Geneva, 24.03.2016 - At the annual general meeting of Sika of 12.04.2016 Ethos Foundation is fundamentally opposed to the re-election of the three members of the board tied to the Burkard Family (Urs Burkard, Willi Leimer, Jürgen Tinggren) and to the election of Jacques Bischoff, the new candidate proposed by the Burkard Family. On the other hand, Ethos recommends voting in favour of the shareholder resolution filed by the group of Anglo-American shareholders united around Cascade Investment, which demands to prolong until 2020 the mission entrusted to three independent experts appointed last year.
Analysis of the annual general meeting of Sika with voting recommendations by Ethos
The detailed analysis of the different agenda items of the annual general meeting of Sika including the voting recommendations by Ethos is publicly available. In particular, Ethos considers it important to support the resolution presented under point 6 by institutional Anglo-American shareholders. This resolution demands to prolong until 2020 the mandate of the special experts appointed in 2015 to review the decisions taken in connection with the sale of the shares of the Burkard Family to Saint Gobain via the family holding SWH and to check whether these were in the interest of Sika. This prolongation is indispensable in order to protect the interests of Sika after the announcement by the Burkard Family and Saint Gobain the possible extension, until the end of 2018, of their agreement on the sale of their stake in Sika.
Ethos urges all shareholders to exercise their voting rights at this annual general meeting. It is crucial that the shareholders not tied to the Burkard Family express themselves in great number in the defense of the long term interests of Sika.
The shareholders not tied to the Burkard Family own bearer shares. In order to be able to exercise their voting rights, they must ask their depositary bank to send them an entry card. This card then allows them to personally take part in the annual general meeting or to have themselves represented by a third party. Ethos Foundation will participate in this general meeting and will gladly represent the shareholders that wish to be represented. To this effect, it is sufficient to give proxy to “Ethos Foundation, P.O. Box, 1211 Geneva 1”. Ethos will vote according to the recommendations featured in its analysis.
For further details, please refer our special file on SIKA
