Meeting 20 May 2020 at 10.00 a.m.
Playtech plc Incorporated in the Isle of Man under company number 008505V
Ground Floor St George's Court Upper Church Street Douglas Isle of Man IM1 1EE
23 April 2020
I am pleased to be writing to you with details of the Annual General Meeting of Playtech plc ("Playtech" or the "Company") for 2019 (the AGM).
We have considered the current situation with Covid-19, taking into account travel restrictions, restrictions on gatherings of more than two individuals and social distancing. As a result, and, for these reasons, we have decided to hold the meeting as a closed meeting. The meeting with be held in the Isle of Man at the residential address of Claire Milne (Non-Executive Director and incoming Interim Chairman). Under our Articles of Association, we have arranged for the necessary quorum to be present and can confirm that we will be in full compliance with Covid-19 restrictions. In accordance with the Stay at Home Measures, shareholders other than those forming the minimum quorum will not be admitted to the meeting and instead appoint the Chairman of the Meeting as their proxy with their voting instructions.
We fully understand that this is not an ideal arrangement and we want to assure shareholders that their views and questions are important to us and, therefore, we are asking shareholders to submit their questions in writing in advance of the AGM and we will deal with all queries raised. Written questions should be submitted to our Company Secretary, Brian Moore, at [email protected] and/or our Director of Investor Relations, Chris McGinnis, at [email protected].
The formal notice of the AGM is set out on pages 5 and 6 of this document.
If you would like to vote on the resolutions, please fill in the enclosed Form of Proxy appointing the Chairman of the Meeting as your proxy with your voting instructions and return it to our registrars as soon as possible. Alternatively, you can register your proxy to vote electronically by logging on to www.investorcentre.co.uk/eproxy. You will need to enter the Control Number, Shareholder Reference number and PIN as shown on your proxy form, or, if you are a member of CREST, via Computershare Investor Services (ID3RA50). The registrars must receive your proxy appointment by 10.00 a.m. on 18 May 2020 at the latest.
The explanatory notes in Appendix 2 outline the business to be considered at the AGM.
As announced on 19 March 2020, the Board has determined that it is appropriate to maximise liquidity within the Company and has suspended shareholder distributions until further notice. Therefore, no dividend will be proposed at the AGM on 20 May 2020. Taken together with the postponement of the share repurchase programme, these measures will save the Company over €65 million of cash outflows.
Please check that you have received the following with this document:
You are strongly encouraged to register a proxy vote by either casting your proxy online as explained in the notes on pages 10 and 11 or by completing, signing and returning your form of proxy in accordance with the instructions printed thereon as soon as possible, but in any event so as to be received, by post at Computershare Investor Services (Jersey) Limited, c/o, The Pavilions, Bridgwater Road, Bristol BS99 6ZY by no later than 10.00 a.m. on 18 May 2019.
In accordance with the Stay at Home Measures, shareholders other than those forming the minimum quorum will not be admitted to the meeting and should instead appoint the Chairman of the Meeting as their proxy with their voting instructions – the use of a proxy will enable your vote to be counted at the AGM.
The Directors of the Company consider that all the proposals to be considered at the AGM are in the best interests of the Company and its members as a whole and are most likely to promote the success of the Company for the benefit of its members as a whole. The Directors unanimously recommend that you vote in favour of all the proposed resolutions as they intend to do in respect of their own beneficial holdings which amount to 385,745 Ordinary Shares representing approximately 0.13% of the existing issued Ordinary Shares (excluding 9,965,889 shares held as treasury shares).
As announced at our annual general meeting in May 2019, I will not be standing for re-election at the AGM and I can confirm that it is proposed that Claire Milne will assume the position of Interim Chairman with effect from 20 May 2020. The Board intends to continue the search for a permanent Chairman following resolution of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Yours sincerely
Alan Jackson Chairman
Prior to being appointed CEO in 2007, Mor was the Chief Executive Officer of one of the Group's subsidiaries, Techplay Marketing Limited, which required him to oversee the Group's licensee relationship management, product management for new licensees and marketing activities. Before joining Playtech, Mor worked for Oracle for over four years, initially as a development consultant and then as a product manager, which involved creating sales and consulting channels on behalf of Oracle Israel and Oracle Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Earlier in his career, he worked in a variety of roles, including as an auditor and financial consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers and a system analyst for Tadiran Electronic Systems Limited, an Israeli company that designed electronic warfare systems.
Andrew was appointed as Playtech's Chief Financial Officer on 10 January 2017.
Having qualified as a solicitor with Ashurst in 2001, Andrew moved into investment banking, first with ABN AMRO and then with Deutsche Bank, specialising in both the technology and leisure sectors. Andrew joined Playtech in 2015 as Head of Investor Relations.
John is a qualified accountant and his previous roles include Group Chief Executive of Jamie Oliver Holdings Limited from 2007 to 2015, Group Retail and Leisure Director of Virgin Group Limited from 1998 to 2007 and Managing Director of Body Shop International from 1988 to 1994. He is currently Non-executive Chairman of Rick Stein Group.
Claire has a master's degree from the John Hopkins University, Baltimore, is a member of The Law Society of Scotland, is a Manx Advocate and a Writer to Her Majesty's Signet. She is a member of the Institute of Directors, the Licensing Executive Society and the Society for Computers and a General Member of the International Masters of Gaming Law and was Chair of the Isle of Man Gambling Commission between 2007 and 2012. She is currently a Partner and Team Leader within the Intellectual Property and Science & Technology team for Appleby in the Isle of Man.
Prior to his appointment, Ian was CEO of Sportech plc from 2005 to 2017 and served as CEO of Arena Leisure plc from 2001 to 2005. Ian is currently Non-executive Chairman of the National Football Museum, Non-executive Chairman of DataPOWA, and a strategic adviser to Weatherbys Limited and the UK Tote Group.
Anna worked in Investment Banking and Asset Management for over 15 years and is widely respected as a global gambling industry expert. During her time at PAR Capital Management, Anna was responsible for idea generation and portfolio maintenance. Prior to joining PAR, Anna held positions at leading financial institutions including JP Morgan, Marathon Asset Management and Hedgeye Risk Management. Anna is currently a Director of AGS, LLC.
John spent nearly 15 years at Morgan Stanley as a Managing Director and subsequently worked at both Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale. John's significant non-executive experience includes his current role as an Independent Non-Executive Director of OrganOx Ltd, his role as a Trustee at Big Education Trust and acting as Finance Committee Chairman & Trustee of the Royal Institution of Great Britain.
The Chairman will present to the AGM the accounts and the reports of the directors and the auditors for the year ended 31 December 2019 (the "Annual Report").
For UK incorporated companies, there are requirements in relation to the content and approval of the directors' remuneration report. Although, as an Isle of Man incorporated company, Playtech is not subject to these requirements, the Board considers that shareholders would expect the Company to voluntarily mirror the requirements of the UK legislation applicable to a premium listed main market company so far as is practicable. The Board is happy to do so as the Directors consider that the requirements facilitate good corporate governance.
Accordingly, the directors' remuneration report set out in full on pages 80 to 95 in the Annual Report is in three sections and contains:
The first and third sections of the report will be put to an advisory shareholder vote by ordinary resolution.
Resolution 3 proposes the re-appointment of BDO LLP as the Company's auditors to hold office until the next AGM of the Company and, as is common practice, authorises the directors to set the auditors' remuneration.
Although the articles of association of the Company (the "Articles") do not require all the directors to retire and be put up for re-election at each annual general meeting of the Company, in accordance with the provisions of the UK Corporate Governance Code, all of the directors of the Company have resolved that they will retire and offer themselves for re-election by shareholders at the AGM with the exception of Alan Jackson who, as noted earlier, is stepping down with effect from the date of the AGM.
The Board considers that the performance of each Board member continues to be effective, that each member of the Board demonstrates the commitment required to continue in their present roles, and accordingly supports each Director's re-election.
Biographical details of the directors can be found in Appendix 1 and further details of their skills and experience, and representation on the Board committees can be found on pages 70 and 71 of the Annual Report.
The Articles provide that the directors may only allot Ordinary Shares or grant rights to subscribe for or convert securities into Ordinary Shares if authorised to do so by the holders of Ordinary Shares. At the last annual general meeting of the Company held on 15 May 2019, the directors were given authority to allot Ordinary Shares and grant rights to subscribe for or convert securities into Ordinary Shares. The authority granted at the last annual general meeting is due to expire at the conclusion of this year's meeting.
The Investment Association ('IA) guidelines on authority to allot shares state that IA members will permit, and treat as routine, resolutions seeking to allot shares representing approximately one-third of the number of Ordinary Shares in issue. In addition, IA members will treat as routine a request for authority to allot shares representing approximately an additional one-third of the number of Ordinary Shares in issue provided that it is only used to allot shares pursuant to a pre-emptive rights issue.
Accordingly, the authority in Resolution 11, paragraph (a) will allow your Directors to allot up to 99,776,118 Ordinary Shares in the Company or grant rights to subscribe for, or convert any security into, such number of Ordinary Shares in the Company, representing approximately one-third of the Company's issued ordinary share capital (excluding 9,965,889 shares held as treasury shares) as calculated as at 20 April 2020 (being the latest practicable date prior to publication of this notice). The authority in Resolution 11, paragraph (b) will allow your Directors to allot a further 99,776,118 Ordinary Shares or grant rights to subscribe for, or convert any security into, such number of Ordinary Shares in the Company representing approximately one-third of the Company's issued Ordinary Shares (excluding 9,965,889 shares held as treasury shares) as calculated as at 20 April 2019 (being the latest practicable date prior to publication of this notice), but only in connection with a pre-emptive rights issue.
The power conferred by this resolution will expire at the conclusion of the next annual general meeting of the Company or, if sooner, 15 months after the date of the passing of the resolution.
The Directors have no present intention of exercising this authority. However, it is considered prudent to maintain the flexibility that this authority provides. The Directors intend to renew this authority annually.
Resolutions 1 to 11 will be proposed as ordinary resolutions and will require more than half of the votes cast at the AGM to be in favour of the resolution to be passed.
Explanatory notes
Under article 6 of the Articles, if the Directors wish to exercise the authority under Resolution 11 to offer Ordinary Shares or grant rights to subscribe for, or convert any security into Ordinary Shares or to sell any Ordinary Shares which the Company may purchase and elect to hold as treasury shares for cash (other than pursuant to a share scheme of the Company), they must first be offered to existing shareholders pro-rata to their holdings. There may be occasions, however, when it is in the Company's interests for the Directors to have the flexibility to finance business opportunities by allotting new Ordinary Shares (or granting rights to subscribe for, or convert securities into, Ordinary Shares) for cash or selling treasury shares for cash without a fully pre-emptive offer to existing shareholders. It is therefore proposed to grant the Directors authority to allot Ordinary Shares (or to grant rights to subscribe for, or convert securities into, Ordinary Shares) for cash or to sell treasury shares for cash without such securities first being required to be offered to existing shareholders.
Resolution 12 would, if passed, allow the Directors to allot new Ordinary Shares (or to grant rights to subscribe for, or convert securities into, Ordinary Shares) for cash or to sell treasury shares (to the extent relevant) for cash:
Resolution 13 is in addition to Resolution 12 and is limited to the allotment of new Ordinary Shares (or the grant of rights to subscribe for, or convert securities into, Ordinary Shares) for cash or to sell treasury shares (to the extent relevant) for cash up to a total of 14,966,418 Ordinary Shares, which represents a further 5% (approximately) of the issued ordinary share capital of the Company (excluding 9,965,889 shares held as treasury shares) on 20 April 2020 (being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this notice). This further authority may only be used for an allotment of new Ordinary Shares (or the grant of rights to subscribe for, or convert securities into, Ordinary Shares) for cash or to sell treasury shares for cash for the purposes of financing (or refinancing, if this authority 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 2015 Statement of Principles for the dis-application of pre-emption rights.
The authority sought and the limits set by Resolutions 12 and 13 will expire at the conclusion of the next annual general meeting of the Company or, if sooner, 15 months after the date of the passing of the resolution.
The Directors have no present intention to exercise the authorities conferred by these resolutions. However, it is considered prudent to maintain the flexibility that these authorities provide. The Directors intend to renew these authorities annually.
This resolution seeks authority for the Company to make market purchases of its own Ordinary Shares and is proposed as a special resolution. If passed, the resolution gives authority for the Company to purchase up to 29,932,835 of its Ordinary Shares, representing just under 10% of the Company's issued ordinary share capital (excluding 9,965,889 shares held as treasury shares) on 20 April 2020 (being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this notice).
The resolution specifies the minimum and maximum prices which may be paid for any Ordinary Shares purchased under this authority. The power conferred by this resolution will expire at the conclusion of the next annual general meeting of the Company or, if sooner, 15 months after the date of the passing of the resolution.
The Directors do not currently have any intention of exercising the authority granted by this resolution. The Directors will only exercise the authority to purchase Ordinary Shares granted by this resolution where they consider that such purchases will be in the best interests of shareholders generally.
On 20 April 2020 (being the last practicable date prior to the publication of this notice) the total number of options to subscribe for Ordinary Shares in the Company amounted to 9,696,768. This represented 3.24% of the Company's issued ordinary share capital on that date. If this authority to purchase shares was exercised in full these options would represent 3.60% of the issued ordinary share capital as at 20 April 2020 (the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this notice). The Company does not have any outstanding share warrants.
Resolutions 12, 13 and 14 will be proposed as special resolutions and require that 75% or more of the votes cast at the AGM be in favour of the resolution for it to be passed.
Notice is given that the Annual General Meeting (the AGM) of Playtech plc (the "Company") will be held at Rosecroft, Malew Street, Castletown, Isle of Man IM9 1LT on 20 May 2020 at 10.00 a.m. for the following purposes:
To consider and, if thought fit, pass the following resolutions which will be proposed as ordinary resolutions:
provided that the authority conferred by this resolution shall expire at the conclusion of the next annual general meeting of the Company or, if shorter, 15 months after the date of the passing of this resolution but so that the Company may, before such expiry, make offers or agreements which would or might require Ordinary Shares to be allotted or rights to subscribe for or convert securities into Ordinary Shares to be granted after such expiry and the directors may allot Ordinary Shares or grant rights to subscribe for or convert any security into Ordinary Shares pursuant to any such offer or agreement as if this authority had not expired, where "rights issue" means an offer to:
to subscribe for further securities by means of the issue of a renounceable letter (or other negotiable document) which may be traded for a period before payment for the securities is due, but subject in both cases to such exclusions or other arrangements as the directors may deem necessary or expedient in relation to fractional entitlements, record dates or legal, regulatory or practical problems in, or under the laws of, any territory or by virtue of shares being represented by depositary receipts or any other matter.
To consider and, if thought fit, pass the following resolutions, which will be proposed as special resolutions:
and such authority, unless renewed, shall expire at the end of the next annual general meeting of the Company or, if earlier, 15 months after the date of the passing of this resolution but, in each case, shall extend to the making or entering into, before such expiry, of an offer or agreement which would or might require equity securities to be allotted (and treasury shares to be sold) after such expiry and the directors of the Company may allot equity securities (and sell treasury shares) pursuant to such offer or agreement as if this authority had not expired.
and such authority, unless renewed, shall expire at the end of the next annual general meeting of the Company or, if earlier, 15 months after the date of the passing of this resolution but, in each case, shall extend to the making or entering into, before such expiry, of an offer or agreement which would or might require equity securities to be allotted (and treasury shares to be sold) after such expiry and the directors of the Company may allot equity securities (and sell treasury shares) pursuant to such offer or agreement as if this authority had not expired.
Voting on all resolutions will be by way of a poll.
By order of the Board
Brian Moore Company Secretary
Ground Floor St George's Court Upper Church Street Douglas Isle of Man 23 April 2020
Registered in Isle of Man number 008505V
After this time any change of instructions to proxies appointed through CREST should be communicated to the appointee through other means.
Ground Floor St George's Court Upper Church Street Douglas Isle of Man IM1 1EE
www.playtech.com
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