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RNS Number : 4258C Charles Barker Corporate Comm. GmbH 12 June 2023
PrimeStone Capital LLP: Letter to the Supervisory Board of Brenntag SE
EQS-Media / 12.06.2023 / 13:15 CET/CEST
London,12th June, 2023. PrimeStone Capital LLP, a shareholder holding more
than 2% of Brenntag SE (ISIN DE000A1DAHH0, WKN A1DAHH), has today sent the
following letter to the Supervisory Board of the Company:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
London, 12th June, 2023
Subject: Supervisory Board Must Act to Ensure Shareholder Democracy and
Transparency at Brenntag AGM
Dear Members of the Supervisory Board,
PrimeStone Capital is a 2% shareholder of Brenntag and has submitted three
countermotions at the upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM). We are writing
this letter because it has come to our attention that many shareholders are
facing significant challenges in exercising their right to vote on these
countermotions. This is primarily due to the countermotions not appearing on
the voting platforms and to the rigidity of various third-party custodial
actors combined with the lack of responsiveness of Computershare, the
company's registrar. Several factors are contributing to this situation:
(i) Timing: Some shareholders have requested live voting attendance
cards well in advance of voting deadlines but have simply not received them
promptly;
(ii) Account Grouping: Many shareholders own their shares over multiple
mandates and are currently unable to group them under a single shareholder AGM
attendance card. Shareholders with numerous mandates are therefore effectively
prevented from attending live and voting on the countermotions. This inability
to exercise their basic voting rights constitutes a significant reduction in
shareholder rights from an in-person meeting where one individual would have
been able to attend and represent all of an institution's holdings;
(iii) Voting Instructions Conflicts: Some shareholders have submitted
platform instructions as a safety vote in case their attendance cards were not
processed in time. The processing of the platform instructions now appears to
block the issuance of attendance cards. This effectively prevents the
shareholders from voting on countermotions, depriving them of their
shareholder rights.
We know of shareholders representing a meaningful portion of Brenntag's
capital who are currently unable to cast their votes on the countermotions.
This includes some very large institutions who see voting at AGMs as one of
their primary responsibilities. The obstacles mentioned above are hindering
the fundamental principles of shareholder democracy. We firmly believe that
every shareholder should have equal and fair opportunities to participate in
the decision-making process of the AGM. This is clearly not the case.
Therefore, we request Brenntag take immediate action to rectify this situation
and ensure responsiveness of Computershare, the company's registrar. Brenntag
can instruct Computershare immediately to properly facilitate the voting on
the countermotions. This would entail:
(i) Accelerating the process to obtain attendance cards in time,
(ii) Allowing shareholders to aggregate mandates under a single
attendance card upon request, and
(iii) Allowing shareholders who have already voted through platforms to
convert their votes to an attendance card so that live votes could override
platform votes for shareholders who still want to vote live.
Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter. We look forward to your
timely response.
Yours sincerely,
PrimeStone
https://primestonecapital.com/engagement/
(https://primestonecapital.com/engagement/)
https://revivebrenntag.com/ (https://revivebrenntag.com/)
For media enquiries, please contact:
Charles Barker Corporate Communications:
primestone-cb@charlesbarker.de (mailto:primestone-cb@charlesbarker.de)
+49 69 79409025
For institutional investor enquiries, please contact:
D.F. King Ltd
BNR@dfkingltd.co.uk (mailto:BNR@dfkingltd.co.uk)
Ed Simmons +44 (0)7751 741 714
End of Media Release
Issuer: Charles Barker Corporate Communications GmbH
Key word(s): Finance
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