The shareholders of
The board of directors has resolved, in accordance with the provisions of the company's Articles of Association, that shareholders may exercise voting rights in advance by so-called postal voting.
A. RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE, NOTIFICATION OF ATTENDANCE AND POSTAL VOTING
A shareholder who wishes to attend the AGM venue or who wishes to exercise its voting rights by postal voting, must be recorded in the share register maintained by
(i) in the event of participation at the AGM venue: give notice of attendance to the company no later than by
Notice of attendance is submitted by regular mail to
(ii) in the event of exercising voting rights by postal voting: give notice hereof by submitting its postal vote to the company no later than by
A special form shall be used for postal voting. The form is available on the company's website, https://www.beijerref.com/annual-general-meeting-2024/. The completed and signed form shall be sent to
A shareholder who wishes to attend the AGM venue in person or by proxy must give notice of this in accordance with the instructions in (i) above. Hence, a notice of participation only through postal voting is not sufficient for a person who wishes to attend the AGM venue.
If a shareholder is represented by proxy, a written and dated power of attorney signed by the shareholder must be issued to the proxy and submitted to the company. A proxy form is available on the company's website, https://www.beijerref.com/annual-general-meeting-2024/. Further, if the shareholder is a legal entity, a registration certificate or other authorisation document must be submitted to the company. In order to facilitate the registration process, proxies and registration certificates and any other authorisation documents is requested to be received by the company at the above address in connection with submitting the notice of attendance or postal vote.
The shareholder may not provide a postal vote with specific instructions or conditions. If so, the entire vote is invalid. Further instructions and conditions are included in the form for postal voting.
Shareholders whose shares are nominee-registered must temporarily re-register their shares in their own name in the shareholders' register maintained by
B. AGENDA FOR THE MEETING
PROPOSAL FOR AGENDA
1. Election of the chairperson of the meeting
2. Drawing up and approval of the voting register
3. Approval of the agenda
4. Election of two persons to attest the minutes
5. Determination that the meeting has been duly convened
6. Address by the CEO
7. Presentation of the annual accounts and audit report of the company and the group, and the statement by the auditor on the compliance of the guidelines for remuneration to senior executives
8. Resolution regarding:
(a) adoption of the profit and loss account and balance sheet of the company and of the consolidated profit and loss account and consolidated balance sheet of the group
(b) allocation of the company's profit or loss in accordance with the adopted balance sheet and determination of record date for dividend
(c) approval of the remuneration report
(d) discharge from liability for the members of the board of directors and the managing director
9. Determination of the number of board members
10. Determination of the remuneration to the board members elected by the general meeting
11. Determination of remuneration to the auditors
12. Election of board members
(a) Per Bertland (re-election)
(b)
(c) Albert Gustafsson (re-election)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)
(i)
13. Election of auditors
14. Resolution on instructions for the Nomination Committee
15. Resolution to authorise the board of directors to resolve on a new share issue
16. Resolution on (A) implementation of a long-term share-based incentive program LTI 2024, (B) acquisition and transfer of own shares, alternatively (C) other hedging measures
17. Closing of the Meeting
PROPOSALS
Item 2 - Drawing up and approval of the voting register
The voting list proposed for approval is the voting list drawn up by
Item 8 (b) - Dividend
From the available unappropriated earnings of
Item 1, 9 -13 - Election and fees
The Election Committee, consisting of the chairperson of the Election Committee
Item 1 - The Election Committee proposes the lawyer Madeleine Rydberger, as chairperson of the Annual General Meeting.
Item 10 - Fees shall be paid in the amount of
Item 11 - The auditors' fees shall be paid according to approved invoice.
Item 12 - Per Bertland,
Further information about the proposed board members can be found on the company's website https://www.beijerref.com/.
Item 13 - The registered accounting firm
Item 14 - Resolution on instructions for the Nomination Committee
The nomination committee shall comprise of five (5) members. During September the chairperson of the board shall contact the five largest shareholders in terms of votes regarding the formation of a nomination committee. If any of the five largest shareholders in terms of votes decides to waive its right to appoint a member of the nomination committee, or may otherwise be considered to have waived such right, the right shall pass to the shareholder who, after these five shareholders, has the largest shareholding in the company in terms of votes. The names of the members of the nomination committee, and the names of the shareholders having appointed the members, shall be published no later than six months prior to the annual general meeting and be based upon the known shareholding as per the last trading day in August. The nomination committee is appointed for a term of office commencing at the time of the announcement of its composition and ending when a new nomination committee is formed. Unless the committee members agree otherwise, the chairperson of the nomination committee shall be the member appointed by the largest shareholder in terms of votes. The committee forms a quorum when more than half of its members are present. The nomination committee has the right to co-opt the chairperson of the board.
If during the nomination committee's term of office one or more of the shareholders that have appointed members to the nomination committee are no longer among the largest shareholders in terms of votes, then the members appointed by these shareholders shall resign their positions and the shareholder or shareholders who have become among the largest shareholders in terms of votes shall be offered the opportunity to appoint members to the nomination committee. Unless there is special cause, no changes shall be made to the composition of the nomination committee if only minor changes in shareholding have been made, or if the changes take place later than two months prior to the time when the notice to the general meeting is to be announced.
Shareholders who appoint members to the nomination committee have the right to dismiss their member and appoint a new one. Equally, the shareholder whose member requests to leave the committee before its work is completed has the right to replace such a member. Changes to the composition of the nomination committee shall be published as soon as they take place.
The nomination committee shall produce proposals for the following items to be resolved by the annual general meeting:
- proposal for chairperson of the meeting,
- proposal for number of board members,
- proposal for nomination of board members and chairperson of the board,
- proposal for nomination of auditors,
- proposal for fees to the board of directors and its committees,
- proposal for fees to auditors, and
- review and, if necessary, proposals for new instructions to the nomination committee.
The nomination committee shall make available the requisite information to
These instructions apply until the general meeting resolves otherwise.
Item 15 - Resolution to authorise the board of directors to resolve on a new share issue
The board of directors proposes that the general meeting authorise the board of directors to, on one or more occasions during the period up to the next Annual General Meeting, resolve to issue as many new shares as correspond to a maximum of 10 percent of the company's total number of shares at the time of the resolution. The share issue may be with or without deviation from the shareholders' preferential rights, by payment in cash, by contribution in kind or by set-off.
The purpose of the authorisation and the reason for the deviation from the shareholders' preferential right is to pursue the company's acquisition strategy by enabling acquisitions by payment in
The board of directors, or anyone appointed by the board of directors, shall be authorised to make such minor adjustments of the resolution that may be necessary in connection with registration with the Swedish Companies Registration Office.
The proposal is subject to the support of shareholders representing at least two-thirds of the votes cast and the shares represented at the meeting.
Item 16 - Resolution on (A) implementation of a long-term share-based incentive program LTI 2024, (B) acquisition and transfer of own shares, alternatively (C) other hedging measures
The board of directors of
The board of directors has, in consultation with external advisors, conducted a detailed evaluation of previous incentive programs and alternative programs, as well as analysed and compared programs of other public companies. Based on this evaluation, the board of directors has proposed a new incentive program as follows.
LTI 2024 is a performance-based incentive program with an element of personal financial investment. The performance targets used to assess the outcome of the Program is growth in profit per share, which has a clear link to the long-term interests of the shareholders. The overall purpose of LTI 2024 is to strengthen the company's growth by motivating and retaining personnel with key competence.
The board of directors is of the opinion that recurring long-term incentive programs are an important part of the Group's total remuneration package and therefore intends to annually propose incentive programs for approval by the annual general meeting.
(A) Resolution on the establishment of LTI 2024
LTI 2024 is proposed to include the group management (currently 8 persons) and approximately 140 additional key individuals within the Group.
LTI 2024 comprises a maximum of 550,000 B-shares in
Participants and own investment
In order to be entitled to participate in LTI 2024, the participants are required to acquire and allocate own B-shares in
For each Investment Share, the company will allocate a maximum number of so-called performance share rights, corresponding to the same number of underlying B-shares in
Own Investment Shares may be allocated to LTI 2024 during the period
LTI 2024 shall include the following employee categories and the participant may allocate a maximum of the following number of Investment Shares to LTI 2024. Based on the number of Investment Shares, the participant receives the following allocation of a certain number of performance share rights per Investment Share. At the time of this proposal, the maximum number of Investment Shares corresponds in value to approximately 6-10 per cent of the executive's fixed annual salary.
Position | Maximum number of Investment Shares (per participant) | Allocated performance share rights per Investment Share / Total |
CEO (1 person) | 7,400 | 9 / 66,600 |
Part of group management and other key individuals (category A) (around 5 individuals) | 1,775 | 7.5 / 13,313 |
Part of group management and other key individuals (category B) (around 15 individuals) | 900 | 7.5 / 6,750 |
Other key individuals (category C) (around 24 individuals) | 800 | 6 / 4,800 |
Other key individuals (category D) (around 40 individuals) | 525 | 4.5 / 2,363 |
Other key individuals (category E) (around 65 individuals) | 350 | 3 / 1,050 |
Performance targets and vesting
Allocated performance share rights are subject to vesting during the term of the Program, with duration up to and including the date of
The number of allocated performance share rights that may be vested depends on the growth of profit per share based on established growth targets for each financial year. Profit per share for a given financial year refer to profit per share after dilution excluding items affecting comparability. Prior to the start of the Investment Period, the board of directors will decide on performance targets as described above. This takes place in the form of a minimum target level and a stretch target level for the profit per share, relating to (i) each of the financial years 2024, 2025 and 2026, (ii) a minimum target level and stretch target level for profit per share for the period 2024-2025 (based on the targets per financial year), and (iii) a minimum target level and stretch target level for profit per share for the entire period 2024-2026 (based on the targets per financial year).
If the minimum target level for any measurement period is not reached, no performance share rights shall be vested. If the stretch target level for a financial year is reached, one third of the total number of allocated performance share rights shall be vested. If the stretch target level for the measurement period 2024-2025 is reached, two thirds of the total number of allocated performance share rights shall be vested. If the stretch target level for the entire measurement period 2024-2026 is achieved, the entire number of allocated performance share rights shall be vested. If the outcome falls between the minimum and stretch target level in any case, the profit shall be calculated linearly. The participant's individual vesting of allocated performance share rights is thereby determined as the highest of (i) the outcome for each individual financial year 2024 and 2025 compared to the entire measurement period 2024-2025, and (ii) in addition, the outcome for the financial year 2026 compared to the entire measurement period 2024-2026, minus the vesting paid out for the financial years 2024-2025.
Receiving B-shares in
Each performance share right vested entitles the participant to receive allotment and payment of one share of series B in
Example: An employee in category C has invested in and allocated 810 Investment Shares to LTI 2024. The employee can thus vest a maximum of 4,860 performance share rights, either a maximum of 1,620 per financial year 2024 and 2025 or a maximum of 3,340 for the period 2024-2025 and in addition a maximum of 1,620 for the financial year 2026 or a maximum of 4,860 for the period 2024-2026, with deductions for what has previously been vested and paid out for the financial years 2024 and 2025.
The reason why the vesting period is partly less than three years is to facilitate motivation for employees to invest or reinvest from previous LTI-programs and to create strong incentives for the performance targets for the financial years 2024 and 2025 and thereby achieve a high level of participation.
A condition for receiving allotment and payment of shares is that the Participant has retained all of his/her Investment Shares up to and including the annual general meeting 2026 and the annual general meeting 2027, respectively, and at such dates remains employed by the Group and has not terminated his/her employment (with customary exceptions).
The number of B shares that each performance share right may entitle the participant to receive shall be subject to recalculation due to corporate events such as new issues, splits, mergers or similar dispositions.
Performance share rights are not transferable or possible to pledge.
Preparation and administration
The board of directors shall be responsible for preparing the details of the terms and conditions of LTI 2024, in accordance with the mentioned terms and guidelines.
The board of directors shall be entitled to make reasonable adjustments to meet specific regulations or market conditions abroad, such as deviating from the investment requirement and/or offering cash settlement to participants. To this end, the board of directors shall have the right to implement an alternative incentive arrangement for employees in such countries where participation in LTI 2024 is not appropriate, whereby the alternative arrangement shall, as far as practically possible, correspond to the terms and conditions of LTI 2024. The board of directors shall also be entitled to make other reasonable adjustments if there are significant changes in the Group's operations including M&A that would entail that the decided terms and conditions under LTI 2024 are no longer appropriate. Such adjustments also include the right for the board of directors to resolve on a reduction of the allocation of shares if, taking into account
In the event that the board of directors considers that delivery of shares under LTI 2024 in any individual case cannot be made at reasonable costs, with reasonable administrative efforts or due to specific market conditions or specific rules, participants may instead be offered cash settlement.
Participation in LTI 2024 requires that the participation can legally take place and that the participation, according to
In the event of a public takeover bid, sale of the company's business, liquidation, merger or similar events, the board of directors shall be entitled to resolve that the performance share rights shall be (fully or partially) vested and shares allotted in connection with the completion of such transaction. The board of directors shall make this decision based on the level of achievement of the performance targets, the remaining duration of the Program and other factors deemed relevant by the board of directors.
Scope and cost of the program
LTI 2024 comprises a maximum of 550,000 shares of series B which corresponds to approximately 0.11 percent of the total outstanding shares in the company.
The costs for LTI 2024, which are reported in the income statement, are calculated in accordance with the accounting standard IFRS 2 and UFR 7 and are accrued over the vesting period. The calculation has been carried out with the following assumptions: (i) a share price for
The board of directors intends to present fulfilment of performance-based conditions in its future Annual Reports and Remuneration Reports.
The board of directors considers that the positive results expected to arise from executives and other key individuals increasing their shareholding through LTI 2024 outweigh the costs attributable to LTI 2024.
Hedging measures and dilution
The board of directors proposes that the general meeting as a main alternative resolves that the company's obligations in connection with LTI 2024 are fulfilled through acquisition and transfer of own shares in accordance with item (B) below. In the event that the required majority for item (B) below cannot be met, the board of directors proposes that
(B) Resolution on authorisation for the board of directors to resolve on acquisition of own shares and transfer of own shares to participants in the Program.
(i) Acquisition of own shares
In order to ensure
(ii) Transfer of repurchased shares to participants in the Program
In the view of LTI 2024, the board of directors proposes that the annual general meeting resolves to transfer shares in
The transfer of own shares is part of the proposed LTI 2024 and the board of directors considers it to be beneficial to the company and the shareholders that participants in the Program are offered the opportunity to become shareholders in the company under the terms and conditions of LTI 2024.
Since LTI 2024 is initially not expected to give rise to a need for cash settlement or payment of social security contributions, the board of directors has decided not to propose to the annual general meeting 2024 to resolve on transfers of own shares on a regulated market to secure such payments in terms of liquidity. However, before any transfers of
(C) Share swap agreement with a third party
The board of directors proposes that the general meeting, in the event that a sufficient majority according to item (B) above cannot be met, resolves to hedge the financial exposure that LTI 2024 is expected to entail by
***
For a description of the company's other ongoing incentive programs, please refer to note 6 in the annual report for 2023 and the board's remuneration report for 2023. In addition to the programs described therein, there are no other long-term incentive programs in the company.
LTI 2024 has been initiated by
The resolution of the meeting under item (A) above requires a majority of more than half of the votes cast. For a valid resolution under item (B) above, the resolution must be supported by shareholders holding at least nine tenths of both the votes cast and the shares represented at the meeting. A valid resolution in accordance with the proposal under item (C) above requires a majority of more than half of the votes cast.
The resolution of the meeting on LTI 2024 under item (A) above is conditional upon the general meeting either resolving in accordance with the board of directors' proposal under item (B) above or in accordance with the board of directors' proposal under item (C) above.
C. AVAILABLE DOCUMENTS ETC
The Election Committee's reasoned statement, proxy form and postal voting form are available at the company's website, https://www.beijerref.com/annual-general-meeting-2024/. The accounting documents, the auditors' report and other documents to be held available for shareholders according to the Swedish Companies Act, will be available at the company and on the company's website no later than three weeks before the AGM. The documents will be distributed free of charge to shareholders who so request and state their postal address.
At the time of publication of this notice, the total number of shares in the company is 509,085,926 representing a total of 760,691,366 votes, of which 27,956,160 are shares of series A, representing 279,561,600 votes, and 481,129,766 are shares of series B, representing an equal amount of votes, of which 2,275,000 shares of series B are held by the company which may not be represented at the meeting.
D. SHAREHOLDERS' RIGHT TO REQUEST INFORMATION
The board of directors and the managing director shall, if any shareholder so requests, and if the board of directors considers that this can be done without significant harm for the company, give information on circumstances that may affect the judgement of an item on the agenda, circumstances that may affect the judgement of the company's or subsidiary's financial situation and the company's relationship with other group companies.
E. PROCESSING OF PERSONAL DATA
For information on how your personal data is processed, see https://www.euroclear.com/dam/ESw/Legal/Privacy-notice-bolagsstammor-engelska.pdf.
_________________________
Malmö,
The Board of Directors
https://news.cision.com/beijer-ref-ab/r/notice-to-the-annual-general-meeting-in-beijer-ref-ab--publ-,c3949366
https://mb.cision.com/Main/1860/3949366/2684200.pdf
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