Danone: Convening to Combined Shareholders’ Meeting of April 29, 2021
Danone has announced its Combined Shareholders’ Meeting scheduled for April 29, 2021, at 2:30 p.m. (Paris time) to be held behind closed doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Shareholders can access the meeting via a live webcast on the company's website. An additional agenda item requested by several shareholders has been included, with relevant details available in an addendum. Voting is encouraged to be conducted electronically. Written questions from shareholders must be submitted by April 27, 2021.
- Danone is making efforts to adapt shareholder engagement by allowing a live webcast of the meeting.
- The inclusion of an additional item on the agenda reflects active shareholder participation.
- The meeting will be held behind closed doors, limiting direct shareholder engagement.
- Due to Covid-19 restrictions, shareholders cannot ask questions or propose new resolutions during the meeting.
Press Release – Paris, April 7, 2021
Convening to Combined Shareholders’ Meeting of April 29, 2021
Danone Combined Shareholders’ Meeting is convened on Thursday, April 29, 2021 at 2:30 p.m. (Paris time), at the headquarters – 17 boulevard Haussmann, 75009 Paris. In the context of the Covid-19 health crisis, this Shareholders’ Meeting will be held exceptionally behind closed doors.
The preliminary notice of meeting was published in the French Bulletin des Annonces Légales Obligatoires (BALO) of March 22, 2021 and was followed by a complementary notice published in the BALO of March 31, 2021. The notice of meeting was published in the BALO of April 7, 2021.
An additional item (without resolution submitted to the shareholders’ vote) has been included on the agenda of the Shareholders’ meeting following a request from several shareholders. This additional item and the arguments of the shareholders requesting the inclusion of this item on the agenda, as well as the comments of the Board of Directors, are included in an addendum to the notice of meeting published today on Danone's website at the following address:
https://www.danone.com/fr/investor-relations/shareholders/shareholders-meeting.html.
Special procedures for the holding of the Shareholders’ Meeting
Pursuant to French Order No. 2020-321 of March 25, 2020 and Decree No. 2020-418 of April 10, 2020, as extended by Decree No. 2021-255 of March 9, 2021, the Shareholders’ Meeting of April 29, 2021 will be held exceptionally behind closed doors, without shareholders and any persons entitled to attend being physically present.
Shareholders are informed that, in accordance with the applicable legal and regulatory provisions, Amundi Asset Management and the FCPE “Fonds Danone”, shareholders of the Company, will serve as scrutineers for the Shareholders’ Meeting.
The Shareholders’ Meeting will be webcast live and recorded for later viewing, in French and English, on Danone's website at the following address:
https://www.danone.com/investor-relations/shareholders/shareholders-meeting.html.
Information of the shareholders
Information relating to this meeting may be consulted on Danone’s website:
https://www.danone.com/investor-relations/shareholders/shareholders-meeting.html.
In particular, the notice of meeting including the agenda, the draft resolutions submitted to the Shareholders’ Meeting and the report of the Board of Directors on these resolutions, may be consulted on this page.
The documents that must be made available to shareholders in the context of this Shareholders’ Meeting will be available under the conditions and within the time limits provided for by the relevant legal and regulatory provisions.
Written questions
Each shareholder may as of now send any written questions he/she/it wishes to the Company. Written questions must be sent to the Chairman of the Board of Directors, by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, to the following address: Danone – Direction Juridique Corporate, 15, rue du Helder, 75439 Paris Cedex 09, France, or by email to assemblee2021@danone.com, so that it be received by the Company at the latest on Tuesday, April 27, 2021. The questions must be sent together with a share registration certificate.
The responses to shareholders’ written questions will be published on the Company’s website in the section dedicated to the 2021 Shareholders’ Meeting accessible at the following address: https://www.danone.com/investor-relations/shareholders/shareholders-meeting.html.
The publication will be available as soon as possible at the end of the Shareholders’ Meeting and, at the latest, by the end of the fifth working day following the Meeting, i.e. on Thursday, May 6, 2021.
Shareholders are informed that, in accordance with regulatory provisions and exceptionally in the context of the Covid-19 health crisis, it will not be possible to ask questions and to propose new resolutions during the Shareholders’ Meeting.
Voting procedures
The voting procedures are described in the notice of meeting available on Danone’s website in the section dedicated to the 2021 Shareholders’ Meeting at the following address: https://www.danone.com/investor-relations/shareholders/shareholders-meeting.html. The voting procedures are summarized below.
Shareholders can exercise their voting right prior to the Shareholders’ Meeting following one of the three methods:
- by voting by correspondence via the voting form or by Internet via the VOTACCESS secure platform;
- by giving proxy to any individual or legal person who will vote prior to the Shareholders’ Meeting; or
- by giving proxy to the Chairman of the Meeting.
No admission card will be delivered for this Meeting.
Considering the exceptional context, shareholders are strongly invited to vote or give a proxy by electronic means.
It should be noted that only shareholders holding a share registration certificate, either in their name or in the name of their authorized intermediary acting on their behalf, as of Tuesday, April 27, 2021, at 00:00 (Paris time), may cast their vote for the Shareholders’ Meeting.
Vote or give a proxy by electronic means
Shareholders may communicate their voting instructions, and appoint or revoke a proxy on the Internet, via the VOTACCESS secure platform, under the following conditions:
- For shareholders with registered shares (pure or administered): holders of pure or administered registered shares wishing to vote online will access the VOTACESS secure platform via the Planetshares website at the following address: https://planetshares.bnpparibas.com.
- For shareholders with bearer shares: they shall consult their account-holding institution in order to know whether their institution is connected or not to the VOTACCESS platform and, in such case, whether this access is subject to specific terms of use.
- If the account-holding institution is connected to the VOTACCESS platform, shareholders shall log on to the account-holding institution’s website with their usual login ID and follow the on-screen instructions to access to the VOTACCESS platform and vote, appoint or revoke a proxy online.
- If the account-holding institution is not connected to the VOTACCESS platform, the notification of appointment or revocation of a proxy may be completed by electronic means to the following address:
paris.bp2s.france.cts.mandats@bnpparibas.com, under the conditions described in the notice of meeting available on Danone’s website in the section dedicated to the Shareholders’ Meeting:
https://www.danone.com/investor-relations/shareholders/shareholders-meeting.html.
The VOTACCESS website is open since April 7, 2021 and the opportunity to vote online before the Shareholders’ Meeting will expire on Wednesday, April 28, 2021 at 3:00 p.m. (Paris time).
Vote or give a proxy by postal means
Shareholders who wish to vote by correspondence or be represented by giving a proxy to the Chairman of the Meeting or to a third-party may:
- For shareholders with registered shares (pure or administered): send back the correspondence/proxy voting form, which will be sent with the notice of meeting, to BNP Paribas Securities Services, Service Assemblées Générales.
- For shareholders with bearer shares: request the correspondence/ proxy voting form to the intermediary managing their securities account. Shareholders shall send back this voting form duly completed to their account-holding institution. Their account-holding institution will then send this form, together with a certificate of participation, to BNP Paribas Securities Services, Service Assemblées Générales.
Specific voting procedures for proxies other than the Chairman of the Meeting
The proxy holder shall send his/her/its voting instructions for the exercise of his/her/its proxies to BNP Paribas Securities Services at the latest on Sunday April 25, 2021, at midnight (Paris time).
The proxy holder shall send his/her/its voting instructions by sending by email to paris.bp2s.france.cts.mandats@bnpparibas.com, a scanned copy of the remote voting form available in the section dedicated to the Shareholders’ Meeting on the Company's website: https://www.danone.com/investor-relations/shareholders/shareholders-meeting.html.
The voting instructions must be accompanied by a copy of the proxy holder’s valid identity document and, if he/she/it acts on behalf of a legal entity, a copy of the power appointing him/her/it as a duly authorized representative.
The form must include the surname, first name and address of the proxy holder with the wording “As Proxy” and must be dated and signed. The voting instructions are filled in the box “I vote by post” of the form.
Shareholders are invited to regularly consult the section dedicated to the Shareholders’ Meeting on the Company's website in order to access to all updated information concerning the Shareholders’ Meeting: https://www.danone.com/investor-relations/shareholders/shareholders-meeting.html.
About Danone (www.danone.com)
Danone is a leading multi-local food and beverage company building on health-focused and fast-growing categories in 3 businesses: Essential Dairy & Plant-Based products, Waters and Specialized Nutrition. With its ‘One Planet. One Health’ frame of action, which considers the health of people and the planet as intimately interconnected, Danone aims to inspire healthier and more sustainable eating and drinking practices. To accelerate this food revolution and create superior, sustainable, profitable value for all its stakeholders, Danone has defined nine 2030 Goals, and paved the way as the first listed company to adopt the “Entreprise à Mission” status in France. With a purpose to bring health through food to as many people as possible, and corresponding social, societal and environmental objectives set out in its articles of association, Danone commits to operating in an efficient, responsible and inclusive manner, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. By 2025, Danone aims to become one of the first multinational companies to obtain B Corp™ certification. With more than 100,000 employees, and products sold in over 120 markets, Danone generated
FTSE4Good Index Series, Bloomberg Gender Equality Index, and the Access to Nutrition Index.
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