AGM Information • Mar 30, 2011
AGM Information
Open in ViewerOpens in native device viewer
Chairman's Letter and Notice of Meeting Annual General Meeting London 11 May 2011
Unilever House, 100 Victoria Embankment, London EC4Y 0DY Telephone 020 7822 5252 Facsimile 020 7822 5951
This document is important and requires your immediate attention. If you are in any doubt as to what action you should take you are recommended to consult your stockbroker, bank manager, solicitor, accountant or other professional adviser under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 as soon as possible. If you have sold or otherwise transferred all of your shares, please pass this document to the purchaser or transferee, or to the person who arranged the sale or transfer so they can pass this document to the person who now holds the shares.
Michael Treschow 30 March 2011 Chairman
It gives me great pleasure to write to you with the Notice of this year's Annual General Meeting (AGM). The meeting will be held on Wednesday 11 May 2011 in our usual venue, the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster, London SW1. The AGM will start at 11.00am.
At the AGM, Paul Polman, the Chief Executive Offi cer, will give a full report on the progress of the business in 2010.
This year marks the retirement of Jeroen van der Veer as a Non-Executive Director at the end of the AGM. During his time as a member of the Board, Jeroen has served as the Vice-Chairman & Senior Independent Director and also Chairman of our Nomination and Remuneration Committees. On behalf of the Board, I take this opportunity to thank him for his valued contribution.
We are delighted to propose Sunil Bharti Mittal for election as a Non-Executive Director at this year's AGM. Sunil is distinguished in his fi eld and will further strengthen the expertise and independence of the Board, as well as broadening its diversity. His biography is included on pages 8 and 9 of this Notice.
If re-elected as a Director, Kees Storm will become the Vice-Chairman & Senior Independent Director, a member of the Remuneration Committee and a member of the Nomination Committee. If re-elected as a Director, Paul Walsh will become Chairman of both the Remuneration Committee and the Nomination Committee.
This year, we are asking Shareholders to approve an amendment to our Articles of Association to amend the calculation of the borrowing limitation contained in Article 111, which relates to the powers of the Directors to borrow money and give security. The rest of the formal business, covering issues such as allotment and repurchase of shares and the approval of the Directors' Remuneration Report, will be generally familiar to you. Full explanations of all proposed resolutions are set out in the Explanatory Notes to the Notice.
Your Board believes that all the proposals to be put to you at the AGM are in the best interests of the Company and all Shareholders. Accordingly, the Directors unanimously recommend that you vote in favour of the resolutions, as they intend to do themselves in respect of their own shares in the Company.
We welcome questions at the AGM on all of the above issues and on any other topics relevant to our business. If you would like to be assured of the fullest possible response, it would be helpful if you could give me prior notice of your question. Of course, you are invited to write to me at any time if you have an issue. Alternatively you may fi nd the answer to your question on our website at www.unilever.com.
Enclosed with this letter you will fi nd the Notice of the AGM being convened (together with the Explanatory Notes) and a Proxy Form. Shareholders will also have received the 2010 Annual Report and Accounts or have been notifi ed of its availability on our website at www.unilever.com/investorrelations.
Shareholders wanting to complete and submit their Proxy Form electronically can do so via www.unilever.com/shareholderservices. I would encourage all those of you familiar with the internet to try this facility. Details can be found on the back of your Proxy Form. Institutional investors are able to cast their votes using CREST electronic Proxy voting.
All your votes are important to us and I would urge you to complete and return the Proxy Form in good time, and in any event no later than 11.00am on 9 May 2011.
I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible on 11 May 2011.
Yours sincerely,
Michael Treschow
Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of Unilever PLC will be held at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, Broad Sanctuary, Westminster, London SW1P 3EE at 11.00am on Wednesday 11 May 2011 to transact the following business:
To elect as a Director:
THAT the Directors be and are hereby generally and unconditionally authorised to allot shares in the Company and to grant rights to subscribe for or to convert any security into shares in the Company up to an aggregate nominal amount of £13,290,000 provided that this authority shall expire at the close of business on 30 June 2012 or, if earlier, at the conclusion of next year's Annual General Meeting, save that the Company may before such expiry make an offer or agreement which would or might require shares to be allotted or rights to subscribe for or convert securities into shares to be granted after such expiry and the Directors may allot shares or grant rights to subscribe for or convert securities into shares under any such offer or agreement as if the authority had not expired.
THAT subject to the passing of the previous resolution, the Directors be and are hereby given power to allot equity securities (as defi ned in the Companies Act 2006) for cash under the authority given by that resolution and/or where the allotment constitutes an allotment of equity securities by virtue of Section 560(3) of the Companies Act 2006, free of the restriction in Section 561(1) of the Companies Act 2006, such power to be limited:
and shall expire at close of business on 30 June 2012 or, if earlier, at the conclusion of next year's Annual General Meeting save that the Company may before such expiry make an offer or enter into an agreement which would or might require equity securities to be allotted after such expiry and the Directors may allot securities in pursuance of such offer or agreement as if the power conferred hereby had not expired.
THAT the Company be and is hereby generally and unconditionally authorised for the purpose of Section 701 of the Companies Act 2006 to make one or more market purchases (within the meaning of Section 693(4) of the Companies Act 2006) of Ordinary shares of 31 ⁄9p each in the capital of the Company, subject to the following conditions:
THAT in accordance with Section 366 of the Companies Act 2006, the Company and all companies that are its subsidiaries at any time during the period for which this resolution is effective be and are hereby authorised to:
in each case during the period beginning with the date of passing this resolution and ending at the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting or 30 June 2012 (whichever is earlier).
THAT a general meeting other than an annual general meeting may be called on not less than 14 days' clear notice.
THAT Article 111 of the Company's Articles of Association be replaced by the following:
Power to borrow money and give security
111
(i) "Borrowings" means the aggregate principal amount for the time being remaining outstanding of all borrowings of the Company and its subsidiaries, whether secured or unsecured, but excluding:
(a) borrowings by the Company from any subsidiary,
all as shown in the latest published audited consolidated accounts of the Unilever Group provided always that appropriate adjustments shall be made in respect of any variation in the paid-up share capital or in the share premium account of the Company and/or Unilever N.V. since the date of such audited accounts.
No debt incurred or security given in respect of moneys borrowed or secured in excess of the limit hereby imposed shall be invalid or ineffectual except in the case of express notice at the time the debt was incurred or the security given that the limit hereby imposed had been or was thereby exceeded.
By order of the Board
T E Lovell
Secretary 30 March 2011
The Directors must lay the Company's Accounts, the Directors' Report and the Auditors' Report before the shareholders at a general meeting. This is a legal requirement after the Directors have approved the Accounts and the Directors' Report, and the Auditors have prepared their Report.
The Directors must include specifi ed information within their Remuneration Report in accordance with the Large and Mediumsized Companies and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. The Directors' Remuneration Report for the year ended 31 December 2010 has been prepared accordingly and approved by the Directors.
The Directors' Remuneration Report is included within the Unilever Report and Accounts 2010, copies of which are available on Unilever's website at www.unilever.com/investorrelations. Members must, under Sections 439 and 440 of the Companies Act 2006 and the regulations, be given the opportunity to approve it. While the vote is advisory, it will be taken into account when considering the future operation and development of the Company's remuneration policy.
Unilever PLC's Articles of Association require the annual retirement and re-election of its Directors. Each proposed candidate for (re-) election is also being proposed for (re-)election to the Board of Unilever N.V. The resolution to (re-)elect a proposed candidate as an Executive or Non-Executive Director shall be subject to the passing of the resolution approving his or her appointment as an Executive or Non-Executive Director at the Unilever N.V. AGM on 12 May 2011 (or at any adjournment thereof) and become effective on the conclusion of the Unilever N.V. 2011 AGM or at any adjournment thereof.
Biographical details concerning each of the proposed candidates for (re-)election can be found on page 40 of the Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2010, and also on our website at www.unilever.com/investorrelations.
Paul Polman and Jean-Marc Huët are proposed for re-election as Executive Directors.
All the existing Non-Executive Directors are proposed for re-election, except Jeroen van der Veer who will retire from the Board at the conclusion of the Unilever N.V. 2011 AGM.
The Board of Directors has determined that, in its judgement, the Non-Executive Directors being proposed for re-election are independent.
The Board of Directors is satisfi ed that all Non-Executive Directors being proposed for re-election continue to perform effectively and demonstrate commitment to their roles. They are each chosen for their broad and relevant experience and international outlook.
If re-elected as a Director, Kees Storm will become the Vice-Chairman & Senior Independent Director, a member of the Remuneration Committee and a member of the Nomination Committee. If re-elected as a Director, Paul Walsh will become Chairman of both the Remuneration Committee and the Nomination Committee.
Kees Storm, born in 1942, is a Dutch citizen, and is the retired CEO of AEGON N.V., one of the world's largest insurance groups. Following his retirement in 2002, Kees has served as a non-executive director of various globally operating companies, including Anheuser-Busch Inbev NV in Belgium and Baxter International Inc. in the US. He is also a member of the Audit Committee of these companies. He joined Unilever's Board in 2006. He is a Certifi ed Public Accountant and holds an MA from the University of Rotterdam in Business Economics.
Kees Storm has considerable, wide ranging experience both as an executive and non-executive director which the Board, on the recommendation of the Nomination Committee, believes stands him in good stead for his appointment as Vice-Chairman & Senior Independent Director. He is internationally recognised as one of the most respected fi nancial experts and therefore the Board believes that he will bring a valuable contribution to the future operation of the Remuneration Committee.
The Nomination Committee and the Board reviewed the nomination of Paul Walsh with a view to him becoming the new Chairman of both the Remuneration Committee and the Nomination Committee. The nomination as Chairman of the Remuneration Committee is in accordance with the UK Corporate Governance Code, but the Dutch Corporate Governance Code requires us to explain why an executive of a listed company is nominated to chair our Remuneration Committee. The nomination as Chairman of the Nomination Committee is in compliance with both the UK and Dutch Corporate Governance Code.
As CEO of Diageo Plc since 2000 Paul is recognised as one of the most respected business leaders. In managing this company, Paul shares our fundamental view that a company should be managed towards long-term, profi table and sustainable growth. Paul has also been a non-executive director of Fedex Corp. since 1996 and a member of its Compensation Committee. He has been a member of Unilever's Remuneration and Nomination Committees since 2009.
With this long-term experience as an executive and non-executive director and his view on managing growth, Paul has gained profound knowledge and understanding of remuneration matters at companies operating globally and understands how remuneration policies support the growth objective. His experience and insight of remuneration matters is very valuable to Unilever. The Board therefore believes that Paul is ideally placed to take the position of Chairman of the Remuneration Committee and will also make a valuable contribution as Chairman of the Nomination Committee.
If re-elected as a Director, Ann Fudge will become a member of the Nomination Committee.
Sunil Bharti Mittal is being proposed for election as a Non-Executive Director.
Nationality: Indian. Age: 53.
Sunil started his career after graduating from Panjab University in India in 1976 and founded Bharti. He is a past president of the Confederation of Indian Industry, the premier industry body in India (2007-08). Sunil was previously an independent non-executive director of Standard Chartered Plc (2007-2009). Sunil was co-chairman of the World Economic Forum in 2007 at Davos and is a member of its International Business Council. He is also a member of the board of trustees of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is a member of several premier international bodies – International Advisory Committee to the NYSE Euronext Board of Directors and the International Business Advisory Councils of London & Rome. Sunil is also on the Telecom Board of the International Telecommunication Union, the leading UN Agency for
Information and Communication Technology. He is a Commissioner of the Broadband Commission at ITU. He is a member of the India-US CEOs Forum and also serves as a member of the Executive Board of the Indian School of Business.
He has received many business awards, including the 'Global Vision' Award 2008 by the US-India Business Council and Asia Businessman of the Year by Fortune in 2006.
The Board of Directors has determined that, in its judgement, Sunil Bharti Mittal is independent, and believes that with his broad background in business he will be a valuable addition to the Board.
At each meeting at which Accounts are laid before the members, the Company is required to appoint Auditors to serve until the next such meeting.
This resolution gives authority to the Directors to determine the Auditors' remuneration, which is then disclosed in the next Accounts of the Company.
Renewal of this authority is sought at the AGM each year. Section 551 of the Companies Act 2006 provides that the Directors may not issue new shares without shareholder approval. The purpose of this resolution, therefore, is to give the Directors the authority to issue new shares, limited to a maximum of £13,290,000 in new shares at their nominal value (representing 427,178,571 Ordinary shares). At 28 March 2011, being the latest practicable date prior to publication of the Notice of Meeting, this represented approximately 33% of the Company's issued Ordinary share capital (calculated exclusive of treasury shares).
The authority sought under this resolution will expire at the earlier of the close of business on 30 June 2012 (the last date by which the Company must hold an AGM in 2012) or the conclusion of the AGM of the Company held in 2012.
The Directors have no present intention to exercise the authority sought under this resolution.
As at the date of this Notice, 26,696,994 Ordinary shares are held by the Company in treasury. This amount represents approximately 2.08% of the issued Ordinary share capital (excluding treasury shares) of the Company as at 28 March 2011, the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this Notice of Meeting.
Renewal of this authority is sought at the AGM each year. Under the Companies Act 2006 shareholders have 'rights of pre-emption' in relation to the issue of new shares: that is to say, the shares must be offered fi rst to the existing shareholders in proportion to their holdings. Under Sections 570 and 571 of the Companies Act 2006 the Directors require the authority of the shareholders if they wish to disapply these rights. In the case of a rights issue, there could be legal, regulatory or practical diffi culties in issuing new shares to some shareholders, particularly those resident overseas, and part (a) of this resolution permits the Directors to make the appropriate exclusions or arrangements to deal with this.
In addition, there may be circumstances when the Directors consider it in the best interests of the Company to issue shares to another party or parties without fi rst offering them to existing shareholders, for example, to fi nance a business opportunity. Part (b) of this resolution gives them authority to do so, up to a limit of £1,995,000 in new shares at their nominal value. At 28 March 2011 (being the latest practicable date prior to the publication
of the Notice of this Meeting) this aggregate nominal amount was approximately 5% of the Company's issued Ordinary share capital (calculated exclusive of treasury shares).
In respect of this aggregate nominal amount, the Directors confi rm their intention to follow the provisions of the Pre-Emption Group's Statement of Principles regarding cumulative usage of authorities within a rolling three-year period where the Principles provide that usage in excess of 7.5% should not take place without prior consultation with shareholders. The authority will expire at the earlier of 30 June 2012 (the last date by which the Company must hold an AGM in 2012) or the conclusion of the AGM of the Company held in 2012.
Renewal of this authority is also sought at the AGM each year. The Directors have no present intention of exercising this authority but believe that it is advantageous for the Company to have the fl exibility to purchase its own shares, and this resolution provides the authority from shareholders to do so. This authority is also necessary to enable us to carry out any share buy back programme. The Directors will only buy back shares under the programme when they consider that such purchases would increase earnings per share and would be in the best interests of the Company and all shareholders generally.
The resolution specifi es the maximum number of shares which may be acquired (which at 28 March 2011, being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this Notice of Meeting), represented just under 10% of the Company's issued capital) and the maximum and minimum prices at which they may be bought.
The purchase of shares by the Company under this authority would be carried out by a purchase in the market and should not be confused with any share dealing facilities which may be offered to shareholders by the Company from time to time. Any shares purchased would be cancelled, unless they were held as 'treasury shares', in which case they could be held in the name of the Company pending resale. The Company would consider holding any of its own shares that it purchases pursuant to the authority conferred by this resolution as treasury shares. This would give the Company the ability to re-issue treasury shares quickly and cost-effectively, and would provide the Company with additional fl exibility in the management of its capital base.
Trusts of Viscount Leverhulme (founder of the company that became Unilever PLC) own four classes of special shares in Margarine Union (1930) Limited (a subsidiary of Unilever PLC). One of these classes of share can be converted at the end of the year 2038 into 70,875,000 PLC Ordinary shares of 31 ⁄9p each. As at 28 March 2011 (being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this Notice of Meeting) this represents 5.5% of Unilever PLC's issued Ordinary capital (excluding treasury shares). If the existing authority given at the 2010 AGM and the authority now being sought by resolution 19 were to be fully used (being the purchase of 262,000,000 Ordinary shares), the options would represent 6.94% of Unilever PLC's issued Ordinary capital (excluding treasury shares).
Part 14 of the Companies Act 2006 imposes restrictions on companies making political donations to: (i) political parties; (ii) other political organisations; and (iii) independent election candidates and on incurring political expenditure (as defi ned in the Companies Act 2006) without shareholders' consent. It is the policy of the Company not to make such political donations and the Directors have no intention of changing that policy. However, as the defi nitions used in the Companies Act 2006 are broad, it is possible that normal business activities, which might not be thought to be political expenditure in the usual sense, could be caught. On that basis, the authority is being sought purely as a precaution. The Board of Unilever PLC has confi rmed that the Company does not make political donations or incur political expenditure within the ordinary meaning of those words and that it has no intention of doing so.
Changes made to the Companies Act 2006 by the Companies (Shareholders' Rights) Regulations 2009 (the 'Shareholders' Rights Regulations') increase the notice period for general meetings of the company to 21 days unless shareholders approve a shorter notice period, which cannot, however, be less than 14 clear days (annual general meetings will continue to be held on at least 21 days' clear notice). Following shareholder approval at the 2010 AGM, the Company is currently able to call general meetings (other than annual general meetings) on 14 days' clear notice and would like to preserve this ability. In order to be able to do so after the 2011 AGM, shareholders must have approved the calling of meetings on 14 days' notice. Resolution 21 seeks such approval. The approval will be effective until the Company's next AGM, when it is intended that a similar resolution will be proposed. The Company does not intend to use this authority routinely. The Company envisions that this authority would be used only in limited circumstances for time-sensitive matters where a shorter notice period would be to the advantage of shareholders as a whole. The Company will also need to meet the requirements for electronic voting under the Shareholders' Rights Regulations before it can then call a general meeting on 14 days' notice.
Pursuant to Article 111 of Unilever PLC's Articles of Association the power of Directors to borrow money and give security is limited such that the borrowings of PLC and its subsidiaries shall not exceed three times the Adjusted Capital and Reserves of PLC and its subsidiaries. In view of Unilever Group's structure and the fact that consolidated accounts are prepared for Unilever PLC and Unilever N.V. and all their respective subsidiaries, it is considered appropriate that the method of calculation of the borrowing limitation should be amended so that it is based on the appropriate proportion of Unilever Group's Adjusted Capital and Reserves, the appropriate proportion being the aggregate economic interest of Unilever PLC's shareholders in the Unilever Group as a whole. These amendments will save costs and improve the ease and transparency of the calculation as the Group's Adjusted Capital and Reserves correspond to total equity as shown in the Group consolidated accounts. It is not the intention of this change that it should increase the Company's borrowing limit. Based on the current drafting the borrowing limit is €12 billion. Based on the new drafting the limit would be €16.3 billion. However, these numbers would be expected to vary over time and it would be expected that from time to time the limit as calculated on the new basis would be less than that calculated on the existing basis.
As at 28 March 2011 (being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of the Notice of Meeting) the total number of issued Ordinary shares was 1,310,156,361. Unilever PLC holds 26,696,994 Ordinary shares in treasury and therefore the total number of voting rights for the Ordinary shares is 1,283,459,367. The total number of Deferred shares was 100,000 (representing 3,214,285 voting rights).
Copies of the Directors' service contracts (or, where applicable, letters of appointment) are available for inspection at Unilever's offi ces, at Unilever House, 100 Victoria Embankment, London EC4Y 0DY in the United Kingdom, from the date of this Notice of Meeting until the close of the Meeting. They are available during normal business hours on any weekday (excluding public holidays) and at the place of the AGM from at least 15 minutes before the AGM until the close of the Meeting.
The Directors believe that the proposals set out in the Notice of Meeting are in the best interests of the Company and shareholders as a whole. Accordingly, the Directors unanimously recommend that you vote in favour of each resolution, as they intend to do themselves in respect of their own shares in the Company.
Unilever PLC Unilever House 100 Victoria Embankment London EC4Y 0DY United Kingdom T +44 (0)20 7822 5252 F +44 (0)20 7822 5951
Unilever PLC registered offi ce Unilever PLC Port Sunlight
Wirral Merseyside CH62 4ZD United Kingdom
Registered in England and Wales Company Number: 41424
Building tools?
Free accounts include 100 API calls/year for testing.
Have a question? We'll get back to you promptly.