Proposal I — Election of Directors
Introduction
Our Memorandum and Articles provide that our Board must be composed of at least one director. Our Board currently consists of eleven directors. One of our current directors, Golnar Khosrowshahi, is not standing for re-election at the Annual Meeting, therefore, immediately following the Annual Meeting, the size of our Board will be reduced to ten directors. Pursuant to our Memorandum and Articles and a resolution of directors, our directors are appointed at the annual meeting of shareholders for a one-year term, with each director serving until the annual meeting of shareholders following his or her election.
Upon the recommendation of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of our Board, our Board has nominated the following persons for election at the Annual Meeting, each for a one-year term that expires at the 2023 Annual Meeting of Shareholders: (i) Sir Martin Ellis Franklin, KGCN, (ii) Noam Gottesman, (iii) Ian G.H. Ashken, (iv) Stéfan Descheemaeker, (v) James E. Lillie, (vi) Stuart M. MacFarlane, (vii) Victoria Parry, (viii) Amit Pilowsky, (ix) Melanie Stack and (x) Samy Zekhout. Each nominee currently serves as a director of the Company and has consented to continuing his or her service if re-elected.
Nomination of Directors by Preferred Shareholders
The initial holders of 20% or more of our Preferred Shares are entitled to nominate, and the Board is required to appoint, one director to the Board. If such holder notifies the Company in writing to remove any director nominated by him or her, the other directors must remove such director, and the holder will have the right to nominate a director to fill the resulting vacancy. In the event an initial holder of the Preferred Shares ceases to be a holder of Preferred Shares or holds less than 20% of the Preferred Shares in issue, such initial holder will no longer be entitled to nominate a person as a director, and the holders of a majority of the outstanding Preferred Shares will instead be entitled to exercise that initial holder’s former rights to appoint a director. Of the outstanding Preferred Shares, 50% are held by an entity affiliated with Sir Martin and 50% are held by an entity affiliated with Mr. Gottesman. Although each of Sir Martin and Mr. Gottesman serve on the Board, neither of them has nominated any persons to serve as directors of the Company at this time.
Director Qualifications
We believe that each of our nominees has the experience, skills and qualities to fully perform his or her duties as a director and to contribute to our success. Each of our nominees is being nominated because we believe that he or she adheres to the highest standards of personal integrity and possesses excellent interpersonal and communication skills, is highly accomplished in his or her field, has an understanding of the interests and issues that are important to our shareholders and is able to dedicate sufficient time to fulfilling his or her obligations as a director. Our nominees as a group complement each other and each other’s respective experiences, skills and qualities.
Each nominee’s biographical information, including his or her principal occupation, business experience, qualifications and other information appears on the following pages.
Our Board recommends a vote FOR the election of each of the following director nominees.