Last checked at 18 Jul 2012 15:16
easyJet announces details of EGM and encourages shareholders to vote against resolution
Following the request from easyGroup Holdings (EHL) to convene an extraordinary general meeting on the removal of Sir Mike Rake as director and Chairman, easyJet has today posted to shareholders the Notice of General Meeting as well as a Circular containing the easyJet Board of Director's recommendations against the resolution.
The Board believes that Shareholders should vote against the Resolution for the following reasons:
• Sir Mike Rake has made, and continues to make, a very significant contribution to the governance of the Company since his appointment as Chairman on 1 January 2010.
• The Board is committed to good corporate governance and continues to take full account of the skills and other commitments of all its members. The Board and Senior Independent Director keep these under review. In accordance with current best practice, the entire board offers itself for re-election annually at the Company's AGM. The last AGM was on 23 February 2012.
• EHL's actions are part of a continuing campaign to undermine the good governance of the Company and to override normal corporate governance protocols. The Board notes that this is the third time that EHL has issued a statutory request for a general meeting to remove a director of the Company in a period of 11 months. EHL also openly solicited votes against, and voted itself against, the re-election of four Directors at the Annual General Meeting in February 2012, and abstained on the re-election of four other directors, all of whom were re-elected with the support of more than 99% of the votes cast other than those of EHL and other Haji-Ioannou family members. EHL's attempts follow a threat made in public, on 13 July 2011, to remove a "randomly selected" non-executive director.
• The Company continues to perform well in a very difficult economic environment, as evidenced by the Company's performance in the year ended 30 September 2011. EHL's actions are a significant
distraction to management and put the Company's stability and corporate governance at risk.
The Board has received written statements from seven institutional Shareholders, together holding approximately 26.5% of the Company's issued ordinary share capital and approximately 42.2% of the Company's issued ordinary share capital that is not controlled by a member of the Haji-Ioannou family, indicating that they support the Board's recommendation and intend to vote AGAINST the Resolution.
The general meeting for all shareholders will be held on 13 August 2012 at 3.00 p.m. at Hangar 89, London Luton Airport, Luton, Bedfordshire, LU2 9PF.
The notice of the General Meeting is also available to view on the Company's website (http://corporate.easyJet.com). The link to download the notice is http://easyjet-event.production.investis.com/egm. A copy of the notice of the General Meeting has also been submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will be available for inspection at: (www.hemscott.com/nsm.do).
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For more information please contact:
easyJet plc
Investors:
Rachel Kentleton, Investor Relations +44 (0) 7961 754 468
Tom Oliver, Investor Relations +44 (0) 7950 996 262
Media:
Paul Moore, Communications +44 (0) 7860 794 444
RLM Finsbury:
Edward Simpkins +44 (0)207 251 3801
+44 (0)7947 740 551