AkzoNobel Announces Nov. 30 Extraordinary General Meeting

AkzoNobel on Wednesday said it will hold an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on Nov. 30, 2017.

On the agenda:

• The proposal to appoint Maarten de Vries as member of the Board of Management, beginning Jan. 1, 2018;
• The proposal to appoint as members of the Supervisory Board – either Patrick Thomas or Eric Meurice; Sue Clark, Michiel Jaski – beginning Nov. 30, 2017;
• The approval of the separation of the Specialty Chemicals business from AkzoNobel through a private sale or a legal demerger;
• The proposal to appoint De Vries as member of the Board of Management following an earlier announcement that he will be designated by the Boards as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), starting Jan. 1, 2018, upon his appointment by the General Meeting.

The requested approval for the separation of the Specialty Chemicals business will enable AkzoNobel to pursue a dual-track process for the separation, in accordance with an April 19, 2017 announcement from the company. 

The dual-track process ensures appropriate flexibility necessary to obtain an optimal result for shareholders and other stakeholders as well as certainty of execution. In case the Boards decide to pursue a legal demerger, this would entail that AkzoNobel ‘spins off’ the Specialty Chemicals business to a separated listed company, of which the shares will be allotted to the shareholders of AkzoNobel.

As previously announced AkzoNobel intends to return the vast majority of the net proceeds of the separation of Specialty Chemicals to its shareholders – starting with advance proceeds of a €1 billion special cash dividend following shareholder approval at the General Meeting. The special dividend will be paid out on Dec. 7, 2017.

“The requested approval for the separation of the Specialty Chemicals business will allow us to take the next step in value creation,” said Antony Burgmans, chairman of the Supervisory Board. “It will enable AkzoNobel to unlock the full potential of the paints and coatings business and the specialty chemicals business, to the benefit of our shareholders and other stakeholders.”
 

Additionally, Akzonobel on Wednesday announced changes to the Supervisory Board, including the nomination of new members. 
 




Pictured: Maarten de Vries/Courtesy AkzoNobel