Last checked at 10 Jul 2017 07:00
Good Energy Group PLC
("Good Energy" or the "Company")
Requisition by Ecotricity of General Meeting
Good Energy announces that it has received a notice pursuant to section 303 of the Companies Act 2006 from Ferlim Nominees, acting on behalf of Ecotricity Group Limited ("Ecotricity"), requisitioning a general meeting of the Company's shareholders (the "Requisition") to consider the appointment of two Ecotricity representatives as directors.
Ecotricity is a direct competitor of Good Energy, owned entirely by its founder and chief executive officer Dale Vince. Within the last 12 months, Ecotricity has become the largest single shareholder in Good Energy with 4,169,948 shares, representing 25.30% of Good Energy's issued share capital.
The Requisition proposes that Dale Vince, and Simon Crowfoot, managing director of Ecotricity's Electric Highway division, be appointed as non-executive directors of Good Energy. The appointments will be proposed as Ordinary Resolutions, which will be passed if more than 50% of the votes cast at the general meeting are in favour, including those to be cast by Ecotricity.
The board of Good Energy (the "Board") believes that the appointment of representatives from a direct competitor as non-executive directors would present significant conflicts of interest that would work against the best interests of Good Energy's shareholders as a whole, as well as Good Energy's customers and other stakeholders.
Accordingly the Board does not welcome Ecotricity's proposal to appoint Dale Vince and Simon Crowfoot as non-executive directors of Good Energy and will be writing to shareholders in due course with a detailed response and with a unanimous recommendation to vote AGAINST the resolutions.
John Maltby, Chairman of Good Energy, commented:
"Having the owner and senior management of a direct competitor on our board would be unworkable. There can be no reasonable expectation that any representative of Ecotricity would put the interests of Good Energy shareholders, customers and other stakeholders before those of Ecotricity.
The proposed appointments, if implemented, would significantly curtail the ability of Good Energy's board to operate and consider any commercial matter in a unified way, creating unnecessary administrative, financial and competitive penalties for the Company.
This action by Ecotricity is regrettable and we will be writing to shareholders setting out our position and the importance of voting against Ecotricity's proposal."
In accordance with section 304 of the Companies Act 2006, the Board intends to call a general meeting within 21 days of the receipt of the Requisition and to provide for such meeting to be held on a date not more than 28 days after the date of the notice of such meeting.
Shareholders are advised to take no action at this time. Further announcements will be made in due course.
Enquiries:
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Good Energy Group PLC | +44 (0) 1249 766 795 |
Juliet Davenport, Chief Executive Officer | |
Denise Cockrem, Chief Financial Officer | |
Stephen Rosser, Company Secretary | |
Smithfield Consultants | +44 (0) 7970 174 353 |
Alex Simmons | |
Arden Partners plc | +44 (0) 121 423 8900 |
Steve Douglas | |
Investec Bank plc | +44 (0) 207 597 4000 |
Jeremy Ellis | |
Sara Hale |
Notes to editors:
· Good Energy is a fast-growing green energy company, generating and selling 100% renewable electricity and green gas to households and businesses across the UK.
· An AIM-listed PLC, and founder member of the Social Stock Exchange, its purpose is to support change in the energy market, address climate change and boost energy security.
· The Company has been awarded 4 out of 5 stars by Which? for customer service in 2016 and 2017, and has been voted the best energy company for customer service by users of MoneySavingExpert.com for three consecutive polls.
· As at 31 December 2016, Good Energy had over 71,400 renewable electricity customers and 44,100 carbon neutral gas customers. It also provides Feed-in Tariff administration services to over 133,000 sites, bringing the total number of customers to 248,500.
· Good Energy is the owner of Delabole Wind Farm, the UK's first commercial onshore wind farm and owns and operates Hampole Wind Farm, near Doncaster. The Company also owns and operates seven solar farms.
· Good Energy received an average customer advocacy of 45. A net promoter score is an index ranging from -100 to 100 that measures the willingness of customers to recommend a company's products or services to others. It is used as a proxy for gauging the customer's overall satisfaction with a company's product or service and the customer's loyalty to the brand.