RCS - Charles Barker Corp. - PrimeStone Capital LLP: Letter to Brenntag SE

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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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