SCHEDULE 14A

(Rule14A-101)

 

 

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN PROXY STATEMENT

SCHEDULE 14A INFORMATION

Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

 

Filed by the Registrant  x                             Filed by a Party other than the Registrant  ¨

Check the appropriate box:

 

¨ Preliminary Proxy Statement
¨ Confidential, for Use of the Commission Only (as permitted by Rule14a-6(e)(2))
x Definitive Proxy Statement
¨ Definitive Additional Materials
¨ Soliciting Material under§240.14a-12

ULTRA CLEAN HOLDINGS, INC.

(Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)

 

(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement if other thanOther Than the Registrant)

Payment of Filing Fee (Check the appropriate box):

x No fee required.
¨ Fee computed on table below per Exchange Act Rules14a-6(i)(4) and0-11.
 1. 

Title of each class of securities to which transaction applies:

 

     

 2. 

Aggregate number of securities to which transaction applies:

 

     

 3. 

Per unit price or other underlying value of transaction computed pursuant to Exchange Act Rule0-11 (set forth the amount on which the filing fee is calculated and state how it was determined):

 

     

 4. 

Proposed maximum aggregate value of transaction:

 

     

 5. 

Total fee paid:

 

     

¨ Fee paid previously with preliminary materials.
¨ Check box if any part of the fee is offset as provided by Exchange Act Rule0-11(a)(2) and identify the filing for which the offsetting fee was paid previously. Identify the previous filing by registration statement number, or the Form or Schedule and the date of its filing.
 1. 

Amount Previously Paid:

 

     

 2. 

Form, Schedule or Registration Statement No.:

 

     

 3. 

Filing Party:

 

     

 4. 

Date Filed:

 

     

 

 

 


LOGOLOGO

ULTRA CLEAN HOLDINGS, INC.

26462 Corporate Avenue

Hayward, CA 94545

NOTICE OF 20162020 ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS OF

ULTRA CLEAN HOLDINGS, INC.

 

Date:

May 26, 2016June 2, 2020

 

Time:

Doors open at 12:00 p.m. Pacific time;

Meeting begins at 12:30 p.m. Pacific time

Meeting begins at 12:30 p.m. Pacific time

 

Place:

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

 1600 El Camino Real

1600 El Camino Real

Menlo Park, CA 94025

Menlo Park, CA 94025

 

Purposes:

 Elect our directors

 

Ratify the appointment of Moss Adams LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal 20162020

 

Hold an advisory vote on executive compensation

 

Conduct other business that may properly come before the annual meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof

 

Who Can Vote:

April 1, 2016March 31, 2020 is the record date for voting. Only stockholders of record at the close of business on that date may vote at the annual meeting or any adjournment thereof.

 

 All stockholders are cordially invited to attend the meeting. At the meeting, you will hear a report on our business and have a chance to meet some of our directors and executive officers.

 

Adjournments or Postponements

In the event of an adjournment, postponement or emergency that may change the annual meeting’s time, date or location, we will make an announcement, issue a press release or post information at www.uct.com/investors to notify stockholders, as appropriate. As part of our precautions regarding the coronavirus orCOVID-19, we are planning for the possibility that the annual meeting may be held solely by means of remote communication. If we take this step, we will announce the decision to do so in advance, and details on how to participate will be available at www.uct.com/investors. Information on or accessible through our website is not incorporated by reference in this Proxy Statement.

 Important Notice Regarding The Availability Of Proxy Materials For The Stockholder Meeting To Be Held On May 26, 2016:June 2, 2020: This Proxy Statement, along with our 20152019 Annual Report to Stockholders, is available on the following website: http://materials.proxyvote.com/90385V. Whether you expect to attend the meeting or not, please vote electronically via the Internet or by telephone or by completing, signing and promptly returning the enclosed proxy card in the enclosed postage-prepaid envelope. You may change your vote and revoke your proxy at any time before the polls close at the meeting by following the procedures described in the accompanying proxy statement.

Sincerely,

/s/ James P. Scholhamer

James P. Scholhamer

Chief Executive Officer

April 22, 201627, 2020


ULTRA CLEAN HOLDINGS, INC.

20162020 ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS

NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING AND PROXY STATEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

   Page 

Information Concerning Solicitation and Voting

   1 

Proposal 1: Election of Directors

   8 

Board Recommendation

   11 

Structure of Board of Directors and Corporate Governance Information

   11 

Risk Oversight

   12 

Environmental, Social and Governance Considerations

13

Committees of ourOur Board of Directors

   1213 

Consideration of Director Nominees

   1415 

Director Compensation

   1516 

Stock Ownership Guidelines; Policy againstAgainst Hedging Transactions and Pledges

   1517

Compensation Consultant

17 

Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions

   1617 

Proposal 2: Ratification of the Appointment of Our Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

   1718 

Audit Fees and Tax Fees

   1718 

Preapproval Policy of Audit Committee of Services Performed by Independent Auditors

   1718 

Board Recommendation

   18 

Report of the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors

   19 

Proposal 3: Advisory Vote Approving the Compensation of the Named Executive Officers

   20 

Board Recommendation

   20 

Executive Officer Compensation

   21 

Compensation Discussion and Analysis

   21 

Compensation Committee Report

   2934 

Summary Compensation Table

   3034 

Grants of Plan-Based Awards

   3135 

Outstanding Equity Awards

   3236 

Option Exercises and Stock Vested

   3337 

Nonqualified Deferred Compensation

   3337 

Post-Termination Arrangements

   34

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

3537 

Other Matters

   3640 


LOGOLOGO

ULTRA CLEAN HOLDINGS, INC.

26462 Corporate Avenue

Hayward, CA 94545

PROXY STATEMENT FOR 20162020 ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS

May 26, 2016June 2, 2020

INFORMATION CONCERNING SOLICITATION AND VOTING

Your vote is very important. For this reason our Board of Directors is requesting that you permit your shares of common stock to be represented at our 20162020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders by the proxies named on the enclosed proxy card. This proxy statement contains important information for you to consider in deciding how to vote on the matters brought before the meeting. The date of this proxy statement is April 22, 2016.27, 2020. The proxy statement and form of proxy are first being mailed to our stockholders on or about April 26, 2016.28, 2020.

Important Notice Regarding The Availability Of Proxy Materials For The Stockholder Meeting To Be Held On May 26, 2016:June 2, 2020: This Proxy Statement, along with our 20152019 Annual Report to Stockholders, areis available on the following website: http://materials.proxyvote.com/90385V.

General Information

Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc., referred to in this proxy statement as “Ultra Clean,” the “Company” or “we,” is soliciting the enclosed proxy for use at our Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held on May 26, 2016June 2, 2020 at 12:30 p.m., Pacific time or at any adjournment thereof for the purposes set forth in this proxy statement. Our annual meeting will be held at the offices of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, 1600 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, California 94025.

In the event of an adjournment, postponement or emergency that may change the Annual Meeting’s time, date or location, we will make an announcement, issue a press release or post information at www.uct.com/investors to notify stockholders, as appropriate. As part of our precautions regarding the coronavirus orCOVID-19, we are planning for the possibility that the Annual Meeting may be held solely by means of remote communication. If we take this step, we will announce the decision to do so in advance, and details on how to participate will be available at www.uct.com/investors. Information on or accessible through our website is not incorporated by reference in this Proxy Statement.

Who May Attend and Vote at Our Annual Meeting

All holders of our common stock, as reflected in our records at the close of business on April 1, 2016,March 31, 2020, the record date for voting, may attend and vote at the meeting. To attend the annual meeting, you must present photo identification for admittance. If you are not a stockholder of record but hold shares as a beneficial owner in street name, you must also provide proof of beneficial ownership as of the record date, such as your most recent account statement prior to the record date, a copy of the voting instruction card provided by your broker, bank, trustee, or nominee, or other similar evidence of ownership.

Each share of common stock that you owned on the record date entitles you to one vote on each matter properly brought before the meeting. As of the record date, there were issued and outstanding 32,577,62439,962,135 shares of our common stock, $0.001 par value.

Holding Shares as a “Beneficial Owner” (or in “Street Name”)

Most stockholders are considered the “beneficial owners” of their shares, that is, they hold their shares through a broker, bank or nominee rather than directly in their own names. As summarized below, there are some distinctions between shares held of record and those owned beneficially or in “street name.”

Stockholder of RecordRecord.. If your shares are registered directly in your name with our transfer agent, you are considered the stockholder of record with respect to those shares. If you are a stockholder of record, we are sending paper copies of the proxy materials directly to you. As our stockholder of record, you have the right to grant your voting proxy directly to us by signing and mailing the enclosed proxy card or by voting on the Internet, telephone, or in person at the annual meeting.


Beneficial OwnerOwner.. If your shares are held in a stock brokerage account or by a bank or nominee, you are considered the beneficial owner of shares held in street name, and the proxy statement is being forwarded to you by or on behalf of your broker, bank or nominee (who is considered the stockholder of record with respect to those shares). As the beneficial owner, you have the right to direct your broker, bank, or nominee how to vote by following the instructions you receive from your broker, bank or nominee. You are also invited to attend the annual meeting. However, since you are not the stockholder of record, you may not vote these shares in person at the annual meeting unless you request, complete and deliver a proxy from your broker, bank or nominee.

How to Vote

You may vote in person at the meeting or by proxy.

Voting by Proxy. If you are a stockholder of record, you may vote by proxy over the Internet, by telephone or by mail if you complete and return the enclosed proxy card by following the instructions on the proxy card. If your shares are held in street name, you have the right to direct your broker, bank or nominee how to vote by following the instructions you receive from your broker, bank or nominee. The shares voted electronically, telephonically or represented by the proxy cards received, properly marked, dated, signed and not revoked, will be voted at the annual meeting. We recommend that you vote by proxy even if you plan to attend the meeting. You may change your vote at the meeting even if you have previously submitted a proxy.

Voting at the Annual Meeting. The method or timing of your vote will not limit your right to vote at the annual meeting if you attend the annual meeting and vote in person. However, if your shares are held in the name of a bank, broker or other nominee, you must obtain a legal proxy, executed in your favor, from the holder of record to be able to vote at the annual meeting. You should allow yourself enough time prior to the annual meeting to obtain this proxy from the holder of record.

How Proxies Work

This proxy statement is furnished in connection with the solicitation of proxies by us for use at the annual meeting and at any adjournment of that meeting. If you give us your proxy, you authorize us to vote your shares at the meeting in the manner you direct. You may vote for all, some or none of our director candidates. You may also vote for or against the other proposals, or you may abstain from voting.

If you give us your proxy but do not specify how your shares shall be voted on a particular matter, your shares will be voted:

 

FOR the election of each of the named nominees for director;

 

FOR the ratification of the appointment of Moss Adams LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm;

FOR the approval of the compensation of our named executive officers; and

 

with respect to any other matter that may come before the annual meeting, as recommended by our Board of Directors or otherwise in the proxies’ discretion.

Changing or Revoking Your Vote

You have the right to revoke your previously submitted proxy at any time before your proxy is exercised at the annual meeting.

If you are the stockholder of record, you may revoke your proxy by resubmitting your vote on a later date on the Internet or by telephone (only your latest Internet or telephone proxy submitted prior to the annual meeting will be counted), by signing and returning a new proxy card with a later date, by attending the annual meeting and voting in person or by giving written notice to our Secretary that you wish to revoke your previously submitted proxy.

If you hold shares beneficially in street name, you may revoke your proxy by submitting new voting instructions to your broker, bank or nominee by following the instructions they providedprovide you or, if you have obtained a legal proxy from your broker, bank or nominee giving you the right to vote your shares, by attending the annual meeting and voting in person.

Note that for both stockholders of record and beneficial owners, attendance at the annual meeting will not cause your previously granted proxy to be revoked unless you specifically so request or vote in person at the annual meeting.

Important Notice Regarding Delivery of Stockholder Documents

Only one proxy statement, annual report and set of accompanying materials, if applicable, are being delivered by us to multiple stockholders sharing an address, who have consented to receiving one set of such materials, until we receive contrary instructions from any such stockholders. We will deliver, promptly upon written or oral request, a separate copy of such materials to a stockholder at a shared address to which a single copy of such materials was delivered. A stockholder who wishes to receive a separate copy of the proxy statement and accompanying materials now or in the future, or stockholders sharing an address who are receiving multiple copies of the proxy statement and accompanying materials and wish to receive a single copy of such materials, should submit a request to Broadridge, c/o Householding Department, 51 Mercedes Way, Edgewood, NY 11717 or call800-542-1061.

Attending in Person

Any stockholder of record may vote in person at the annual meeting of our stockholders. All meeting attendees will be required to present a valid, government-issued photo identification, such as a driver’s license or passport, in order to enter the meeting.

If you are a beneficial owner and your shares are held in the name of your broker, bank or nominee, you must bring a proxy from your broker, bank or nominee in order to vote in person.

Votes Needed to Hold the Meeting and Approve Proposals

In order to carry on the business of the annual meeting, stockholders entitled to cast a majority of the votes at a meeting of stockholders must be represented at the meeting, either in person or by proxy. In accordance with Delaware law, only votes cast “for” a matter constitute affirmative votes. A properly executed proxy marked “abstain” with respect to any matter will not be voted, although it will be counted for purposes of determining

whether there is a quorum. Since abstentions will not be votes cast for a particular proposal, they will have the same effect as negative votes or votes against that proposal. Brokernon-votes are also counted for the purpose of determining the presence of a quorum. Brokernon-votes occur when shares held by a broker on behalf of a beneficial owner are not voted with respect to a particular proposal, which generally occurs when the broker has not received voting instructions from the beneficial owner and lacks the discretionary authority to vote the shares itself.

Election of DirectorsDirectors.. Our Amended and Restated Bylaws provideprovides that a director nominee must receive a majority of the votes cast with respect to such nominee in uncontested director elections (i.e., the number of shares voted “for” a director nominee must exceed the number of shares voted “against” such nominee). If an incumbent director nominee fails to receive a majority of the votes cast in an uncontested election, the director shall immediately tender his or her resignation to the Board. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the Board, or such other committee designated by the Board, shall make a recommendation to the Board as to whether to accept or reject the resignation of such incumbent director, or whether other action should be taken. The Board shall act on the resignation, taking into account the committee’s recommendation, and

publicly disclose its decision regarding the resignation within 90 days following certification of the election results. If the Board accepts a director’s resignation, or if a nominee for director is not elected and the nominee is not an incumbent director, the remaining members of the Board may fill the resulting vacancy or may decrease the size of the Board.

Brokers do not have discretionary authority to vote shares without instructions from beneficial owners in the election of directors. Therefore, beneficial owners who are not stockholders of record and who want their votes to be counted in the election of directors must give voting instructions to their bank, broker or nominee before the date of the annual meeting.

Ratification of the appointment of our independent registered public accounting firmfirm.. The affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the shares of common stock present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote on the proposal will be required to ratify the appointment of our independent registered public accounting firm for the current fiscal year. We believe that the ratification of our independent registered public accounting firm is a routine proposal for which brokers may vote shares held on behalf of beneficial owners who have not given voting instructions with respect to that proposal.

Advisory vote on the compensation of our named executive officersofficers.. The affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the shares of common stock present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote on the proposal will be requiredsufficient to approve, by an advisory,non-binding vote, the compensation of our named executive officers for fiscal 2015.2019. The advisory vote on the compensation of our named executive officers, while held annually, is not considered a routine proposal; therefore, brokers lack the discretionary authority to vote shares without instructions from beneficial owners for this proposal.

Approval of any other matter properly submitted to the stockholders at the annual meeting generally will require the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the shares of common stock present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote on that matter.

Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management

The table below sets forth information as of March 25, 20161, 2020 regarding the beneficial ownership (as defined by Rule13d-3(d)(1) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)) of our common stock by:

 

each person or group known by us to own beneficially more than five percent of our common stock;

 

each of our directors, director nominees and named executive officers individually; and

 

all directors and executive officers as a group.

In accordance with applicable rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), beneficial ownership includes voting or investment power with respect to securities and includes the shares issuable pursuant to stock options that are exercisable, and shares subject to restricted stock units that vest and are delivered, within 60 days of March 25, 2016.1, 2020. Shares issuable pursuant to the exercise of stock options, and restricted stock units that vest, in the 60 days following March 25, 2016,1, 2020, are deemed outstanding for the purpose of computing the ownership percentage of the person holding such options, or shares subject to restricted stock units, but are not deemed outstanding for computing the ownership percentage of any other person. The percentage of beneficial ownership for the following table is based on 32,505,75539,892,372 shares of common stock outstanding as of March 25, 2016.1, 2020.

The address of each of the named individuals in the table below is c/o Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc., 26462 Corporate Avenue, Hayward, CA 94545 unless otherwise indicated below. To our knowledge, except as indicated in the footnotes to this table and pursuant to applicable community property laws, the persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of common stock.

 

   Shares of Common Stock
Beneficially Owned
 

Name and Address of Beneficial Owner

      Number           Percent     

Greater than 5% Stockholders

    

AIT Holding Company LLC (1)

   1,877,289     5.8

HLHZ AIT Holdings, L.L.C.

245 Park Avenue, 20th Floor

New York, NY 10167

    

Royce & Associates, LLC (2)

   1,871,008     5.8

745 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10151

    

BlackRock, Inc. (3)

   1,740,495     5.4

55 East 52nd Street

New York, NY 10055

    

Named Executive Officers, Directors and Director Nominees

    

James P. Scholhamer

   59,949     *  

Kevin C. Eichler (4)

   299,156     *  

Mark G. Bingaman

   61,907     *  

Lavi A. Lev

   44,623     *  

Deborah E. Hayward (5)

   93,854     *  

Clarence L. Granger (6)

   272,168     *  

Leonid Mezhvinsky (7)

   61,000     *  

David T. ibnAle (8)

   76,000     *  

Emily M. Liggett (9)

   23,000     *  

Thomas T. Edman (10)

   8,000     *  

Barbara V. Scherer (11)

   8,000     *  

All Executive Officers and Directors as a Group (13 persons) (12)

   1,060,356     3.2
   Shares of Common Stock
Beneficially Owned
 

Name and Address of Beneficial Owner

      Number           Percent     

Greater than 5% Stockholders

    

BlackRock, Inc.(1)

   6,057,457    15.2

55 East 52nd Street

New York, NY 10055

    

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP(2)

   3,273,994    8.2

Building One

6300 Bee Cave Road

Austin, TX 78746

    

The Vanguard Group(3)

   2,661,854    6.7

100 Vanguard Boulevard

Malvern, PA 19355

    

Swedbank Robur Fonder AB(4)

   2,300,000    5.8

SE-105 34

Stockholm, Sweden

    

Named Executive Officers, Directors and Director Nominees

    

James P. Scholhamer(5)

   310,829    * 

Sheri L. Savage(6)

   90,501    * 

Vijayan S. Chinnasami(7)

   25,295    * 

William C. Bentinck(8)

   18,268    * 

W. Joseph Williams(9)

   26,356    * 

Clarence L. Granger(10)

   162,597    * 

Thomas T. Edman(10)

   24,899    * 

David T. ibnAle(10)

   78,899    * 

Emily M. Liggett(10)

   32,899    * 

Ernest E. Maddock(10)

   16,399    * 

Leonid Mezhvinsky(11)

   41,399    * 

Barbara V. Scherer(10)

   34,899    * 

Jacqueline A. Seto(12)

   2,256    * 

All Executive Officers and Directors as a Group (16 persons)(13)

   892,059    2.2

 

*

Less than 1%.

 

(1)

Based on a Schedule 13G/A filed with the SEC on February 16, 2016.4, 2020.

 

(2)

Based on a Schedule 13G/A filed with the SEC on January 28, 2016.February 12, 2020.

(3)

Based on a Schedule 13G/A13G filed with the SEC on January 27, 2016.February 11, 2020.

 

(4)Includes 13,333 restricted stock units that vest

Based on March 27, 2016 and 100,000 shares subject to common stock options exercisable within 60 days of March 25, 2016.a Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on February 13, 2020.

 

(5)

Includes 30,000 shares subject(i) 8,838 performance restricted stock units and 12,274 restricted stock units that were scheduled to commonvest on March 30, 2020, (ii) 16,667 performance restricted stock options exercisable within 60 days of March 25, 2016.units and 16,667 restricted stock units that were scheduled to vest on April 28, 2020 and (iii) 20,885 performance restricted stock units and 20,885 restricted stock units that were scheduled to vest on April 30, 2020.

 

(6)

Includes 8,000(i) 4,764 performance restricted stock units and 6,616 restricted stock units that were scheduled to vest on March 30, 2020, (ii) 6,625 performance restricted stock units and 6,625 restricted stock units that were scheduled to vest on April 28, 2020 and (iii) 10,443 performance restricted stock units and 10,443 restricted stock units that were scheduled to vest on April 30, 2020.

(7)

Consists of 25,295 restricted stock units that were scheduled to vest on April 26, 2020.

(8)

Consists of 18,268 restricted stock units that were scheduled to vest on April 26, 2020.

(9)

Consists of (i) 1,020 performance restricted stock units and 4,250 restricted stock units that were scheduled to vest on March 30, 2020, (ii) 2,209 performance restricted stock units and 6,625 restricted stock units that were scheduled to vest on April 28, 2020 and (iii) 3,063 performance restricted stock units and 9,189 restricted stock units that were scheduled to vest on April 30, 2020.

(10)

Includes 9,969 restricted stock awards that vest on May 25, 2016.23, 2020.

 

(7)(11)

Includes 8,0009,969 restricted stock awards that vest on May 25, 2016.23, 2020. Also includes 15,000 shares held by the Revocable Trust of Leonid Mezhvinsky and Inna Mezhvinsky, dated April 26, 1988, for which Mr. Mezhvinsky is deemed a beneficial owner.

 

(8)(12)Includes 8,000

Consists of 2,256 restricted stock awards that vest on May 25, 2016 and 7,500 shares subject to common stock options exercisable within 60 days of March 25, 2016.23, 2020.

 

(9)(13)Includes 8,000

Consists of shares beneficially owned by our current executive officers and directors as of March 1, 2020, which include (i) 15,509 performance restricted stock awards that vest on May 25, 2016.

(10)Consists of 8,000 restricted stock awards that vest on May 25, 2016.

(11)Consists of 8,000 restricted stock awards that vest on May 25, 2016.

(12)Includes 13,333units and 26,840 restricted stock units that were scheduled to vest on March 27, 2016, 48,00030, 2020, (ii) 43,563 restricted stock awardsunits that were scheduled to vest on May 25, 2016April 26, 2020, (iii) 27,335 performance restricted stock units and 162,500 shares subject35,417 restricted stock units that were scheduled to commonvest on April 28, 2020 and (iv) 36,688 performance restricted stock options exercisable within 60 days of March 25, 2016.units and 47,409 restricted stock units that were scheduled to vest on April 30, 2020.

At the close of business on April 1, 2016,March 31, 2020, the record date, we had 32,577,62439,962,135 shares of common stock outstanding. Each share of our common stock is entitled to one vote on all matters properly submitted for a stockholder vote.

Delinquent Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting ComplianceReports

Section 16(a) requires our directors, executive officers and beneficial holders of 10% or more of a registered class of our equity securities to file certain reports with the SEC regarding ownership of, and transactions in, our equity securities. Based solely on a review of Forms 3, 4 and 5 and amendments thereto furnished to us and written representations we received from our directors and officers required to file the reports, we believe that all of our directors, executive officers and beneficial holders of 10% or more of a registered class of our equity securities, filed, on a timely basis, all reports required by Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act for the year ended December 25, 2015.

One late27, 2019, except that one Form 4 was filed late with respect to one transaction each for Ms. Brumm reporting shares withheld for payment of tax liability arising as a result of the partial settlement of restricted stock unit awards that vested on February 22, 2016.Chris P. Siu, James P. Scholhamer, Sheri L. Savage, W. Joseph Williams and Joan Sterling in each case due to an administrative error.

Cost of Proxy Solicitation

We will pay the cost of this proxy solicitation. Some of our employees may also solicit proxies, without any additional compensation. We may also reimburse banks, brokerage firms and nominees for their expenses in forwarding proxy materials to their customers who are beneficial owners of our common stock and obtaining their voting instructions.

Deadline for Receipt of Stockholder Proposals

If you wish to submit a proposal for inclusion in the proxy statement for our 20172021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, you must follow the procedures outlined in Rule14a-8 of the Exchange Act, and we must receive your proposal at the address below no later than December 28, 2016.26, 2020. Stockholders intending to present a proposal at the next annual meeting without the inclusion of such proposal in the Company’s proxy materials, including for the election of director nominees, must comply with the requirements set forth in our Amended and Restated Bylaws. The Amended and Restated Bylaws require, among other things, that a stockholder must submit a written notice of intent to present such a proposal at the address below not less than 90 days nor more than 120 days prior to the first anniversary of the preceding year’s annual meeting of stockholders (as long as the date of the annual meeting is not advanced more than 30 days prior to such anniversary date or delayed more than 70 days after such anniversary date, in which case notice must be received no earlier than 120 days prior to such meeting and no later than the later of 70 days prior to such meeting or the 10th day following the public announcement of the date of such meeting). Therefore, we must receive notice of such proposal for the 20172021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders no earlier than January 26, 2017,February 2, 2021, and no later than February 25, 2017,March 4, 2021, otherwise such notice will be considered untimely and we will not be required to present it at the 20172021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. The Company reserves the right to reject, rule out of order or take other appropriate action with respect to any proposal that does not comply with these and other applicable requirements.

Contacting Ultra Clean

If you have questions or would like more information about the annual meeting, you can contact us in either of the following ways:

 

•   By telephone:

  510-576-4400

•   By fax:

  510-576-4401

•   In writing at our principal executive offices:

  

Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc.

Attn: Secretary

26462 Corporate Avenue

Hayward, CA 94545

PROPOSAL 1: ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

Our Amended and Restated Bylaws provide that our Board of Directors shall be elected at the annual meeting of our stockholders, and each director so elected shall hold office until such director’s successor is elected and qualified or until such director’s earlier death, resignation or removal. Our Board of Directors, at the recommendation of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, has recommended for nomination the nominees for director named below. All of these nominees currently serve as our directors. Each nominee has consented to serve as a nominee, to serve as a director if elected, and to being named a nominee in this Proxy Statement. Leonid Mezhvinsky will not stand for reelection at the 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. If a director nominee becomes unavailable before the election, your proxy authorizes the people named as proxies to vote for a replacement nominee if the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committeeour Board of Directors names one.

Our Amended and Restated Bylaws provide that a director nominee must receive a majority of the votes cast with respect to such nominee in uncontested director elections (i.e., the number of shares voted “for” a director nominee must exceed the number of shares voted “against” such nominee). If an incumbent director nominee fails to receive a majority of the votes cast in an uncontested election, the director shall immediately tender his or her resignation to the Board. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the Board, or such other committee designated by the Board, shall make a recommendation to the Board as to whether to accept or reject the resignation of such incumbent director, or whether other action should be taken. The Board shall act on the resignation, taking into account the committee’s recommendation, and publicly disclose its decision regarding the resignation within 90 days following certification of the election results. If the Board accepts a director’s resignation, or if a nominee for director is not elected and the nominee is not an incumbent director, the remaining members of the Board may fill the resulting vacancy or may decrease the size of the Board.

 

Name

  

Position/Office Held With the Company

  Age   Director
Since
   

Position/Office Held With the Company

  Age   Director
Since
 

Clarence L. Granger

  Chairman of the Board and Nominee for Director   67     2002    Chairman of the Board and Nominee for Director   71    2002 

James P. Scholhamer

  Chief Executive Officer, Director and Nominee for Director   49     2015    Chief Executive Officer, Director and Nominee for Director   53    2015 

David T. ibnAle

  Director and Nominee for Director   44     2002    Director and Nominee for Director   48    2002 

Leonid Mezhvinsky

  Director and Nominee for Director   62     2007  

Emily M. Liggett

  Director and Nominee for Director   60     2014    Director and Nominee for Director   64    2014 

Thomas T. Edman

  Director and Nominee for Director   53     2015    Director and Nominee for Director   57    2015 

Barbara V. Scherer

  Director and Nominee for Director   60     2015    Director and Nominee for Director   64    2015 

Ernest E. Maddock

  Director and Nominee for Director   62    2018 

Jacqueline A. Seto

  Director and Nominee for Director   54    2020 

Set forth below is information about each of our nominees for director:

Clarence L. Granger has served as our Chairman since October 2006 and has been a member of our Board of Directors since May 2002 and as our Chairman since October 2006.2002. Mr. Granger alsoformerly served as our chief executive officerChief Executive Officer from November 2002 to January 2015 and,2015. Mr. Granger served as our Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer from March 1999 to November 2002, as our executive vice president and chief operating officer from January 1998 to March 1999 and as our executive vice presidentExecutive Vice President of Operations from April 1996 to January 1998. Prior to joining Ultra Clean in April 1996, heMr. Granger served as vice presidentVice President of Media Operations for Seagate Technology, which designs, manufactures, markets and sells hard disk drives, from 1994 to 1996. Prior to that, Mr. Granger worked for HMT Technology, a supplier of high-performance thin-film disks, as chief executive officerChief Executive Officer from 1993 to 1994;1994, as chief operating officerChief Operating Officer from 1991 to 1993 and as presidentPresident from 1989 to 1994. Prior to that, Mr. Granger worked for Xidex as vice presidentVice President and general manager,General Manager, Thin Film Disk Division, from 1988 to 1989;1989, as vice president,Vice President, Santa Clara Oxide Disk Operations, from 1987 to 1988;1988, as vice president,Vice President, U.S. Tape Operations, from 1986 to 1987;1987 and as directorDirector of engineeringEngineering from 1983 to 1986. Mr. Granger holds a masterMaster of scienceScience degree in industrial engineeringIndustrial Engineering from Stanford University and a bachelorBachelor of scienceScience degree in industrial engineeringIndustrial Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. Our Board of Directors values

Mr. Granger’s perspective as our former chief executive officerChief Executive Officer and his intimate knowledge of our employee base, operations, customers, suppliers and competitive position in the semiconductor capital equipment industry.

James P. Scholhamer joined Ultra Cleanthe Company as chief executive officerChief Executive Officer and a member of theour Board of Directors in January 2015. Prior to joining Ultra Clean, Mr. Scholhamer served as corporate vice presidentCorporate Vice President and general managerGeneral Manager of Applied Materials, Inc., leading the Equipment Products Group and Display Services Group of its Global Service Division from February 2011 to January 2015. Mr. Scholhamer joined Applied Materials, Inc. in 2006, where, prior to his most recent position, he served as vice presidentVice President of Operations-Energy, for the Environmental and Display Products Division from July 2006 to December 2008 and corporate vice presidentCorporate Vice President and general managerGeneral Manager of the Display Business Group from December 2008 to February 2011. Prior to that, Mr. Scholhamer worked for Applied Films Corporation as vice presidentVice President of Operations, Engineering and Research Development in the company’s GermanyGerman office from September 2002 to July 2006 and as vice presidentVice President of Thin Film Coating Division and Thin Film Equipment Division in the company’s Colorado office from July 2000 to September 2002. Mr. Scholhamer holds a Bachelor of Science degree in materialsMaterials and metallurgical engineeringMetallurgical Engineering from the University of Michigan. Our Board of Directors believes that Mr. Scholhamer brings strong engineering and operations experience to our Board of Directors and will provideprovides the Board of Directors with a unique perspective as our chief executiveChief Executive Officer and leader of our strategic planning process.

David T. ibnAlehas served as a director of Ultra Clean since November 2002 and served as our lead directorLead Director from February 2005 to February 2007. Mr. ibnAle has been a technology investor since 1996, and is a managing partnerFounding and Managing Partner of Reticle Equity Investors, LLC, a technology-focused investment firm. From January 2012Advance Venture Partners, LLC. He has over 20 years of experience as an investor in small andmid-sized growth companies in the technology, media and communications sectors. Prior to July 2013,co-founding Advance Venture Partners in 2014, Mr. ibnAle was a managing partnerManaging Partner of Augusta Columbia Capital Group from 2011 to 2013, and a technology-focused private equity firm. From March 2008 to December 2011, Mr. ibnAle was a managing directorManaging Director of TPG Growth, LLC, the small-capgrowth equity and growth investing armmiddle market investment platform of TPG, a global private equity firm. From December 1999from 2008 to March 2008, Mr. ibnAle2011. Prior to joining TPG Growth, he was an investment professional withand a Partner at Francisco Partners a technology-focused private equity firm,from 1999 to 2008, and prior to joining Francisco Partners, was an investment professional withhe began his investing career at Summit Partners L.P., a private equity and venture capital firm.Partners. Mr. ibnAle has previously served ason the chairman or as a member of the boardboards of directors of severala number of public and private technology firms, including PowerPlan, Inc., Artel, LLC, Metrologic Instruments, Inc., Mitel Networks Corp.,companies, and Electrical Components International, Inc.he currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Above Average Productions, Affinity, Hytrust, Nativo, PebblePost, Unified and UrbanSitter. Mr. ibnAle holds an A.B.a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Policy and an A.M.a Master’s degree in International Development Policy from Stanford University, and a master’sMaster’s degree in business administrationBusiness Administration from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Our Board of Directors values Mr. ibnAle’s experience as an investment professional, as well his experience in strategic planning and mergers and acquisitions, as he brings significant quantitative and qualitative financial experience to our Board of Directors. Mr. ibnAle qualifies as a financial expert and provides important support as a member of our Audit Committee.

Leonid MezhvinskyEmily M. Liggett has served as a director of Ultra Clean since February 2007. Mr. MezhvinskyMay 2014. Ms. Liggett is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Liggett Advisors, a strategy/implementation consulting business. She served as our presidenta business coach and consultant for Stanford Seed from June 20062017 to December 2007, following our acquisition of Sieger Engineering, Inc. He has more than two decades of management experience2018. She was President and in-depth knowledge of machine shop, electro mechanical assemblies and system integration utilized in semiconductor, medical and biotech OEM products. Prior to joining Ultra Clean, Mr. Mezhvinsky was president and chief executive officer of Sieger Engineering, Inc. which he joined in 1982. Mr. Mezhvinsky holds the equivalent of a bachelor of science in Industrial Automation from College of Industrial Automation, Odessa, Ukraine. Mr. Mezhvinsky brings to our Board of Directors substantial operational experience. As the former president of Sieger Engineering, which is now a part of our company, he has a deep understanding of our competitors, suppliers, products and customers.

Emily M. Liggett has served as president and chief executive officerChief Executive Officer of NovaTorque, Inc., a manufacturer of high-efficiency electric motor systems, sincefrom 2009 anduntil late 2016, when it was acquired by Regal Beloit. She previously served as presidentPresident and chief executive officerChief Executive Officer of Apexon, Inc., a provider of supply chain optimization software solutions for global manufacturers, from 2004 to 2007. Ms. Liggett served as presidentPresident and chief executive officerChief Executive Officer of Capstone Turbine Corporation (provider of microturbine systems for clean, continuous distributed energy generation) from 2002 to 2003 and, prior to that, held various management and executive roles at Raychem Corporation (acquired by Tyco International in 1999) from 1984 to 2001, including corporate vice presidentCorporate Vice President of Raychem and managing directorManaging Director of Tyco Ventures. Ms. Liggett is presently a director Materion Corporation since 2020, and of Kaiser Aluminum since 2018. She was a director of MTS Systems Corporation from 2010 to 2016 and was a director of Immersion Corporation from 2005 to 2011. She also currently servesserved on the board of directors of the Purdue

University School of Engineering Advisory Board.Board from 2000 until 2018. Ms. Liggett holds a bachelorBachelor of scienceScience degree in chemical engineeringChemical Engineering from Purdue University, a masterMaster of scienceScience degree in engineeringEngineering and manufacturing systemsManufacturing Systems from Stanford University and a master’sMaster’s degree in business administrationBusiness Administration from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Ms. Liggett’s

qualifications to serve on our Board of Directors include her chief executive officerChief Executive Officer and management experience in a variety of technical industrial companies. She has managed worldwide businesses, partnerships, and international joint ventures. She also has public company and private company operating and board experience, and expertise in strategy, operations, new product development, sales, marketing, and business development for highly technical businesses.

Thomas T. Edman has served as a director of Ultra Clean since June 2015. Mr. Edman has served as the chief executive officerChief Executive Officer of TTM Technologies, Inc. since January 2014, as its presidentPresident since January 2013 and as a member of its boardBoard of directorsDirectors since September 2004. From early 2011 to December 2012, Mr. Edman served as group vice presidentGroup Vice President and General Manager of the AKT Display Business Group, which is a division of Applied Materials Inc., a publicly held provider of nanomanufacturing technology solutions. From 2006 to 2011, Mr. Edman served as corporate vice presidentCorporate Vice President of Corporate Business Development of Applied Materials, Inc. Prior to that, Mr. Edman served as presidentPresident and chief executive officerChief Executive Officer of Applied Films Corporation from May 1998 until Applied Materials, Inc. acquired Applied Films Corporation in July 2006. From June 1996 until May 1998, Mr. Edman served as chief operating officerChief Operating Officer and executive vice presidentExecutive Vice President of Applied Films Corporation. From 1993 until joining Applied Films, Mr. Edman served as general managerGeneral Manager of the High Performance Materials Division of Marubeni Specialty Chemicals, Inc., a subsidiary of a major Japanese trading corporation. Mr. Edman presently serves on the boardBoard of directorsDirectors of the IPC, an electronic industry association.association and serves on the Executive Committee as Secretary and Treasurer. Mr. Edman previously served as chairmanChairman and as a member of the boardBoard of directorsDirectors of FlexTech, formerly the United States Display Consortium and the AeA (American Electronics Association). Mr. Edman holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in East Asian studiesStudies (Japan) from Yale University and a master’sMaster’s degree in Business Administration from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Edman was nominated to the boardBoard of directorsDirectors because of his business acumen and experience in the technology industry, having served in numerous senior executive roles with sizeable technology companies, including as the chief executive officerChief Executive Officer of a public company. Mr. Edman also has extensive experience in Asia and with compensation-related matters.

Barbara V. Scherer has served as a director of Ultra Clean since June 2015. Ms. Scherer has served as a member of the boardBoard of directorsDirectors of NETGEAR, Inc., a global networking company that delivers innovative products to consumers, businesses and service providers, since August 2011 and as a member of the boardBoard of directorsDirectors of ANSYS, Inc., a publicly traded engineering simulation software and services company, since April 2013. Ms. Scherer currently is a private investor. Ms. Scherer was senior vice president, financeSenior Vice President, Finance and administrationAdministration and chief financial officerChief Financial Officer of Plantronics, Inc., a global leader in audio communication devices for businesses and consumers, from 1998 to 2012. In this position, she was responsible for all aspects of the company’s financial management, as well as information technology, legal and investor relations. She was vice president, financeVice President, Finance and administrationAdministration and chief financial officerChief Financial Officer of Plantronics from 1997 to 1998. Prior to Plantronics, Ms. Scherer held various executive management positions spanning eleven11 years in the disk drive industry, was an associate with The Boston Consulting Group, and was a member of the corporate finance team at ARCO in Los Angeles. From 2004 through 2010, she served as a director of Keithley Instruments, Inc., a publicly traded test and measurement company, until its acquisition by Danaher Corporation. She also has experience serving on the boards of non-profit organizations. Ms. Scherer received B.A. degreesa Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara and her M.B.A.Master’s degree in Business Administration from the School of Management at Yale University. With a career spanning more than 30 years including 25 years in senior financial leadership roles in the technology industry, Ms. Scherer provides the Company with practical and strategic insight into complex financial reporting and management issues as well as significant operational expertise.

Ernest E. Maddock has served as a director of Ultra Clean since June 2018. Mr. Maddock has held leadership positions at multiple global companies during his career. From 2015 through his recent retirement, he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Micron Technology. Prior to joining Micron, Mr. Maddock served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Riverbed Technology. Prior to Riverbed, he spent 15 years at Lam Research Corporation, rising to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in 2008 and serving in that role until April 2013. His previous roles at Lam included Vice President,

Customer Support Business Group; Group Vice President and Senior Vice President of Global Operations. Mr. Maddock also served as a member of the Board of Directors for Intersil Corporation from July 2015 to February 2017. Mr. Maddock holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Management from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Georgia State University. Mr. Maddock was nominated to the Board of Directors because he provides the Company with practical and strategic insight into complex financial reporting and management issues as well as significant operational expertise.

Jacqueline A. Seto has served as a director of Ultra Clean since January 2020. Ms. Seto spent 22 years at Lam Research Corporation (“Lam”) from 1994 until 2016. During that time, she served as Group Vice President and General Manager of the Clean Product Group at Lam from August 2011 until November 2015. Prior to this position, her previous roles at Lam included Corporate Vice President and General Manager in the Reliant Business Unit from April 2009 to August 2011, Vice President of Product and Strategic Marketing from November 2007 to March 2009, and Managing Director of Emerging Businesses from August 2003 until November 2007. Since 2016, Ms. Seto has served as Principal at Side People Consulting, partnering with well-established corporate and emerging companies and withnon-profit organizations advising on strategic and business planning, change management and other executive service consulting. Ms. Seto holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering from McGill University in Quebec. Ms. Seto currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) since January 2018, as a member of the Board of Directors for Masterranking.com since April 2015, and as Board Secretary for Prevent Child Abuse Oregon (PCAO) since October 2017. She previously served as a member of the Board of Directors for TriAegis Residential Services from June 2001 until April 2007. Ms. Seto was nominated to the Board of Directors because her deep understanding of the semiconductor industry and her proven experience in strategic thinking adds a valuable voice to the Company’s long and short term business planning.

There are no family relationships among any of our directors and executive officers. There are no arrangements or understandings between any of our directors and us pursuant to which such director was or is to be selected as a director or nominee. Information related to the compensation of our Board of Directors can be found under “—Director Compensation” below.

Board Recommendation

Our Board of Directors recommends that you vote “FOR” each of the nominees to the Board of Directors set forth in this Proposal 1.

Structure of Board of Directors and Corporate Governance Information

Director IndependenceIndependence.. We are required to comply with the director independence rules of the NASDAQNasdaq Stock Market (“NASDAQ”Nasdaq”) and the SEC. These rules require that the board of directors of a listed company be composed of a majority of independent directors and that the audit committee, compensation committee and nominating and corporate governance committee be composed solely of independent directors.

Our Board of Directors has determined that each of our directors and director nominees areis independent in accordance with applicable NASDAQNasdaq and SEC rules other than Messrs. Granger, Mezhvinsky and Scholhamer. Accordingly, a majority of our current Board of Directors is independent as required by NASDAQNasdaq rules and, upon election of each of our director nominees at the 20162020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, a majority of our Board of Directors will be independent as required by NASDAQNasdaq rules.

Director ResponsibilitiesResponsibilities.. We are governed by our Board of Directors and its various committees that meet throughout the year. Our Board of Directors currently consists of sevennine directors. After serving on our Board of Directors since 2007, Mr. Mezhvinsky will not stand for reelection at the 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, and our Board of Directors will be reduced to eight members. During 2015,2019, there were sixeight meetings of our

Board of Directors. We expect directors to attend and prepare for all meetings of the Board of Directors and the meetings of the committees on which they serve. Each of our directors attended more than 75% of the aggregate number of meetings of the Board of Directors and the committees on which he or she served during 2015.2019.

Board Leadership StructureStructure.. Our corporate governance guidelines allow for the flexibility to combine or separate the offices of chairmanChairman and the chief executive officerChief Executive Officer to best serve the interests of the Company and its stockholders. In January 2015, Mr. Granger, our Chairman, retiredScholhamer serves as ourthe Chief Executive Officer but remainedof the Company and Mr. Granger serves as our non-executivethe Chairman of the Board.our Board of Directors. Our Board of Directors believes our current board leadership structure to be an efficient and successful leadership model for the Company, promoting clear accountability and effective decision-making. The roles of our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer are separated to allow Mr. Scholhamer to develop and execute on our corporate strategy and focus onday-to-day operations and company performance. Our Board of Directors believes that our stockholders benefit from Mr. Granger has conducted,Granger’s service as Chairman due to his deep background and will conductexperience in our industry and his dutiesknowledge of our operations as non-executive Chairman effectively.our former Chief Executive Officer. Our Board of Directors recognizes that a different leadership model may be warranted under different circumstances. Accordingly, our Board of Directors periodically reviews its leadership structure.

The Board also continually reviews the need for effective independent oversight. Each member of each of our Board of Director’s standing committees is an independent director, and each independent director is actively involved in independent oversight. Our independent directors meet in executive session during each regularly scheduled quarterly meeting of our Board of Directors and periodically evaluate both our Chairman and our Chief Executive Officer. All directors have unrestricted access to management at all times and frequently communicate with the Chairman, the Chief Executive Officer and other members of management on a variety of topics. Given the above factors, our Board of Directors has historically determined that our leadership structure was appropriate and has not deemed it necessary to appoint an independent lead director. However, our Board of Directors will continue to periodically consider appointing one of our independent directors as our lead independent director.is appropriate.

Corporate GovernanceGovernance.. Our Board of Directors has adopted corporate governance guidelines. These guidelines address items such as the qualifications and responsibilities of our directors and director candidates and the corporate governance policies and standards applicable to us in general. In addition, we have adopted a

code of business conduct and ethics that applies to all officers, directors and employees. Our corporate governance guidelines and our code of business conduct and ethics as well as the charters of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, Audit Committee and Compensation Committee are available on our website at http://uct.com/investors/corporate-governance/.

Communicating with our Board of DirectorsDirectors.. Any stockholder wishing to communicate with our Board of Directors may send a letter to our Secretary at 26462 Corporate Avenue, Hayward, CA 94545. Communications intended specifically fornon-employee directors should be sent to the attention of the chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.

Annual Meeting AttendanceAttendance.. Our Board of Directors has adopted a policy that all members should attend each annual meeting of stockholders when practical. FiveSix of our then eight incumbent directors attended the 20152019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

Risk Oversight

Our Board of Directors plays an active role, as a whole and also at the committee level, in overseeing the management of our risks. Our Board of Directors regularly reviews reports from the management team on areas of material risk to the Company, including operational, financial, legal and strategic risks. Each of the committees of our Board of Directors also oversees the management of company risks that fall within the committee’s areas of responsibility. The Audit Committee periodically reviews risks associated with financial reporting and internal controls, as well as risks associated with liquidity, customer credit and inventory reserves and insurance coverage.reserves. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee assists the Board in overseeing risks associated with

board organization, membership, structure and corporate governance. The Compensation Committee assists the Board in reviewing whether any material risks arise from our compensation programs and in overseeing risks associated with succession planning for our executives. The Board also reviews our director and officer insurance annually.

Environmental, Social and Governance Considerations

It is our policy to pursue our worldwide operations in a safe, socially and environmentally responsible manner that protects the safety and health of our employees, our customers and the communities where we operate while respecting the environment. We are committed to social equity and environmental preservation activities as we conduct our business operations, which includes minimizing waste, conserving energy and preventing pollution. Some of our key environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives include:

We adhere to the principles of the Responsible Business Alliance Code of Conduct.

We support the human rights of our workers, comply with all local wage and employment law, and additionally strive to support their financial and physical health by providing pay and benefits that are at or above market averages.

We have adopted a Safety Policy reviewed, endorsed and signed by management. UCT safety incident levels for both the Semiconductor Products and Solutions (“Products” or “SPS”) and Semiconductor Services Business (“Services” or “SSB”) units are below applicable industry benchmarks.

We work to identify, evaluate and control hazards in support of our global safety program.

We strive to reduce packaging waste with active reuse programs in both our Services and Products divisions.

We participate in trade organizations, advocacy groups, and with local community organizations around the globe.

Committees of ourOur Board of Directors

Our Board of Directors has three principal committees. The following describes each committee’s current membership, the number of meetings held during 20152019 and its mission:

Audit CommitteeCommittee.. Among other matters, the Audit Committee is responsible for:

 

providing oversight of our accounting and financial reporting processes and audits of our financial statements;

 

assisting the Board in its oversight of the integrity of our financial statements and the adequacy and effectiveness of our internal controls;controls over financial reporting;

 

the qualifications, independence and performance of the our independent auditors (including hiring and replacing our independent auditors as appropriate, reviewing andpre-approving any audit andnon-audit services provided by our independent auditors and approving fees related to such services);

 

the performance of our internal audit function;

 

the review, approval and oversight of the our Cash and Investment Policy and Financial Risk Management Policy, including oversight over our hedging strategy and the use of swaps and other derivative instruments for hedging risks;

 

compliance with legal and regulatory requirements;

 

compliance with our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics(andEthics (and requests for waivers therefrom); and

 

preparing the audit committee report that SEC rules require to be included in our proxy statement.

A copy of the Audit Committee’s charter is available on our website at http://uct.com/investors/corporate-governance/.

The current members of the Audit Committee are Ernest E. Maddock (chair), Barbara V. Scherer, (chair), Thomas T. Edman and David T. ibnAle. Our Board of Directors has determined that each member of the committee satisfies both the SEC’s additional independence requirement for members of audit committees and the other requirements of NASDAQNasdaq for members of audit committees. The Board of Directors has also concluded that each member of the Audit Committee qualifies as an audit committee financial expert as defined by SEC rules and has the financial sophistication required by NASDAQ.Nasdaq. The Audit Committee met sixeight times in 2015.2019.

Compensation CommitteeCommittee.. Among other matters, our Compensation Committee:

 

oversees our compensation and benefits programs and policies generally, including the issuance of equity-based compensation;

 

evaluates the performance of our executive officerofficers and other senior executive performance;executives;

 

reviews our management succession plan;

 

oversees and sets compensation for our executive officers, Board members and other senior executives; and

 

reviews and recommends inclusion of the Compensation Discussion and Analysis required to be included in our proxy statement by SEC rules.

A copy of the Compensation Committee’s charter is available on our website at http://uct.com/investors/corporate-governance/. The Compensation Committee’s process for deliberations on executive compensation is described below under “Compensation Discussion and Analysis.”

As part of our oversight of our executive compensation program and in conjunction with the Compensation Committee, we consider the impact of our executive compensation program and the incentives created by different elements of the executive compensation program on our risk profile. In addition, we review all of our compensation policies and procedures, including the incentives that they create and factors that affect the likelihood of excessive risk-taking, to determine whether they present a significant risk to the Company. Based on this review, we have concluded that our compensation policies and procedures are not reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on the Company.

The current members of the Compensation Committee are Thomas T. Edman (chair), David T. ibnAle (chair), Thomas T. Edman and Emily M. Liggett. Our Board of Directors has determined each member of the committee is independent as defined under NASDAQNasdaq and SEC rules. The Compensation Committee met sixseven times in 2015.2019.

Nominating and Corporate Governance CommitteeCommittee.. Among other matters, our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee:

 

reviews and evaluates the size, composition, function and duties of the Board consistent with its needs;

 

establishes criteria for the selection of candidates to the Board and its committees, and identifies individuals qualified to become Board members consistent with such criteria, including the consideration of nominees submitted by shareholders;

 

recommends to the Board director nominees for election at our annual or special meetings of stockholders at which directors are to be elected or to fill any vacancies or newly created directorships that may occur between such meetings;

 

recommends directors for appointment to committees of the Board;

 

makes recommendations to the Board as to determinations of director independence;

 

leads the process and assists the Board in evaluating its performance and the performance of its committees;

conducts executive searches and evaluate and recommend chief executive officer candidates for approval to the Board; and

 

Periodicallyperiodically reviews and approves our Corporate Governance Guidelines and Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, and oversees compliance with our Corporate Governance Guidelines.

A copy of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee’s charter is available on our website at http://uct.com/investors/corporate-governance/.

The current members of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee are Emily M. Liggett (chair), Thomas T. Edman and Barbara V. Scherer.Scherer and Ernest E. Maddock. Our Board of Directors has determined that each member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee is independent as defined under NASDAQ.Nasdaq. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee met five times in 2015.2019.

Consideration of Director Nominees

Director QualificationsQualifications.. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the Board operates pursuant to a written charter and establishes membership criteria for the Board and each committee of the Board and recommends to the Board individuals for membership on the Board and its committees. There is no fixed set of qualifications that must be satisfied before a candidate will be considered. Rather, candidates for director nominees are reviewed in the context of the current composition of our Board of Directors, our operating requirements and the interests of our stockholders. In conducting its assessment, the committee considers issues of judgment, diversity, age, skills, background, experience and such other factors as it deems appropriate given the needs of the Company and our Board of Directors. Although we do not have a formal policy with regard to the consideration of diversity, when identifying and selecting director nominees, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee also considers the impact a nominee would have in terms of increasing the diversity of our Board of Directors with respect to professional experience, skills, backgrounds, viewpoints and areas of expertise. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee also considers the independence, financial literacy and financial expertise standards required by our committee charters and applicable laws, rules and regulations, and the ability of the candidate to devote the time and attention necessary to serve as a director and a committee member.

Identifying and Evaluating Nominees for DirectorDirector.. In the event that vacancies are anticipated or otherwise arise, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee (or, if the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee is not comprised solely of independent directors, our independent directors) considers various potential candidates for director. Candidates may come to the attention of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee (or our independent directors) through current directors, professional search firms engaged by us, stockholders or other persons. Candidates are evaluated at regular or special meetings of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee (or our independent directors) and may be considered at any point during the year.

Stockholder NomineesNominees.. Candidates for director recommended by stockholders will be considered by the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee (or our independent directors). Such recommendations should include the candidate’s name, home and business contact information, detailed biographical data, relevant qualifications for membership on our Board of Directors, information regarding any relationships between the candidate and our Company within the last three years and a written indication by the recommended candidate of the candidate’s willingness to serve on our Board of Directors. Stockholder recommendations, with such accompanying information, should be sent to the attention of the Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee at the address listed under “Information Concerning Solicitation and Voting—Contacting Ultra Clean.”

Stockholders also may nominate directors for election at our annual meeting of stockholders by following the provisions set forth in our Amended and Restated Bylaws. The deadline and procedures for stockholder nominations are disclosed elsewhere in this proxy statement under the caption “Information Concerning Solicitation and Voting—Deadline for Receipt of Stockholder Proposals.”

Director Compensation

For fiscal 2015, each Ournon-employee director was paid directors earn the following annual retainers for service on our Board of Directors and its standing committees:

a $35,000$60,000 annual cash retainer fee,for service as well as, if applicable, a $12,000member of our Board of Directors;

an additional $40,000 annual cash fee for serving as independent chair of our Board of Directors;

the following additional annual cash retainers for service on the standing committees of our Board of Directors:

Audit Committee a $5,000 annual fee per committee– $10,000 (or $20,000 for serving on the chair);

Compensation andCommittee – $7,500 (or $15,000 for the chair);

Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees, a $20,000Committee – $5,000 (or $10,000 for the chair).

No fee is paid for attendance at any Board of Directors or committee meeting. Cash retainers for Board and committee service are paid quarterly.

Annual Stock Awards

On an annual fee for serving as chairbasis, each non-employee director is eligible to receive an annual award of the Audit Committee (which includes the fee to serve on the Audit Committee), a $10,000 annual fee for serving as chair of the Compensation or Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees (which includes the fee to serve on each committee) and a $12,000 fee for serving as Chairman of the Board. In fiscal 2015, onrestricted stock. On the date of our 2019 annual meeting of stockholders, each of our non-employee directordirectors at such time was granted a restricted stock award for 8,000with a value of approximately $130,000 (equating to 9,969 shares of our common stock based on the closing price of our common stock on the business day immediately prior to the grant date) that fully vestvests on the earlier of (i) the day before the 20162020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and (ii) June 4, 2016.May 23, 2020.

Initial Stock Awards

Upon joining the Board (other than at an annual meeting), each non-employee director is eligible to receive an initial award of restricted stock, in an amount equal to the value of the annual non-employee director award for such year, pro-rated based on the length of services provided from appointment to the Board until the following annual stockholder meeting. The restricted stock will become fully vested on the date of the annual stockholder meeting following such award.

The following table sets forth compensation for ournon-employee directors for fiscal 2015:2019:

 

Name

  Fees Earned
or Paid In
Cash
($)
   Stock
Awards (1) (2)
($)
   Total
($)
   Fees Earned
or Paid In
Cash
($)
   Stock
Awards(1)(2)

($)
   Total
($)
 

Thomas T. Edman

   45,000     52,000     97,000    $77,747   $129,996   $207,742 

Clarence Granger (4)

   47,000     52,000     99,000  

David ibnAle (3)

   62,000     52,000     114,000  

Clarence L. Granger

   89,479    129,996    219,475 

David T. ibnAle

   74,226    129,996    204,222 

Emily M. Liggett

   50,000     52,000     102,000     71,411    129,996    201,407 

Ernest E. Maddock

   79,877    129,996    209,872 

Leonid Mezhvinsky

   35,000     52,000     87,000     54,438    129,996    184,434 

Barbara Scherer

   60,000     52,000     112,000  

Barbara V. Scherer

   69,612    129,996    199,608 

 

(1)Amounts shown do not reflect compensation actually received by the directors.

The amounts shown are the grant date fair valuevalues for restricted stock awards granted in fiscal 2015year 2019 computed in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718 based on the closing price of our common stock on the day preceding the grant date. Pursuant to SEC rules, the amounts shown exclude the impact of estimated forfeitures related to service-based vesting conditions.

 

(2)Each non-employee director

Messrs. Edman, Granger, ibnAle, Maddock and Mezhvinsky and Mses. Liggett and Scherer each held an aggregate of 8,000 unvesteda restricted stock awardsaward with respect to 9,969 shares of our common stock at December 25, 2015.27, 2019.

Ms. Seto became a member of our Board of Directors in January 2020.

(3)At December 25, 2015, Mr. ibnAle held 7,500 outstanding stock options. No stock options were granted to our directors during fiscal 2015.

(4)Mr. Granger was our Chief Executive Officer for part of January 2015. See “Summary Compensation Table” for amounts he received in his employee role.

Mr. Scholhamer became a member of our Board of Directors in January 2015 and does not receive separate compensation for services as a director. John Chenault resigned from his position on our Board of Directors in July 2015, and Susan H. Billat did not stand for reelection to our Board of Directors at our 2015 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Neither Mr. Chenault nor Ms. Billat were paid compensation for service on our Board of Directors in fiscal 2015.

Stock Ownership Guidelines; Policy againstAgainst Hedging Transactions and Pledges

The Board of Directors has adopted stock ownership guidelines for our directors to more closely align the interests of our directors with those of our stockholders. The guidelines provide that each director should hold at least 10,000 shares of our common stock, and that each director be allowed three years from the date such director joined our Board of Directors to accumulate such number of shares of our common stock. All of our directors are currently in compliance with our stock ownership guidelines.

The Board of Directors has also adopted stock ownership guidelines for our Chief Executive Officer. The policy was amended in February 2020 to provide that our Chief Executive Officer should hold common stock with a value at least 3.0 times his or her base salary, and that he or she be allowed three years from the date such person becomes our Chief Executive Officer to accumulate such number of shares of our common stock. The amendment to the policy was intended to bring it in line with more contemporary governance and peer practices. Our current Chief Executive Officer is currently in compliance with our stock ownership guidelines.

The Company’s Insider Trading Policy, which can be found on our website, provides that our securities shall not be made subject to hedge transactions or puts and calls. The Insider Trading Policy further prohibits any pledges of our securities by our directors and executive officers.

Compensation Consultant

The Compensation Committee determined to engage Radford (“Radford”), a part of Aon plc, with respect to fiscal 2019 executive officer andnon-employee director compensation matters. Radford was retained by our Compensation Committee to provide an independent review of the Company’s executive compensation programs, including an analysis of both the competitive market and the design of the programs for 2019. In addition, during 2019, Radford assisted the Compensation Committee with its CEO pay ratio analysis and its evaluation of its executive severance and change in control policies and provided our Compensation Committee assistance in developing our Compensation Discussion and Analysis in this proxy statement. Radford also furnished the Compensation Committee with reports on peer company practices relating to the following matters: short-term and long-term compensation program design; equity compensation; retention value of current equity holdings; target incentive opportunities; and compensation trends. For further discussion of the work conducted by Radford as our compensation consultant, see “Compensation Discussion and Analysis—Process for Determining Executive Compensation.”

Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions

Transactions with DirectorsDirectors.. The Company leases a facility from an entity controlled by Leonid Mezhvinsky, one of our directors. In the year ended December 25, 2015,27, 2019, we incurred rent and other expenses resulting from the lease of this facility of approximately $280,000.$425,000.

Related Person Transaction PolicyPolicy.. Our written Related Person Transaction Policy requires our Board of Directors or the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee to review and approve all related person transactions. Our directors and officers are required to promptly notify our Chief Compliance Officer (which is currently our General Counsel) of any transaction which potentially involves a related person. Our Board of Directors or the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee then considers all relevant facts and circumstances, including without limitation the commercial reasonableness of the terms of the transaction, the benefit and perceived benefit, or lack thereof, to the Company, opportunity costs of alternate transactions, the materiality and character of the related person’s direct or indirect interest, and the actual or apparent conflict of interest of the related person. Our Board of Directors or the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee will not approve or ratify a related person transaction unless it has determined that, upon consideration of all relevant information, the transaction is in, or not inconsistent with, the best interests of the Company and its stockholders.

PROPOSAL 2: RATIFICATION OF THE APPOINTMENT OF OUR

INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

The Audit Committee has appointed Moss Adams LLP (“Moss Adams”) to serve as our independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal 2016.2020. We are asking you to ratify this appointment. Ratification of the appointment of Moss Adams as our independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal 20162020 requires the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of our common stock present in person or represented by proxy at the annual meeting and entitled to vote thereon. Abstentions will have the same effect as negative votes for this proposal. Although ratification is not required for us to retain Moss Adams, in the event of a majority vote against ratification, the Audit Committee may reconsider its selection. Even if the appointment is ratified, the Audit Committee may, in its discretion, direct the appointment of a different independent registered public accounting firm at any time during the year if the Audit Committee determines that such a change would be in the Company’s and its stockholders’ best interests. A representative of Moss Adams is expected to be present at the annual meeting of stockholders, will have the opportunity to make a statement if he/she desires to do so and is expected to be available to respond to appropriate questions.

Audit Fees and Tax Fees

Set forth below are the aggregate audit fees incurred for the professional services provided by Moss Adams and its affiliates in fiscal 20152019 and by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, and their respective affiliates (collectively, “Deloitte & Touche”) in fiscal 2014 and the aggregate tax fees incurred for the professional services also provided by Deloitte & Touche in fiscal 2015 and 2014.2018.

 

  Fiscal Year Ended   Fiscal Year Ended 
  December 25, 2015   December 26, 2014   December 27, 2019   December 28, 2018 

Audit fees

  $1,022,953    $1,484,250    $3,842,569   $3,206,125 

Tax fees

  $76,000    $63,400  

Audit related fees

  $88,222   $468,631 

Total

  $3,930,791   $3,674,756 

Audit fees consist of fees billed, or to be billed, for services rendered to us and our subsidiaries for the audit of our annual financial statements and internal control over financial reporting, reviews of our quarterly financial statements included in our quarterly reports on Form10-Q and audit services provided in connection with other statutory and regulatory filings.

Tax Audit fees increased in 2019 primarily as a result of increased hours associated with our new SSB segment that resulted from our acquisition of Quantum Global Technologies, LLC (“QGT”). Audit related fees consist of fees billed for professional services rendered to us for assistance regarding worldwide transfer pricing analysis and documentation.acquisition-related due diligence. Audit related fees for fiscal 2019 decreased primarily due to lower acquisition activity in 2019 as compared to 2018.

Preapproval Policy of Audit Committee of Services Performed by Independent Auditors

The Audit Committee’s policy requires that the committee preapprove audit andnon-audit services to be provided by our independent auditors before the auditors are engaged to render services. The Audit Committee may delegate its authority topre-approve services to one or more Audit Committee members; provided that such designees present any such approvals to the full Audit Committee at the next Audit Committee meeting.

All services described above werepre-approved in accordance with the Audit Committee’spre-approval policies.

Dismissal of Deloitte & Touche

During fiscal 2014, Deloitte & Touche served as our independent auditors and also provided tax services. On March 30, 2015, we dismissed Deloitte & Touche as our independent registered public accountant. We continued to employ Deloitte & Touche for tax advice.

The report of Deloitte & Touche on our consolidated financial statements for the fiscal years ended December 26, 2014 and December 27, 2013 did not contain any adverse opinion or disclaimer of opinion, and was not qualified or modified as to uncertainty, audit scope or accounting principles.

As it relates to the fiscal years ended December 26, 2014 and December 27, 2013, and through March 30, 2015, the effective date of Deloitte & Touche’s dismissal, (i) there were no disagreements (as that term is defined in Item 304(a)(1)(iv) of Regulation S-K and the related instructions) between the company and Deloitte & Touche on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope or procedure, which, if not resolved to the satisfaction of Deloitte & Touche would have caused Deloitte & Touche to make reference to the subject matter of the disagreement in connection with its report, and (ii) there were no “reportable events” (as that term is defined in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K).

Board Recommendation

Our Board of Directors recommends that you vote “FOR” ratification of the appointment of Moss Adams LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal 2016.2020.

REPORT OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE

REPORT OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Notwithstanding any statement to the contrary in any of our previous or future filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, this report of the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors shall not be deemed “filed” with the Securities and Exchange Commission or “soliciting material” under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and shall not be incorporated by reference into any such filings.

The Audit Committee, which currently consists of Ernest E. Maddock, Barbara V. Scherer, Thomas T. Edman and David T. ibnAle, evaluates audit performance, manages relations with our independent registered public accounting firm and evaluates policies and procedures relating to internal accounting functions and controls. The key responsibilities of our Audit Committee are set forth in our Audit Committee’s charter, which is available on our website athttp://uct.com/investors/corporate-governance/. This report relates to the activities undertaken by the Audit Committee in fulfilling such responsibilities.

The Audit Committee members are not professional auditors, and their functions are not intended to duplicate or to certify the activities of management and the independent registered public accounting firm. The Audit Committee oversees our financial reporting process on behalf of our Board of Directors. Our management has the primary responsibility for the financial statements and reporting process, including our systems of internal controls over financial reporting. In fulfilling its oversight responsibilities, the Audit Committee reviewed and discussed with management the audited financial statements included in the Annual Report on Form10-K for the year ended December 25, 2015.27, 2019. This review included a discussion of the quality and the acceptability of our financial reporting and internal control over financial reporting, including the clarity of disclosures in the financial statements.

The Audit Committee also reviewedhas discussed with ourthe independent registered public accounting firm, who is responsible for expressing an opinion onauditors the conformity of our audited financial statements with generally accepted accounting principles, their judgments as to the quality and the acceptability of our financial reporting and such other matters required to be discussed withby the Audit Committee under generally accepted auditing standards in the United States including Statement on Auditing Standards No. 61, as amended (AICPA, Professional Standards, Vol. 1, AU Section 380, as adopted byapplicable requirements of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (the “PCAOB”(“PCAOB”) in Rule 3200T).and the Commission. The Audit Committee has received the written disclosures and the letter from the independent registered public accounting firm required by applicable requirements of the PCAOB regarding the independent accountant’s communications with the Audit Committee concerning independence. The Audit Committee discussed with the independent registered public accounting firm such auditors’ independence from management and Ultra Clean, including the matters in such written disclosures required by applicable requirements of the PCAOB regarding the independent accountant’s communications with the Audit Committee concerning independence.

The Audit Committee further discussed with our independent registered public accounting firm the overall scope and plans for their audits. The Audit Committee meets periodically with the independent registered public accounting firm, with and without management present, to discuss any significant matters regarding internal control over financial reporting that have come to their attention during the audit, and to discuss the overall quality of our financial reporting.

In reliance on the reviews and discussions referred to above, the Audit Committee recommended to our Board of Directors and our Board of Directors approved that the audited financial statements and disclosures under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” be included in the Annual Report on Form10-K for the year ended December 25, 2015,27, 2019, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 9, 2016.11, 2020.

Members of the Audit Committee

Ernest E. Maddock, Chair

Barbara V. Scherer Chair

Thomas T. Edman

David T. ibnAle

PROPOSAL 3: ADVISORY VOTE APPROVING THE COMPENSATION OF THE NAMED EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

This proposal provides you with an opportunity to cast anon-binding, advisory vote approving the fiscal 20152019 compensation of our named executive officers as disclosed pursuant to the compensation disclosure rules of the SEC in this proxy statement, including the “Compensation Discussion and Analysis,” the compensation tables and other narrative executive compensation disclosures. Consistent with the non-binding advisory vote ofAt our stockholders at our 20112017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, we willadopted a proposal to hold anon-binding, advisory vote on executive compensation annually and are required to do so until our nextnon-binding, advisory vote on the frequency of stockholder advisory votes on executive compensation, which is required to occur no later than our 20172023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

The affirmative vote of a majority of the shares of common stock present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote on this item will be required to approve, by an advisory vote, the compensation of our named executive officers. Abstentions will have the same effect as negative votes for this proposal. Although, as an advisory vote, this proposal is not binding on us or our Board of Directors, the Compensation Committee and our Board of Directors value the opinions of the stockholders and will consider the outcome of the vote when making future compensation decisions.

As described in detail under the heading “Compensation Discussion and Analysis,” our executive compensation programs are designed to attract, motivate and retain our named executive officers, who are critical to our success. Under these programs, our named executive officers are rewarded for the achievement of specific short-term and long-term goals. We believe our 20152019 executive compensation is appropriate. Please see the “Compensation Discussion and Analysis” beginning on page 21 for additional details about our executive compensation philosophy and programs, including information about the fiscal 20152019 compensation of our named executive officers. This advisory vote is not intended to address any specific item of compensation, but rather the overall compensation principles and practices and the fiscal 20152019 compensation of our named executive officers.

As an advisory vote, this proposal is not binding on us or our Board of Directors. The Compensation Committee and our Board of Directors value the opinions of the stockholders and will consider the outcome of the vote when making future compensation decisions.

Board Recommendation

Our Board of Directors recommends that you vote “FOR” the approval of the compensation of the named executive officers for fiscal 20152019 as disclosed pursuant to the compensation disclosure rules of the SEC, which disclosure includes the “Compensation Discussion and Analysis,” the compensation tables and other narrative executive compensation disclosures in this proxy statement.

EXECUTIVE OFFICER COMPENSATION

Compensation Discussion and Analysis

The Compensation Discussion and Analysis, or CD&A, describes and analyzes our executive compensation philosophy and program in the context of the compensation paid during 2019, the last fiscal year, to our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and each of our three other highest paid executive officers (collectively referred to as our named executive officers). Our named executive officers for fiscal 2019 were:

Name

Age

Position

James P. Scholhamer

53

Chief Executive Officer & Director

Sheri L. Savage

49

Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Finance

Vijayan S. Chinnasami

54

Chief Operating Officer

William C. Bentinck

58

President, Semiconductor Services Business

W. Joseph Williams

48

President, Semiconductor Products & Solutions Business

Fiscal 2019 Performance and Compensation Highlights

As a general principle, it is the Company’s goal to tie the Company’s executive compensation closely with the Company’s performance. In 2019, the Company considered the following key highlights of the Company’s overall performance, while adopting the following changes to the Company’s executive compensation practices:

Performance Highlights:

The company’s overall performance was mixed for 2019, with relatively flat full-year revenue performance that trended up in the second half of the year, but with a more than 55% increase in shareholder value from the beginning of the year, as well as the Company’s highest gross margin in its history and strong cash generation against a challenging economic backdrop.

Despite flat revenue performance, we executed on several operational and strategic objectives throughout the year, including:

cost-improvement restructuring initiatives to optimize the Company’s product footprint and increase profitability while maintaining capacity to react quickly to cyclical demand;

a successful strategic accretive acquisition in the first half of 2019 that expanded the Company’s market share in gas delivery weldment, diversified the Company’s customer base and increased the Company’s market share in key semiconductor equipment commodities; and

key strategic hires, including a new Chief Operating Officer and a new President of our SSB segment.

Compensation Highlights:

We increased base salaries to our CEO, CFO and President of SPS Business to bring them closer to competitive market levels after being positioned below the market midrange over the past couple of years.

No changes were made to the target bonus structure in 2019; and based on the strong performance against the operational and strategic objectives highlighted above, our annual incentive outcome was delivered above target.

We continue to rely on performance-based equity as part of our long-term incentive program (50% of the equity mix for our CEO and CFO and 25% for our other executive officers); and based on our performance againstpre-determined operating income targets, 2019 PSUs were earned at target.

The following is a summary of key highlights of the Company’s financial performance for fiscal year 2019.

   Years Ended     %
Increase
(Decrease)
 
   12/27/2019  12/28/2018*  Increase
(Decrease)
 
   (dollars are in millions) 

Revenues

  $1,066.2  $1,096.5  $(30.3  (2.8)% 

Gross margin

   18.5  16.0  2.5  15.6

Income from operations

  $29.9  $60.7  $(30.8  (50.7)% 

Non-GAAP income from operations**

  $70.2  $85.8  $(15.6  (18.2)% 

Operating cash flow

  $121.0  $41.7  $79.3   190.2

Market capitalization at fiscal year end

  $933.2  $614.5  $339.5   55.2

*

Includes the results of operations of QGT, which the Company acquired on August 27, 2018, for the period from August 27, 2018 to December 28, 2018.

**

Non-GAAP income from operations is defined as income from operations, calculated in accordance with GAAP, adjusted to factor out amortization of intangible assets, restructuring charges, acquisition related costs and fair value adjustments and depreciation adjustments.

Overview of Compensation Program and Philosophy

Our compensation program, which is established by our Compensation Committee, is intended to meet three principal long-term objectives:

 

 1.attract,

Attract, reward, and retain executive officers and other key employees;employees to help drive our business forward. More specifically, we compete for key talent with other companies in the semiconductor sector, and the competition is high. Further, we are in regular talent competition with other technology companies outside of the semiconductor sector, which puts upward pressure on pay opportunities – particularly long-term, equity incentive values.

 

 2.motivate

Motivate key employees to achieve short-term and long-term corporate goals that enhance stockholder value;value. For 2019, these corporate goals track with our longer-term objective of profitable growth and market share gains. And specific to 2019, our corporate goals also addressed the integration of newly-acquired businesses, including the integration of key talent.

 

 3.promote

Promote pay for performance, internal equity and external competitiveness.

To meet these objectives, we have historically adopted the following overridinglong-term compensation policies:

 

Pay compensation that is competitive with the practices of our peer group ofsimilarly situated electronics manufacturing services (EMS) companies and the practices of similar companies noted in industry surveys; and

 

Pay for performance by:

 

offering annual short-term cash incentivesincentive opportunities upon achievement of performance goals we consider challenging but achievable; and

 

providing significant, long-term incentives in the form of stock options and other equity incentive opportunities in order to retain those individuals with the leadership abilities necessary for increasing long-term stockholder value while aligning the interests of our executive officers with those of our stockholders.

Our Compensation Committee considers these policies in determining the appropriate allocation of long-term compensation, base salaries, annual bonuscash incentive compensation, long-term equity-based compensation and other benefits. Other considerations include our business objectives and environment, fiduciary and corporate responsibilities (including internal equity considerations and affordability), competitive practices and trends, regulatory requirements, and regulatory requirements.the mitigation of risks associated with these policies. Like most companies, we use a

combination of fixed and variable compensation programs to reward and incentivize strong performance, as well as to align the interests of our executive officers with those of our stockholders. In determining the particular elements of compensation that will be used to implement our overall compensation policies, the Compensation Committee takes into consideration a number of factors related to corporate and individual performance, as further described below, as well as competitive practices among our peer group and the practices of similar companies noted in industry surveys.group.

Fiscal 2015 Key Considerations

Similar to fiscal 2015, and as discussed further below under “—Process for Determining Executive Compensation,” we did not benchmark the compensation of our named executive officers for fiscal 2015 on an executive-by-executive basis against our peer group. In addition, the Compensation Committee determined not to engage an independent compensation consultant to review the competitiveness and structure of the Company’s 2015 cash and equity incentive programs or to provide the Compensation Committee with recommendations regarding changes to such plans in connection with the Compensation Committee’s decisions on executive compensation for fiscal 2015. In making this determination, the Compensation Committee considered that it engaged an independent compensation consultant for such purpose in 2013. Moreover, the Compensation Committee utilized data from industry surveys on executive compensation to assist it in its determination of executive compensation for fiscal 2015.

Our fiscal 2015 compensation decisions, on an aggregate basis, primarily reflected the state of our business (and in particular, the state of the semiconductor industry), our share price, the state of the global economy and the demand for our products in the industries we served during fiscal 2015. Our sales were $469.1 million for fiscal 2015, representing a decrease of 8.7% compared to $514.0 million in sales for fiscal 2014. Our sales for fiscal 2014, however, represented an increase 15.8% compared to $444.0 million in sales for fiscal 2013. Our

gross profit also decreased 2.9% in fiscal 2015 compared to fiscal 2014, but increased 8.6% in fiscal 2014 compared to fiscal 2013. Our average closing stock price was $6.79, $9.94 and $6.86 in fiscal 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively, and was $9.92 at the time compensation decisions were made in February 2015 for fiscal 2015 compensation. Moreover, at the time compensation decisions were made in February 2015 for fiscal 2015 compensation, while our stock price was at a relatively high level as compared to the prior year average closing stock price, the Company was beginning to see some softness in the overall semiconductor equipment market, which it expected to continue over fiscal 2015. Overall, our Compensation Committee set target total compensation at levels relatively consistent with prior years, with actual compensation impacted by our relatively high grant date stock price for 2015, and operating results that reflected relatively challenging market conditions.

On an individual basis, our fiscal 2015 compensation decisions primarily reflected the importance of our top executives (primarily our chief executive officer and our president and chief financial officer) to our business and their roles in guiding the Company’s operations through challenging conditions for fiscal 2015. Moreover, compensation decisions for our chief executive officer and our president and chief financial officer were guided by their primary roles in our strategic acquisition activity, which resulted in two successful, significant acquisitions during fiscal 2015 (Marchi Thermal Systems Inc. and Miconex s.r.o.). The Compensation Committee considers these executives, particularly our chief executive officer and president and chief financial officer, to be our primary strategic decision makers and primarily responsible for our overall performance. In addition, we hired Mr. Scholhamer in January 2015 to replace Mr. Granger as our chief executive officer. Accordingly, Mr. Scholhamer’s compensation for 2015 was approved by the Compensation Committee based on negotiation with Mr. Scholhamer. Pursuant to Mr. Scholhamer’s offer letter approved by the Compensation Committee, we agreed to pay Mr. Scholhamer an annual base salary of $410,000, with an annual target bonus equal to 100% of his base salary, and to grant him an initial award of 200,000 restricted stock units that vest in four equal installments on each anniversary of the grant date, subject to the terms and conditions of our Stock Incentive Plan. Mr. Scholhamer is also eligible for certain severance and change in control benefits, as described under “—Post-Termination Arrangements” below.

Consistent with prior years, each of our named executive officers were eligible for increased cash incentive compensation and earned performance-based equity awards based on our results of operations, thus tying compensation to our performance. The Compensation Committee also considers that the value to our executive officers of their long-term equity incentive awards increases with our stock price, providing our executives with further opportunity to increase the value of the compensation they ultimately realize, while aligning their incentives more closely with stockholder value.

Stockholder Votes

At our 2015 annual meeting of stockholders, the stockholders approved our non-binding advisory vote on our fiscal 2014 executive compensation program (“say-on-pay”). After considering our say-on-pay voting results and other factors addressed in the subsequent discussion, the Compensation Committee determined not to make changes to our executive compensation policies and practices as a result of the vote. At our fiscal 2011 annual meeting of stockholders, a majority of the stockholders voted to have the non-binding say-on-pay advisory vote appear annually in our proxy statement. Our Board of Directors consideredand Compensation Committee have a long-standing practice of generally targeting compensation at or around the resultsmidrange of comparable companies for each element of our compensation program. The Compensation Committee believes that targeting overall, and each element of, compensation at or around the votemidrange of peer compensation will enable us to remain competitive in attracting and agreed withretaining qualified executive officers while avoiding paying amounts in excess of what we believe is necessary to attract and retain such executive officers. Our Compensation Committee also retains the results. Therefore, we arediscretion to target compensation for specific individuals based on a variety of additional factors, including the non-binding say-on-pay advisory vote on our executive compensation in this year’s proxy,Company and will have annual votes at least until the next stockholder vote on frequency. Executive compensation decisions for fiscal 2015 and other details are discussed below in this compensation discussion and analysis.individual performance.

Process for Determining Executive Compensation

Each year, our Compensation Committee, together with our senior management team, establishes performance targets for short-term and long-term incentive plans that require the achievement of significant financial results. Each year, our Compensation Committee determines compensation by assessing prior year performance against these established financial targets, as well as other factors such as the compensation paid by comparable companies (which may include comparisons to companies in broad-based compensation surveys or, for fiscal 2019, our Peer Group), achievement of strategic objectives, improvements in market share and the professional development and potential of individual officers. Ultimately, the amount of compensation awarded to our executive officers is determined based on performance and what our Compensation Committee believes is in the best interests of our stockholders.

The Compensation Committee meets with our chief executive officerChief Executive Officer and other executives, including our Senior Vice President of Human Resources, as necessary, to obtain recommendations with respect to Company compensation programs, practices and packages. The chief executive officerChief Executive Officer, in consultation with our Senior Vice President of Human Resources, develops recommendations that he makes recommendations to the Compensation Committee on executive performance, base

salary, annual bonus targets and equity compensation for the executive team and other employees, other than himself. Our Senior Vice President of Human Resources also meets directly with the Compensation Committee (including outside the presence of our Chief Executive Officer) to assist the Compensation Committee in its decision-making process, including its analysis of broad-based data from third-party industry surveys and other data on executive compensation. Although the Compensation Committee considers management’s recommendations with respect to executive compensation, the Compensation Committee makes all final decisions on executive compensation matters.

The chief executive officer attendsOur Chief Executive Officer and Senior Vice President of Human Resources attend most of the Compensation Committee’s meetings, but the Compensation Committee also holds executive sessions not attended by any members of management ornon-independent directors. The Compensation Committee deliberates and makes decisions with respect to performance and compensation without the chief executive officerChief Executive Officer and the Company’s other executives present. The Compensation Committee has the ultimate authority to make decisions with respect to the compensation of our executive officers, but may, if it chooses, delegate some of its responsibilities to subcommittees. The Compensation Committee has not in the past delegated authority with respect to the compensation of executive officers.

The Compensation Committee has delegatedengaged Radford as its outside compensation consultant in in 2019 to provide an independent review of the chiefCompany’s executive officercompensation program and recommend a course of action for fiscal year 2019, including an analysis of both the authority to grant equity awards to employees belowcompetitive market and the leveldesign of corporate vice president under guidelinesour compensation programs. More specifically, Radford advised the Compensation Committee on the designation of

peer group companies, evaluated the final list of peer companies approved by the Compensation Committee and provided competitive compensation data and analysis relating to make salary adjustmentsthe compensation of our Chief Executive Officer and short-term bonus decisions for employees (other thanour other executive officers) under guidelines approved byofficers. Radford also furnished the Compensation Committee.

TheCommittee with reports on peer company practices relating to the following matters: short-term and long-term compensation program design; equity compensation; retention value of current equity holdings; target incentive opportunities; and compensation trends. In addition, Radford assisted the Compensation Committee also periodically seeks input from independent compensation consultants prior to making determinations onwith its CEO pay ratio analysis and its evaluation of our executive severance and change in control policies and provided our Compensation Committee assistance in developing our Compensation Discussion and Analysis in this proxy statement. Radford attended meetings of the Compensation Committee regarding executive compensation though no suchand also communicated with the chair of the Compensation Committee outside of meetings. The consultant was engagedreported to the Committee rather than to management, although the consultant met with management from time to time for such purpose with respectpurposes of gathering information on proposals that management made or may make to fiscal 2015 compensation.the Compensation Committee. The Compensation Committee has the sole authority to retainreplace the compensation consultant or hire additional consultants at any time.

Radford provides analyses and terminaterecommendations that inform the Compensation Committee’s decisions, but it does not decide or approve any compensation decisions. Except for the Company’s subscription to certain broad-based compensation survey data, Radford has not provided any services to the Company other than to the Compensation Committee and receives compensation from the Company only for services provided to the Compensation Committee. Our Compensation Committee assessed the independence of Radford pursuant to SEC and NASDAQ rules and concluded that Radford is independent legal, financial, accounting or other advisors as it determines necessaryand that Radford’s work has not raised any conflict of interest. For a discussion of amounts paid to carry out its duties, without conferring with or obtaining the approval of management or the full Board of Directors, including the sole authority to approve the feesRadford for executive and director compensation consulting and other retention terms of any such firm. Theservices, please see “Payments to Compensation Consultant and its Affiliates” above.

In October 2019, the Compensation Committee also utilizes data from industry surveys on executive compensation to assist it inretained Semler Brossy Consulting Group as its determination of executive compensation.independent advisor, and Semler Brossy has since assisted the Company with pay design and decisions for 2020.

Elements of Compensation Structure

The following are the primary elements of our executive compensation program:

 

 (i)

base salary;

 

 (ii)

annual performance-based cash incentive opportunities;

 

 (iii)

annual long-term incentives through equity incentive awards; and

 

 (iv)

retirement and welfare benefit plans, including a deferred compensation plan, a 401(k) plan, limited executive perquisites and other benefit programs generally available to all employees.

Pay Mix.We have selected thesethe foregoing compensation elements because each is considered useful and/or necessary to meet one or more of the principal objectives of our compensation policy. For example, base salary and bonuscash incentive target percentages are set with the goal of attracting employees and adequately compensating and rewarding them for their individual performance, level of responsibility, time spent with the Companyexperience and the Company’s annual financial results, while our equity compensation programs are geared toward providing long-term incentives and rewards for the achievement of long-term business objectives and retaining key talent. We believe that these elements of compensation, when combined, are effective, and will continue to be effective, in achieving the objectives of our compensation program.

The Compensation Committee reviews base salary, cash incentive programs and long-term incentive programs on at least an annual basis. Other programs are reviewed from time to time to ensure that benefit levels remain competitive but are not included in the annual determination of an executive’s compensation package. In setting compensation levels for a particular executive, the Compensation Committee takes into consideration the

proposed compensation package as a whole and each element individually, as well as the executive’s past and expected future contributions to our business.

Although we did not benchmark our executive compensation for fiscal 2015 against our peer group, our long-term goal has been to target total compensation, including base salaries, cash incentive awards and equity

awards near the 50th percentile among our peer group. To achieve this, our goal has been to allocate total compensation such that cash compensation (including base pay and annual bonus) falls between the 25th and 50th percentile among the peer group, and time and performance-based equity awards, which provide our executives with long-term incentives, fall between the 50th and 75th percentile of the peer group, consistent with our pay-for-performance objectives and focusing on creation of long-term stockholder value. Notwithstanding these long-term compensation objectives, theOur Compensation Committee considers uncertaintybelieves that the particular elements of compensation identified above produce a well-balanced mix of both fixed andat-risk compensation that collectively promote retention value and provide each executive officer with both short-term and long-term performance incentives. Base pay provides the executive officer with a measure of security as to the minimum level of compensation he or she will receive while the annual and long-term incentive components motivate the executive officer to focus on the business metrics that will maximize company performance over the long term. Our Compensation Committee believes that this approach will yield increases in the macroeconomy and cyclicality in the industries we serve, among other factors, in determining compensation packagesstockholder value, provide an appropriate reward for our executive officers, and reduce the risk of loss of executive officers to competitors.

While each element of our compensation program is intended to motivate and encourage employees at all levels to drive performance and achieve superior results for our stockholders, each element is weighted differently for each of our named executive officers based on the employee’s position and ability to impact our financial results. In general, the percentage of at-risk pay, or pay based on the performance of the executive against corporate or individual goals, or that is based on the performance of our trading price, increases with job responsibility. This balance is intended to offer an opportunity for gain in recent years, these considerations have resultedthe event of successful performance, matched with the prospect of less compensation when performance falls short of established financial and/or stockholder return targets. The table below depicts the allocation of fixed versus “at-risk” pay for the total target compensation for our named executive officers in 2019:

   Compensation Element as % of Total Target
Compensation for 2019(1)
 
   Fixed  At-Risk 

Name

  Base
Salary
  Cash
Incentive
  Time-Based
RSUs
  Performance-
Based RSUs
  Aggregate
At-Risk
Compensation
 

James P. Scholhamer

   21  21  29  29  79

Sheri L. Savage

   28  21  25  26  72

Vijayan S. Chinnasami

   27  20  53%(2)   N/A(2)    73

William C. Bentinck

   27  14  59%(3)   N/A(3)    73

W. Joseph Williams

   39  20  31  10  61

(1)

This table compares the elements of compensation as approved by the Compensation Committee for fiscal 2019 in April 2019. The value of time-based restricted stock units (“RSUs”) and performance-based units (“PSUs”) were determined using a target dollar value, with the number of RSUs and PSUs granted to achieve such target dollar value based on the Company’s closing stock price on the grant date. Our Compensation Committee considers time-based RSUs to be at-risk pay because the realized value depends on our stock price, which is a financial performance measure.

(2)

Mr. Chinnasami joined the Company in April 2019. The Company’s practice is to grant newly hired executives only time-based RSUs upon their commencement of employment with the Company.

(3)

Mr. Bentinck joined the Company in March 2019 and became an executive officer in May 2019. The Company’s practice is to grant newly hired executives only time-based RSUs upon their commencement of employment with the Company.

Compensation Levels and Benchmarking. Overall compensation thattargets for executive officers are determined based on one or more of the following factors: the individual’s duties and responsibilities within our global Company; the individual’s experience and expertise; the compensation levels for the individual’s peers within our Company; compensation levels for similar positions in our industry or in the technology industry more generally; performance of the individual and our Company as a whole; and the levels of compensation necessary to recruit new executive officers. For fiscal 2019, our Compensation Committee believed were belowreviewed the compensation of our long-term target percentiles withinexecutive officers and compared it with both that of our peer group. In addition,2019 Peer Group and broader, composite global market survey data provided by Radford.

For purposes of fiscal 2019 compensation decisions, Radford advised the Compensation Committee considersin February 2019 (based on publicly available data at such time) on the designation of peer group companies, using the following criteria: companies in the semiconductor and semiconductor equipment sectors and technology hardware and equipment industries,non-industry companies with comparable revenues for the trailing 12 months and market capitalization to ours, and other companies selected by shareholder advisory services, as well as other qualitative factors. For the 2019 Peer Group, the median revenue and market capitalization was $599.8 million and $1,024.4 million, respectively, versus $1,400.0 million and $384.2 million, respectively, for the Company. To develop a competitive market composite for our named executive officers, Radford weighted composite market survey data, derived from both peer survey and general technology industry survey data, equally with named peer proxy data.

This resulted in a peer group that included companies which, along with the broader survey data discussed above, were used for benchmarking purposes in 2019 (collectively, the “Peer Group”) as set forth below:

•  Advanced Energy Industries

•  Alpha & Omega Semiconductor

•  Axcelis Technologies

•  Benchmark Electronics*

•  Brooks Automation

•  Cabot Microelectronics

•  Cohu

•  CTS

•  Diodes*

•  Electro Scientific Industries

•  Entegris

•  Fabrinet

•  FormFactor

•  Ichor

•  KEMET

•  Kimball Electronics*

•  Kulicke and Soffa Industries

•  M/A-COM Technology Solutions

•  Methode Electronics

•  MKS Instruments

•  Nanometrics

•  Photronics

•  Rudolph Technologies

•  Semtech

•  Veeco Instruments

•  Xperi

(*)

reflects a new addition to our peer group list for evaluation of 2019 compensation.

This peer group is not used for purposes of analyzing the Company’s stock price performance as compared to the NASDAQ Composite Index and the RDG Semiconductor Composite Index. For further information regarding the Company’s cumulative total and relative stockholder return, see our graph included in determiningour Annual Report on Form10-K for the year ended December 27, 2019.

As discussed above, our Compensation Committee has a long-term practice of targeting the compensation levels of our executive officers at or around the median of the compensation of comparable officers at comparable companies, as derived from peer group data and broader composite survey data. Our Compensation Committee may vary from this target range for various elements of compensation depending on the executive officer’s job performance, skill set, level of responsibilities, prior compensation and business conditions, or for other reasons. Any significant variations of our fiscal 2019 pay decisions as compared to grant equity incentive awards, solong-term targeted levels are further discussed below.

2019Say-on-Pay Results

At our 2019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, the stockholders approved, with approximately 86% of the votes cast, ournon-binding, advisory vote on our fiscal 2019 executive compensation program(“say-on-pay”).

After considering oursay-on-pay voting results and other factors addressed in the subsequent discussion, the Compensation Committee determined not to make changes to our executive compensation policies and practices as to provide competitive long-term incentives but avoid excess dilutiona result of the vote. Executive compensation decisions for fiscal 2019 and conserve the number of shares available for future grant under our stock incentive plan.other details are discussed below in this compensation discussion and analysis.

Cash Compensation

Base salaries and cash bonusesincentives are a significant portion of our executive compensation package. We believe this cash compensation helps us remain competitive in attracting and retaining executive talent. BonusesCash incentives are also are paid in order to motivate officers to achieve our business goals. The

Base Salaries. Base salaries, and any increases or decreases to those levels for each executive officer, are reviewed and approved each year by our Compensation Committee also considers otherCommittee. Such adjustments may be based on factors such as jobthe overall performance of our Company, new roles and responsibilities skill set, prior experience,assumed by the executive’s time in his or her position and/or with the Company, internal consistency regarding pay levels for similar positions or skill levels within the Company, and external pressures to attract and retain talent. In setting executive compensation, includingofficer, the performance of the executive officer’s area of responsibility, the executive officer’s impact on strategic goals, upon which certain componentsthe length of service with our executiveCompany, or revisions to or alignment with our long-term compensation is based, thephilosophy. The Compensation Committee also takes into account the cyclical nature of our business (which results from the industries we serve (in particular the semiconductor industry) being highly cyclical, with recurring periods of over-supply of products) and the state of our industry and the economy in general. However, there is no specific weighting applied to any one factor in setting the level of base salary, and the process ultimately relies on the subjective exercise of our Compensation Committee’s judgment. Although salaries were targeted at or around the midrange of our peer group for fiscal 2019, our Compensation Committee also took into account historical compensation, internal parity with other executives, potential as a key contributor, and special recruiting and retention situations. The 2019 base salaries for our named executive officers shown in the table below were generally within targeted levels.

Base Salaries.In April of 2019, our Compensation Committee ultimately approved base salary increases for our named executive officers as set forth in the table below:

   Base Salary 

Name

  2019   2018   Y/Y Change 

James P. Scholhamer

  $564,000   $515,000    9.5

Sheri L. Savage

   410,000    378,320    8.4

Vijayan S. Chinnasami(1)

   465,000    N/A    N/A 

William C. Bentinck(2)

   398,000    N/A    N/A 

W. Joseph Williams

   410,000    364,110    12.6

(1)

Mr. Chinnasami joined the Company in April 2019.

(2)

Mr. Bentinck joined the Company in March 2019 and became an executive officer in May 2019.

In fiscal 2015, the Compensation Committee determined the base salary of our new chief executive officer to be $410,000 (which was prorated for 2015 based on his start date), based on negotiation with Mr. Scholhamer. In addition, in March 2015, in connection with his promotion to our president and chief executive officer,2019, the Compensation Committee determined to increase Mr. Eichler’sthe base salary of our Chief Executive Officer by 9.5% to $370,000 (which was prorated for 2015 based on$564,000, as part of the effective dateCompensation Committee’s long-term goal of his promotion), representing an increase of approximately 5.4% as compared to the level of hismore closely aligning our Chief Executive Officer’s base salary with the market, and also to recognize Mr. Scholhamer’s strong performance in fiscal 2014. Thesethe role of Chief Executive Officer and his significant contributions to our organization.

The Compensation Committee also determined to increase the base salaries of Ms. Savage and Mr. Williams by 8.4% and 12.6% respectively, to more closely align their base salaries with market levels, consistent with the Compensation Committee’s long-term compensation philosophy.

Our base salary levels were also set after considering the significance of the roles of these executives in our overall management for fiscal 20152019 and the Compensation Committee’s determination of the correlation of their responsibilities with our overall corporate operating performance. For the remainder of our named executive officers, the Compensation Committee determined to increase base salaries modestly by approximately 3% to 5%. While the Compensation Committee did not benchmark base salaries against a peer group for fiscal 2015, in determining to increase base salaries for fiscal 2015, the Compensation Committee considered industry survey data on executive compensation for similarly situated executives. Overall, the Compensation Committee

determined that the base salary levels/increases were consistent with the Company’s overall compensation objectives and appropriate to retain our executives at a point in time at which the Company had positiveachieved strong results forin fiscal 2014 but was beginning to see some softness in the semiconductor equipment industry over the next several quarters.2018.

Fiscal 2019 Cash Incentive Bonuses. OurOn April 23, 2019 the Compensation Committee approved target incentive cash compensation for our executive officers for 2019 under our Management Bonus Plan awards participants with cash incentives in the event we achieve specified levels of operating income. All of the(the “Management Bonus Plan”). The Company’s employees with a title of director and above areexecutive officers were eligible to participate in the Management Bonus Plan. In fiscal 2015, we paid cash incentivePlan, which provided for the opportunity to earn quarterly and annual bonuses based on the basis of the quarterly achievement of target operating income for fiscal 2015, which targets were unchanged fromcorporate and individual performance during the fiscal 2014 achievement levels, as set forth in the table below. For fiscal 2015, for purposes of our Management Bonus Plan, operating income refers to operating income calculated in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, but excluding the non-cash amortization costs and other non-recurring expenses relating to our acquisitions.

Fiscal 2015 Achievement Levels*

Operating Income as
a Percentage of Revenue

  

Percentage of

Operating Income

Paid Under the

Management Bonus Plan

1.00%

  0.00%

2.00%

  0.00%

3.00%

  3.00%

4.00%

  5.00%

5.00%

  6.00%

6.00%

  6.20%

7.00%

  6.50%

8.00%

  7.50%

9.00%

  8.50%

10.00%

  9.00%

11.00%

  9.00%

*Operating income must be at least 3% of revenue for the plan to be funded in any given quarter. If operating income is above 3% and is in between percentages in the table above, the percentage of operating income distributed to participants is prorated between the applicable amounts shown above.

year. Bonuses under the Management Bonus Plan are calculated and paidbased on a quarterly basis, which we believe to have a positive effect on employee morale. Each quarter, we calculate the total available pool ofeach executive officer’s annual target cash incentive bonuses using the “Percentage of Operating Income Distributed as Cash Incentive Compensation” as discussed above. For the four quarters of fiscal 2015, our aggregate quarterly bonuses were paid based on the following:

Quarter in Fiscal 2015

  Operating
Income as  a
Percentage
of Revenue (1)
  Percentage of
Operating Income
Paid Under
Management
Bonus Plan
 

First

   5.1  6.0

Second

   4.1  5.1

Third

   4.1  5.1

Fourth

   -0.5  0.0

(1)Excludes non-cash amortization costs and other non-recurring expenses relating to our acquisitions.

Once the available pool is determined for a given fiscal quarter as described above, the pool is then allocated among the participants in the plan, including our participating named executive officers, in accordance with each individual participant’s target bonus percentage, which is calculatedopportunity (established as a percentage of base salary. For fiscal 2015, the target bonus percentages and actual paid bonuses as a percentage ofeach executive officer’s base salary, forreferred to as the “Target Bonus”).

For each executive officer, 85% of our named executive officers were as follows (excluding Mr. Granger, who retired in January 2015):

Named Executive Officer

  Target Bonus as a Percentage of Base
Salary
  Actual Bonus as  a
Percentage of Base
Salary
 
  2015  2014  2015 

James P. Scholhamer

   100  N/A(1)   37

Kevin C. Eichler

   75  70  32

Mark G. Bingaman

   40  40  18

Deborah E. Hayward

   40  40  18

Lavi A. Lev

   40  40  19

(1)Mr. Scholhamer joined the Company in January 2015.

If the available pool is not sufficient to allocate each participant acash bonus equal to his or her target bonus percentage multiplied by his or her base salary for the quarter (“full payout”), then the available pool is allocated among each participant in the plan based on the ratio of that participant’s full payout to the aggregate of full payouts for all participants. If the available pool exceeds the amount necessary to allocate each participant his or her full payout, then the excess is allocated among participants in the same manner as shortfalls. The maximum allowable bonus for any quarter is two times a participant’s full payout amount.

The Compensation Committee believes that operating income is the most appropriate metric upon which to base cash incentive bonuses due to the fact that it is highly correlated with both revenue growth and profitability, as well as being the measure of operating results for which our executives can be held most accountable, and thus is the most effective measure of their overall performance. The Compensation Committee also believes operating income to be an appropriate metric based on its historical correlation with our public share price.

The Compensation Committee reviewsopportunity under the Management Bonus Plan achievement levels annually, considering projectedwas evaluated based on multiples (ranging from 0 to 2) of the Target Bonus based on performance of the Company against corporate goals and objectives as approved by the Compensation Committee for the applicable measurement period, 65% of which was based on quarterly financial and operating resultsperformance and paid out quarterly, and 35% of which was based on annual corporate goals and objectives and paid out annually. In addition, for each executive officer, an additional 15% of their cash bonus opportunity under the Management Bonus Plan was evaluated based on a multiple (ranging from 0 to 1) of the Target Bonus based on individual performance against annual individual goals and objectives as approved by the Compensation Committee and paid out annually. Under this Management Bonus Plan, bonuses based on corporate goals and objectives were limited to no more than twice the amount of 85% of the applicable executive officer’s Target Bonus, and bonuses based on individual goals and objectives were limited to no more than 15% of the applicable executive officer’s Target Bonus. The Compensation Committee may increase or decrease bonuses calculated under the Management Bonus Plan in its discretion based on corporate or individual performance.

Corporate goals and objectives under the Management Bonus Plan may include goals and objectives relating to operational performance (e.g., quality and delivery performance), growth, implementation of strategic programs, financial results as compared to the Company’s annual operating plan or other benchmarks, and other factors discussed below.human resource initiatives. Individual goals and objectives were tailored to each executive officer’s position and were designed to award performance based on the individual’s contribution to the Company’s growth, financial performance, structural organization and achievement of strategic initiatives.

Target bonus percentagesBonus opportunities under the Management Bonus Plan are reviewed and approved on an annual basis for each named executive officer and established based on each named executive officer’s role and level of responsibility within the organization. For fiscal 2015, the Compensation Committee determined2019, the target bonus of our new chief executive officer based on negotiation with Mr. Scholhamer. In addition, in March 2015, in connection with his promotion to president and chief executive officer, the Compensation Committee determined to increase Mr. Eichler’s target bonus to 75% of his base salary, from 70% for fiscal 2014. The Compensation Committee determined that these levels were appropriate due to the significance of these executives’ roles in our overall management for fiscal 2015, their status as our most senior executives and the Compensation Committee’s determination of the correlation of their responsibilities with our overall corporate operating performance. Moreover, the Compensation Committee noted that Mr. Scholhamer’s target bonus was consistent with our prior chief executive officer’s target for fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2013. The Compensation Committee set the bonus target percentages for the remaining named executive officers at levels consistent with the prior year.

Target bonus percentages are used primarily to allocate the available bonus pool under our Management Bonus Plan among the plan participants each quarter, and do not necessarily reflect the actual amount of bonuses as a percentage of base salary we are targeting for each of our named executive officers. Theofficers were consistent with those for fiscal 2018, as follows:

Named Executive Officer

  Target Bonus as  a
Percentage of Base Salary
 
   2019  2018 

James P. Scholhamer

   100  100

Sheri L. Savage

   75  75

Vijayan S. Chinnasami(1)

   75  N/A 

William C. Bentinck(2)

   50  N/A 

W. Joseph Williams

   50  50

(1)

Mr. Chinnasami joined the Company in April 2019.

(2)

Mr. Bentinck joined the Company in March 2019 and became an executive officer in May 2019.

Under the Management Bonus Plan, an executive’s total cash incentive compensation cannot exceed 200% of the applicable executive’s annual target cash incentive compensation over the applicable bonus period, without the approval of the Compensation Committee.

In line with the bonus plan structure, which calls for a mid-year review of financial goals, in July 2019, the Compensation Committee approvesreviewed a revised version of the achievement levelsCompany’s annual operating plan, which incorporated a revised financial forecast for the second half of fiscal 2019 based on management’s assessment of the current state of the business and target bonus percentages after considering the potential bonus pool availableCompany’s industry, including an anticipated softening in customer demand in the fourth quarter. Based on the Compensation Committee’s review of the revised annual operating plan, the Compensation Committee decided to lower the corporate goals and objectives for revenue and free cash flow in July 2019 under the 2019 Management Bonus Plan for the remainder of fiscal 2019 to reflect current industry conditions.

For fiscal 2019, bonuses earned by our named executive officers under the Management Bonus Plan were as follows:

  2019 Cash Incentive Bonus(1)  2019  2019  2018 

Named Executive Officer(1)

 Q1  Q2  Q3  Q4  Annual  Total  Target(2)  Achievement  Total 

James P. Scholhamer

 $67,207  $102,507  $121,119  $143,843  $254,547  $689,224  $564,000   122 $383,604 

Sheri L. Savage

  36,997   55,888   66,036   78,425   138,782   376,128   307,500   122  210,198 

Vijayan S. Chinnasami(3)

  —     63,385   74,875   89,026   118,050   345,336   348,750   99  N/A 

William C. Bentinck(4)

  —     36,168   42,735   50,753   67,360   197,017   199,000   99  N/A 

W. Joseph Williams

  25,970   37,259   44,024   52,283   92,522   252,057   205,000   123  135,604 

(1)

The Management Bonus Plan for 2019 includes quarterly bonus opportunities based on Company financial and operational metrics, and a separate annual bonus opportunity based on additional annual Company financial and operational metrics and individual goals.

(2)

Target incentive cash compensation was calculated based on the Target Bonus as a Percentage of Base Salary table above and the executive officer’s base salary for 2019 as set forth in the Base Salary table above.

(3)

Mr. Chinnasami joined the Company in April 2019 and did not receive any payouts under the Management Bonus Plan for Q1 2019.

(4)

Mr. Bentinck joined the Company in March 2019 and became an executive officer in May 2019 and did not receive any payouts under the Management Bonus Plan for Q1 2019.

Quarterly achievement of corporate goals and objectives for our named executive officers for 2019 was determined based on a corporate scorecard approved by the Compensation Committee at the time of the adoption of the Management Bonus Plan. These quarterly corporate goals and objectives were set based on key performance indicators for (i) quality and delivery performance as measured by customer scorecards, various levelsinternal quantitative quality and delivery metrics and qualitative assessments of customer satisfaction and (ii) financial performance, as measured by the Company’s actual revenue and free cash flow against the Company’s annual operating plan for 2019. Each of these goals was considered challenging but achievable at the time they were established.

Annual achievement of corporate goals and objectives for our named executive officers for 2019 was also determined based on a corporate scorecard approved by the Compensation Committee at the time of the adoption of the Management Bonus Plan. These annual corporate goals and objectives were based on key performance indicators for (i) growth, measured by the Company’s semiconductor revenue growth as compared to the overall market for wafer fab equipment growth and SSB segment revenue growth from integrated device manufacturers as compared to the overall market, (ii) the achievement of key strategic programs for the Company in 2019, including the Company’s ERP implementation, expense reduction, site optimization and product transition goals and (iii) the achievement of key human capital strategic goals, including global alignment of employee benefits, information systems, compensation policies and development plans. Each of these goals that was a quantitative goal was considered challenging but achievable at the time they were established.

Annual achievement of individual goals and objectives for our named executive officers for 2019 was determined based on an individual scorecard for each named executive officer approved by the Compensation

Committee at the time of the adoption of the Management Bonus Plan. For our Chief Executive Officer individual performance was determined based on the achievement of organizational and operational streamlining initiatives, personal development goals and cash flow and inventory management targets. For our Chief Financial Officer, individual performance was determined based on the achievement of finance and systems integration initiatives, succession planning initiatives and initiatives relating to the integration of QGT’s financial reporting. Each of these goals was considered challenging but achievable at the time they were established.

The Compensation Committee determined that the above goals and objectives for the 2019 Management Bonus Plan were appropriate to drive successful execution of specific, near-term strategic objectives for the Company, enhance accountability, and continue to emphasize the Company’s financial performance during the fiscal year in the achievement of annual cash incentive bonuses, while at the same time balancing near-term financial performance with strategic and operational objectives that would support the Company’s long-term growth and long-term strategies.

After each quarter of fiscal 2019, the Compensation Committee reviewed actual corporate performance against the quarterly corporate scorecards, and in February 2020, the Compensation Committee reviewed actual corporate performance for fiscal 2019 against the annual corporate scorecards. Quarterly corporate scorecard achievement multiples ranged from 1.2 to 1.7 for quality and delivery performance, 1.0 to 1.25 for financial performance based on revenue and 0.0 to 2.0 for financial performance based on free cash flow. Annual corporate scorecard achievement was 1.03 for growth, 0.80 for achievement of strategic programs and 1.0 for achievement of human capital initiatives. The Compensation Committee approved payouts under the Management Bonus Plan for each quarter in fiscal 2019 and for the annual 2019 period consistent with the Company’s scorecard achievement.

In February 2020, the Compensation Committee also reviewed each of our named executive officers’ actual individual performance against the annual individual scorecards. Following this review, the Compensation Committee determined to award our Chief Executive Officer an annual individual bonus equal to 13.0% (out of 15%) of his Target Bonus based on his achievement of goals relating to streamlining operations, succession planning, personal development, cash flow in excess of the Company’s annual operating plan and inventory control improvements. The Compensation Committee determined to award our Chief Financial Officer an additional annual individual bonus equal to 15.0% (out of 15.0%) of her Target Bonus based on her achievement of goals relating to finance and systems integration initiatives and succession planning initiatives. The Compensation Committee also determined to award our other named executive officers additional annual individual bonuses ranging from 13.0% to 14.25% (out of 15.0%) based on their achievement of individual goals relating to operational performance, personal development, site financial performance, functional and systems integration, achievement of operating performance.income, customer ramps,non-management personnel initiatives and cost initiatives.

Overall, actual bonuses for our named executive officers as a percentage of base salary for 2019 were greater than for 2018 due primarily to the Company’s strong financial performance against the Company’s annual operating plan for revenue and cash flow (after taking into account the reduced corporate goals for revenue and cash flow set in July 2019 as described above), as well as against operational and strategic goals, and higher individual annual scorecard achievement, which were comprised primarily of operational and strategic goals. The Compensation Committee believes that the Company’s cash incentive awards to the named executive officers for 2019 aligned pay with performance for 2019, notwithstanding a challenging economic environment in the Company’s industries, based on strong performance against goals and initiatives that were designed in significant part to support the Company’s long-term growth and long-term strategies, rather than merely near-term financial results.

Our Compensation Committee invests significant time determining the financial andnon-financial targets for the Company’s Management Bonus Program. In general, management makes the initial recommendation for the financial andnon-financial targets based upon the Company’s annual Board-approved operating plan and

other strategic goals and objectives, as well as the bonus opportunity for each officer, and these recommendations are reviewed and discussed by the Compensation Committee and its advisors. The major factors used in setting one or more targets for a particular year are the results for the most recently completed year and the annual operating plan for the current year. Other factors taken into account may include general economic and market conditions. Overall, the Compensation Committee seeks to tie a significant proportion of cash compensation to performance, while factoring in ourthe Company’s current and expected financial results given current and expected business conditions and the cyclical nature of the semiconductor equipment industry. The Compensation Committee also recognizedrecognizes that the Management Bonus Plan provides increased cash payments to our executives if we achieve results above targets, providing our executives an opportunity to achieve higher cash compensation for performance above expectations. We intend for the performance goals to be challenging but achievable and to reflect strong corporate performance. To help achieve our goal of retaining key talent, an executive must remain an employee through the time the bonus is paid in order to be eligible for any bonus

Quarterly bonuses under the Management Bonus Plan.

Generally, bonusesPlan are calculated and paid under our Management Bonus Plan only ifon a quarterly basis, subject to the performance goals described above,employee’s continued service with the Company through the applicable payment date, which the Compensation Committee sets at the beginning of the fiscal year, are achieved, although the Compensation Committee retains the abilityCompany believes to revise performance measures during the year or to adjust bonuses basedhave a positive effect on extraordinary events or individual performance. Consistent with our pay-for-performance philosophy, bonuses for fiscal 2015 were paid out in accordance with the performance goals described above, without adjustment. Actual bonuses for our incumbent named executive officers as a percentage of base salary for 2015 were lower than for 2014 primarily due to our operating results in fiscal 2015 as compared to fiscal 2014. See “—Summary Compensation Table” below.employee morale.

Equity Compensation

Our equity compensation program is intended to align the interests of our executive officers with those of our stockholders by creating ana long-term incentive for our executive officers to maximize stockholder value. The equity compensation program also is designed to encourage our executive officers to remain employed with us in a very competitive labor market. The Compensation Committee regularly monitors the changes in the business environment in which we operate and periodically reviews changes to our equity compensation program to help us meet our goals, which include the achievement of long-term stockholder value.

Types of Equity Awards. In fiscal 2015,2019, consistent with recent years, we granted our named executive officers a combination of time-based and performance-based restricted stock units, or RSUs which we believe are effective in retaining and motivating employees because they provide a predictable, tangible value to employees while also serving as an incentive to increase the value of our stock. RSUs are also an efficient way for us to reduce the dilutive effects of equity awards. We grant both time-based and performance-based RSUs to our executive officers.PSUs. The Compensation Committee believes this combination provides a balance between awards that provide high incentive value (in the form of performance-based RSUs,PSUs, which will only vest if we meet performance criteria described under “—Mix of Performance versus Time-based ‘Refresh’ Grants” below, combined with service requirements) and awards that provide high retention value (in the form of time-based RSUs, which will have at least some value over time while imposing continued service requirements, and requiring time-based vesting of the earned performance units). In fiscal 2015,April of 2019, the Compensation Committee granted the following long-term equity awards to our named executive officers:

 

Named Executive Officer

  Time-based
RSUs
   Performance-
based RSUs
 

James P. Scholhamer

   200,000     —    

Kevin C. Eichler

   82,500     42,500  

Mark G. Bingaman

   15,000     5,000  

Deborah E. Hayward

   12,000     4,000  

Lavi A. Lev

   21,000     7,000  

Name

  Time-Based
(# Shares)
   Performance-Based
(# Shares)
   Total # Shares   Value of RSUs  ($)(1) 

James P. Scholhamer

   62,657    62,657    125,314    1,500,000 

Sheri L. Savage

   31,329    31,329    62,658    750,000 

Vijayan S. Chinnasami

   75,885    —      75,885    900,000(2)  

William C. Bentinck

   54,806    —      54,806    850,000(2)  

W. Joseph Williams

   27,569    9,190    36,759    440,000 

(1)

The number of RSUs awarded to each of our executive officers was determined using a target dollar value, with the number of RSUs and PSUs granted to achieve such target dollar value based on the Company’s closing stock price on the grant date. The grant date for these awards was April 30, 2019. On April 30, 2019, the closing sales price for our common stock was $11.97.

(2)

These grants represent new hire grants and were determined based on negotiations with the applicable executive at the time of their hire.

The number of equity awards the Compensation Committee granted to each executive officer in fiscal 20152019 was determined based on a variety of factors. In deciding the awards for fiscal 2015, the Compensation Committee consideredfactors, including each individual executive’s job performance but primarilyand his or her

level of job responsibility. The Compensation Committee also considered that the Compensation Committee discussed the use of long-term equity awards as a means to retain and incentivize executives as well as our long-term, overall compensation targets. Awards are alsoexecutives. The size of each equity award granted to a named executive officer in 2019 was determined based on target cash value rather than a target number of units. Accordingly, the number of equity awards granted was influenced by our stock price at the time the awards arewere granted, as well as new hiringshires and promotions.

The number (and related vesting terms)and target value of RSUs granted to our new chief executive officer, Mr. Scholhamer forin fiscal 20152019 was determined based on negotiation with Mr. Scholhamer. For Mr. Eichler, the Compensation Committee determined to grant Mr. Eichler an additional 40,000 time-based RSUs in connection with his promotion to our president and chief financial officer in March 2015. Including this promotional grant, the grant date fairset at a target value of approximately $1.5 million, unchanged from the RSUstarget value for the RSU granted to Mr. EichlerScholhamer in fiscal 2015 was2018, as part of the Compensation Committee’s long-term goal of more closely aligning our Chief Executive Officer’s equity awards with market levels, and also to recognize Mr. Scholhamer’s strong performance and significant contributions to our organization. The Compensation Committee also considered its long-term goal of setting grants at a level consistent with the grant date fair value of the RSUs grantedmidrange provided to Mr. Eichler in fiscal 2014, primarily as a resultcomparable officers by members of our lower stock price, offset by an increasepeer group in the number of RSUs granted. The grant date fair value of fiscal 2015 RSUs granted todetermining grants for our othernon-CEO named executive officers decreased as compared tofor fiscal 2019 (and in the case of new hires, at levels competitive for such executives in the employment market), while at the same time considering the relative positions of each named executive officer within our global organization and past grant date fair value of RSUspractices. The 2019 equity awards granted in fiscal 2014, due primarilyApril 2019 for our named executive officers shown in the table above were all generally within targeted levels, as adjusted to maintain internal equity for named executive officers with similar levels of responsibility within our lower stock price as compared to the grant date of fiscal 2014 awards.Company.

The equity awards granted during fiscal 20152019 to our named executive officers are set forth in detail under “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” below. All time-based RSUs granted to our named executive officers (except to our chief executive officer) in fiscal 2015,2019, and all performance-based RSUsPSUs earned based on fiscal 20152019 performance, vest over a period of 3 years from the grant date in equal annual installments. The RSUs granted to Mr. Scholhamer when he was appointed to become our chief executive officer will vest over a period of 4 years from the grant date in equal annual installments.

Promotional and New Hire Grants.

The Compensation Committee’s policy has been to make promotional grants including Mr. Eichler’s promotional grant in fiscal 2015, on solely a time-based vesting schedule to enhance retention. For Mr. Scholhamer, the Compensation Committee believed it was appropriate and necessary to make his new hire grant on solely a time-based vesting schedule in order to incentivize him to join the Company and because he did not participate in the Company’s business planning for fiscal 2015 prior to his date of hire.

AnnualMix of Performance versus Time-based “Refresh” Grants.

The mix of time-based and performance-based awards for annual “refresh” grants made in fiscal 2015April of 2019 described above was also consistent with prior years. In allocating equity awards between time-based and performance-based awards, the Compensation Committee considers each named executive officer’s level of responsibility, and the relationship between that named executive officer’s performance and our publiccommon share price. Consistent with prior years, the Compensation Committee determined that 50% of the annual “refresh” equity awards that were granted to our presidentChief Executive Officer and chief financial officerour Chief Financial Officer would consist of performance-based awards because his role focusestheir roles focus more on overall corporate performance than our other incumbent named executive officers. For our other incumbent named executive officers, the Compensation Committee determined that 25% of the equity awards would consist of performance-based awards. Performance-based awards granted in fiscal 20152019 to our named executive officers are earned according to the following performance criteria.criteria (determined based on performance in fiscal 2019). For fiscal 2015,2019, for purposes of our performance-based awards, operating income is calculated consistent with our Management Bonus Plan.

 

% earned

 0%  60%  65%  70%  75%  80%  85%  90%  95%  100% 

Operating income (in thousands)

 below $15,620   $15,620   $16,992   $18,224   $19,526   $20,827   $22,129   $23,431   $24,732   at or above $26,034  

% of PSUs granted

 0%  60%  65%  70%  75%  80%  85%  90%  95%  100% 

Operating income (in thousands)*

 below
$

39,504
 
 
 $39,504  $42,796  $46,088  $49,380  $52,672  $55,964  $59,256  $62,548  at or above $65,840 

*

For purposes of determining achievement of the performance based condition, the Compensation Committee usesnon-GAAP income from operations, which is defined as income from operations, calculated in accordance with GAAP, adjusted to factor out amortization of intangible assets, restructuring charges, acquisition related costs and fair value adjustments and depreciation adjustments. For fiscal 2019,non-GAAP income from operations as so determined was $70.2 million.

The Compensation Committee determined, based on our actual results for fiscal 2015,2019, that 60%100% of the performance-based awards granted to oureligible named executive officers in fiscal 20152019 were earned. The remaining 40%Performance-based award achievement for fiscal 2019 exceeded such achievement in fiscal 2018, primarily due to a less

aggressive annual operating plan in light of such performance-based awards for each applicable executive officer were cancelled.more challenging industry conditions in fiscal 2019 as compared to fiscal 2018.

Grant PracticesPractices.. We have implemented procedures to regularize our equity award grant process, such asby making new hire grants and annual executive grants on the same day each month. The Compensation Committee has not granted, nor does it intend in the future to grant, equity compensation awards to executives in anticipation of the release of material nonpublic information that is likely to result in changes to the price of our common stock, such as a significant positive or negative earnings announcement. Similarly, the Compensation Committee has not timed, nor does it intend in the future to time, the release of material nonpublic information based on equity award grant dates. Because our equity awards typically vest over multiple years, we believe recipients are motivated to see our stock price rise in the long-term rather than benefit from an immediate but short-term increase in the price of our stock following a grant.

Other Benefit Plans

Deferred CompensationCompensation.. We maintain anon-qualified deferred compensation plan, which allows eligible employees, including executive officers and directors, to voluntarily defer receipt of thea portion of his/her salary above a specified amount and all or a portion of a bonus payment until the date or dates elected by the participant, thereby allowing the participating employee to defer taxation on such amounts. This plan gives highly compensated employees the opportunity to defer more compensation than they would otherwise be permitted to defer under atax-qualified retirement plan, such as our 401(k) plan. We believe that deferred compensation is a competitive practice to enable us to attract and retain top talent. We do not make matching or other employer contributions to the deferred compensation plan because we believe the deferral opportunity is enough of a benefit on its own.

Executive PerquisitesPerquisites.. We offer limited perquisites to our executive officers. In addition to health care coverage that is generally available to our other employees, our executive officers are eligible for annual physical examinations more extensive than under the Company’s standard plans. Our chief executive officer and employees in sales and marketing also received a car allowance.

Because Mr. Lev relocated to Singapore to serve as our senior vice president of Asia, we agreed to provide Mr. Lev with a housing and car allowance. In addition, we agreed to make Mr. Lev whole for any income taxes for which he is responsible above that which he would be responsible for if he received a comparable salary as a resident the United States. No such tax equalization payments were made to Mr. Lev for fiscal 2015. See “—Summary Compensation Table” below for more information.

Other BenefitsBenefits.. We also offer a number of other benefits to the executive officers pursuant to benefit programs that provide for broad-based employee participation. For example, our retirement plan is atax-qualified 401(k) plan, which is a broad-based employee plan. Under the 401(k) plan, all participating employees (including executive officers) are eligible to receive limited matching contributions that are subject to vesting over time.

The main objectives of our benefits programs are to give our employees access to quality healthcare, financial protection from unforeseen events, assistance in achieving retirement financial goals, enhanced health and productivity and to provide support for global workforce mobility, in full compliance with applicable legal requirements. These generally available benefits typically do not specifically factor into decisions regarding an individual executive’s total compensation or equity award package.

Post-Termination Arrangements

Our post-termination arrangements with our named executive officers are described in this proxy statement below. We believe the severance benefits under these agreements or policies are reasonable in amount, and provide a protection to key executive officers who would be likely to receive similar benefits from our competitors. The Compensation Committee reviews the potential costs and triggering events of employment and severance agreements and policies before approving them and will continue to consider appropriate and reasonable measures to encourage retention.

Accounting and Tax Considerations

In designing itsour executive compensation programs, the Compensation Committee generally considers the accounting and tax effects as well as direct costs. For example, we intend to limit the accounting expense for our equity compensation programs in an amount determined by the Compensation Committee from time to time. When determining how to apportion between differing elements of compensation, the goal is to meet our compensation objectives while maintaining cost neutrality. For example, if we increase benefits under one program resulting in higher compensation expense, we may seek to decrease costs under another program based on our determination of the affordability level. We recognize a charge to earnings for accounting purposes when equity awards are granted. The Compensation Committee considers the impact to dilution and overhang when making decisions pertaining to equity instruments.

We do not require executive compensation to be tax deductible for the Company, but instead balance the cost and benefits of tax deductibility to comply with our executive compensation goals.

Compensation Committee Report

The Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors of Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. has reviewed and discussed the Compensation Discussion and Analysis, which appears in this proxy statement, with the management of Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. Based on this review and discussion, the Compensation Committee recommended to the Board of Directors that the Compensation Discussion and Analysis be included in Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc.’s proxy statement.

Members of the Compensation Committee

Thomas T. Edman, Chair

David T. ibnAle Chair

Thomas T. Edman

Emily M. Liggett

Summary Compensation Table

The following table shows compensation information for the three most recently completed fiscal years for our principal executive officer, our principal financial officer and our other three most highly compensated executive officers as of December 25, 201527, 2019 (collectively, our “named executive officers”):

 

Name and Position

 Year  Salary
($)
  Stock
Awards
($) (1)
  Non-Equity
Incentive Plan
Compensation
($) (2)
  All Other
Compensation
($)
  Total
($)
 

James P. Scholhamer

  2015    370,577    1,848,000    137,932    1,516    2,358,025  

Chief Executive Officer

      

Kevin C. Eichler

  2015    364,718    1,002,150    117,451    7,853 (3)   1,492,172  

President & Chief Financial Officer

  2014    344,696    999,750    238,790    12,040    1,595,276  
  2013    329,192    364,200    126,066    12,199    831,657  

Deborah E. Hayward

  2015    257,500    133,600    46,040    6,401 (4)   443,541  

Senior Vice President, Sales

  2014    239,154    186,620    100,303    3,335    529,412  
  2013    214,848    121,400    124,620    8,669    469,537  

Lavi A. Lev

  2015    247,199    233,800    47,272    234,634 (5)   762,905  

Senior Vice President, Asia

  2014    247,200    453,220    100,357    234,005    1,034,782  
  2013    244,274    121,400    52,896    146,728    565,298  

Mark G. Bingaman

  2015    271,314    167,000    48,179    11,652 (6)   498,145  

Senior Vice President of Global Materials & Supply Chain Management

  2014    263,423    245,800    104,419    7,195    620,837  
  2013    255,170    133,540    24,815    7,823    421,348  

Clarence L. Granger

  2015    51,783    —      —      2,400,058 (7)   2,451,841  

Former Chief Executive Officer

  2014    454,950    1,333,000    444,055    11,554    2,243,559  
  2013    436,933    500,775    237,642    19,498    1,194,848  

Name and Position

  Year   Salary
($)
  Stock
Awards

($)(1)
   Non-Equity
Incentive Plan
Compensation

($)(2)
   All Other
Compensation

($)(3)
   Total
($)
 

James P. Scholhamer

   2019    524,492   1,500,009    689,224    7,916    2,721,641 

Chief Executive Officer

   2018    494,620   1,417,763    383,604    1,645    2,297,632 
   2017    406,923(4)   1,980,000    710,832    1,684    3,099,439 

Sheri L. Savage

   2019    382,115   750,016    376,128    7,496    1,515,756 

Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Finance

   2018    372,245   764,225    210,198    6,578    1,353,247 
   2017    346,154   1,032,450    604,499    6,500    1,989,603 

Vijayan S. Chinnasami(5)

   2019    352,975   899,996    345,336    33,333    1,631,641 

Chief Operating Officer

           

William C. Bentinck(6)

   2019    286,254   649,999    197,017    1,794    1,135,063 

President, Semiconductor Services Business

           

W. Joseph Williams

   2019    392,191   440,005    252,057    10,263    1,094,516 

President, Semiconductor Products & Solutions Business

   2018    351,272   327,250    135,604    9,454    823,580 
   2017    351,123   1,138,200    328,987    9,322    1,827,632 

 

(1)

Amounts shown do not reflect compensation actually received by the named executive officers. The amounts shown arerepresent the grant date fair value for stock awards granted in the applicable fiscal year, based on the per share closing price of our common stock the day precedingon the grant date. The other valuation assumptions and the methodology used to determine such amounts are set forth in NoteNotes 1 of the Notesand 11 to our Consolidated Financial Statements included in our Form10-K for the year ended December 25, 2015.27, 2019.

 

(2)

Amounts consist of incentive bonuses and, for Ms. Hayward, sales commissions for 2013.bonuses.

 

(3)This amount consists of a matching contribution of $6,628 under

Amounts for the 401(k) Plan and payment on behalf of Mr. Eichler of $1,225 in long-termyear ending December 27, 2019 include disability and life insurance premiums.premiums of $1,831, $2,295, $1,334 and $1,863 for Mr. Scholhamer, Ms. Savage, Mr. Bentinck and Mr. Williams; matching contributions under the Company’s 401(k) Plan of $6,085, $5,200, $459 and $8,400 for Mr. Scholhamer, Ms. Savage, Mr. Bentinck and Mr. Williams; and automotive benefits of $33,333 for Mr. Chinnasami.

 

(4)This amount consists

Reflects a leave of absence effective July 31, 2017 through October 2, 2017, during which Mr. Scholhamer did not earn a matching contribution of $2,884 under the 401(k) Plan and payment on behalf of Ms. Hayward of $3,517 in long-term disability and life insurance premiums.base salary.

(5)This amount consists of $184,800 and $48,000 of housing and transportation benefits, respectively and payment

Mr. Chinnasami joined the Company as Chief Operating Officer on behalf of Mr. Lev of $1,834 in long-term disability and life insurance premiums.April 1, 2019.

 

(6)This amount consists of a matching contribution of $6,815 under

Mr. Bentinck joined the 401(k) PlanCompany as Senior Vice President, Semiconductor Services Business, on March 12, 2019 and payment on behalf of Mr. Bingaman of $4,837 in long-term disability and life insurance premiums.was promoted to President, Semiconductor Services Business effective May 28, 2019.

(7)On January 5, 2015, we announced Mr. Granger’s retirement as our chief executive officer. In connection with his retirement, we and Mr. Granger entered into a Transition Agreement, pursuant to which, subject to a release of claims, Mr. Granger received a lump sum cash payment equal to $2,400,000. Mr. Granger also continued to receive his then-current salary and benefits through January 19, 2015, including payment on behalf of Mr. Granger of $58 in long-term disability and life insurance premiums. Mr. Granger remains as our non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors. See the table included under “Director Compensation” for Mr. Granger’s non-employee director fee and grant received in fiscal 2015.

Grants of Plan-Based Awards

The following table shows all plan-based awards granted to the named executive officers during fiscal 2015:2019:

 

Name

 Grant
Date
  Compensation
Committee
Compensation
Action Date
  Estimated Future
Payouts Under
Non-Equity
Incentive Plan
Awards(1)
  Estimated Future Payouts
Under Equity Incentive
Plans(2)
  All  Other
Stock
Awards:
Number  of
Shares of
Stock or
Units (#) (3)
  Grant Date  Fair
Value of Stock
Awards ($)(4)
 
   Target
($)
  Maximum
($)
  Threshold
(#)
  Target
(#)
  Maximum
(#)
   

James P. Scholhamer

    410,000    820,000       

Chief Executive Officer

  1/30/2015    12/29/2014         200,000    1,848,000  

Kevin C. Eichler

    277,500    555,000       

President & Chief Financial Officer

  2/27/2015    2/11/2015      25,500    42,500    42,500     354,875  
  2/27/2015    2/11/2015         42,500    354,875  
  3/27/2015    3/24/2015         40,000    292,400  

Deborah E. Hayward

    105,060    210,120       

Senior Vice President, Sales

  2/27/2015    2/11/2015      2,400    4,000    4,000     33,400  
  2/27/2015    2/11/2015         12,000    100,200  

Lavi A. Lev

    109,015    218,030       

Senior Vice President, Asia

  2/27/2015    2/11/2015      4,200    7,000    7,000     58,450  
  2/27/2015    2/11/2015         21,000    175,350  

Mark G. Bingaman

    110,009    220,018       

Sr. VP of Global Materials & Supply Chain Management

  2/27/2015    2/11/2015      3,000    5,000    5,000     41,750  
  2/27/2015    2/11/2015         15,000    125,250  

Name

 Grant
Date
  Compensation
Committee
Compensation
Action Date
  Estimated Future
Payouts Under
Non-Equity
Incentive Plan
Awards(1)
  Estimated Future Payouts
Under Equity Incentive
Plans(2)
  All Other
Stock
Awards:
Number of
Shares of
Stock or
Units

(#)(3)
  Grant Date
Fair Value of
Stock Awards

($)(4)
 
 Target
($)
  Maximum
($)
  Threshold
(#)
  Target
(#)
  Maximum
(#)
 

James P. Scholhamer

    564,000   1,128,000   —     —     —     —     —   
  4/30/2019   4/30/2019   —     —     37,594   62,657   62,657   $750,004 
  4/30/2019   4/30/2019   —     —     —     —     —     62,657   750,004 

Sheri L. Savage

    307,500   615,000   —     —     —     —     —   
  4/30/2019   4/30/2019   —     —     18,797   31,329   31,329   —     375,008 
  4/30/2019   4/30/2019   —     —     —     —     —     31,329   375,008 

Vijayan S. Chinnasami

    348,750   697,500   —     —     —     —     —   
  4/26/2019   12/17/2018   —     —     —     —     —     75,885   899,996 

William C. Bentinck

    199,000   398,000   —     —     —     —     —   
  4/26/2019   3/10/2019   —     —     —     —     —     54,806   649,999 

W. Joseph Williams

    205,000   410,000   —     —     —     —     —   
  4/30/2019   4/30/2019   —     —     5,514   9,190   9,190   —     110,004 
  4/30/2019   4/30/2019   —     —     —     —     —     27,569   330,001 

 

(1)

Reflects target at 100% and maximum cash award amounts pursuant to the Management Bonus Plan for fiscal 2015.2019.

 

(2)

Reflects award opportunities under performance-based restricted stock units. Onunits on the basis of performance criteria for fiscal 2015, 40% of all performance-based units granted in fiscal 2015 were cancelled.year 2019 at threshold (60%), target (100%) and maximum achievement (100%) levels.

 

(3)

Represents time-based stock units issued under our stock incentive planplan.

 

(4)Under

The amounts shown represent the termsgrant date fair value for each stock award, based on the per share closing price of our common stock incentive plan, fair market value is defined as the closing price on the day preceding the grant date. Our practice isThe other valuation assumptions and the methodology used to determine such amounts are set forth in Notes 1 and 11 to our Consolidated Financial Statements included in our Form10-K for grants to be effective on the last Friday of the month in which the grant is approved.year ended December 27, 2019.

Outstanding Equity Awards

The following table shows all outstanding equity awards held by the named executive officers as of December 25, 2015:27, 2019:

 

Name

  Option Awards   Stock Awards 
  Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options
Exercisable
(#)
   Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options

Unexercisable
(#)
   Option
Exercise
Price

($)
   Option
Expiration
Date
   Shares or Units
That Have
Not Vested
(#)
  Market Value
of Shares or
Units

That
Have Not
Vested
($)(1)
 

James P. Scholhamer

           200,000 (2)   1,076,000  

Kevin C. Eichler

   100,000     —       3.96     7/31/2019     
           8,200 (3)   44,116  
           10,000 (4)   53,800  
           25,000 (5)   134,500  
           22,750 (6)   122,395  
           42,500 (7)   228,650  
           25,500 (8)   137,190  
           40,000 (9)   215,200  

Deborah E. Hayward

   30,000     —       14.9     4/27/2017     
           1,368 (3)   7,359  
           5,000 (4)   26,900  
           7,000 (5)   37,660  
           2,124 (6)   11,427  
           12,000 (7)   64,560  
           2,400 (8)   12,912  

Lavi A. Lev

           1,368 (3)   7,359  
           5,000 (4)   26,900  
           19,500 (5)   104,910  
           2,882 (6)   15,505  
           21,000 (7)   112,980  
           4,200 (8)   22,596  

Mark G. Bingaman

           1,504 (3)   8,091  
           5,500 (4)   29,590  
           7,500 (5)   40,350  
           2,275 (6)   12,240  
           15,000 (7)   80,700  
           3,000 (8)   16,140  
           3,333 (10)   17,932  
   Stock Awards 

Name

  Shares or Units That Have
Not Vested

(#)
  Market Value of Shares or Units
That Have Not Vested

($)(1)
 

James P. Scholhamer

   16,667(2)    390,008 
   16,667(3)    390,008 
   24,551(4)    574,493 
   17,676(5)    413,618 
   62,657(6)    1,466,174 
   62,657(7)    1,466,174 

Sheri L. Savage

   6,625(2)    155,025 
   6,625(3)    155,025 
   13,233(4)    309,652 
   9,528(5)    222,966 
   31,329(6)    733,099 
   31,329(7)    733,099 
   3,334(8)    78,016 

Vijayan S. Chinnasami

   75,885(9)    1,775,709 

William C. Bentinck

   54,806(9)    1,282,460 

W. Joseph Williams

   6,625(2)    155,025 
   2,209(3)    51,691 
   8,500(4)    198,900 
   2,040(5)    47,747 
   27,569(6)    645,115 
   9,190(7)    215,046 
   9,930(10)    232,362 

 

(1)The most recent

Based on the closing price of our common stock as of December 25, 201527, 2019 (our fiscal 20152019 year end), which was $5.38.$23.40.

 

(2)1/4 of remaining

Remaining units vest on January 30, 2016 and 1/4 vest on each year thereafter.April 28, 2020.

 

(3)Represents remaining unvested performance-based award earned for fiscal 2013 performance, which vests on May 22, 2016.

(4)Remaining units vest on May 22, 2016.

(5)1/2 of remaining units vest on each of February 28, 2016 and February 28, 2017.

(6)Represents remaining unvested performance-based award earned for fiscal 2014 performance. 1/2 of remaining units vest on each of February 28, 2016 and February 28, 2017.

(7)1/3 of remaining units vest on 2/27/2016 and 1/3 each year thereafter.

(8)Represents earned portion of performance-based awards granted in fiscal 2015. These2017. Remaining units exclude 40%vest on April 28, 2020.

(4)

1/2 vest on March 30, 2020 and March 30, 2021, respectively.

(5)

Represents earned portion of the performance-based awards granted in fiscal 2015, which were cancelled as some of the performance criteria was not met.2018. 1/3 of remaining units2 vest on 2/27/2016March 30, 2020 and March 30, 2021.

(6)

1/3 vest on April 30, 2020 and 1/3 each year thereafter.

(7)

Represents earned portion of performance-based awards granted in fiscal 2019. 1/3 vest on April 30, 2020 and 1/3 each year thereafter.

(8)

Represents promotion award granted in July 2017. Remaining units vest on July 28, 2020.

 

(9)

New hire grants, 1/3 of remaining units vest on 3/27/2016April 26, 2020 and 1/3 each year thereafter.

 

(10)

Represents promotion award in October 2018. 1/2 of remainingthe units vest on each of 7/25/2016October 26, 2020 and 7/25/2017.October 26, 2021, respectively.

Option Exercises and Stock Vested

The following table shows all stock options exercised and value realized upon exercise, and all stock awards vested and value realized upon vesting, by the named executive officers during fiscal 2015,2019, which ended on December 25, 2015:27, 2019:

 

   Option Awards   Stock Awards 

Name

  Number of
Shares
Acquired on
Exercise
(#)
   Value
Realized on
Exercise
($)(1)
   Number of
Shares
Acquired on
Vesting
(#)
   Value Realized on
Vesting
($)(2)
 

James P. Scholhamer

   —       —       —       —    

Clarence L. Granger

   334,157     585,876     —       —    

Kevin C. Eichler

   —       —       48,742     405,339  

Mark G. Bingaman

   —       —       18,057     148,218  

Deborah E. Hayward

   —       —       14,677     122,187  

Lavi A. Lev

   —       —       22,056     183,137  
   Stock Awards 

Name

  Number of Shares
Acquired on
Vesting

(#)
   Value Realized  on
Vesting

($)(1)
 

James P. Scholhamer

   154,446    1,782,851 

Sheri L. Savage

   90,084    1,186,478 

Vijayan S. Chinnasami

   —      —   

William C. Bentinck

   —      —   

W. Joseph Williams

   52,402    750,141 

 

(1)The value realized equals the difference between the option exercise price and the fair market value of the Company’s common stock on the date of exercise, multiplied by the number of shares for which the option was exercised.

(2)The value realized equals the fair market value of the Company’s common stock on the date of vesting multiplied by the number of stock awards vesting.

Nonqualified Deferred Compensation

We maintain a nonqualified deferred compensation plan, the Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. 2004 Executive Deferred Compensation Plan (the “EDCP”), which allows eligible employees, including executive officers, and directors to voluntarily defer receipt of a portion of his/her salary and all or a portion of a bonus payment until the date or dates elected by the participant, thereby allowing the participating employee to defer taxation on such amounts. Amounts credited to the EDCP consist only of cash compensation that has been earned and payment of which has been deferred by the participant. The amounts deferred under the EDCP are credited with realized gains on investments and interest at market rates on cash balances. We do not make matching or other employer contributions to the EDCP.

The following table shows certain information for theNone of our named executive officers underparticipated in the EDCP or had any reportable amounts under Item 402(i) of RegulationS-Kfor fiscal 2015:2019.

Name

 Executive
Contributions in
Last Fiscal Year
($)(1)
  Registrant
Contributions in
Last Fiscal Year
($)
  Aggregate
Earnings in
Last Fiscal
Year
($)(2)
  Aggregate
Withdrawals/
Distributions
($)
  Aggregate
Balance at Last
Fiscal Year end
($)(3)
 

Clarence L. Granger

  —      —      (7,773  (601,783  296,816  

Kevin C. Eichler

  —      —      6,480    —      693,809  

Mark G. Bingaman

  50,198    —      (6,390  —      550,111  

(1)Consists of salary reported in the Summary Compensation Table under the columns entitled “Salary.”

(2)Includes realized and unrealized gains (losses) and interest earned during the 2015 fiscal year.

(3)Consists of aggregate salary deferred in applicable fiscal years and reported in the Summary Compensation Table in such years, plus the aggregate of earnings (losses) in applicable fiscal years.

Post-Termination Arrangements

Change in Control Severance Agreement with James P. ScholhamerScholhamer.. We entered intohave a Change in Control Severance Agreement with James P. Scholhamer dated January 19, 2016.Scholhamer. If upon, or within 3 months prior to or 12 months following, a change in control, Mr. Scholhamer is terminated without cause or he resigns for good reason, he is entitled to receive 200% of his then-current salary, plus 200% of average annual cash bonus as determined by us over the prior three years, payment or reimbursement of health benefit continuation coverage under COBRA for 24 months (or, if earlier, until he becomes eligible for group health coverage with another employer) and accelerated vesting of 100% of his unvested outstanding equity awards.

Change in Control Severance Agreement with Kevin C. EichlerSheri L. Savage.. We entered intohave a Change in Control Severance Agreement with Kevin C. Eichler dated July 31, 2009.Sheri L. Savage. Such agreement provides that, if upon, or within 12 months following, a change in control, Mr. EichlerMs. Savage is terminated without cause or heshe resigns for good reason, heshe is entitled to receive 150% of hisher then-current salary, plus 150% of average annual cash bonus as determined by us over the prior three years, payment or reimbursement of health benefit continuation coverage under COBRA for 1824 months (or, if earlier, until she becomes eligible for group health coverage with another employer) and accelerated vesting of 100% of her unvested outstanding equity awards.

Change in Control Severance Agreement with Other Named Executive Officers. The Compensation Committee’s practice is to enter a change in control severance agreement with each of its named executive

officers. The Company’s change in control severance agreement provides that, if upon, or within three months prior to or 12 months following, a change in control, such executive officer is terminated without cause or he or she resigns for good reason, he or she is entitled to receive 75% of his or her then-current salary, plus 75% of average annual cash bonus as determined by us over the prior three years, payment or reimbursement of health benefit continuation coverage under COBRA for 9 months (or, if earlier, until he or she becomes eligible for group health coverage with another employer) and accelerated vesting of 100% of his or her unvested outstanding equity awards. We do not provide any tax gross-ups.

In the Change in Control Severance Agreements described above, “good“Good reason” is defined as (i) a reduction in the executive’s then existing annual salary (byby more than 10% in the case of Mr. Eichler) other than in connection with an action affecting a majority of the executive officers of the Company, (not to exceed 25% in the case of Mr. Scholhamer), (ii) relocation of the principal place of the executive’s employment to a location more than 50 miles from the principal place of executive’s employment prior to the change in control andor (iii) a material reduction in the executive’s authority, duties or responsibilities after the change in control. “Cause” exists if the executive officer: (A) is convicted of, or pleads guilty or no contest to, a criminal offense; (B) engages in any act of fraud or dishonesty; (C) breaches any agreement with the Company; (D) commits any material violation of a Company policy; or (E) fails, refuses or neglects to perform the services required of the executive in his or her position at the Company (subject in certain cases to a cure period).

The following table shows amounts that would have been paid if certainsuch named executive officers had been terminated on December 25, 201527, 2019 in connection with a change of control:

 

Name

  Salary
($)
   Cash
Incentive
($)
   Health
Benefits
($)
   Value of
Accelerated
Vesting
($) (1)
   Total
Severance
($)
   Salary
($)
   Cash
Incentive

($)
   Health
Benefits

($)(1)
   Value of
Accelerated
Vesting

($)(2)
 

James P. Scholhamer

   820,000     275,864     40,297     1,076,000     2,212,161     1,128,000    1,189,106    49,915    4,700,475 

Kevin C. Eichler

   555,000     206,238     30,815     935,851     1,727,904  

Sheri L. Savage

   615,000    595,413    60,128    2,386,881 

Vijayan S. Chinnasami

   697,500    518,003    1,575    1,775,709 

William C. Bentinck

   298,500    147,763    16,927    1,282,460 

W. Joseph Williams

   307,500    179,162    22,548    1,545,885 

 

(1)

Estimated assuming that each executive enrolls in continued group health benefits.

(2)

Amounts based on our stock price as of December 25, 2015, less the option exercise price, in the case of options.27, 2019.

Severance Policy for Executive OfficersOfficers.. Under our severance policy for executive officers of the Company, in the event that the chief executive officerChief Executive Officer is terminated without cause and signs a release of claims, the executive would receive 150% of the executive’s then-current salary, plus 150% of the executive’s average annual cash bonus and cash incentive compensation as determined by us over the prior three years, payment of health benefit continuation coverage under COBRA for 18 months (or, if earlier, until he becomes eligible for group health coverage with another employer) and immediate vesting of unvested outstanding equity awards that would vest within 18 months. In the event that the chief financial officerChief Financial Officer or chief operating officerChief Operating Officer is terminated without cause and signs a release of claims, the executive would receive 100% of the executive’s then-current

salary, 100% of the executive’s average annual cash bonus and cash incentive compensation as determined by us over the prior three years, payment of health benefit continuation coverage under COBRA for 12 months (or, if earlier, until he or she becomes eligible for group health coverage with another employer) and immediate vesting ofunvestedof unvested outstanding equity awards that would vest within 12 months. In the event that an executive officer, other than those described in the foregoing, is terminated without cause and signs a release of claims, the executive would receive 75% of the executive’s then-current salary, 50% of the executive’s average annual cash bonus and cash incentive compensation as determined by us over the prior three years and payment of healthbenefithealth benefit continuation coverage under COBRA for 9 months (or, if earlier, until he or she becomes eligible for group health coverage with another employer). We may revise or terminate this policy at any time, except that following a change in control, the policy may not be terminated or amended to adversely affect a participant for 12 months thereafter.

In addition, pursuant to Mr. Lev’s offer letter, should we decide to terminate Mr. Lev’s assignment without cause, or fail to identify another similar position for Mr. Lev at our offices in Hayward, California (or another mutually agreed upon location with a similar cost of living) at the end of Mr. Lev’s current assignment (a “Replacement Position”), Mr. Lev is entitled to receive a severance benefit of 12 months’ salary continuation (at the base pay rate in effect at the time), the earned but unpaid portion of bonus and equity award vesting for 12 months, and health benefits continuation through COBRA (with the Company’s contribution paid by the Company with normal employee contributions deducted).

The following table shows amounts that would have been paid if the named executive officers had been terminated without cause (or, in the case of Mr. Lev, if we are unable to identify a Replacement Position) on December 25, 2015:27, 2019:

 

Name(1)

  Salary
($)
   Cash
Incentive
($)
   Health
Benefits
($)
   Value of
Accelerated
Vesting
($)
   Total
Severance
($)
 

James P. Scholhamer

   615,000     206,898     30,223     538,000     1,390,121  

Kevin C. Eichler

   370,000     137,492     20,149     420,044     947,685  

Deborah E. Hayward

   196,988     46,222     15,407     —       258,617  

Lavi Lev

   204,404     28,549     23,733     —       256,686  

Mark G. Bingaman

   206,267     29,569     10,501     —       246,337  

Name

  Salary
($)
   Cash
Incentive
($)
   Health
Benefits
($)(1)
   Value of
Accelerated
Vesting

($)(2)
 

James P. Scholhamer

   846,000    891,830    37,436    3,377,281 

Sheri L. Savage

   410,000    396,942    30,064    1,143,107 

Vijayan S. Chinnasami

   465,000    345,336    2,100    591,903 

William C. Bentinck

   298,500    98,508    16,927    —   

W. Joseph Williams

   307,500    119,441    22,548    —   

 

(1)Our former chief

Estimated assuming that each executive officer, Clarence L. Granger, is not includedenrolls in this table. On January 5, 2015, we announced Mr. Granger’s retirementcontinued group health benefits.

(2)

Amounts based on our stock price as our chief executive officer. In connection with his retirement, we and Mr. Granger entered into a Transition Agreement, pursuant to which, subject to a release of claims, Mr. Granger received a lump sum cash payment equal to $2,400,000. Mr. Granger also continued to receive his then-current salary and benefits through January 19, 2015. Mr. Granger remains as our non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors. See the table included under “Director Compensation” for Mr.  Granger’s non-employee director fee and grant received in fiscal 2015.December 27, 2019.

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider ParticipationCEO Pay Ratio

The current membersAs required by Section 953(b) of the Compensation CommitteeDodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and Item 402(u) of RegulationS-K, we are David T. ibnAle (chair), Emily M. Ligget and Thomas T. Edman. No memberrequired to disclose the ratio of our median employee’s annual total compensation to the annual total compensation of our principal executive officer.

During fiscal 2019, the principal executive officer of Ultra Clean was our Chief Executive Officer, James P. Scholhamer. For fiscal 2019, the combined annual total compensation for Mr. Scholhamer was $2,721,641, and for our median employee was $37,440, resulting in an estimated pay ratio of approximately 73:1.

Given the significant change in the workforce with the acquisition of QGT, the median employee was reidentified for fiscal year 2019. In accordance with the flexibility provided by Item 402(u) ofRegulation S-K, we identified the median employee by aggregating for each applicable employee (A) annual base salary or wage rates for our salaried and hourly employees (including overtime) as of December 27, 2019 (the median employee determination date), (B) the target bonus for 2019 and (C) commission or profit sharing value received. We then ranked this compensation measure for our employees from lowest to highest. This calculation was performed for individuals, excluding our current Chief Executive Officer, James P. Scholhamer, whether employed on a full-time or part-time basis. For ease of administration, we did not include the accounting value of equity awards granted. We do not believe that the effects of this change from 2018 in identifying the median employee are significant.

Once we identified our median employee, we then calculated such employee’s annual total compensation for 2019 using the same methodology we used for purposes of determining the annual total compensation of our named executive officers for 2019 (as set forth in the 2019 Summary Compensation Committee is or was an officer or employeeTable on page 34. Our CEO’s annual total compensation for 2019 for purposes of the Company during 2015. NonePay Ratio Rule is equal to the amount reported in the “Total” column in the 2019 Summary Compensation Table.

The pay ratio reported above is a reasonable estimate calculated in a manner consistent with SEC rules based on our internal records and the methodology described above. Because the SEC rules for identifying the median compensated employee and calculating the pay ratio based on that employee’s annual total compensation allow companies to adopt a variety of our executive officers serves or served during 2015methodologies, to apply certain exclusions, and to make reasonable estimates and assumptions that reflect their employee populations and compensation practices, the pay ratio reported by other companies may not be comparable to the pay ratio reported above, as a member of the board of directors orother companies have different employee populations and compensation committee of any entity that has one or more executive officers serving as a member of our Board of Directors or its Compensation Committee.practices and may utilize different methodologies, exclusions, estimates and assumptions in calculating their own pay ratios.

OTHER MATTERS

We know of no other matters to be submitted to the meeting. If any other matters properly come before the meeting, it is the intention of the persons named in the enclosed form of proxy to vote the shares they represent as the Company or the Company’s management may recommend.

 

 

BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

 By: 

/s/ James P. Scholhamer

Name:     James P. Scholhamer
Title:       Chief Executive Officer

Dated: April 22, 2016

VOTE BY INTERNET - www.proxyvote.com

Use the Internet to transmit your voting instructions and for electronic delivery of information up until 11:59 P.M. Eastern Time the day before the meeting date. Have your proxy card in hand when you access the web site and follow the instructions to obtain your records and to create an electronic voting instruction form.

ULTRA CLEAN HOLDINGS, INC.

26462 CORPORATE AVENUE

HAYWARD, CA 94545

Electronic Delivery of Future PROXY MATERIALS

If you would like to reduce the costs incurred by our company in mailing proxy materials, you can consent to receiving all future proxy statements, proxy cards and annual reports electronically via e-mail or the Internet. To sign up for electronic delivery, please follow the instructions above to vote using the Internet and, when prompted, indicate that you agree to receive or access proxy materials electronically in future years.

VOTE BY PHONE - 1-800-690-6903

Use any touch-tone telephone to transmit your voting instructions up until 11:59 P.M. Eastern Time the day before the meeting date. Have your proxy card in hand when you call and then follow the instructions.

VOTE BY MAIL

Mark, sign and date your proxy card and return it in the postage-paid envelope we have provided or return it to Vote Processing, c/o Broadridge, 51 Mercedes Way, Edgewood, NY 11717.

TOVOTE,MARKBLOCKSBELOWINBLUEORBLACKINKASFOLLOWS:
KEEPTHISPORTIONFORYOURRECORDS

THISPROXYCARDISVALIDONLYWHENSIGNEDANDDATED.

DETACHANDRETURNTHISPORTIONONLY

The Board of Directors recommends you vote FOR the following:   
1. Election of Directors
NomineesForAgainstAbstain
1AClarence L. Granger¨¨¨
1B

Name:    James P. Scholhamer

¨¨¨
1CDavid T. ibnAle¨¨¨
1DLeonid Mezhvinsky¨¨¨
1EEmily Maddox Liggett¨¨¨
1FBarbara V. Scherer¨¨¨
¨¨¨
For address change/comments, mark here. (see reverse for instructions)¨
Please sign exactly as your name(s) appear(s) hereon. When signing as attorney, executor, administrator, or other fiduciary, please give full title as such. Joint owners should each sign personally. All holders must sign. If a corporation or partnership, please sign in full corporate or partnership name, by authorized officer.
The Board of Directors recommends you vote FOR proposals 2 and 3.ForAgainstAbstain

2.Ratification of the appointment of Moss Adams LLP as the independent registered public accounting firm of Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. for fiscal 2016.

¨¨¨

3.To approve, by an advisory vote, the compensation of Ultra Clean’s named executive officers for fiscal year 2015 as disclosed in our proxy statement for the 2016 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

¨¨¨
NOTE:Conduct other business that may properly come before the annual meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof

Signature [PLEASE SIGN WITHIN BOX]Date

Signature (Joint Owners)

Date

LOGO


ULTRA CLEAN HOLDINGS, INC. ANNUAL

MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS

Thursday, May 26, 2016

12:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

1600 El Camino Real

Menlo Park, CA 94025

Important Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials for the Annual Meeting:The Notice & Proxy Statement, Annual Report/10-K is/are available atwww.proxyvote.com

LOGO

ULTRA CLEAN HOLDINGS, INC.

26462 Corporate Avenue

Hayward, CA 94545

This proxy is solicited by the Board of Directors for use at the Annual Meeting on Thursday, May 26, 2016. This proxy will be voted as directed, or if no choice is specified, the proxy will be voted “FOR” Items 1, 2, and 3.

By signing the proxy, you revoke all prior proxies and appoint James P. Scholhamer and Kevin C. Eichler, and each of them acting in the absence of the other, with full power of substitution, to vote your shares on the matters shown on the reverse side and in their discretion on any other matters which may properly come before the Annual Meeting and all adjournments.

    Address change/comments:

   

Title:      Chief Executive Officer

(If you noted any Address Changes and/or Comments above, please mark corresponding box on the reverse side.)

Continued and to be signed on reverse side

Dated: April 27, 2020

Graphics

CONTROL #oooooooooooooooo SHARES 123,456,789,012.12345 123,456,789,012.12345 123,456,789,012.12345 123,456,789,012.12345 123,456,789,012.12345 123,456,789,012.12345 123,456,789,012.12345 123,456,789,012.12345 ULTRA CLEAN HOLDINGS, INC. 26462 CORPORATE AVENUE HAYWARD,CA 94545 Investor Address Line 1 Investor Address Line 2 Investor Address Line 3 Investor Address Line 4 Investor Address Line 5 John Sample 1234 ANYWHERE STREET ANY CITY, ON A1A 1A1 NAME THE COMPANY NAME INC. - COMMON THE COMPANY NAME INC. - CLASS A THE COMPANY NAME INC. - CLASS B THE COMPANY NAME INC. - CLASS C THE COMPANY NAME INC. - CLASS D THE COMPANY NAME INC. - CLASS E THE COMPANY NAME INC. - CLASS F THE COMPANY NAME INC. - 401 K VOTE BY INTERNET - www.proxyvote.com Use the Internet to transmit your voting instructions and for electronic delivery of information up until 11:59 P.M. Eastern Time the day before the cut-off date or meeting date. Have your proxy card in hand when you access the web site and follow the instructions to obtain your records and to create an electronic voting instruction form. ELECTRONIC DELIVERY OF FUTURE PROXY MATERIALS If you would like to reduce the costs incurred by our company in mailing proxy materials, you can consent to receiving all future proxy statements, proxy cards and annual reports electronically via e-mail or the Internet. To sign up for electronic delivery, please follow the instructions above to vote using the Internet and, when prompted, indicate that you agree to receive or access proxy materials electronically in future years.VOTE BY PHONE - 1-800-690-6903 Use any touch-tone telephone to transmit your voting instructions up until 11:59 P.M. Eastern Time the day before the cut-off date or meeting date. Have your proxy card in hand when you call and then follow the instructions. VOTE BY MAIL Mark, sign and date your proxy card and return it in the postage-paid envelope we have provided or return it to Vote Processing, c/o Broadridge, 51 Mercedes Way, Edgewood, NY 11717.PAGE 1 OF 2 TO VOTE, MARK BLOCKS BELOW IN BLUE OR BLACK INK AS FOLLOWS: THIS PROXY CARD IS VALID ONLY WHEN SIGNED AND DATED. KEEP THIS PORTION FOR YOUR RECORDS DETACH AND RETURN THIS PORTION ONLY The Board of Directors recommends you vote FOR the following: 1. Election of Directors Nominees 1a. Clarence L. Granger 1b. James P. Scholhamer 1c. David T. ibnAle 1d. Emily M. Liggett 1e. Thomas T. Edman 1f. Barbara V. Scherer 1g. Ernest E. Maddock 1h. Jacqueline A. Seto For Against Abstain The Board of Directors recommends you vote FOR proposals 2 and 3. 2. Ratification of the appointment of Moss Adams LLP as the independent registered public accounting firm of Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. for fiscal 2020.3. Approval, by an advisory vote, of the compensation of Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc.'s named executive officers for fiscal 2019 as disclosed in our proxy statement for the 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. NOTE: Such other business that may properly come before the Annual Meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof will be voted on by the proxies in their discretion. For Against Abstain For address change/comments, mark here. (see reverse for instructions) Please sign exactly as your name(s) appear(s) hereon. When signing as attorney, executor, administrator, or other fiduciary, please give full title as such. Joint owners should each sign personally. All holders must sign. If a corporation or partnership, please sign in full corporate or partnership name by authorized officer. Signature [PLEASE SIGN WITHIN BOX]





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ULTRA CLEAN HOLDINGS, INC. ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS Tuesday, June 2, 2020 12:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP 1600 El Camino Real Menlo Park, CA 94025 Important Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials for the Annual Meeting: The Notice and Proxy Statement and Annual Report/10-K are available at www.proxyvote.com ULTRA CLEAN HOLDINGS, INC. 26462 Corporate Avenue Hayward, CA 94545 This proxy is solicited by the Board of Directors for use at the Annual Meeting on Tuesday, June 2, 2020.This proxy will be voted as directed, or if no choice is specified, the proxy will be voted "FOR" Items 1, 2 and 3.By signing the proxy, you revoke all prior proxies and appoint James P. Scholhamer and Sheri L. Savage, and each of them acting in the absence of the other, with full power of substitution, to vote your shares on the matters shown on the reverse side and in their discretion on any other matters which may properly come before the Annual Meeting and all adjournments. Address change/comments: (If you noted any Address Changes and/or Comments above, please mark corresponding box on the reverse side.) Continued and to be signed on reverse side