o | REGISTRATION STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OR (g) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
ý | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
o | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
o | SHELL COMPANY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
Title of each class | Name of each exchange on which registered | |
American Shares (evidenced by Depositary Receipts) each representing one ordinary share of the nominal amount of 3 1/9p each | New York Stock Exchange |
U.S. GAAP o | International Financial Reporting Standards | Other o | ||
as issued by the International Accounting | ||||
Standards Board ý |
Item 1 | 2 | |||||||
Item 2 | 2 | |||||||
Item 3 | 3 | |||||||
Item 4 | 7 | |||||||
Item 4A | 7 | |||||||
Item 5 | 7 | |||||||
Item 6 | 12 | |||||||
Item 7 | 13 | |||||||
Item 8 | 14 | |||||||
Item 9 | 14 | |||||||
Item 10 | 15 | |||||||
Item 11 | 18 | |||||||
Item 12 | 19 | |||||||
Item 13 | 20 | |||||||
Item 14 | 20 | |||||||
Item 15 | 21 | |||||||
Item 16 | 21 | |||||||
Item 17 | 22 | |||||||
Item 18 | 23 | |||||||
Item 19 | 31 | |||||||
Exhibit 1.1 | ||||||||
Exhibit 4.2 | ||||||||
Exhibit 4.3 | ||||||||
Exhibit 4.8 | ||||||||
Exhibit 12.1 | ||||||||
Exhibit 13.1 | ||||||||
Exhibit 15.1 | ||||||||
Exhibit 15.2 |
Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010 1
| Underlying sales growth; | |
| Underlying volume growth; | |
| Underlying operating margin (including explanation of restructuring, business disposals, impairments and other one-off items (RDIs)); | |
| Free cash flow; and | |
| Net debt. |
2 Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010
Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010 3
Principal risk
|
Description of risk | |
|
||
Economic
|
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|
||
Economic slowdown could adversely
impact the markets in which we operate by
reducing the ability of consumers to buy
our products. If we are unable to respond
to changing consumer demand our
cashflow, turnover, profits, profit margins
and the carrying value of our brands could
be adversely affected.
|
Unilevers business is dependent on continuing consumer demand for our brands. Reduced
consumer wealth driven by adverse economic conditions may result in our consumers becoming
unwilling or unable to purchase our products, which could adversely affect our cash flow,
turnover, profits and profit margins. In addition we have a large number of global brands, some
of which have a significant carrying value as intangible assets: adverse economic conditions may
reduce the value of those brands which could require us to impair their balance sheet value.
During economic downturns access to credit could be constrained. This could impact the viability of our suppliers and customers and could temporarily inhibit the flow of day-to-day cash transactions with suppliers and customers via the banks. Adverse economic conditions may affect one or more countries within a region, or may extend globally. The impact on our overall portfolio will depend on the severity of the economic slowdown, the mix of countries affected and any government response to reduce the impact such as fiscal stimulus, changes to taxation and measures to minimise unemployment. |
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Markets
|
||
|
||
Unilever operates globally in competitive
markets where the activities of competitors
may adversely impact our market shares
and therefore place our cash flow,
turnover, profits and/or profit margins
under pressure. Further, we derive
significant revenues from Developing &
Emerging (D&E) markets which are typically
more volatile than developed markets.
Social, political and/or economic
developments could adversely impact our
business.
|
Unilever operates globally in competitive markets where the activities of other multinational
companies, local and regional companies and customers which have a significant private label
business may adversely affect our market shares, cash flow, turnover, profits and/or profit
margins.
In 2010, more than half of Unilevers turnover came from developing and emerging markets including Brazil, India, Indonesia, Turkey, South Africa, China, Mexico and Russia. These markets are typically more volatile than developed markets, so we are continually exposed to changing economic, political and social developments outside our control, any of which could adversely affect our business. Failure to understand and respond effectively to local market developments could put at risk our cash flow, turnover, profit and/or profit margins. |
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Brands and Innovation
|
||
|
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Unilever is a branded goods business and
our success is dependent on producing
superior innovations that meet the needs of
our consumers. Failure to achieve this could
damage our reputation and hence our
growth prospects and future profitability.
|
Unilevers Mission is to help people feel good, look good and get more out of life with brands and services that are good for them and good for others. This is achieved by designing and delivering superior branded products/services at relevant price points to consumers across the globe. Failure to provide sufficient funding to develop new products, lack of technical capability in the research and development function, lack of prioritisation of projects and/or failure by operating management to successfully and quickly roll out the products may adversely impact our cash flow, turnover, profit and/or profit margins and may impact our reputation. | |
|
4 Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010
Principal risk
|
Description of risk | |
|
||
Customer
|
||
|
||
Increasing competitive pressure from and
consolidation of customers could adversely
impact our cash flow, turnover, profits
and/or profit margins.
|
Maintaining successful relationships with our customers is key to ensuring our brands are successfully presented to our consumers and are available for purchase at all times. Any breakdown in the relationships with customers could reduce the availability to our consumers of existing products and new product launches and therefore impact our cash flow, turnover, profits and/or profit margins. | |
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|
The retail industry continues to consolidate in many of our markets. Further consolidation and the continuing growth of discounters could increase the competitive retail environment by increasing customers purchasing power, increasing the demand for competitive promotions and price discounts, increase cross-border sourcing to take advantage of pricing arbitrage and thus adversely impact our cash flow, turnover, profits and/or profit margins. Increased competition between retailers could place pressure on retailer margins and increase the counterparty risk to Unilever. | |
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Financial/Treasury
|
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|
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Our global operations expose us to
changes in liquidity, interest rates, currency
exchange rates, pensions and taxation,
which may have a negative impact on
our business.
|
As a global organisation Unilevers asset values, earnings and cash flows are influenced by a wide variety of currencies, interest rates, tax jurisdictions and differing taxes. If we are unable to manage our exposures to any one, or a combination, of these factors, this could adversely impact our cash flow, profits and/or profit margins. A material and significant shortfall in net cash flow could undermine Unilevers credit rating, impair investor confidence and hinder our ability to raise funds, whether through access to credit markets, commercial paper programmes, long-term bond issuances or otherwise. In times of financial market volatility, we are also potentially exposed to counterparty risks with banks. | |
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|
We are exposed to market interest rate fluctuations on our floating rate debt. Increases in benchmark interest rates could increase the interest cost of our floating rate debt and increase the cost of future borrowings. Our inability to manage the interest cost effectively could have an adverse impact on our cash flow, profits and/or profit margins. | |
|
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|
Because of the breadth of our international operations we are subject to risks from changes to the relative value of currencies which can fluctuate widely and could have a significant impact on our assets, cash flow, turnover, profits and/or profit margins. Further, because Unilever consolidates its financial statements in euros it is subject to exchange risks associated with the translation of the underlying net assets of its foreign subsidiaries. We are also subject to the imposition of exchange controls by individual countries which could limit our ability to import materials paid by foreign currency or to remit dividends to the parent company. | |
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Certain businesses have defined benefit pension plans, most now closed to new employees, which are exposed to movements in interest rates, fluctuating values of underlying investments and increased life expectancy. Changes in any or all of these inputs could potentially increase the cost to Unilever of funding the schemes and therefore have an adverse impact on profitability and cash flow. | |
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|
In view of the current economic climate and deteriorating government deficit positions, tax legislation in the countries in which we operate may be subject to change, which may have an adverse impact on our profits. | |
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Consumer safety and sustainability
|
||
|
||
Our industry is subject to focus on social
and environmental issues, including
sustainable development, product safety
and renewable resources. If we fail to meet
applicable standards or expectations with
respect to these issues, our reputation
could be damaged and our business
adversely affected.
|
Unilever has developed a strong corporate reputation over many years for its focus on social and
environmental issues, including promoting sustainable renewable resources. The Unilever brand
logo is now displayed on all our products and increasingly displayed in our advertising, increasing
our external exposure. In 2010, we launched the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan that sets out
our social and environmental ambitions for the coming decade.
The environmental measures that we regard as most significant are those relating to CO 2 from energy that we use, the water we consume as part of our production processes and the amount of waste that we generate for disposal. Failure to design products with a lower environmental footprint could damage our reputation and hence long-term cash flow, turnover, profits and/or profit margins. Should we fail to meet high product safety, social, environmental and ethical standards across all our products and in all our operations and activities it could impact our reputation, leading to the rejection of products by consumers, damage to our brands including growth and profitability, and diversion of management time into rebuilding our reputation. |
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|
Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010 5
Principal risk
|
Description of risk | |
|
||
Operations
|
||
|
||
Our input costs are subject to fluctuation and
we are reliant on efficient suppliers and
regional/global supply chains to produce and
deliver our products to our customers.
|
Our ability to make products is dependent on securing timely and cost-effective supplies of production materials, some of which are globally traded commodities. The price of commodities and other key materials, labour, warehousing and distribution fluctuates according to global economic conditions, which can have a significant impact on our product costs. We saw commodity prices rise during the second half of 2010 and this looks set to continue in 2011. If we are unable to increase prices to compensate for higher input costs, this could reduce our cash flow, profits and/or profit margins. If we increase prices more than our competitors, this could undermine our competitiveness and hence market shares. | |
|
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|
Further, two-thirds of the raw materials that we buy come from agriculture. Changing weather patterns, water scarcity and unsustainable farming practices threaten the long-term viability of agricultural production. A reduction in agricultural production may limit our ability to manufacture products in the long term. | |
|
||
|
We are dependent on regional and global supply chains for the supply of raw materials and services and for the manufacture, distribution and delivery of our products. We may be unable to respond to adverse events occurring in any part of this supply chain such as changes in local legal and regulatory schemes, labour shortages and disruptions, environmental and industrial accidents, bankruptcy of a key supplier or failure to deliver supplies on time and in full, which could impact our ability to deliver orders to our customers. Any of the foregoing could adversely impact our cash flow, turnover, profits and/or profit margins and harm our reputation and our brands. | |
|
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|
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People and talent
|
||
|
||
Our success depends on attracting, developing
and retaining talented people within our
business. Any shortfall in recruitment or retention
could adversely affect our ability to deliver our
strategy and compete in our markets.
|
Attracting, developing and retaining talented employees is essential to the delivery of our strategy. If we fail to determine the appropriate mix of skills required to implement our strategy and subsequently fail to recruit or develop the right number of appropriately qualified people, or if there are high levels of staff turnover, this could adversely affect our ability to operate successfully, and hence grow our business and effectively compete in the marketplace. | |
|
||
|
||
Legal and regulatory
|
||
|
||
Unilever is subject to many local, regional and
global jurisdictions. Failure to comply with local
laws and regulatory regimes could expose
Unilever to litigation, penalties, fines and/or
imprisonment of its executives.
|
Unilever is subject to local, regional and global rules, laws and regulations, covering such diverse areas as product safety, product claims, trademarks, copyright, patents, employee health and safety, the environment, corporate governance, listing and disclosure, employment and taxes. Important regulatory bodies in respect of our business include the European Commission and the US Food and Drug Administration. Failure to comply with laws and regulations could leave Unilever open to civil and/or criminal legal challenge and, if upheld, fines or imprisonment imposed on us or our employees. Further, our reputation could be significantly damaged by adverse publicity relating to such a breach of laws or regulations and such damage could extend beyond a single geography. | |
|
||
|
||
Integration
of acquisitions,
restructuring and change management |
||
|
||
Integration of acquisitions and ongoing
restructuring initiatives involve significant
changes to our organisation. If we are unable to
successfully implement these changes in a timely
manner, we may not realise the expected
benefits from the restructuring.
|
Since 2009, Unilever has announced 4.6 billion of acquisitions and our global and regional restructuring programmes will continue in 2011. In the event that we are unable to successfully implement these changes in a timely manner or at all, or effectively manage third-party relationships and/or outsourced processes, we may not be able to realise some or all of the anticipated expense reductions. In addition, because some of the restructuring changes involve important functions, any disruption could harm the operations of our business, our reputation and/or relationship with our employees. | |
|
||
|
||
Other risks
|
Unilever is exposed to varying degrees of risk and uncertainty related to other factors including physical, environmental, political, social and terrorism risks within the environments in which we operate, failure to complete planned divestments, taxation risks, failure to resolve insurance matters within current estimates and changing priorities of our boards of directors. All these risks could materially affect the Groups business, our turnover, operating profits, net profits, net assets and liquidity. There may be risks which are unknown to Unilever or which are currently believed to be immaterial. | |
|
6 Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010
Unilever
Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010
7
The Unilever Group on page 3;
Financial Review 2010 on pages 22 to 32;
Our requirements and compliance on pages 51 to 55;
Note 26 Acquisitions and disposals on pages 117 to 119; and
Shareholder information on pages 139 to 142.
The Unilever Group on page 3;
Our footprint on pages 8 and 9;
Laws and regulations on page 32; and
Note 2 Segment information on pages 81 to 82;
Simplifying the Supply Chain and Superior Service
on pages 16 and 17.
The Unilever Group on page 3; and
Principal group companies and non-current investments on pages 126 and 127.
Note 10 Property, plant and equipment on pages 89 and 90; and
Principal Group companies and non-current investments on pages 126 and 127.
Outlook on page 33;
Financial Review 2010 on pages 22 to 32; and
Currency risks on page 98.
million | million | % | ||||||||||
Increase/ | ||||||||||||
2009 | 2008 | (Decrease) | ||||||||||
Turnover
|
39,823 | 40,523 | (1.7 | ) | ||||||||
Operating profit
|
5,020 | 7,167 | (30.0 | ) | ||||||||
Underlying operating profit
|
5,888 | 5,898 | 0 | |||||||||
Net profit
|
3,659 | 5,285 | (31 | ) | ||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Diluted EPS
|
1.17 | 1.73 | (32 | ) | ||||||||
8 Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010
million | million | % | ||||||||||
Increase/ | ||||||||||||
2009 | 2008 | (Decrease) | ||||||||||
Turnover
|
14,897 | 14,471 | 2.9 | |||||||||
Operating profit
|
1,927 | 1,701 | 13.3 | |||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Underlying operating margin (%)
|
13.9 | 11.7 | 2.2 | |||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Underlying sales growth at constant rates (%)
|
7.7 | |||||||||||
Underlying volume growth (%)
|
4.1 | |||||||||||
Effect of price changes (%)
|
3.4 | |||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
million | million | % | ||||||||||
Increase/ | ||||||||||||
2009 | 2008 | (Decrease) | ||||||||||
Turnover
|
12,850 | 13,199 | (2.6 | ) | ||||||||
Operating profit
|
1,843 | 2,945 | (37.4 | ) | ||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Underlying
operating margin (%)
|
16.1 | 15.4 | 0.7 | |||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Underlying sales growth at constant rates (%)
|
4.2 | |||||||||||
Underlying volume growth (%)
|
2.5 | |||||||||||
Effect of price changes (%)
|
1.6 | |||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010 9
million | million | % | ||||||||||
Increase/ | ||||||||||||
2009 | 2008 | (Decrease) | ||||||||||
Turnover
|
12,076 | 12,853 | (6.0 | ) | ||||||||
Operating profit
|
1,250 | 2,521 | (50.4 | ) | ||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Underlying operating margin (%)
|
14.4 | 16.8 | (2.4 | ) | ||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Underlying sales growth at constant rates (%)
|
(1.9 | ) | ||||||||||
Underlying volume growth (%)
|
(0.1 | ) | ||||||||||
Effect of price changes (%)
|
(1.8 | ) | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
2009 | 2008 | |||||||
vs 2008 | vs 2007 | |||||||
Underlying sales growth (%)
|
3.5 | 7.4 | ||||||
Effect of acquisitions (%)
|
0.6 | 0.4 | ||||||
Effect of disposals (%)
|
(3.0 | ) | (1.8 | ) | ||||
Effect of exchange rates (%)
|
(2.7 | ) | (4.8 | ) | ||||
Turnover growth (%)
|
(1.7 | ) | 0.8 | |||||
2009 | 2008 | |||||||
vs 2008 | vs 2007 | |||||||
Underlying sales growth (%)
|
7.7 | 14.2 | ||||||
Effect of acquisitions (%)
|
0.5 | 1.1 | ||||||
Effect of disposals (%)
|
(0.9 | ) | (0.4 | ) | ||||
Effect of exchange rates (%)
|
(4.0 | ) | (6.2 | ) | ||||
Turnover growth (%)
|
2.9 | 7.8 | ||||||
2009 | 2008 | |||||||
vs 2008 | vs 2007 | |||||||
Underlying sales growth (%)
|
4.2 | 6.5 | ||||||
Effect of acquisitions (%)
|
0.7 | 0.1 | ||||||
Effect of disposals (%)
|
(6.0 | ) | (2.9 | ) | ||||
Effect of exchange rates (%)
|
(1.2 | ) | (5.1 | ) | ||||
Turnover growth (%)
|
(2.6 | ) | (1.8 | ) | ||||
2009 | 2008 | |||||||
vs 2008 | vs 2007 | |||||||
Underlying sales growth (%)
|
(1.9 | ) | 1.3 | |||||
Effect of acquisitions (%)
|
0.5 | (0.0 | ) | |||||
Effect of disposals (%)
|
(2.2 | ) | (2.1 | ) | ||||
Effect of exchange rates (%)
|
(2.5 | ) | (2.8 | ) | ||||
Turnover growth (%)
|
(6.0 | ) | (3.6 | ) | ||||
2009 | 2008 | |||||||
vs 2008 | vs 2007 | |||||||
Underlying volume growth (%)
|
2.3 | 0.1 | ||||||
Effect of price changes (%)
|
1.2 | 7.2 | ||||||
Underlying sales growth (%)
|
3.5 | 7.4 | ||||||
10 Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010
million | million | |||||||
2009 | 2008 | |||||||
Operating profit
|
5,020 | 7,167 | ||||||
Restructuring costs
|
897 | 868 | ||||||
Business disposals
|
(4 | ) | (2,190 | ) | ||||
Impairments and other one-off items
|
(25 | ) | 53 | |||||
Underlying operating profit
|
5,888 | 5,898 | ||||||
Turnover
|
39,823 | 40,523 | ||||||
Operating margin
|
12.6 | % | 17.7 | % | ||||
Underlying operating margin
|
14.8 | % | 14.6 | % | ||||
million | million | |||||||
2009 | 2008 | |||||||
Net profit
|
3,659 | 5,285 | ||||||
Taxation
|
1,257 | 1,844 | ||||||
Share of net profit of joint ventures/associates
|
||||||||
and other income from non-current investments
|
(489 | ) | (219 | ) | ||||
Net finance cost
|
593 | 257 | ||||||
Depreciation, amortisation and impairment
|
1,032 | 1,003 | ||||||
Changes in working capital
|
1,701 | (161 | ) | |||||
Pensions and similar provisions less payments
|
(1,028 | ) | (502 | ) | ||||
Restructuring and other provisions less payments
|
(258 | ) | (62 | ) | ||||
Elimination of (profits)/losses on disposals
|
13 | (2,259 | ) | |||||
Non-cash charge for share-based compensation
|
195 | 125 | ||||||
Other adjustments
|
58 | 15 | ||||||
|
||||||||
Cash flow from operating activities
|
6,733 | 5,326 | ||||||
|
||||||||
Income tax paid
|
(959 | ) | (1,455 | ) | ||||
Net capital expenditure
|
(1,258 | ) | (1,099 | ) | ||||
Net interest and preference dividends paid
|
(444 | ) | (382 | ) | ||||
Free cash flow
|
4,072 | 2,390 | ||||||
million | million | |||||||
2009 | 2008 | |||||||
Total financial liabilities
|
(9,971 | ) | (11,205 | ) | ||||
|
||||||||
Financial liabilities due within one year
|
(2,279 | ) | (4,842 | ) | ||||
Financial liabilities due after one year
|
(7,692 | ) | (6,363 | ) | ||||
|
||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents as per balance sheet
|
2,642 | 2,561 | ||||||
|
||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents as per
cash flow statement |
2,397 | 2,360 | ||||||
Add bank overdrafts deducted therein
|
245 | 201 | ||||||
|
||||||||
Financial assets
|
972 | 632 | ||||||
Net debt
|
(6,357 | ) | (8,012 | ) | ||||
| Finance and liquidity and Treasury on page 29; | |
| Liquidity management on page 98; | |
| Liquidity risk on pages 98 and 99; | |
| Capital management on page 103; | |
| Going concern on page 69; | |
| Cash flow on page 28; | |
| Consolidated cash flow statement on page 75; | |
| Note 28 Reconciliation of net profit to cash flow from operating activities on page 120; and | |
| Note 14 Financial assets and liabilities on pages 93 to 97. |
| Note 14 Financial assets and liabilities on pages 93 to 97; | |
| Note 15 Financial instruments and treasury risk management on pages 98 to 104; and | |
| Treasury on page 29. |
| Note 25 Commitments and contingent liabilities on pages 115 and 116; and | |
| Note 10 Property, plant and equipment on pages 89 and 90. |
Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010 11
| Outlook on page 33; and | |
| Financial Review 2010 on pages 22 to 32; |
| Off-balance sheet arrangements on page 28; | |
| Note 15 Financial instruments and treasury risk management on pages 98 to 104; and | |
| Note 25 Commitments and contingent liabilities on page 115 (last two paragraphs only). |
| Unilever Executive on page 40, | |
| Non-Executive Directors on page 40 | |
| Board of Directors on pages 40; and | |
| Our Directors and Our Committees on pages 44 to 48. |
| Executive Directors (paragraph 4) on page 46; and | |
| Non-Executive Directors Independence (paragraph 5) on page 45. |
| Executive Directors on pages 61 and 62; | |
| The supporting policies on page 62; | |
| Our remuneration practices on pages 63 and 64; |
12 Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010
| Proposed changes from 2011 onwards on pages 64 and 65; | |
| Executive Directors remuneration in 2010 on pages 65 to 66; | |
| Non-Executive Directors on page 67; | |
| Note 29 Share-based compensation plans on pages 121 to 122; | |
| Note 4 Staff and management costs Key management compensation on page 84; and | |
| Note 19 Pension and similar obligations on pages 107 to 111. |
| Board of Directors and Unilever Executive (UEx) page 40; | |
| Appointment of Directors on page 43; | |
| Executive Directors (paragraph 2) on page 46; | |
| Non-Executive Directors on pages 44 to 46; | |
| Our Committees on pages 47 and 48; | |
| Report of the Audit Committee on pages 56 and 57; and | |
| Directors Remuneration Report on pages 61 to 67. |
| Note 4 Staff and management costs Average number of employees during the year on page 84; and | |
| Employee numbers table on page 18. |
| Our remuneration practices on pages 63 and 64; | |
| Executive Directors remuneration in 2010 on pages 65 to 66; | |
| Non-Executive Directors on page 67; and | |
| Note 29 Share-based compensation plans on pages 121 and 122. |
| Foundation Unilever NV Trust office and Margarine Union (1930) Limited on page 50; and | |
| Analysis of shareholding on page 140. |
Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010 13
| Financial statements on page 69 and pages 72 to 123 (excluding Note 31 on page 123); | |
| Legal proceedings on pages 32 and 116; and | |
| Dividend record on page 125 and Financial calendar on page 141. |
NV per 0.16 ordinary share in Amsterdam
|
23.30 | |||
NV per 0.16 ordinary share in New York
|
US $31.40 | |||
PLC per 3
1
/
9
p ordinary share in London
|
£19.63 | |||
PLC per 3
1
/
9
p ordinary share in New York
|
US $30.88 | |||
September | October | November | December | January | February | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2010 | 2010 | 2010 | 2010 | 2011 | 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
NV per 0.16 ordinary share in Amsterdam (in )
|
High | 22.40 | 22.05 | 22.84 | 24.08 | 23.99 | 22.68 | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
Low | 21.09 | 20.82 | 21.17 | 21.68 | 21.46 | 21.54 | |||||||||||||||||||||
NV per 0.16 ordinary share in New York (in US $)
|
High | 30.28 | 30.53 | 32.13 | 31.76 | 31.84 | 30.53 | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
Low | 26.97 | 28.85 | 28.20 | 28.79 | 29.26 | 29.24 | |||||||||||||||||||||
PLC per 3
1
/
9
p ordinary share in London (in £)
|
High | 18.66 | 18.82 | 19.44 | 20.09 | 19.94 | 19.10 | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
Low | 17.13 | 17.58 | 17.76 | 17.74 | 18.16 | 17.87 | |||||||||||||||||||||
PLC per 3
1
/
9
p ordinary share in New York (in US $)
|
High | 29.48 | 29.63 | 31.46 | 31.07 | 31.23 | 30.10 | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
Low | 26.74 | 28.14 | 27.72 | 28.22 | 28.87 | 28.82 | |||||||||||||||||||||
14 Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010
2010 | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | ||||||||||||||||
NV per 0.16 ordinary share in Amsterdam (in )
|
High | 23.00 | 23.89 | 24.11 | 24.08 | |||||||||||||||
|
Low | 20.82 | 21.17 | 20.68 | 20.82 | |||||||||||||||
NV per 0.16 ordinary share in New York (in US $)
|
High | 33.10 | 31.36 | 31.03 | 32.13 | |||||||||||||||
|
Low | 28.35 | 26.02 | 26.22 | 28.20 | |||||||||||||||
PLC per 3
1
/
9
p ordinary share in London (in £)
|
High | 20.07 | 20.03 | 19.60 | 20.09 | |||||||||||||||
|
Low | 18.08 | 17.72 | 16.62 | 17.58 | |||||||||||||||
PLC per 3
1
/
9
p ordinary share in New York (in US $)
|
High | 32.41 | 30.75 | 30.26 | 31.46 | |||||||||||||||
|
Low | 28.20 | 25.74 | 25.90 | 27.72 | |||||||||||||||
2009 | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | ||||||||||||||||
NV per 0.16 ordinary share in Amsterdam (in )
|
High | 18.11 | 17.97 | 19.88 | 22.88 | |||||||||||||||
|
Low | 13.59 | 14.42 | 17.13 | 19.33 | |||||||||||||||
NV per 0.16 ordinary share in New York (in US $)
|
High | 25.16 | 25.19 | 28.86 | 32.80 | |||||||||||||||
|
Low | 17.04 | 18.70 | 23.93 | 28.36 | |||||||||||||||
PLC per 3
1
/
9
p ordinary share in London (in £)
|
High | 16.69 | 15.33 | 17.78 | 20.15 | |||||||||||||||
|
Low | 12.30 | 12.68 | 14.27 | 17.60 | |||||||||||||||
PLC per 3
1
/
9
p ordinary share in New York (in US $)
|
High | 24.06 | 24.88 | 28.68 | 32.19 | |||||||||||||||
|
Low | 17.04 | 18.36 | 23.26 | 28.29 | |||||||||||||||
2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||
NV per 0.16 ordinary share in Amsterdam (in )
|
High | 24.11 | 22.88 | 25.61 | 25.72 | 20.84 | ||||||||||||||||||
|
Low | 20.68 | 13.59 | 16.20 | 18.89 | 16.53 | ||||||||||||||||||
NV per 0.16 ordinary share in New York (in US $)
|
High | 33.10 | 32.80 | 37.18 | 37.31 | 27.32 | ||||||||||||||||||
|
Low | 26.02 | 17.04 | 21.27 | 24.94 | 20.72 | ||||||||||||||||||
PLC per 3
1
/
9
p ordinary share in London (in £)
|
High | 20.09 | 20.15 | 19.47 | 19.24 | 14.28 | ||||||||||||||||||
|
Low | 16.62 | 12.30 | 12.49 | 13.20 | 11.25 | ||||||||||||||||||
PLC per 3
1
/
9
p ordinary share in New York (in US $)
|
High | 32.41 | 32.19 | 38.02 | 38.25 | 27.95 | ||||||||||||||||||
|
Low | 25.74 | 17.04 | 20.22 | 25.57 | 20.66 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Corporate governance on pages 41 to 55; and | |
| Note 22 Share Capital on page 113. |
Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010 15
| Financial Review 2010 Acquisitions and disposals on page 29; | |
| Note 26 Acquisition and disposals 2009 and 2008 on page 118; and | |
| Our Foundation agreements on page 51. |
| a corporation organised under the laws of the United States (or any territory of it) having no permanent establishment in the Netherlands of which such shares form a part of the business property; or | |
| any other legal person subject to United States Federal income tax with respect to its worldwide income, having no permanent establishment in the Netherlands of which such shares form a part of the business property, |
16 Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010
Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010 17
| an individual who is neither resident nor ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom; or | |
| a company which is not resident in the United Kingdom |
| domiciled for the purposes of the convention in the United States; and | |
| is not for the purposes of the convention a national of the United Kingdom |
| the individuals death; or | |
| on a gift of the shares during the individuals lifetime. |
| Outlook on page 33; | |
| Note 13 Trade and other receivables on page 92; | |
| Note 14 Financial assets and liabilities on pages 93 to 97; | |
| Note 15 Financial instruments and treasury risk management on pages 98 to 104; and | |
| Note 16 Trade payables and other liabilities on page 104. |
18 Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010
| Issuance of NYSs: Up to US 5¢ per NYS issued. | |
| Cancellation of NYSs: Up to US 5¢ per NYS cancelled. |
| Fees for the transfer and registration of Shares charged by the registrar and transfer agent for the Shares in the Netherlands (i.e. upon deposit and withdrawal of Shares); | |
| Expenses incurred for converting foreign currency into US dollars; | |
| Expenses for cable, telex and fax transmissions and for delivery of securities; | |
| Taxes and duties upon the transfer of securities (i.e. when shares are deposited or withdrawn from deposit); and | |
| Fees and expenses incurred in connection with the delivery or servicing of shares on deposit. |
| Issuance of ADSs: Up to US 5¢ per ADS issued. | |
| Cancellation of ADSs: Up to US 5¢ per ADS cancelled. |
| Fees for the transfer and registration of Shares charged by the registrar and transfer agent for the Shares in the United Kingdom (i.e., upon deposit and withdrawal of Shares); | |
| Expenses incurred for converting foreign currency into US dollars; | |
| Expenses for cable, telex and fax transmissions and for delivery of securities; | |
| Taxes and duties upon the transfer of securities (i.e. when shares are deposited or withdrawn from deposit); and | |
| Fees and expenses incurred in connection with the delivery or servicing of shares on deposit. |
Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010 19
US $ | ||||
Reimbursement of listing fees (NYSE/NASDAQ)
|
248,748.00 | |||
Reimbursement of settlement infrastructure fees (including DTC feeds)
|
33,674.37 | |||
Reimbursement of proxy process expenses (printing, postage and distribution)
|
231,782.13 | |||
Tax reclaim services
|
40,000.00 | |||
Program-Related Expenses (that include expenses incurred from the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002)
|
795,795.50 | |||
20 Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010
| Unilevers management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting for the Group; | |
| Unilevers management has used the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) framework to evaluate the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Management believes that the COSO framework is a suitable framework for its evaluation of our internal control over financial reporting because it is free from bias, permits reasonably consistent qualitative and quantitative measurements of internal controls, is sufficiently complete so that those relevant factors that would alter a conclusion about the effectiveness of internal controls are not omitted and is relevant to an evaluation of internal control over financial reporting; | |
| Management has assessed the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of 31 December 2010, and has concluded that such internal control over financial reporting is effective; and | |
| PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and PricewaterhouseCoopers Accountants N.V., who have audited the consolidated financial statements of the Group for the year ended 31 December 2010, have also audited the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as at 31 December 2010 and have issued an attestation report on internal control over financial reporting. For the Auditors Report please refer to Item 18. |
| Foundation and principles on page 38; and | |
| The United States on page 55. |
Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010 21
million | million | million | ||||||||||
2010 | 2009 | 2008 | ||||||||||
Audit fees
(a)
|
(17 | ) | (18 | ) | (21 | ) | ||||||
Audit-related fees
(b)
|
(1 | ) | | (1 | ) | |||||||
Tax fees
|
(1 | ) | (2 | ) | (2 | ) | ||||||
All other fees
|
(3 | ) | (1 | ) | (2 | ) | ||||||
(a) | Excludes 1 million of out of pocket expenses and 1 million fees paid in respect of services supplied for associated pension schemes. | |
(b) | Includes other audit services which comprise audit and similar work that regulations or agreements with third parties require the auditors to undertake. |
million | ||||||||||||||||
Of which, numbers of | Maximum value that | |||||||||||||||
shares purchased | may yet be purchased | |||||||||||||||
Total number of | Average price | as part of publicly | as part of publicly | |||||||||||||
shares purchased | paid per share | announced plans | (a) | announced plans | ||||||||||||
January
|
| | | | ||||||||||||
February
|
| | | | ||||||||||||
March
|
59,547 | 22.95 | | | ||||||||||||
April
|
| | | | ||||||||||||
May
|
| | | | ||||||||||||
June
|
| | | | ||||||||||||
July
|
| | | | ||||||||||||
August
|
| | | | ||||||||||||
September
|
| | | | ||||||||||||
October
|
| | | | ||||||||||||
November
|
4,720,000 | 22.37 | | | ||||||||||||
December
|
4,280,000 | 22.25 | | | ||||||||||||
Total
|
9,059,547 | 22.32 | | | ||||||||||||
(a) | Shares were purchased to satisfy commitments to deliver shares under our share-based plans as described in note 29 on pages 121 and 122 of the Groups Annual Report and Accounts 2010 furnished separately on 4 March 2011 under Form 6-K and incorporated by reference. |
22 Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1 March 2011
|
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP | |
PricewaterhouseCoopers Accountants N.V.
|
London, United Kingdom | |
As auditors of Unilever N.V.
|
As auditors of Unilever PLC | |
|
||
R A J Swaak RA
|
1 March 2011 |
Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010 23
million | million | million | million | million | million | |||||||||||||||||||
NV | NV | NV | PLC | PLC | PLC | |||||||||||||||||||
Income statement for the year ended 31 December | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turnover
|
23,579 | 21,917 | 22,108 | 20,683 | 17,906 | 18,415 | ||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Operating profit
|
3,490 | 2,700 | 4,033 | 2,849 | 2,320 | 3,134 | ||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net finance costs
|
(103 | ) | (259 | ) | (170 | ) | (291 | ) | (334 | ) | (87 | ) | ||||||||||||
Share in net profit of joint ventures
|
61 | 61 | 49 | 59 | 50 | 76 | ||||||||||||||||||
Share in net profit of associates
|
(7 | ) | (5 | ) | (3 | ) | (2 | ) | 9 | 9 | ||||||||||||||
Other income from non-current investments
|
44 | 350 | 12 | 32 | 24 | 76 | ||||||||||||||||||
Profit before taxation
|
3,485 | 2,847 | 3,921 | 2,647 | 2,069 | 3,208 | ||||||||||||||||||
Taxation
|
(821 | ) | (715 | ) | (971 | ) | (713 | ) | (542 | ) | (873 | ) | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net profit
|
2,664 | 2,132 | 2,950 | 1,934 | 1,527 | 2,335 | ||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Attributable to:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Non-controlling interests
|
67 | 60 | 16 | 287 | 229 | 242 | ||||||||||||||||||
Shareholders equity
|
2,597 | 2,072 | 2,934 | 1,647 | 1,298 | 2,093 | ||||||||||||||||||
24 Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010
million | million | million | million | |||||||||||||||||||||
NV | NV | PLC | PLC | |||||||||||||||||||||
Balance sheet as at 31 December | 2010 | 2009 | 2010 | 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Goodwill and intangible assets
|
10,691 | 10,984 | 7,587 | 6,063 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Property, plant and equipment
|
3,732 | 3,365 | 4,122 | 3,279 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Pension asset for funded schemes in surplus
|
809 | 700 | 101 | 59 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Deferred tax assets
|
433 | 435 | 174 | 303 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Other non-current assets
|
617 | 572 | 417 | 445 | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total non-current assets
|
16,282 | 16,056 | 12,401 | 10,149 | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Inventories
|
2,614 | 2,133 | 1,695 | 1,445 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Trade and other current receivables
|
2,318 | 1,931 | 1,817 | 1,498 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents
|
1,469 | 2,004 | 847 | 638 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Other financial assets
|
574 | 844 | 274 | 301 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Assets held for sale
|
800 | 10 | 76 | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total current assets
|
7,775 | 6,922 | 4,709 | 3,889 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Financial liabilities
|
(1,793 | ) | (1,472 | ) | (483 | ) | (807 | ) | ||||||||||||||||
Trade payables and other current liabilities
|
(6,398 | ) | (5,358 | ) | (4,467 | ) | (3,542 | ) | ||||||||||||||||
Provisions
|
(258 | ) | (262 | ) | (150 | ) | (158 | ) | ||||||||||||||||
Liabilities associated with assets held for sale
|
(57 | ) | | | | |||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total current liabilities
|
(8,506 | ) | (7,092 | ) | (5,100 | ) | (4,507 | ) | ||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net current assets/(liabilities)
|
(731 | ) | (170 | ) | (391 | ) | (618 | ) | ||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total assets less current liabilities
|
15,551 | 15,886 | 12,010 | 9,531 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Financial liabilities due after one year
|
5,035 | 5,532 | 2,223 | 2,160 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Pensions and post-retirement healthcare liabilities
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Funded schemes in deficit
|
603 | 635 | 478 | 884 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Unfunded schemes
|
1,023 | 902 | 876 | 920 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Provisions
|
591 | 510 | 295 | 219 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Deferred tax liabilities
|
745 | 671 | 135 | 93 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Other non-current liabilities
|
276 | 185 | 203 | 170 | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Non-current liabilities
|
8,273 | 8,435 | 4,210 | 4,446 | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Intra-group
- NV/PLC
|
(9,141 | ) | (5,727 | ) | 9,141 | 5,727 | ||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shareholders equity
|
16,357 | 13,128 | (1,872 | ) | (1,063 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||
Non-controlling interests
|
62 | 50 | 531 | 421 | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total equity
|
16,419 | 13,178 | (1,341 | ) | (642 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total capital employed
|
15,551 | 15,886 | 12,010 | 9,531 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010 25
million | million | million | million | million | million | million | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Unilever | Unilever | Unilever | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Capital | N.V. | United | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Corporation | parent | Unilever PLC | States Inc. | Non- | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Income statement | subsidiary | issuer/ | parent | subsidiary | guarantor | Unilever | ||||||||||||||||||||||
for the year ended 31 December 2010 | issuer | guarantor | guarantor | guarantor | subsidiaries | Eliminations | Group | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turnover
|
| | | | 44,262 | | 44,262 | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Operating profit
|
| 342 | (62 | ) | (21 | ) | 6,080 | | 6,339 | |||||||||||||||||||
Finance income
|
| | | | 77 | | 77 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Finance costs
|
(182 | ) | (143 | ) | (40 | ) | | (126 | ) | | (491 | ) | ||||||||||||||||
Pensions and similar obligations
|
| (5 | ) | | (24 | ) | 49 | | 20 | |||||||||||||||||||
Inter-company finance costs
|
184 | 97 | (26 | ) | (10 | ) | (245 | ) | | | ||||||||||||||||||
Dividends
|
| 1,098 | 1,187 | | (2,285 | ) | | | ||||||||||||||||||||
Share of net profit/(loss) of joint ventures
|
| | | | 120 | | 120 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Share of net profit/(loss) of associates
|
| | | | (9 | ) | | (9 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
Other income from non-current investments
|
| | | | 76 | | 76 | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Profit before taxation
|
2 | 1,389 | 1,059 | (55 | ) | 3,737 | | 6,132 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Taxation
|
(1 | ) | (91 | ) | 8 | 434 | (1,884 | ) | | (1,534 | ) | |||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net profit
|
1 | 1,298 | 1,067 | 379 | 1,853 | | 4,598 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Equity earnings of subsidiaries
|
| 3,300 | 3,531 | 96 | | (6,927 | ) | | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net profit
|
1 | 4,598 | 4,598 | 475 | 1,853 | (6,927 | ) | 4,598 | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Attributable to:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Non-controlling interests
|
| | | | 354 | | 354 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Shareholders equity
|
1 | 4,598 | 4,598 | 475 | 1,499 | (6,927 | ) | 4,244 | ||||||||||||||||||||
26 Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010
Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010 27
million | million | million | million | million | million | million | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Unilever | Unilever | Unilever | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Capital | N.V. | United | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Corporation | parent | Unilever PLC | States Inc. | Non- | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
subsidiary | issuer/ | parent | subsidiary | guarantor | Unilever | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance sheet at 31 December 2010 | issuer | guarantor | guarantor | guarantor | subsidiaries | Eliminations | Group | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Goodwill and intangible assets
|
| 40 | 80 | | 18,158 | | 18,278 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Property, plant and equipment
|
| | | | 7,854 | | 7,854 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Pension asset for funded schemes in surplus
|
| 6 | | 14 | 890 | | 910 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Deferred tax assets
|
| | | 383 | 224 | | 607 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Other non-current assets
|
| | | | 1,034 | | 1,034 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Amounts due from Group companies after one year
|
2,382 | 3,912 | | | (6,294 | ) | | | ||||||||||||||||||||
Net assets of subsidiaries (equity accounted)
|
| 34,216 | 19,255 | 11,662 | (15,939 | ) | (49,194 | ) | | |||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total non-current assets
|
2,382 | 38,174 | 19,335 | 12,059 | 5,927 | (49,194 | ) | 28,683 | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Inventories
|
| | | | 4,309 | | 4,309 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Amounts due from Group companies within one year
|
| 1,834 | 661 | 1,968 | (4,463 | ) | | | ||||||||||||||||||||
Trade and other current receivables
|
| 69 | | 6 | 4,060 | | 4,135 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Current tax assets
|
| 184 | 29 | 77 | 8 | | 298 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Other financial assets
|
| | | | 550 | | 550 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents
|
| | | (3 | ) | 2,319 | | 2,316 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Assets held for sale
|
| | | | 876 | | 876 | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total current assets
|
| 2,087 | 690 | 2,048 | 7,659 | | 12,484 | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Financial liabilities
|
(224 | ) | (558 | ) | (2 | ) | | (1,492 | ) | | (2,276 | ) | ||||||||||||||||
Amounts due to Group companies within one year
|
| (17,042 | ) | (4,496 | ) | (13 | ) | 21,551 | | | ||||||||||||||||||
Trade payables and other current liabilities
|
(24 | ) | (150 | ) | (21 | ) | (16 | ) | (10,015 | ) | | (10,226 | ) | |||||||||||||||
Current tax liabilities
|
(1 | ) | (173 | ) | (93 | ) | (6 | ) | (366 | ) | | (639 | ) | |||||||||||||||
Provisions
|
| (78 | ) | (48 | ) | | (282 | ) | | (408 | ) | |||||||||||||||||
Liabilities directly associated with non-current assets held for sale
|
| | | | (57 | ) | | (57 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total current liabilities
|
(249 | ) | (18,001 | ) | (4,660 | ) | (35 | ) | 9,339 | | (13,606 | ) | ||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net current assets/liabilities
|
(249 | ) | (15,914 | ) | (3,970 | ) | 2,013 | 16,998 | | (1,122 | ) | |||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total assets less current liabilities
|
2,133 | 22,260 | 15,365 | 14,072 | 22,925 | (49,194 | ) | 27,561 | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Financial liabilities due after one year
|
1,853 | 3,235 | 864 | | 1,306 | | 7,258 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Amounts due to Group companies after one year
|
| 4,407 | | 5,062 | (9,469 | ) | | | ||||||||||||||||||||
Pensions and post-retirement healthcare liabilities
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Funded schemes in deficit
|
| | | | 1,081 | | 1,081 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Unfunded schemes
|
| 95 | | 610 | 1,194 | | 1,899 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Provisions
|
| 21 | | 2 | 863 | | 886 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Deferred tax liabilities
|
| 13 | 16 | | 851 | | 880 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Other non-current liabilities
|
| 4 | | 119 | 356 | | 479 | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total non-current liabilities
|
1,853 | 7,775 | 880 | 5,793 | (3,818 | ) | | 12,483 | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shareholders equity attributed to:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NV
|
| | 16,357 | | | (16,357 | ) | | ||||||||||||||||||||
PLC
|
| (1,872 | ) | | | | 1,872 | | ||||||||||||||||||||
Called up share capital
|
| 274 | 210 | | | | 484 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Share premium account
|
| 25 | 109 | 106 | (106 | ) | | 134 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Other reserves
|
6 | (2,787 | ) | (2,619 | ) | (619 | ) | (981 | ) | 1,594 | (5,406 | ) | ||||||||||||||||
Retained profit
|
274 | 18,845 | 428 | 8,792 | 27,237 | (36,303 | ) | 19,273 | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total shareholders equity
|
280 | 14,485 | 14,485 | 8,279 | 26,150 | (49,194 | ) | 14,485 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Non-controlling interests
|
| | | | 593 | | 593 | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total equity
|
280 | 14,485 | 14,485 | 8,279 | 26,743 | (49,194 | ) | 15,078 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Total capital employed
|
2,133 | 22,260 | 15,365 | 14,072 | 22,925 | (49,194 | ) | 27,561 | ||||||||||||||||||||
28 Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010
million | million | million | million | million | million | million | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Unilever | Unilever | Unilever | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Capital | N.V. | United | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Corporation | parent | Unilever PLC | States Inc. | Non- | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
subsidiary | issuer/ | parent | subsidiary | guarantor | Unilever | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance sheet at 31 December 2009 | issuer | guarantor | guarantor | guarantor | subsidiaries | Eliminations | Group | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Goodwill and intangible assets
|
| 44 | 26 | | 16,977 | | 17,047 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Property, plant and equipment
|
| | | | 6,644 | | 6,644 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Pension asset for funded schemes in surplus
|
| | | 35 | 724 | | 759 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Deferred tax assets
|
| | | 495 | 243 | | 738 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Other non-current assets
|
| | | 13 | 1,004 | | 1,017 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Amounts due from Group companies after one year
|
3,264 | 3,242 | | | (6,506 | ) | | | ||||||||||||||||||||
Net assets of subsidiaries (equity accounted)
|
| 30,824 | 16,709 | 11,017 | (33,116 | ) | (25,434 | ) | | |||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total non-current assets
|
3,264 | 34,110 | 16,735 | 11,560 | (14,030 | ) | (25,434 | ) | 26,205 | |||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Inventories
|
| | | | 3,578 | | 3,578 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Amounts due from Group companies within one year
|
| 1,668 | 421 | 2,015 | (4,104 | ) | | | ||||||||||||||||||||
Trade and other current receivables
|
| 44 | 1 | 10 | 3,374 | | 3,429 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Current tax assets
|
| 28 | | 26 | 119 | | 173 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Other financial assets
|
| | | | 972 | | 972 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents
|
| 14 | | (3 | ) | 2,631 | | 2,642 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Assets held for sale
|
| | | | 17 | | 17 | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total current assets
|
| 1,754 | 422 | 2,048 | 6,587 | | 10,811 | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Financial liabilities
|
(1,229 | ) | (33 | ) | | | (1,017 | ) | | (2,279 | ) | |||||||||||||||||
Amounts due to Group companies within one year
|
(6 | ) | (16,939 | ) | (4,157 | ) | | 21,102 | | | ||||||||||||||||||
Trade payables and other current liabilities
|
(37 | ) | (176 | ) | (13 | ) | (24 | ) | (8,163 | ) | | (8,413 | ) | |||||||||||||||
Current tax liabilities
|
(1 | ) | (15 | ) | (69 | ) | (4 | ) | (398 | ) | | (487 | ) | |||||||||||||||
Provisions
|
| | | (420 | ) | | (420 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total current liabilities
|
(1,273 | ) | (17,163 | ) | (4,239 | ) | (28 | ) | 11,104 | | (11,599 | ) | ||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net current assets/(liabilities)
|
(1,273 | ) | (15,409 | ) | (3,817 | ) | 2,020 | 17,691 | | (788 | ) | |||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total assets less current liabilities
|
1,991 | 18,701 | 12,918 | 13,580 | 3,661 | (25,434 | ) | 25,417 | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Financial liabilities due after one year
|
1,728 | 3,213 | 838 | | 1,913 | | 7,692 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Amounts due to Group companies after one year
|
| 3,299 | | 3,256 | (6,555 | ) | | | ||||||||||||||||||||
Pensions and post-retirement healthcare liabilities
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Funded schemes in deficit
|
| | | | 1,519 | | 1,519 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Unfunded schemes
|
| 90 | | 620 | 1,112 | | 1,822 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Provisions
|
| 15 | | 2 | 712 | | 729 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Deferred tax liabilities
|
| 16 | 15 | | 733 | | 764 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Other non-current liabilities
|
| 3 | | 84 | 268 | | 355 | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total non-current liabilities
|
1,728 | 6,636 | 853 | 3,962 | (298 | ) | | 12,881 | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shareholders equity attributed to:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NV
|
| | 13,128 | | | (13,128 | ) | | ||||||||||||||||||||
PLC
|
| (1,063 | ) | | | | 1,063 | | ||||||||||||||||||||
Called up share capital
|
| 274 | 210 | | | | 484 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Share premium account
|
| 25 | 106 | 97 | (97 | ) | | 131 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Other reserves
|
(9 | ) | (3,629 | ) | (2,271 | ) | 936 | (1,966 | ) | 1,039 | (5,900 | ) | ||||||||||||||||
Retained profit
|
272 | 16,458 | 892 | 8,585 | 5,551 | (14,408 | ) | 17,350 | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total shareholders equity
|
263 | 12,065 | 12,065 | 9,618 | 3,488 | (25,434 | ) | 12,065 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Non-controlling interests
|
| | | | 471 | | 471 | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total equity
|
263 | 12,065 | 12,065 | 9,618 | 3,959 | (25,434 | ) | 12,536 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Total capital employed
|
1,991 | 18,701 | 12,918 | 13,580 | 3,661 | (25,434 | ) | 25,417 | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010 29
30 Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010
million | million | million | million | million | million | million | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Unilever | Unilever | Unilever | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Capital | N.V. | United | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Corporation | parent | Unilever PLC | States Inc. | Non- | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cash flow statement | subsidiary | issuer/ | parent | subsidiary | guarantor | Unilever | ||||||||||||||||||||||
for the year ended 31 December 2008 | issuer | guarantor | guarantor | guarantor | subsidiaries | Eliminations | Group | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cash flow from operating activities
|
| 73 | (527 | ) | 568 | 5,212 | | 5,326 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Income tax
|
| (10 | ) | (162 | ) | (533 | ) | (750 | ) | | (1,455 | ) | ||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net cash flow from operating activities
|
| 63 | (689 | ) | 35 | 4,462 | | 3,871 | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Interest received
|
196 | 3 | 31 | | 151 | (276 | ) | 105 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Net capital expenditure
|
| (2 | ) | | 2 | (1,099 | ) | | (1,099 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||
Acquisitions and disposals
|
| | | | 2,265 | | 2,265 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Other investing activities
|
| (675 | ) | (2,665 | ) | | 843 | 2,641 | 144 | |||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net cash flow from/(used in) investing activities
|
196 | (674 | ) | (2,634 | ) | 2 | 2,160 | 2,365 | 1,415 | |||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dividends paid on ordinary share capital
|
| 297 | 271 | | (2,654 | ) | | (2,086 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
Interest and preference dividends paid
|
(166 | ) | (111 | ) | | (4 | ) | (482 | ) | 276 | (487 | ) | ||||||||||||||||
Change in borrowings and finance leases
|
(34 | ) | 1,490 | 3,315 | | (1,080 | ) | (2,641 | ) | 1,050 | ||||||||||||||||||
Share buy-back programme
|
| (1,225 | ) | (278 | ) | | | | (1,503 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||
Other movement in treasury stocks
|
| 165 | 15 | (40 | ) | (37 | ) | | 103 | |||||||||||||||||||
Other finance activities
|
| | | | (207 | ) | | (207 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net cash flow from/(used in) financing activities
|
(200 | ) | 616 | 3,323 | (44 | ) | (4,460 | ) | (2,365 | ) | (3,130 | ) | ||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net increase/(decrease) in cash and
cash equivalents |
(4 | ) | 5 | | (7 | ) | 2,162 | | 2,156 | |||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning
of the year |
1 | 2 | | (2 | ) | 900 | | 901 | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes
|
| | | 5 | (702 | ) | | (697 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year
|
(3 | ) | 7 | | (4 | ) | 2,360 | | 2,360 | |||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Unilever Annual Report on Form 20-F 2010 31
(Registrant)
/s/ T. E. Lovell
T. E. LOVELL,
Group Secretary
Table of Contents
2010 20-F Exhibits
UNILEVER PLC 20-F EXHIBIT LIST
Exhibit Number
Description of Exhibit
Articles of Association of Unilever PLC
Indenture dated as of August 1, 2000, among Unilever Capital Corporation, Unilever N.V., Unilever PLC, Unilever United States, Inc. and The Bank of
New York, as Trustee, relating to Guaranteed Debt Securities 1
Trust Deed dated as of July 22, 1994, among Unilever N.V., Unilever PLC, Unilever Capital Corporation, Unilever United States, Inc. and The Law
Debenture Trust Corporation p.l.c., relating to Guaranteed Debt Securities 2
Equalisation Agreement between Unilever N.V. and Unilever PLC 3
Service Contracts of the Executive Directors of Unilever PLC
Letters regarding compensation of Executive Directors of Unilever PLC
Unilever North America 2002 Omnibus Equity Compensation Plan 4
The Unilever PLC International 1997 Executive Share Option Scheme 5
The Unilever Long Term Incentive Plan 6
Global Share Incentive Plan 2007 7
The Management Co-Investment Plan
List of Subsidiaries 8
Certifications of the Chief Executive Officer and Financial Director/Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
Certifications of the Chief Executive Officer and Financial Director/Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
Annual Report and Accounts sections incorporated by reference
Consent of PricewaterhouseCoopers Accountants N.V. and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
1
Incorporated by reference to the Form 6-K furnished to the SEC on October 23, 2000.
2
Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 2.2 of Form 20-F filed with the SEC on March 28, 2002.
3
Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 of Form 20-F filed with the SEC on March 5, 2010.
4
Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 99.1 of Form S-8 filed with the SEC on February 27, 2003.
5
Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.5 of Form 20-F filed with the SEC on March 28, 2002.
6
Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.6 of Form 20-F filed with the SEC on March 28, 2002.
7
Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.7 of Form 20-F filed with the SEC on March 26, 2008.
8
The required information is set forth on pages 126 to 127 of the 2010 Annual Report and Accounts.
Company No. 41424
Articles of Association and Special and other Resolutions of Unilever PLC (incorporated 21 June 1894) |
12 May 2010
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Creating a better future every day |
Page
CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION
4
OF LEVER BROTHERS, LIMITED
CERTIFICATE OF CHANGE OF NAME
5
TO LEVER BROTHERS & UNILEVER LIMITED
CERTIFICATE OF CHANGE OF NAME
6
TO UNILEVER LIMITED
CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION
7
AS A PUBLIC COMPANY
ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION
8
Article
Interpretation
Exclusion of Model Articles
8
Definitions
8
Agreement for Distribution of Profits and Assets
Agreement with Unilever N.V.
9
Limited Liability
Limited liability
9
Share Capital
Rights attached to shares
9
Redemption of shares
9
Trusts not recognised
9
Allotment of shares
9
Payment of commission
9
Repayment of capital in a winding-up
9
Modification of rights
9
Evidence of Title to Shares
Uncertificated shares
10
Certificated shares
11
Replacement of certificates
11
Execution of share certificates
11
Lien
Company's lien on shares not fully paid
11
Enforcing lien by sale
11
Validity of sales
11
Application of proceeds of sale
11
Calls on Shares
Calls
11
Payment on calls
12
Liability of joint holders
12
Interest due on non-payment
12
Sums due on allotment to be treated as calls
12
Power to differentiate
12
Payment of calls in advance
12
Forfeiture of Shares
Notice may be given if call or instalment not paid
12
Form of notice
12
Forfeiture of shares if non-compliance with notice
12
Notice after forfeiture
12
Sale of forfeited shares
12
Arrears to be paid notwithstanding forfeiture
12
Effect of forfeiture
12
Statutory declaration as to forfeiture
13
Page
Transfer of Shares
Transfer
13
Execution of transfer
13
Right to decline to register transfer of partly
13
paid shares
Further rights to decline to register transfer
13
Notice of refusal
13
No fee payable on registration
13
Transmission of Shares
Transmission of registered shares on death
13
Entry of transmission in register
13
Election of person entitled by transmission
14
Rights of person entitled by transmission
14
Conversion of Shares into Stock
Conversion of shares into stock
14
Rights of stockholders
14
Share Warrants to Bearer
Issue of share warrants
14
Bearer of warrants deemed a member
14
of the Company
Restrictions on attending and voting at meetings
14
One name only to be received as holder
15
of share warrant
Issue of deposit certificate in respect
15
of share warrants
Surrender of deposit certificate
15
Restriction on exercise of rights of membership
15
Issue of new share warrants
15
Transfer of share warrants
15
Issue of shares on surrender of share warrants
15
Untraced Shareholders
Sale of shares of untraced shareholders
15
Cessation of sending dividend payments
16
Alteration of Capital
Sub-division
16
Fractions
16
General Meetings
Insufficient Directors within the United Kingdom
16
Notice of General Meetings
Omission or non-receipt of notice
16
Proceedings at General Meetings
Quorum
16
Dissolution and adjournment of meeting
if quorum not present
16
Chairman of general meeting
17
Entitlement to attend and speak
17
Adjournments and notice of adjournment
17
Amendments to resolutions
17
Security and other arrangements at general meetings
17
Page
Voting
Method of voting
18
Effect of properly demanded poll
18
When poll to be taken
18
Continuance of business after demand for poll
18
Voting rights
18
Voting rights of joint holders
18
Exercise of voting rights for incapable member
18
No right to vote where sums still payable
18
Suspension of rights where non-disclosure of interest
18
Objections
20
Proxies
Appointment of proxies
20
Receipt of proxies
20
Maximum validity of proxy
21
Form of proxy
21
Determination of authority
21
Appointment, Retirement and Removal
of Directors
Number of Directors
21
Shareholding qualification
21
Power for Directors to fill casual vacancies or
appoint additional Directors
21
Retirement of Directors
21
Meeting to fill up vacancies
21
Persons eligible as Directors
21
Provisions if no eligible persons available
21
Provisions if insufficient eligible persons elected
22
Power to remove Director by special resolution
22
Disqualification of Directors
22
Alternate Directors
22
Executive Directors
22
Non-Executive Directors
23
Remuneration and Expenses of Directors
Directors remuneration
23
Extra remuneration
23
Expenses
23
Directors Interests
Conflicts of interest requiring board authorisation
23
Other conflicts of interest
23
Benefits
24
Quorum and voting requirements
24
General
25
Powers and Duties of the Directors
General powers of Company vested in Directors
25
Establishment of local boards
25
Powers of attorney
25
Delegation to individual Directors
26
Registers
26
Power to borrow money and give security
26
Pensions
27
Provision for employees
27
Page
Proceedings of the Directors
Meetings of Directors
27
Notice of meetings
27
Quorum
27
Effect of vacancies in number of Directors
27
Power to appoint chairman
27
Competence of meetings
27
Voting
27
Delegation to committees
27
Delegation to Chief Executive Officer
28
Participation in meetings by telephone
28
Resolution in writing
28
Validity of acts of Directors or committee
28
Minutes to be made
28
Seals
Use of seals
28
Dividends and Other Payments
Application of profits
28
Declaration of dividends
29
Interim dividends
29
Dividends to be paid according to amounts paid
29
up on shares
Debts may be deducted
29
Dividend not to bear interest against the Company
29
Payment procedures
29
Unclaimed dividends
29
Dividends in specie
29
Capitalisation of Profits
Power to capitalise profits
29
Scrip Dividends
30
Settlement of difficulties in distribution on
30
capitalisation of profits
Record Dates and Accounting Records
Record dates
30
Inspection of records
31
Service of Notices and Other Documents
Service of notices
31
Members resident abroad
31
When notice deemed served
31
Service of notice to person entitled by transmission
31
Notice when post not available and notice given
32
by advertisement
Destruction of Documents
Consequences of destruction of documents
32
Winding-Up
Order of priority in winding-up
32
Indemnity
Indemnification of Directors
32
Unilever PLC
Articles of Association 2010
|
1 |
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34
35
36
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37
38
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46
47
49
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50
51
52
53
55
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Unilever PLC Articles of Association 2010 |
Page
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67
68
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Unilever PLC
Articles of Association 2010
|
3 |
No. 41424 C | N.L. 40439 |
4
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Unilever PLC Articles of Association 2010 |
Unilever PLC
Articles of Association 2010
|
5 |
6
|
Unilever PLC Articles of Association 2010 |
Unilever PLC
Articles of Association 2010
|
7 |
1 | No articles set out in any statute, or in any statutory instrument made under any statute, concerning companies shall apply as articles of the Company. |
2 | In these articles unless the context otherwise requires:- | |
address, includes a number or address used for sending or receiving documents or information by electronic means; | ||
these articles means these articles of association as altered from time to time by special resolution and the expression this article shall be construed accordingly; | ||
the auditors means the auditors for the time being of the Company or, in the case of joint auditors, any one of them; | ||
the Bank of England base rate means the base lending rate most recently set by the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England in connection with its responsibilities under Part 2 of the Bank of England Act 1998; | ||
certificated share means a share which is not an uncertificated share; | ||
clear days in relation to the period of a notice means that period excluding the day when the notice is served or deemed to be served and the day for which it is given or on which it is to take effect; | ||
the Companies Acts means every statute (including any order, regulations or other subordinated legislation made under it) from time to time in force concerning companies in so far as the same applies to the Company; | ||
Company means Unilever PLC; | ||
the Directors means the Board of Directors of the Company for the time being; | ||
the holder in relation to any shares means the member whose name is entered in the register as the holder of those shares; | ||
the office means the registered office for the time being of the Company; |
paid up means paid up or credited as paid up; | ||
participating class means a class of shares title to which is permitted by an Operator to be transferred by means of a relevant system; | ||
person entitled by transmission means a person whose entitlement to a share in consequence of the death or bankruptcy of a member or of any other event giving rise to its transmission by operation of law has been noted in the register; | ||
the register means the register of members of the Company; | ||
seal means any common or official seal that the Company may be permitted to have under the Companies Acts; | ||
the Secretary means the secretary, or (if there are joint secretaries) any one of the joint secretaries, of the Company and includes an assistant or deputy secretary and any person appointed by the Directors to perform any of the duties of the secretary; | ||
shares includes stock; | ||
uncertificated share means a share of a class which is for the time being a participating class, title to which is recorded on the register as being held in uncertificated form; | ||
the uncertificated securities rules means provisions of the Companies Acts relating to the holding, evidencing of title to, or transfer of uncertificated shares and any legislation, rules or other arrangements made under or by virtue of such provision; | ||
Unilever N.V. means Unilever N.V. of Rotterdam in the Netherlands (company number 24051830) or any company which is inserted as a holding company and parent of Unilever N.V. under any form of corporate reconstruction or reorganisation and which becomes a party to the Equalisation Agreement referred to in article 3; | ||
United Kingdom means Great Britain and Northern Ireland; | ||
references to a document being executed include references to its being executed under hand or under seal or by any other method except authentication as specified by the Companies Acts; |
references to a document being signed or to signature include references to it being executed under hand or under seal or by any other method and, in the case of a communication in electronic form, such references are to its being authenticated as specified by the Companies Acts; | ||
references to writing include references to any method of representing or reproducing words in a legible and non-transitory form whether sent or supplied in electronic form or otherwise and written shall be construed accordingly; | ||
words or expressions to which a particular meaning is given by the Companies Acts or the uncertificated securities rules in force when these articles or any part of these articles are adopted bear the same meaning in these articles or that part (as the case may be) save that the word company shall include any body corporate; references to a meeting shall not be taken as requiring more than one person to be present if any quorum requirement can be satisfied by one person; and headings and notes are included only for convenience and shall not affect construction. |
3 | The Company having entered into an Agreement dated 28th June, 1946 (as amended by Supplemental Agreements dated 20th July, 1951, 21st December, 1981, 15th May, 2006 and 20th May, 2009) with Unilever N.V. of the Netherlands known as the Equalisation Agreement for the distribution of profits and assets of both companies the Directors shall carry the same into effect, with full power nevertheless from time to time, subject to the sanctions hereinafter mentioned, to agree to any modification of the terms of the said Agreement and the provisions of these articles shall be subject to the said Agreement. No modification of the terms of the said Agreement shall be made without the previous sanction of: | |
(A) an ordinary resolution of the Company in general meeting; and | ||
(B) an ordinary resolution passed at a separate general meeting of the holders of the Ordinary Shares, | ||
and the provisions of article 11 shall apply to the separate general meeting hereinbefore mentioned, except only that the quorum necessary for the said meeting shall be the holders of a majority in nominal value of the Ordinary Shares present in person or by proxy, but so that, if at any adjourned separate general meeting of the holders of the Ordinary Shares such quorum be not present, those holders who are present in person or by proxy shall be a quorum. |
4 | The liability of members of the Company is limited to the amount, if any, unpaid on the shares in the Company held by them. |
5 | Subject to the provisions of the Companies Act and to any rights conferred on the holders of any other shares, any share may be issued with or have attached to it such rights and restrictions as the Company may by ordinary resolution decide or, if no such resolution has been passed or so far as the resolution does not make specific provision, as the Directors may decide. Such rights and restrictions shall apply to the relevant shares as if the same were set out in these articles. |
6 | Subject to the provisions of the Companies Acts and to any rights conferred on the holders of any class of shares, any share may be issued which is to be redeemed, or is to be liable to be redeemed at the option of the Company or the holder. The Directors may determine the terms, conditions and manner of redemption of any redeemable share so issued. Such terms and conditions shall apply to the relevant shares as if the same were set out in these articles. |
7 | Except as ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction or as required by law, no person shall be recognised by the Company as holding any share upon any trust and the Company shall not be bound by or required in any way to recognise (even when having notice of it) any interest in any share other than an absolute right to the whole of the share in the holder. |
8 | Subject to the provisions of the Companies Acts these articles and to any resolution passed by the Company and without prejudice to any rights attaching to existing shares, the Directors may offer, allot, grant options over or otherwise deal with or dispose of shares in the Company to such persons, at such times and for such consideration and upon such terms as the Directors may decide. |
9 | The Company may in connection with the issue of any shares or the sale for cash of treasury shares exercise all powers of paying commission and brokerage conferred or permitted by the Companies Acts. Any such commission or brokerage may be satisfied by the payment of cash or by the allotment of fully or partly-paid shares or other securities or partly in one way and partly in the other. |
10 | The Deferred Shares shall confer on the holders thereof the right in a winding-up to repayment of the capital paid up or credited as paid up thereon pari passu with the Ordinary Shares but shall not confer any further right to participation in the surplus assets of the Company. |
11 | (A) So long as the capital is divided into different classes of shares, but subject to the Companies Acts, all or any of the rights and privileges attached to each class may from time to time be modified or abrogated in any manner with the consent in writing |
of the holders of three-fourths of the issued shares of that class (excluding any shares of that class held as treasury shares) or with the sanction of a special resolution passed at a separate general meeting of the holders of shares of the class. To any such general meeting all the provisions of these articles as to general meetings of the Company shall mutatis mutandis apply but so that the necessary quorum shall be two persons at least holding or representing by proxy one-third of the capital paid up on the issued shares of the class (excluding any shares of that class held as treasury shares), that every holder of shares of the class shall be entitled on a poll to one vote for every such share held by him, that every holder of shares of the class present in person or by proxy may demand a poll and that if at any adjourned meeting a quorum as above defined be not present those of such holders who are present in person or by proxy shall be a quorum. | ||
(B) Any increase in the number of Deferred Shares shall be deemed to be an alteration of the rights and privileges attaching to the Deferred Shares. | ||
(C) Any alteration of the rights set out in article 90 shall be treated as a variation of the class rights of the holders of the Deferred Shares provided, however, that an alteration to such rights may be effected (without any such consent or sanction as aforesaid) by a resolution passed at a general meeting of the Company by a majority consisting of not less than two-thirds of such members as being entitled to vote at such meeting in person or by proxy, such majority comprising the holders of not less than one-half in nominal value of the entire issued share capital for the time being of the Company (but excluding any shares held as treasury shares) and being computed by reference to the number of votes to which each member is entitled by virtue of these articles. | ||
(D) Subject as aforesaid the rights and privileges attached to any class shall for the purposes of this article not be deemed to be modified unless the modification prejudicially affects such rights or privileges |
12 | (A) Pursuant and subject to the uncertificated securities rules, the Directors may permit title to shares of any class to be evidenced otherwise than by a certificate and title to shares of such a class to be transferred by means of a relevant system and may make arrangements for a class of shares (if all shares of that class are in all respects identical) to become a participating class. Title to shares of a particular class may only be evidenced otherwise than by a certificate where that class of shares is for the time being a participating class. The Directors may also, subject to compliance with the uncertificated securities rules, determine at any time that title to any class of shares may from a date specified by the Directors no longer be evidenced otherwise than by a certificate or that title to such a class shall cease to be transferred by means of any particular relevant system. |
(F) Unless the Directors otherwise determine or the uncertificated securities rules otherwise require, any shares issued or created out of or in respect of any uncertificated shares shall be uncertificated shares and any shares issued or created out of or in respect of any certificated shares shall be certificated shares. | ||
(G) The Company shall be entitled to assume that the entries on any record of securities maintained by it in accordance with the uncertificated securities rules and regularly reconciled with the relevant Operator register of securities are a complete and accurate reproduction of the particulars entered in the Operator register of securities and shall accordingly not be liable in respect of any act or thing done or omitted to be done by or on behalf of the Company in reliance on such assumption; in particular, any provision of these articles which requires or envisages that action will be taken in reliance on information contained in the register shall be construed to permit that action to be taken in reliance on information contained in any relevant record of securities (as so maintained and reconciled). |
13 | Subject to the provisions of the uncertificated securities rules, the rules of any relevant system and these articles, every person (except a person to whom the Company is not by law required to issue a certificate) whose name is entered in the register as a holder of any certificated shares shall be entitled, without payment, to receive within two months after allotment or lodgment of a transfer to him of the shares or within two months after the relevant Operator-instruction is received by the Company (or within such other period as the terms of issue shall provide) one certificate for all the shares of any one class or several certificates each for one or more of the shares of the class in question upon payment for every certificate after the first of such reasonable out-of-pocket expenses as the Directors may from time to time decide. In the case of a certificated share held jointly by several persons, delivery of a certificate to one of several joint holders shall be sufficient delivery to all. A member who has transferred some of the shares comprised in his holding shall be entitled to a certificate for the balance without charge. |
14 | If a share certificate is defaced, worn out, lost or destroyed, it may be replaced without fee but on such terms (if any) as to evidence and indemnity and to payment of the costs and any exceptional out-of-pocket expenses of the Company in investigating the evidence and preparing the indemnity as the Directors may decide and, where it is defaced or worn out, after delivery of the old certificate to the Company. |
15 | Every share certificate shall be executed under a seal or in such other manner as the Directors having regard to the terms of issue and any listing requirements may authorise and shall specify the number and class of shares to which it relates and the amount or respective amounts paid up on the shares. The Directors may by resolution decide, either generally or in any particular case or cases, that any signatures on any share |
certificates need not be autographic but may be applied to the certificates by some mechanical means or may be printed on them or that the certificates need not be signed by any person. |
16 | The Company shall have a first and paramount lien on every share (not being a fully paid share) for all amounts payable to the Company (whether presently or not) in respect of that share. The Companys lien on a share shall extend to all distributions and other amounts payable in respect of it. The Directors may at any time either generally or in any particular case waive any lien that has arisen or declare any share to be wholly or in part exempt from the provisions of this article. |
17 | The Company may sell, in such manner as the Directors may decide, any shares on which the Company has a lien if a sum in respect of which the lien exists is presently payable and is not paid within 7 clear days after a notice in writing has been served on the holder of the shares, demanding payment and stating that if the notice is not complied with the shares may be sold. For giving effect to the sale the Directors may authorise some person to transfer the shares sold to or in accordance with the directions of the purchaser. |
18 | The transferee shall be registered as the holder of the shares and he shall not be bound to see to the application of the purchase money, nor shall his title to the shares be affected by any irregularity or invalidity in the proceedings relating to the sale. After his name has been registered the validity of the sale shall not be impeached by any person, and the remedy of any person aggrieved by the sale shall be in damages only and against the Company exclusively. |
19 | The net proceeds, after payment of the costs, of the sale by the Company of any shares on which it has a lien shall be applied in or towards payment or discharge of the debt or liability in respect of which the lien exists so far as it is presently payable, and any residue shall (subject to a like lien for debts or liabilities not presently payable as existed upon the shares prior to the sale and upon surrender, if required by the Company, for cancellation of the certificate for the shares sold) be paid to the holder immediately before the sale. |
20 | The Directors may from time to time make calls upon the members in respect of any moneys unpaid on their shares (whether on account of the nominal amount of the shares or by way of premium) and not payable on a date fixed by or in accordance with the terms of issue, and each member shall (subject to the Company serving upon him at least fourteen clear days notice specifying the time or times and place of payment) |
pay to the Company at the time or times and place so specified the amount called on his shares. A call may be revoked or postponed as the Directors may decide. A person upon whom a call is made shall remain liable for the call notwithstanding the subsequent transfer of the shares in respect of which the call was made. |
21 | A call may be made payable by instalments and shall be deemed to have been made at the time when the resolution of the Directors authorising the call was passed. |
22 | The joint holders of a share shall be jointly and severally liable to pay all calls in respect of the share. |
23 | If a call remains unpaid after it has become due and payable, the person from whom it is due and payable shall pay interest on the amount unpaid from the day it is due and payable to the time of actual payment at such rate (not exceeding the Bank of England base rate by more than five percentage points) as the Directors may decide, and all expenses that have been incurred by the Company by reason of such non-payment, but the Directors shall be at liberty in any case or cases to waive payment of the interest or expenses wholly or in part. |
24 | Any sum which becomes payable on allotment or on any other date fixed by or in accordance with the terms of issue, whether on account of the nominal amount of the share or by way of premium, shall be deemed to be a call made, notified and payable on the date on which, by the terms of issue, it becomes payable and, in case of non-payment, all the relevant provisions of these articles as to payment of interest, forfeiture or otherwise shall apply as if the sum had become payable by virtue of a call properly made and notified. |
25 | The Directors may on the issue of shares differentiate between the allottees or holders as to the amount of calls to be paid and the times of payment. |
26 | The Directors may, if they think fit, receive from any member who is willing to advance them all or any part of the moneys uncalled and unpaid upon any shares held by him and upon all or any of the moneys so advanced may (until they would, but for the advance, become presently payable) pay interest at such rate, (not exceeding the Bank of England base rate by more than five percentage points unless the Company by ordinary resolution shall otherwise direct) as the Directors may decide. |
27 | If any call or instalment of a call remains unpaid on any share after the day appointed for payment, the Directors may at any time serve a notice on the holder requiring payment of so much |
of the call or instalment as is unpaid, together with any interest which may have accrued, and all expenses that may have been incurred by the Company by reason of such non-payment. |
28 | The notice shall name a further day (not being less than fourteen clear days from the date of the notice) on or before which, and the place where, the payment required by the notice is to be made and shall state that in the event of non-payment on or before the day and at the place appointed, the shares in respect of which the call was made or instalment is payable will be liable to be forfeited. The Directors may accept the surrender of any share liable to be forfeited and, in that event, references in these articles to forfeiture shall include surrender. |
29 | If the requirements of the notice are not complied with, any share in respect of which it was given may, at any time before payment of all calls or instalments and interest due in respect of it has been made, be forfeited by a resolution of the Directors to that effect and the forfeiture shall include all dividends declared and other moneys payable in respect of the forfeited shares and not paid before the forfeiture. |
30 | When any share has been forfeited, notice of the forfeiture shall be served upon the person who was before forfeiture the holder of the share but no forfeiture shall be invalidated by any omission or neglect to give the notice. |
31 | Until cancelled in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Acts, a forfeited share shall be deemed to be the property of the Company and may be sold, re-allotted or otherwise disposed of either to the person who was, before forfeiture, the holder or to any other person upon such terms and in such manner as the Directors shall decide, and at any time before a sale, re-allotment or disposition the forfeiture may be cancelled by the Directors on such terms as the Directors may decide. |
32 | A person whose shares have been forfeited shall cease to be a member in respect of them and shall surrender to the Company for cancellation the certificate for the forfeited shares but shall remain liable to pay to the Company all moneys which at the date of the forfeiture were payable by him to the Company in respect of those shares with interest thereon at such rate (not exceeding the Bank of England base rate by more than five percentage points) as the Directors may decide from the date of forfeiture until payment, and the Company may enforce payment without being under any obligation to make any allowance for the value of the shares forfeited or for any consideration received on their disposal. |
33 | The forfeiture of a share shall involve the extinction of all interest in and also of all claims and demands against the Company in respect of the share and all other rights incident to the share, |
except only such of those rights as by these articles are expressly saved. |
34 | A statutory declaration that the declarant is a Director of the Company or the Secretary and that a share has been forfeited on a specified date shall be conclusive evidence of the facts stated in it as against all persons claiming to be entitled to the share. The Company may receive the consideration (if any) given for the share on its sale, re-allotment or disposition and the Directors may authorise some person to transfer the share to the person to whom it is sold, re-allotted or disposed of and, if the share is in registered form, he shall be registered as the holder of the share and shall not be bound to see to the application of the purchase money (if any) nor shall his title to the share be affected by any irregularity or invalidity in the proceedings relating to the forfeiture, sale, re-allotment or disposal. |
35 | Subject to such of the restrictions of these articles as may be applicable:- | |
(A) any member may transfer all or any of his uncertificated shares by means of a relevant system in such manner provided for, and subject as provided in the uncertificated securities rules, and accordingly no provision of these articles shall apply in respect of an uncertificated share to the extent that it requires or contemplates the effecting of a transfer by an instrument in writing or the production of a certificate for the share to be transferred; and | ||
(B) any member may transfer all or any of his certificated shares by an instrument of transfer in any usual form or in any other form which the Directors may approve. |
36 | The instrument of transfer of a certificated share shall be executed by or on behalf of the transferor and (in the case of a partly paid share) the transferee, and the transferor shall be deemed to remain the holder of the share concerned until the name of the transferee is entered in the register in respect of it. All instruments of transfer, when registered, may be retained by the Company. The transfer books may be closed during such time as the Directors think fit, not exceeding in the whole thirty days in each year. |
37 | The Directors can decline to register any transfer of any share which is not a fully paid share. |
38 | (A) Registration of a transfer of an uncertificated share can be declined in the circumstances set out in the uncertificated securities rules, and where, in the case of a transfer to joint holders, the number of joint holders to whom the uncertificated share is to be transferred exceeds four. |
(B) The Directors may decline to register any transfer of a certificated share unless:- | ||
(i) the instrument of transfer is duly stamped or duly certified or otherwise shown to the satisfaction of the Directors to be exempt from stamp duty and is left at the office or such other place as the Directors may from time to time determine accompanied (save in the case of a transfer by a person to whom the Company is not required by law to issue a certificate and to whom a certificate has not been issued) by the certificate for the share to which it relates and such other evidence as the Directors may reasonably require to show the right of the person signing the instrument of transfer to make the transfer and, if the instrument of transfer is signed by some other person on his behalf, the authority of that person so to do; | ||
(ii) the instrument of transfer is in respect of only one class of share; and | ||
(iii) in the case of a transfer to joint holders, the number of joint holders to whom the share is to be transferred does not exceed four. | ||
(C) For all purposes of these articles relating to the registration of transfers of shares, the renunciation of the allotment of any shares by the allottee in favour of some other person shall be deemed to be a transfer and the Directors shall have the same powers of refusing to give effect to such a renunciation as if it were a transfer. |
39 | If the Directors decline to register a transfer they shall, within two months after the date on which the instrument of transfer was lodged or, in the case of uncertificated shares, within two months after the date on which the relevant Operator-instruction is received, send to the transferee notice of the refusal. |
40 | No fee shall be charged by the Company for registering any transfer or document relating to or affecting the title to any share or for making any other entry in the register. |
41 | If a member dies, the survivor or survivors, where he was a joint holder, and his personal representatives, where he was a sole holder or the only survivor of joint holders, shall be the only persons recognised by the Company as having any title to his shares; but nothing contained in these articles shall release the estate of a deceased holder from any liability in respect of any share held by him solely or jointly with other persons. |
42 | Where the entitlement of a person to a share in consequence of the death or bankruptcy of a member or of any other event giving rise to its transmission by operation of law is proved to the satisfaction of the Directors, the Directors shall cause the entitlement of that person to be noted in the register. |
43 | Any person entitled by transmission to a share may, subject as provided elsewhere in these articles, elect either to become the holder of the share or to have some person nominated by him registered as the holder. If he elects to be registered himself, he shall give notice to the Company to that effect. If he elects to have another person registered, he shall transfer title to the share to that person. All the provisions of these articles relating to the transfer of shares shall apply to the notice or transfer as if the death or bankruptcy of the member or other event giving rise to the transmission had not occurred and the notice or transfer was given or executed by the member. |
44 | Where a person becomes entitled by transmission to a share, the rights of the holder in relation to that share shall cease, but the person entitled by transmission to the share may give a good discharge for any dividends or other moneys payable in respect of it and shall have the same rights in relation to the share as he would have had if he were the holder of it, provided that, in order to vote at any general meeting in respect thereof, he shall have satisfied the Directors of his entitlement 48 hours at least before the time of holding the meeting at which he proposes to vote, or the Directors have previously admitted his right to vote in respect thereof. The Directors may at any time give notice requiring the person to elect either to be registered himself or to transfer the share and if the notice is not complied with within sixty days the Directors may withhold payment of all dividends and other moneys payable in respect of the share until the requirements of the notice have been complied with or, where the share is fully paid up, may deem the person to have elected to be registered as a member in respect thereof and he may be registered accordingly. |
45 | The Company in general meeting may convert any paid-up shares (excluding any shares held as treasury shares) into stock and may reconvert any stock into paid-up shares of any denomination. When any shares have been converted into stock the several holders of such stock may thenceforth transfer their respective interests therein or any part of such interest in the same manner and subject to the same regulations and restrictions as and subject to which shares in the Companys capital may then be transferred or as near thereto as circumstances will admit. But the Directors may from time to time, if they think fit, fix the minimum amount of stock transferable, and direct that fractions of a pound shall not be dealt with, with power, nevertheless, at their discretion to waive such rules in any particular case. |
46 | The stock shall confer on the holders thereof respectively the same privileges and advantages as regards participation in profits and voting at meetings of the Company, and for other purposes as would have been conferred by shares of equal amount in the capital of the Company, of the same class as the |
shares from which such stock was converted, but so that none of such privileges or advantages except the participation in profits of the Company or in the assets of the Company on a winding-up shall be conferred by any such aliquot part of stock as would not, if existing in shares, have conferred such privileges or advantages. No such conversion shall prejudice or affect any preference or other special privilege attached to the shares so converted. Save as aforesaid all the provisions herein contained shall, so far as circumstances will admit, apply to stock as well as to shares. The stock resulting from the conversion of any class of shares into stock shall be described in the same manner as such class with the substitution of the word stock for shares. |
47 | No share warrants shall be issued in respect of any Deferred Shares of the Company, but subject to this provision the Company is hereby authorised to issue share warrants under the powers given by the Companies Acts, and the Directors may accordingly, with respect to any shares which are fully paid-up (in any case in which they shall in their discretion think fit so to do), upon an application in writing signed by the person registered as the holder of such shares and authenticated by such statutory declaration or other evidence (if any) as the Directors may from time to time require as to the identity of the person signing the request, and upon receiving the certificate (if any) of such shares, and the amount of the stamp duty on such warrant, or if the Company shall previously have compounded for such stamp duty, then such sum (if any) as the Directors may determine in respect of the amount payable for such composition, and such fee as the Directors may from time to time require, issue under a seal at the expense in all respects of the person applying for the same a warrant duly stamped stating that the bearer of the warrant is entitled to the shares therein specified, and may, in any case in which a warrant is so issued, provide by coupons or otherwise for the payment of the future dividends or other moneys on the shares included in such warrant. |
48 | Subject to the provisions of these articles and of the Companies Acts, the bearer of a warrant shall be deemed to be a member of the Company and shall be entitled to the same privileges and advantages as he would have had if his name had been included in the register as the holder of the shares specified in such warrant. |
49 | No person shall as bearer of a warrant, be entitled (a) to sign a requisition for calling a meeting or to give notice of intention to submit a resolution to a meeting, or (b) to attend or vote by himself or his proxy, or exercise any privilege as a member at a meeting, unless he shall, in case (a) before or at the time of lodging such requisition or giving such notice of intention as aforesaid, or in case (b) three days at least before the day fixed for the meeting, have deposited at the office or at such other place as may be specified in the notice the warrant in respect |
of which he claims to act, attend or vote as aforesaid, and unless the warrant shall remain so deposited until after the meeting and any adjournment thereof shall have been held. |
50 | Not more than one name shall be received as that of the holder of a warrant. |
51 | To any person so depositing a warrant there shall be delivered a certificate stating his name and address, and describing the shares included in the warrant so deposited, and bearing the date of issue of the certificate, and such certificate shall entitle him, or his proxy duly appointed, as hereinafter provided, to attend and vote at any general meeting held within three months from the date of the certificate in the same way as if he were the registered holder of the shares specified in the certificate. |
52 | Upon delivery up of the certificate to the Company, the bearer of the certificate shall be entitled to receive the warrant in respect of which the certificate was given. |
53 | The holder of a warrant shall not, save as aforesaid, be entitled to exercise any right as a member, unless (if called upon by any Director or the Secretary so to do) he produces his warrant and states his name and address. |
54 | The Directors may from time to time make regulations as to the terms upon which, if they in their discretion think fit, a new warrant or coupon may be issued in any case in which a warrant or coupon may have been worn out, defaced or destroyed, but no new warrant may be issued to replace one that has been destroyed unless the Directors are satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the original has been destroyed. |
55 | The shares included in any warrant shall be transferred by the delivery of the warrant without any written transfer and without registration, and to shares so included the provisions hereinbefore contained with reference to the transfer of shares shall not apply. |
56 | Upon the surrender of his warrant together with the outstanding dividend coupons, if any, in respect thereof to the Company for cancellation, the bearer of a warrant shall be entitled to have his name entered as a member in the register in respect of the shares included in the warrant, but the Company shall in no case be responsible for any loss or damage incurred by any person by reason of the Company entering in its register upon the surrender of a warrant the name of any person not the true and lawful owner of the warrant surrendered. |
57 | The Company may sell any shares in the Company on behalf of the holder of, or person entitled by transmission to, the shares by instructing a member of the London Stock Exchange plc to sell them in accordance with the best practice then obtaining if:- | |
(A) the shares are in certificated form, | ||
(B) the shares have been in issue either in certificated or uncertificated form throughout the qualifying period and at least three cash dividends have become payable on the shares during the qualifying period, | ||
(C) no cash dividend payable on the shares has either been claimed by presentation to the paying bank of the relative cheque or warrant or been satisfied by the transfer of funds to a bank account designated by the holder of, or person entitled by transmission to, the shares or by the transfer of funds by means of a relevant system at any time during the relevant period, | ||
(D) so far as any Director of the Company at the end of the relevant period is then aware, the Company has not at any time during the relevant period received any communication from the holder of, or person entitled by transmission to, the shares, and | ||
(E) the Company has caused two advertisements to be published, one in a daily newspaper with a national circulation in the United Kingdom and the other in a newspaper circulating in the area of the address of the holder of, or person entitled by transmission to, the shares shown in the register, giving notice of its intention to sell the shares and a period of three months has elapsed from the date of publication of the advertisements or of the last of the two advertisements to be published if they are published on different dates. | ||
For the purpose of this article: | ||
the qualifying period means the period of twelve years immediately preceding the date of publication of the advertisements referred to in sub-paragraph (E) above or of the first of the two advertisements to be published if they are published on different dates; and | ||
the relevant period means the period beginning at the commencement of the qualifying period and ending on the date when all the requirements of sub-paragraphs (A) to (E) above have been satisfied. | ||
If, after the publication of either or both of the advertisements referred to in sub-paragraph (E) above but before the Company has become entitled to sell the shares pursuant to this paragraph of this article, the requirements of sub-paragraph (C) or (D) above cease to be satisfied, the Company may nevertheless sell those shares after the requirements of sub-paragraphs (A) to (E) above have been satisfied afresh in relation to them. |
If during any relevant period further shares have been issued in right of those held at the beginning of that relevant period or of any previously so issued during that relevant period and all the requirements of sub-paragraphs (A) and (C) to (E) above have been satisfied in regard to the further shares, the Company may also sell the further shares. | ||
To give effect to any sale of shares pursuant to this paragraph of this article the Directors may authorise some person to transfer the shares in question and an instrument of transfer executed by that person shall be as effective as if it had been executed by the holder of, or person entitled by transmission to, the shares. The purchaser shall not be bound to see to the application of the purchase moneys nor shall his title to the shares be affected by any irregularity or invalidity in the proceedings relating to the sale. The net proceeds of sale shall belong to the Company and, upon their receipt, the Company shall become indebted to the former holder of, or person entitled by transmission to, the shares for an amount equal to the net proceeds unless and until forfeited under this article. No trust shall be created in respect of the debt and no interest shall be payable in respect of it and the Company shall not be required to account for any moneys earned from the net proceeds which may be employed in the business of the Company or as it thinks fit. If no valid claim for the money has been received by the Company during a period of six years from the date on which the relevant shares were sold by the Company under this article, the money will be forfeited and will belong to the Company. |
58 | The Company may cease to send any cheque or warrant or other financial instrument through the post or employ any other means of payment, including by means of a relevant system, for any dividend payable on any shares in the Company which is normally paid in that manner on those shares if either (a) in respect of at least two consecutive dividends payable on those shares the cheques or warrants or other financial instruments have been returned undelivered or remain uncashed or that means of payment has failed or (b) following one such occasion reasonable enquiries have failed to establish any new address or account of the registered holder. Subject to the provisions of these articles, the Company may recommence sending cheques or warrants or other financial instruments or employing such other means in respect of dividends payable on those shares if the holder or person entitled by transmission requests such recommencement in writing. |
59 | Any resolution authorising the Company to sub-divide its shares or any of them may determine that, as between the shares resulting from the sub-division, any of them may have any preference or advantage or be subject to any restriction as compared with the others. |
60 | Whenever as a result of a consolidation, any members would become entitled to fractions of a share, the Directors may deal with the fractions as they think fit and in particular may sell the shares representing the fractions to any person (including, subject to the provisions of the Companies Acts, the Company) and distribute the net proceeds of sale in due proportion among those members and the Directors may authorise some person to transfer or deliver the shares to, or in accordance with the directions of, the purchaser. The person to whom any shares are transferred or delivered shall not be bound to see to the application of the purchase moneys nor shall his title to the shares be affected by any irregularity in, or invalidity of, the proceedings relating to the sale. |
61 | If at any time there are not within the United Kingdom sufficient Directors capable of acting to form a quorum, any Director or any two members of the Company may convene a general meeting in the same manner as nearly as possible as that in which meetings may be convened by the Directors. |
62 | (A) The accidental omission to give any notice of a meeting or the accidental omission to send any document relating to any meeting, or the non-receipt (even if the Company becomes aware of such non-receipt) of any such notice or document or other information, by any person entitled to receive the notice or document shall not invalidate the proceedings at that meeting; and | |
(B) A member present in person or by proxy at a meeting shall be deemed to have received proper notice of that meeting and, where applicable, of the purpose of that meeting. |
63 | No business shall be transacted at any general meeting (except the declaration and sanction of a dividend) unless a quorum is present when the meeting proceeds to business, but the absence of a quorum shall not preclude the choice or appointment of a chairman which shall not be treated as part of the business of the meeting. Save as otherwise provided by these articles, seven members present in person or by proxy and entitled to vote shall be quorum for all purposes. |
64 | If within five minutes (or such longer time not exceeding one hour as the chairman of the meeting may decide to wait) after the time appointed for the commencement of the meeting a quorum is not present, the meeting, if convened on the requisition of members, shall be dissolved and in any other case it shall stand adjourned |
to such other day (not being less than ten clear days later) and at such other time or place as the chairman of the meeting may decide and at such adjourned meeting one member present in person or by proxy and entitled to vote (whatever the number of shares held by him) shall be a quorum and the notice of the adjourned meeting shall state that one member present in person or by proxy and entitled to vote (whatever the number of shares held by him) shall be a quorum. |
65 | The chairman (if any) of the Directors or, in his absence, a vice chairman (if any) shall preside as chairman at every general meeting. If there is no chairman or vice chairman, or if at any meeting neither the chairman nor any vice chairman is present within five minutes after the time appointed for the commencement of the meeting, or if neither the chairman nor any vice chairman is willing to act as chairman, the Directors present shall choose one of their number to act, or if one Director only is present he shall preside as chairman if willing to act. If no Director is present, or if each of the Directors present declines to take the chair, the persons present and entitled to vote shall appoint one of their number to be chairman. |
66 | Each Director shall be entitled to attend and speak at any general meeting of the Company and at any separate general meeting of the holders of any class of shares in the Company. |
67 | (A) The chairman may at any time without the consent of the meeting adjourn any meeting (whether or not it has commenced or a quorum is present) either sine die or to another time or place where it appears to him that (a) the members entitled to vote wishing to attend cannot be conveniently accommodated in the place appointed for the meeting or (b) the conduct of persons present prevents or is likely to prevent the orderly continuation of business or (c) an adjournment is otherwise necessary so that the business of the meeting may be properly conducted. In addition, the chairman may at any time with the consent of any meeting at which a quorum is present (and shall if so directed by the meeting) adjourn the meeting either sine die or to another time or place. When a meeting is adjourned sine die the time and place for the adjourned meeting shall be fixed by the Directors. No business shall be transacted at any adjourned meeting except business which might properly have been transacted at the meeting had the adjournment not taken place. | |
(B) When a meeting is adjourned for three months or more, or sine die, or if business is to be transacted at an adjourned meeting the general nature of which was not stated in the notice of the original meeting, notice of the adjourned meeting shall be given as in the case of an original meeting. Except as provided in this article, it shall not be necessary to give any notice of an adjourned meeting or of the business to be transacted at an adjourned meeting. |
68 | In the case of a resolution duly proposed as a special resolution no amendment thereto (other than an amendment to correct a patent error) may be considered or voted upon and in the case of a resolution duly proposed as an ordinary resolution no amendment thereto (other than an amendment to correct a patent error) may be considered or voted upon unless either at least two working days prior to the date appointed for holding the meeting or adjourned meeting at which such ordinary resolution is to be proposed notice in writing of the terms of the amendment and intention to move the same has been received by the Company at the office or the chairman of the meeting in his absolute discretion decides that it may be considered or voted upon. With the consent of the chairman of the meeting, an amendment may be withdrawn by its proposer before it is put to the vote. |
69 | The Directors may direct that members or proxies wishing to attend any general meeting should submit to such searches or other security arrangements or restrictions as the Directors shall consider appropriate in the circumstances and shall be entitled in their absolute discretion to (or to authorise some one or more persons to) refuse entry to, or to eject from, such general meeting to any member or proxy who fails to submit to such searches or to otherwise comply with such security arrangements or restrictions. | |
In the case of any general meeting the Directors may, notwithstanding the specification in the notice of the place of the general meeting (the Principal Place) at which the chairman of the meeting shall preside, make arrangements for simultaneous attendance and participation at other places by members and proxies entitled to attend the general meeting but excluded from the Principal Place under the provisions of this article. | ||
Such arrangements for simultaneous attendance at the meeting may include arrangements regarding the level of attendance at the other places provided that they shall operate so that any members and proxies excluded from attendance at the Principal Place are able to attend at one of the other places. For the purpose of all other provisions of these articles any such meeting shall be treated as being held and taking place at the Principal Place. | ||
The Directors may, for the purpose of facilitating the organisation and administration of any general meeting to which such arrangements apply, from time to time make arrangements, whether involving the issue of tickets (on a basis intended to afford to all members and proxies entitled to attend the meeting an equal opportunity of being admitted to the Principal Place) or the imposition of some random means of selection or otherwise as they shall in their absolute discretion consider to be appropriate, and may from time to time vary any such arrangements or make new arrangements in their place and the entitlement of any member or proxy to attend a general meeting at the Principal Place shall be subject to such arrangements as may be for the time being in force whether stated in the |
notice of the meeting to apply to that meeting or notified to the members concerned subsequent to the provision of the notice of the meeting. |
70 | At any general meeting a resolution put to the vote of the meeting shall be decided on a show of hands unless (before or on the declaration of the result of the show of hands or on the withdrawal of any other demand for a poll) a poll is properly demanded. Without prejudice to the other provisions of this article, the chairman may, in his absolute discretion, demand a poll on all or some of the resolutions put to the vote of the meeting before or on the declaration of the result of the show of hands or on the withdrawal of any other demand for a poll. Subject to the Companies Acts, a poll may be demanded by:- | |
(A) the chairman of the meeting, or | ||
(B) at least three members present in person or by proxy and entitled to vote, or | ||
(C) any member or members present in person or by proxy and representing in the aggregate not less than one-tenth of the total voting rights of all the members having the right to attend and vote at the meeting; or | ||
(D) any member or members present in person or by proxy and holding shares conferring a right to attend and vote at the meeting on which there have been paid-up sums in the aggregate equal to not less than one-tenth of the total sum paid-up on all the shares conferring that right. | ||
Unless a poll is so demanded and the demand is not withdrawn, a declaration by the chairman that a resolution has been carried or carried unanimously or by a particular majority or not carried by a particular majority or lost and an entry to that effect in the book of proceedings of the Company shall be conclusive evidence of the fact without proof of the number or proportion of the votes recorded for or against the resolution. |
71 | If a poll is demanded it shall be taken in such manner as the chairman shall direct and he may appoint scrutineers who need not be members. The result of the poll shall be deemed to be the resolution of the meeting at which the poll was demanded. |
72 | A poll demanded on the election of a chairman, or on a question of adjournment, shall be taken forthwith. A poll demanded on any other question shall be taken either forthwith or on such date (being not later than thirty days after the date of the demand) and at such time and place as the chairman shall direct. It shall not be necessary (unless the chairman otherwise directs) for notice to be given of a poll. |
73 | The demand for a poll (other than on the election of a Chairman of the meeting or on a question of adjournment) shall not prevent the continuance of a meeting for the transaction of any business other than the question on which the poll was demanded, and it may be withdrawn with the consent of the chairman at any time before the close of the meeting or the taking of the poll, whichever is the earlier, and in that event shall not invalidate the result of a show of hands declared before the demand was made. |
74 | On a show of hands, members shall be entitled to vote at a general meeting in accordance with the Companies Acts. For this purpose, where a proxy is given discretion as to how to vote on a show of hands, this shall be treated as an instruction by the relevant member to vote in the way in which the proxy elects to exercise that discretion. On a poll every member who is present in person or by proxy shall have one vote for every 3 1 / 9 pence nominal of capital held by him of whatever class. |
75 | In the case of joint holders of a share the vote of the senior who tenders a vote, whether in person or by proxy, shall be accepted to the exclusion of the votes of the other joint holders and for this purpose seniority shall be determined by the order in which the names stand in the register in respect of the joint holding. |
76 | A member in respect of whom an order has been made by any competent court or official on the ground that he is or may be suffering from mental disorder or is otherwise incapable of managing his affairs may vote at any general meeting of the Company and may exercise any other right conferred by membership in relation to general meetings by or through any person authorised in such circumstances to do so on his behalf (and that person may vote by proxy) provided that evidence to the satisfaction of the Directors of the authority of the person claiming to exercise the right to vote or such other right shall be received by the Company not later than the last time at which appointments of proxies should have been received in order to be valid for use at that meeting or on the holding of that poll. |
77 | No member shall, unless the Directors otherwise decide, be entitled to vote (either personally or by proxy) at any general meeting of the Company or upon a poll or to exercise any other right conferred by membership in relation to general meetings or polls unless all calls or other sums presently payable by him in respect of shares in the Company have been paid. |
78 | (A) Where the holder of any shares in the Company, or any other person appearing to be interested in those shares, fails to comply within the relevant period with any statutory notice in respect of those shares or, in purported compliance with such a notice, has made a statement |
which is false or inadequate in a material particular, the Company may give the holder of those shares a further notice (a restriction notice ) to the effect that from the service of the restriction notice those shares will be subject to some or all of the relevant restrictions, and from service of the restriction notice those shares shall, notwithstanding any other provision of these articles, be subject to those relevant restrictions accordingly. For the purpose of enforcing the relevant restriction referred to in sub-paragraph (iii) of the definition of relevant restrictions, the Directors may give notice to the relevant member requiring the member to change the relevant shares held in uncertificated form to certificated form by the time stated in the notice. The notice may also state that the member may not change any of the relevant shares held in certificated form to uncertificated form. If the member does not comply with the notice, the Directors may authorise any person to instruct the Operator to change the relevant shares held in uncertificated form to certificated form. | ||
(B) If after the service of a restriction notice in respect of any shares the Directors are satisfied that all information required by any statutory notice relating to those shares or any of them from their holder or any other person appearing to be interested in the shares the subject of the restriction notice has been supplied, the Company shall, within seven days, cancel the restriction notice. The Company may at any time at its discretion cancel any restriction notice or exclude any shares from it. The Company shall cancel a restriction notice within seven days after receipt of a notice in writing that the relevant shares have been transferred pursuant to an arms length sale. | ||
(C) Where any restriction notice is cancelled or ceases to have effect in relation to any shares, any moneys relating to those shares which were withheld by reason of that notice shall be paid without interest to the person who would but for the notice have been entitled to them or as he may direct. | ||
(D) Any new shares in the Company issued in right of any shares subject to a restriction notice shall also be subject to the restriction notice, and the Directors may make any right to an allotment of the new shares subject to restrictions corresponding to those which will apply to those shares by reason of the restriction notice when such shares are issued. | ||
(E) Any holder of shares on whom a restriction notice has been served may at any time request the Company to give in writing the reason why the restriction notice has been served, or why it remains uncancelled, and within 14 days of receipt of such a notice the Company shall give that information accordingly. | ||
(F) If a statutory notice is given by the Company to a person appearing to be interested in any share, a copy shall at the same time be given to the holder, but the failure or omission to do so or the non-receipt of the copy by the holder shall not invalidate such notice. |
(G) This article is in addition to, and shall not in any way prejudice or affect, the statutory rights of the Company arising from any failure by any person to give any information required by a statutory notice within the time specified in it. For the purpose of this article a statutory notice need not specify the relevant period, and may require any information to be given before the expiry of the relevant period. | ||
(H) In this article:- | ||
a sale is an arms length sale if the Directors are satisfied that it is a bona fide sale of the whole of the beneficial ownership of the shares to a party unconnected with the holder or with any person appearing to be interested in such shares and shall include a sale made by way of or in pursuance of acceptance of a takeover offer and a sale made through a recognised investment exchange or any other stock exchange outside the United Kingdom. For this purpose an associate (within the definition of that expression in any statute relating to insolvency in force at the date of adoption of this article) shall be included amongst the persons who are connected with the holder or any person appearing to be interested in such shares; | ||
person appearing to be interested in any shares shall mean any person named in a response to a statutory notice or otherwise notified to the Company by a member as being so interested or shown in any register or record kept by the Company under the Companies Acts as so interested or, taking into account a response or failure to respond in the light of the response to any other statutory notice and any other relevant information in the possession of the Company, any person whom the Company knows or has reasonable cause to believe is or may be so interested; | ||
person with a 0.25 per cent. interest means a person who holds, or is shown in any register or record kept by the Company under the Companies Acts as having an interest in, shares in the Company which comprise in total at least 0.25 per cent. in number or nominal value of the shares of the Company (calculated exclusive of any shares held as treasury shares), or of any class of such shares (calculated exclusive of any shares of that class held as treasury shares), in issue at the date of service of the restriction notice; | ||
relevant period means a period of 14 days following service of a statutory notice; | ||
relevant restrictions mean in the case of a restriction notice served on a person with a 0.25 per cent. interest that:- | ||
(i) the shares shall not confer on the holder any right to attend or vote either personally or by proxy at any general meeting of the Company or at any separate general meeting of the holders of any class of shares in the Company or to exercise any other right conferred by membership in relation to general meetings; |
(ii) the Directors may withhold payment of all or any part of any dividends or other moneys payable in respect of the shares and the holder shall not be entitled to receive shares in lieu of dividend; | ||
(iii)
the Directors may decline to register a transfer of any of the shares which are
certificated shares, unless such a transfer is pursuant to an arms length sale
and in any other case mean only the restriction specified in sub-paragraph (i) of this definition; and |
||
statutory notice means a notice served by the Company under the Companies Acts requiring particulars of interests in shares or of the identity of persons interested in shares. |
79 | If:- | |
(A) any objection shall be raised to the qualification of any voter, or | ||
(B) any votes have been counted which ought not to have been counted or which might have been rejected, or | ||
(C) any votes are not counted which ought to have been counted, | ||
the objection or error shall not vitiate the decision of the meeting or adjourned meeting on any resolution unless it is raised or pointed out at the meeting or, as the case may be, the adjourned meeting at which the vote objected to is given or tendered or at which the error occurs. Any objection or error shall be referred to the chairman of the meeting and shall only vitiate the decision of the meeting on any resolution if the chairman decides that the same may have affected the decision of the meeting. The decision of the chairman on such matters shall be conclusive. |
80 | An appointment of a proxy shall be in writing signed by the appointor or his duly authorised attorney or, if the appointor is a corporation, shall either be executed under its seal or signed by an officer, attorney or other person authorised to sign it. If a member appoints more than one proxy and the proxy forms appointing those proxies would give those proxies the apparent right to exercise votes on behalf of the member in a general meeting over more shares than are held by the member, then each of those proxy forms will be invalid and none of the proxies so appointed will be entitled to attend, speak or vote at the relevant general meeting. |
81 | (A) The appointment of a proxy must: | |
(i) in the case of an appointment made in hard copy form, be received at the office (or such other place as may be |
specified by the Company for the receipt of appointments of proxy in hard copy form) together with (if required by the Directors) any authority under which it is made or a copy of the authority, certified notarially or in accordance with the Powers of Attorney Act 1971 or in some other manner approved by the Directors not less than forty eight hours (or such shorter time as the Directors may determine) before the time appointed for holding the meeting or adjourned meeting at which the person named in the appointment proposes to vote; | ||
(ii) in the case of an appointment made by electronic means, be received at the address specified by the Company for the receipt of appointments of proxy by electronic means not less than forty eight hours (or such shorter time as the Directors may determine) before the time appointed for holding the meeting or adjourned meeting at which the person named in the appointment proposes to vote. Any authority pursuant to which such an appointment is made or a copy of the authority, certified notarially or in accordance with the Powers of Attorney Act 1971 or in some other manner approved by the Directors, must, if required by the Directors, be received at such address or at the office (or such other place in the United Kingdom as may be specified by the Company for the receipt of notices) not less than forty eight hours (or such shorter time as the Directors may determine) before the time appointed for holding the meeting or adjourned meeting at which the person named in the appointment proposes to vote; | ||
(iii) in the case of a poll taken more than forty eight hours after it was demanded, be received as aforesaid not less than twenty four hours (or such shorter time as the Directors may determine) before the time appointed for the taking of the poll; | ||
(iv) in the case of a poll taken following the conclusion of a meeting or adjourned meeting but not more than forty eight hours after it was demanded, be received as aforesaid before the end of the meeting at which it was demanded (or such later time as the board may determine), |
(B) The Directors may at their discretion determine that in calculating the periods mentioned in this article no account shall be taken of any part of a day that is not a working day. |
82 | No appointment of a proxy shall be valid after twelve months have elapsed from the date of its receipt. The appointment of a proxy shall not preclude a member from attending and voting in person at the meeting or poll concerned. |
83 | The appointment of a proxy shall be in any usual form or in such other form as the Directors may approve and the Directors may, if they think fit, but subject to the provisions of the Companies Acts, send out with the notice of any meeting forms of instrument of proxy for use at the meeting. The appointment of a proxy shall be deemed to confer authority to demand or join in demanding a poll and to vote on any amendment of a resolution put to the meeting for which it is given as the proxy thinks fit. The appointment of a proxy shall, unless the contrary is stated in it, be valid as well for any adjournment of the meeting as for the meeting to which it relates. |
84 | A vote given or poll demanded by a proxy or by the duly authorised representative of a corporation shall be valid notwithstanding the previous determination (whether by death, revocation or otherwise) of the authority of the person voting or demanding a poll, unless notice in writing of the determination was received by the Company at the office (or such other place or address as was specified by the Company for the receipt of appointments of proxy in the notice) not later than the last time at which an appointment of a proxy should have been received in order to be valid for use at the meeting or on the holding of the poll at which the vote was given or the poll taken. |
85 | Unless otherwise determined by ordinary resolution of the Company, the Directors shall be not less than six nor more than thirty in number. |
86 | There shall be no requirement for any Director to hold shares in the capital of the Company. |
87 | Subject to the provisions of article 120 the Directors shall have power from time to time and at any time to appoint any other person to be a Director either to fill a casual vacancy or as an addition to the Board of Directors, but so that the total number of Directors shall not at any time exceed the maximum number fixed by or in accordance with the provisions of these articles. |
88 | At every annual general meeting all the Directors shall retire from office, with such retirement to become effective at the conclusion of the annual general meeting of the Company or the corresponding annual general meeting of Unilever N.V. (whichever is the later). |
89 | The Company at any annual general meeting at which Directors retire may fill up the vacated office by electing a like number of eligible persons to be Directors. The Company may also in general meeting subject as last mentioned elect any eligible person to be a Director either to fill a casual vacancy or as an addition to the existing Board but so that the total number of Directors shall not at any time exceed the maximum number fixed by or in accordance with these articles. |
90 | No person shall be eligible to be elected as Directors unless: |
(A) he is recommended by the Board; or | ||
(B) a resolution to appoint that person as a Director has been requisitioned by a member or members in accordance with the Companies Acts. | ||
Where a resolution to appoint a person as a Director is passed at a general meeting of the Company such appointment shall not become effective: | ||
(i) unless a resolution to appoint such person as a Director of Unilever N.V. has been passed at the corresponding general meeting of Unilever N.V. where such meeting is prior to the general meeting of the Company or at any adjournment thereof; or, as the case may be. | ||
(ii) until a resolution to appoint such person as a Director of Unilever N.V. is passed at the corresponding general meeting of Unilever N.V. where such meeting is to follow the general meeting of the Company or at any adjournment thereof (and if such a resolution is not passed, such appointment shall no longer be capable of becoming effective). | ||
The corresponding general meeting of Unilever N.V. means the Unilever N.V. general meeting which is closest in time to the relevant general meeting of the Company. |
91 | If at the annual general meeting in any year no persons shall be eligible to be elected as Directors in accordance with article 90 or if the number of persons so eligible is less than the minimum number for the time being in force under article 85 then the retiring Directors (other than those eligible for re-election under article 90) or so many of them as shall be willing to offer themselves for re-election shall be deemed to be eligible for election under article 90 as Directors or Director for the succeeding year. |
92 | (A) If at the annual general meeting in any year any resolution or resolutions for the election or re-election of the persons eligible for election or re-election as Directors for the succeeding year are put to the meeting and lost such that the number of Directors re-elected or elected is fewer than the minimum number of Directors for the time being in force under article 85, then all such eligible persons who are Directors as at the commencement of the annual general meeting and are standing for re-election shall be deemed to have been re-elected as Directors and shall remain in office but so that such Directors may only act for the purpose of summoning general meetings of the Company and perform such duties as are essential to maintain the Company as a going concern but not for any other purpose. | |
(B) Such Directors shall convene a general meeting as soon as reasonably practicable following the annual general meeting referred to in article 92(A) at which all the Directors shall retire from office. To the extent that the circumstances envisaged in article 92(A) occur in relation to any meeting convened pursuant to this article 92(B), then the provisions of this article 92 shall also apply to that general meeting and, if relevant, any subsequent general meeting or meetings. |
93 | In addition to any power of removal conferred by the Companies Acts, the Company may by special resolution remove any Director before the expiration of his period of office. |
94 | Without prejudice to the provisions for retirement otherwise contained in these articles, the office of a Director shall be vacated if:- | |
(A) he resigns his office by notice in writing delivered to or received at the office or tendered at a meeting of the Directors, or | ||
(B) he is or has been suffering from mental or physical ill health and the Directors resolve that his office is vacated, or | ||
(C) he is absent without the permission of the Directors from meetings of the Directors (whether or not an Alternate Director appointed by him attends) for six consecutive months and the Directors resolve that his office is vacated, or | ||
(D) he becomes bankrupt or compounds with his creditors generally, or | ||
(E) he is prohibited by law from being a Director, or | ||
(F) he ceases to be a Director by virtue of the Companies Acts or is removed from office pursuant to these articles. | ||
In this article references to in writing include the use of communications by electronic means. |
95 | (A) Each Director shall have the power to appoint any other Director to be his alternate and may at his discretion remove an Alternate Director so appointed from appointment as his alternate. Any appointment or removal of an Alternate Director shall be effected by notice in writing signed by the appointor and delivered to or received at the office or tendered at a meeting of the Directors, or in any other manner approved by the Directors. If his appointor so requests, an Alternate Director shall be entitled to receive notice of all meetings of committees of the Directors of which his appointor is a member. He shall also be entitled to attend and vote as a Director at any such meeting at which the Director appointing him is not personally present and at the meeting to exercise and discharge all the functions, powers and duties of his appointor as a Director. | |
(B) Every person acting as an Alternate Director shall (except as regards power to appoint an alternate and remuneration) be subject in all respects to the provisions of these articles relating to Directors and shall alone be responsible to the Company for his acts and defaults and shall not be deemed to be the agent of or for the Director appointing him. An Alternate Director may be paid expenses and shall be entitled to be indemnified by the Company as a Director but shall not be entitled to receive from the Company any fee in his capacity as an Alternate Director. | ||
(C) Every person acting as an Alternate Director shall have one vote for each Director for whom he acts as alternate, in addition to his own vote as a Director. Signature by an Alternate Director of any resolution in writing of the Directors or a committee of the Directors shall, unless the notice of his appointment provides to the contrary, be as effective as signature by his appointor. | ||
(D) An Alternate Director shall ipso facto cease to be an Alternate Director if his appointor ceases for any reason to be a Director except that, if at any meeting any Director retires but is reappointed or deemed to be reappointed at the same meeting, any appointment made by him pursuant to this article which was in force immediately before his retirement shall remain in force as though he had not retired. | ||
In this article references to in writing include the use of communications by electronic means. |
96 | The Directors may from time to time appoint one or more of its body to hold executive office with the Company (including that of a Chief Executive Officer) for such period (subject to the provisions of the Companies Acts) and upon such other terms as the Directors may decide and may revoke or terminate any appointment so made. Any appointment of a Director to an executive office shall terminate if he ceases to be a Director of the Company. A Director so appointed shall receive such remuneration (whether by way of salary, commission, participation in profits or otherwise) as the Directors may decide, and either in addition to or in lieu of his remuneration as a Director. |
97 | Those Directors who do not hold executive office with the Company pursuant to article 96 shall, in the execution of their duties and obligations as Directors, take into account the nature of their role as such non-executive directors (recognising where appropriate that it is not a day-to-day involvement but a periodic and supervisory role) and as part of their role shall assist in the development of strategy and monitor the performance of the Company and the management. |
98 | Each of the Directors shall be paid a fee at such rate as may from time to time be determined by the Directors provided that the aggregate of all fees so paid to Directors (excluding amounts payable under any other provisions of these articles) shall not exceed £2,000,000 per annum (or its equivalent in any other currency based upon such foreign currency exchange rates as the Directors shall determine) or such higher amount as may from time to time be decided by ordinary resolution of the Company. |
99 | Any Director who, by request, goes or resides abroad for any purposes of the Company or who performs services which in the opinion of the Directors go beyond the ordinary duties of a Director may be paid such extra remuneration (whether by way of salary, commission, participation in profits or otherwise) as the Directors may determine in addition to any remuneration provided for by or pursuant to any other article. |
100 | Each Director may be paid his reasonable travelling, hotel and incidental expenses of attending and returning from meetings of the Directors or committees of the Directors or general meetings of the Company or any other meeting which as a Director he is entitled to attend and shall be paid all expenses properly and reasonably incurred by him in the conduct of the Companys business or in the discharge of his duties as a Director. |
101 | (A ) The Directors may, subject to the quorum and voting requirements set out in this article, authorise any matter which would otherwise involve a Director breaching his duty under the Companies Acts to avoid conflicts of interest ( Conflict ). | |
(B) A Director seeking authorisation in respect of a Conflict shall declare to the Directors the nature and extent of his interest in a Conflict as soon as is reasonably practicable. The Director shall provide the Directors with such details of the relevant matter as are necessary for the Directors to decide how to address the Conflict together with such additional information as may be requested by the Directors. |
(C) Any Director (including the relevant Director) may propose that the relevant Director be authorised in relation to any matter the subject of a Conflict. Such proposal and any authority given by the Directors shall be effected in the same way that any other matter may be proposed to and resolved upon by the Directors under the provisions of these articles save that: | ||
(i) the relevant Director and any other Director with a similar interest shall not count towards the quorum nor vote on any resolution giving such authority; and | ||
(ii) the relevant Director and any other Director with a similar interest may, if the other Directors so decide, be excluded from any board meeting while the Conflict is under consideration. | ||
(D) Where the Directors give authority in relation to a Conflict, or where any of the situations described in article 102(B) apply in relation to a Director ( Relevant Situation ): | ||
(i) the Directors may (whether at the relevant time or subsequently) (a) require that the relevant Director is excluded from the receipt of information, the participation in discussion and/or the making of decisions (whether at meetings of the Directors or otherwise) related to the Conflict or Relevant Situation; and (b) impose upon the relevant Director such other terms for the purpose of dealing with the Conflict or Relevant Situation as it may determine; | ||
(ii) the relevant Director will be obliged to conduct himself in accordance with any terms imposed by the Directors in relation to the Conflict or Relevant Situation; | ||
(iii) the Directors may provide that where the relevant Director obtains (otherwise than through his position as a Director of the Company) information that is confidential to a third party, the Director will not be obliged to disclose that information to the Company, or to use or apply the information in relation to the Companys affairs, where to do so would amount to a breach of that confidence; | ||
(iv) the terms of the authority shall be recorded in writing (but the authority shall be effective whether or not the terms are so recorded); and | ||
(v) the Directors may revoke or vary such authority at any time but this will not affect anything done by the relevant Director prior to such revocation in accordance with the terms of such authority. |
102 | (A) If a Director is in any way directly or indirectly interested in a proposed contract with the Company or a contract that has been entered into by the Company, he must declare the nature and extent of that interest to the Directors in accordance with the Companies Acts. | |
(B) Provided he has declared his interest in accordance with paragraph (A), a Director may: |
(i) be party to, or otherwise interested in, any contract with the Company or in which the Company has a direct or indirect interest; | ||
(ii) hold any other office or place of profit with the Company (except that of auditor) in conjunction with his office of Director for such period and upon such terms, including as to remuneration, as the Directors may decide; | ||
(iii) act by himself or through a firm with which he is associated in a professional capacity for the Company or any other Company in which the Company may be interested (otherwise than as auditor); | ||
(iv) be or become a director or other officer of, or employed by or otherwise be interested in any holding Company or subsidiary company of the Company or any other company in which the Company may be interested; and | ||
(v) be or become a director of any other company in which the Company does not have an interest and which cannot reasonably be regarded as giving rise to a conflict of interest at the time of his appointment as a director of that other company. |
103 | A Director shall not, by reason of his office or of the fiduciary relationship thereby established, be liable to account to the Company or the members for any remuneration, profit or other benefit realised by reason of his having any type of interest authorised under Article 101(A) or permitted under Article 102(B) and no contract shall be liable to be avoided on the grounds of a Director having any type of interest authorised under Article 101(A) or permitted under Article 102(B). |
104 | (A) A Director shall not vote on or be counted in the quorum in relation to any resolution of the Directors concerning his own appointment, or the settlement or variation of the terms or the termination of his own appointment, as the holder of any office or place of profit with the Company or any other company in which the Company is interested. | |
(B) Where proposals are under consideration concerning the appointment, or the settlement or variation of the terms or the termination of the appointment, of two or more Directors to offices or places of profit with the Company or any other company in which the Company is interested, a separate resolution may be put in relation to each Director and in that case each of the Directors concerned shall be entitled to vote and be counted in the quorum in respect of each resolution unless it concerns his own appointment or the settlement or variation of the terms or the termination of his own appointment or the appointment of another Director to an office or place of profit with a company in which the Company is interested and the Director seeking to vote or be counted in the quorum has a Relevant Interest in it. |
(C) A Director shall not vote on, or be counted in the quorum in relation to, any resolution of the Directors in respect of any contract in which he has an interest and, if he shall do so, his vote shall not be counted, but this prohibition shall not apply to any resolution where that interest cannot reasonably be regarded as likely to give rise to a conflict of interest or where that interest arises only from one or more of the following matters:- | ||
(i) the giving to him of any guarantee, indemnity or security in respect of money lent or obligations undertaken by him or by any other person at the request of or for the benefit of the Company or any of its subsidiary undertakings; | ||
(ii) the giving to a third party of any guarantee, indemnity or security in respect of a debt or obligation of the Company or any of its subsidiary undertakings for which he himself has assumed responsibility in whole or in part under a guarantee or indemnity or by the giving of security; | ||
(iii) the giving to him of any other indemnity where all other Directors are also being offered indemnities on substantially the same terms; | ||
(iv) the funding by the Company of his expenditure on defending proceedings or the doing by the Company of anything to enable him to avoid incurring such expenditure where all other Directors are being offered substantially the same arrangements; | ||
(v) where the Company or any of its subsidiary undertakings is offering securities in which offer the Director is or may be entitled to participate as a holder of securities or in the underwriting or sub-underwriting of which the Director is to participate; | ||
(vi) any contract in which he is interested by virtue of his interest in shares or debentures or other securities of the Company or by reason of any other interest in or through the Company; | ||
(vii) any contract concerning any other company (not being a company in which the Director has a Relevant Interest) in which he is interested directly or indirectly whether as an officer, shareholder, creditor or otherwise howsoever; | ||
(viii) any contract concerning the adoption, modification or operation of a pension fund, superannuation or similar scheme or retirement, death or disability benefits scheme or employees share scheme which relates both to Directors and employees of the Company or of any of its subsidiary undertakings and does not provide in respect of any Director as such any privilege or advantage not accorded to the employees to which the fund or scheme relates; | ||
(ix) any contract for the benefit of employees of the Company or of any of its subsidiary undertakings under which he benefits in a similar manner to the employees and which does not accord to any Director as such any privilege or advantage not accorded to the employees to whom the contract relates; and |
(x) any contract for the purchase or maintenance of insurance against any liability for, or for the benefit of, any Director or Directors or for, or for the benefit of, persons who include Directors. | ||
(D) A company shall be deemed to be one in which a Director has a Relevant Interest if and so long as (but only if and so long as) he is to his knowledge (either directly or indirectly) the holder of or beneficially interested in one per cent. or more of any class of the equity share capital of that company (calculated exclusive of any shares of that class in that company held as treasury shares) or of the voting rights available to members of that company. In relation to an alternate director, an interest of his appointor shall be treated as an interest of the alternate director without prejudice to any interest which the alternate director has otherwise. | ||
(E) Where a company in which a Director has a Relevant Interest is interested in a contract, he also shall be deemed interested in that contract. | ||
(F) If any question shall arise at any meeting of the Directors as to the interest of a Director (other than the chairman of the meeting) in a contract and whether it is likely to give rise to a conflict of interest or as to the entitlement of any Director (other than the chairman of the meeting) to vote or be counted in the quorum and the question is not resolved by his voluntarily agreeing to abstain from voting or not to be counted in the quorum, the question shall be referred to the chairman of the meeting and his ruling in relation to the Director concerned shall be conclusive except in a case where the nature or extent of the Directors interest (so far as it is known to him) has not been fairly disclosed to the Directors. If any question shall arise in respect of the chairman of the meeting, the question shall be decided by a resolution of the Directors (for which purpose the chairman of the meeting shall be counted in the quorum but shall not vote on the matter) and the resolution shall be conclusive except in a case where the nature or extent of the interest of the chairman of the meeting (so far as it is known to him) has not been fairly disclosed to the Directors. | ||
(G) Subject to these articles, the Directors may cause any voting power conferred by the shares in any other company held or owned by the Company or any power of appointment to be exercised in such manner in all respects as it thinks fit, including the exercise of the voting power or power of appointment in favour of the appointment of the Directors or any of them as directors or officers of the other company, or in favour of the payment of remuneration to the Directors or officers of the other company. Subject to these articles, a Director may also vote on and be counted in the quorum in relation to any of such matters. |
105 | (A) References in articles 101 - 104 and in this article to: | |
(i) a contract include references to any proposed contract and to any transaction or arrangement or proposed transaction or arrangement whether or not constituting a contract; and | ||
(ii) a conflict of interest include a conflict of interest and duty and a conflict of duties. | ||
(B) The Company may by ordinary resolution suspend or relax the provisions of articles 101 - 104 to any extent or ratify any contract not properly authorised by reason of a contravention of such articles. |
106 | Subject to the provisions of the Companies Acts and these articles and to any directions given by the Company in general meeting by special resolution, the business of the Company shall be managed by the Directors who may exercise all the powers of the Company whether relating to the management of the business of the Company or not. The alteration of these articles or the passing of a special resolution shall not invalidate any prior act of the Directors which would have been valid if that alteration had not been made or that resolution had not been passed. The powers given by this article shall not be limited by any special power given to the Directors by any other article. |
107 | The Directors may establish local or divisional boards or agencies for managing any of the affairs of the Company, either in the United Kingdom or elsewhere, and may appoint any persons to be members of the local or divisional boards, or any managers or agents, and may fix their remuneration. The Directors may delegate to any local or divisional board, manager or agent any of the powers, authorities and discretions vested in or exercisable by the Directors, with power to sub-delegate, and may authorise the members of any local or divisional board, or any of them, to fill any vacancies and to act notwithstanding vacancies. Any appointment or delegation made pursuant to this article may be made upon such terms and subject to such conditions as the Directors may decide and the Directors may remove any person so appointed and may revoke or vary the delegation but no person dealing in good faith and without notice of the revocation or variation shall be affected by it. |
108 | The Directors may, by power of attorney or otherwise, appoint any person to be the agent of the Company upon such terms (including terms as to remuneration) as it may decide and may delegate to any person so appointed any of the powers, authorities and discretions vested in or exercisable by the Directors, including power to sub-delegate. The Directors may remove any person appointed under this article and may revoke or vary the delegation but no person dealing in good faith and without notice of the revocation or variation shall be affected by it. |
109 | The Directors may entrust to and confer upon any Director any of the powers, authorities and discretions vested in or exercisable by them upon such terms and conditions and with such restrictions as they think fit, and either collaterally with, or to the exclusion of, their own powers, authorities and discretions and may from time to time revoke or vary all or any of them but no person dealing in good faith and without notice of the revocation or variation shall be affected by it. |
110 | Subject to the provisions of the Companies Acts, the Company may keep an overseas or local or other register in any place, and the Directors may make and vary such regulations as it may think fit respecting the keeping of the register. |
111 | (A) The Directors may exercise all the powers of the Company to borrow money and to mortgage or charge its undertaking, property and uncalled capital and to issue debentures and other securities but shall restrict the Borrowings of the Company and exercise all voting and other rights or powers of control exercisable by the Company in relation to its subsidiaries with a view to securing that Borrowings shall not at any time without the previous sanction of an ordinary resolution of the Company in general meeting exceed an amount equal to three times the Adjusted Capital and Reserves of the Company. | |
(B) For the purposes of this article | ||
(i) Borrowings means the aggregate principal amount for the time being remaining outstanding of all borrowings of the Company and its subsidiaries, whether secured or unsecured, but excluding:- | ||
(a) borrowings by the Company from any subsidiary, | ||
(b) borrowings by any subsidiary from another subsidiary or from the Company, | ||
(c) borrowings by any subsidiary in its capacity as a trustee of any pension or other fund for the benefit of employees, | ||
(d) borrowings of a company which becomes a subsidiary hereafter for a period of twelve months from the date it becomes a subsidiary, | ||
and deducting therefrom an amount equal to:- | ||
(e) the principal amount of any obligations, whether secured or unsecured, issued by the Company or any subsidiary the proceeds of which are intended to be used within six calendar months in repayment of other borrowings of the Company or such subsidiary then outstanding, and | ||
(f) all cash deposits, certificates of deposit and securities of governments and companies and similar instruments owned by the Company or any of its subsidiaries. |
(ii) Adjusted Capital and Reserves means the aggregate of:- | ||
(a) the amount paid up or credited as paid up on the issued share capital of the Company, | ||
(b) the amounts standing to the credit of the capital and revenue reserves, including share premium account, plus the balance at the credit of profit and loss account (or minus the amount, if any, standing to the debit of such account), and | ||
(c) the amounts standing as attributed to outside interests | ||
all as shown in the latest published audited consolidated accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries provided always that appropriate adjustments shall be made in respect of any variation in the paid-up share capital or in the share premium account of the Company since the date of such audited accounts and provided further that in arriving at the said aggregate there shall be added back amounts equal to:- | ||
(d) the premium arising on consolidation of acquired subsidiaries, associated companies and businesses which, as at the date of calculation, have been written off against the consolidated reserves of the Company and its subsidiaries in accordance with United Kingdom accounting practices provided that the Company shall not have sold its interest in such subsidiaries, associated companies and businesses at the date of calculation, less a sum equal to amortisation of such premiums over 40 years on a straight line basis, | ||
(e) any provision made for deferred taxation in excess of the amount required to be provided by United Kingdom accounting practices. | ||
(C) The determination of the auditors as to the amount of Borrowings and Adjusted Capital and Reserves shall be conclusive and binding on all concerned and for the purposes of their computation the auditors may make such other adjustments as they deem fit. Nevertheless, for the purposes of this article the Directors may at any time act in reliance on a bona fide estimate of the said aggregates and if the limit herein contained is inadvertently exceeded, the amount borrowed in excess of the limit shall be disregarded until the expiration of 182 days after the date on which the Directors became aware that the situation had arisen. | ||
No debt incurred or security given in respect of moneys borrowed or secured in excess of the limit hereby imposed shall be invalid or ineffectual except in the case of express notice at the time the debt was incurred or the security given that the limit hereby imposed had been or was thereby exceeded. |
112 | The Directors may grant retiring pensions or annuities or other allowances, including allowances on death, to any person or to the widow or dependants of any person in respect of services rendered by him to the Company as Executive Director, manager, or in any other office or employment under the Company or indirectly as an officer or employee of any subsidiary company of the Company, notwithstanding that he may be or may have been a Director of the Company and may make payments towards insurances or trusts for such purposes in respect of such persons and may include rights in respect of such pensions, annuities and allowances in the terms of engagement of any such person. No Director or former Director or other person shall be accountable to the Company or the members for any benefit provided pursuant to this article and the receipt of any such benefit shall not disqualify any person from being or becoming a Director of the Company. |
113 | The Directors may by resolution exercise any power conferred by the Companies Acts to make provision for the benefit of persons employed or formerly employed by the Company or any of its subsidiaries in connection with the cessation or the transfer to any person of the whole or part of the undertaking of the Company or that subsidiary. |
114 | The Directors may meet for the despatch of business, adjourn and otherwise regulate their meetings as they think fit. A Director at any time may, and the Secretary on the requisition of a Director at any time shall, summon a meeting of the Directors. |
115 | Notice of a meeting of the Directors shall be deemed to be properly given to a Director if it is given to him personally or by word of mouth or sent in writing to him at his last known address or any other address given by him to the Company for this purpose. A Director may waive his entitlement to notice of any meeting either prospectively or retrospectively and any retrospective waiver shall not affect the validity of the meeting or of any business conducted at the meeting. |
116 | The quorum necessary for the transaction of the business of the Directors may be fixed by the Directors and, unless so fixed at any other number, shall be two. Subject to the provisions of these articles, any Director who ceases to be a Director at a meeting of the Directors may continue to be present and to act as a Director and be counted in the quorum until the termination of the meeting of the Directors if no other Director objects and if otherwise a quorum of Directors would not be present. |
117 | The continuing Directors or a sole continuing Director may act notwithstanding any vacancy in their number but, if and so long as the number of Directors is reduced below the minimum number fixed by or in accordance with these articles, the continuing Directors or Director, notwithstanding that the number of Directors is below the number fixed by or in accordance with these articles as the quorum or that there is only one continuing Director, may act for the purpose of filling vacancies or of summoning general meetings of the Company but not for any other purpose. |
118 | The Directors may appoint a chairman and vice chairman or vice chairmen of their meetings and fix the period for which they are respectively to hold office. If no chairman or vice chairman is appointed, or if at any meeting neither the chairman nor any vice chairman is present within five minutes after the time appointed for holding the meeting, the Directors present may choose one of their number to be chairman of the meeting. |
119 | A meeting of the Directors at which a quorum is present shall be competent to exercise all the powers, authorities and discretions for the time being vested in or exercisable by the Directors. |
120 | Questions arising at any meeting shall be determined by a majority of votes, except that the powers conferred on the Directors by article 87 shall only be exercisable by the decision of a majority of the Directors consisting of three-fourths of all the Directors for the time being and for this purpose the vote of any Director may be given either in person at a meeting of the Directors or (in the case of any Director not present at the meeting called for this purpose) by notice in writing signed by such Director prior to the holding of such meeting. In the case of an equality of votes the chairman of the meeting shall have no additional or casting vote. | |
In this article references to in writing include the use of communication by electronic means subject to such terms and conditions as the Directors may decide. |
121 | (A) The Directors may delegate any of their powers, authorities and discretions (with power to sub-delegate) to any committee, consisting of such person or persons (whether or not a Director or Directors) as they think fit. | |
(B) Any committee so formed shall, in the exercise of the powers, authorities and discretions so delegated, conform to any regulations which may be imposed on it by the Directors. The meetings and proceedings of any committee consisting of two or more members shall be governed by the provisions contained in these articles for regulating the meetings and proceedings of the Directors so far as the same are applicable and are not superseded by any regulations imposed by the Directors. |
(C) The power to delegate contained in this article shall be effective in relation to the powers, authorities and discretions of the Directors generally and shall not be limited by the fact that in certain articles, but not in others, express reference is made to particular powers, authorities or discretions being exercised by the Directors or by a committee authorised by the Directors. |
122 | The Board may entrust to and confer upon the Chief Executive Officer any of its powers, authorities and discretions (with power to sub-delegate) upon such terms and conditions and with such restrictions as it thinks fit, and either collaterally with, or to the exclusion of, its own powers, authorities and discretions and may from time to time revoke or vary all or any of them but no person dealing in good faith and without notice of the revocation or variations shall be affected by it. The power to delegate contained in this article shall be effective in relation to the powers, authorities and discretions of the Board generally and shall not be limited by the fact that in certain articles, but not in others, express reference is made to particular powers, authorities or discretions being exercised by the Board or by a committee authorised by the Board. |
123 | All or any of the Directors or members of any committee may participate in a meeting of the Directors or that committee by means of a conference telephone or any communication equipment which allows all persons participating in the meeting to hear each other. A person so participating shall be deemed to be present in person at the meeting and shall be entitled to vote or be counted in a quorum accordingly. Such a meeting shall be deemed to take place where the largest group of those participating is assembled, or, if there is no such group, where the chairman of the meeting then is. |
124 | A resolution in writing signed by all the Directors for the time being entitled to receive notice of a meeting of the Directors (if that number is sufficient to constitute a quorum) or by all the members of a committee for the time being shall be as valid and effectual as a resolution passed at a meeting of the Directors or, as the case may be, of the committee properly called and constituted. The resolution may be contained in one document or in several documents in like form each signed by one or more of the Directors or members of the committee concerned. |
125 | All acts done by the Directors or by any committee or by any person acting as a Director or member of a committee shall, notwithstanding that it is afterwards discovered that there was some defect in the appointment of any member of the Directors or committee or person so acting or that they or any of them were disqualified or had vacated office, be as valid as if each such member or person had been properly appointed and was qualified and had continued to be a Director or member of the committee. |
126 | The Directors shall cause minutes or records to be made in books provided for the purpose:- | |
(A) of the names of the Directors present at each meeting of the Directors or committee of the Directors, and | ||
(B) of all resolutions and proceedings at all meetings of the Company and of the holders of any class of shares in the Company and of the Directors and of any committee of the Directors. |
127 | The Directors shall provide for the custody of every seal. A seal shall only be used by the authority of the Directors or a committee authorised by the Directors in that behalf pursuant to articles 121 and 122. Subject as otherwise provided in these articles, any instrument to which the common seal is applied shall be signed by at least one Director and the Secretary or by at least two Directors or by one Director in the presence of a witness who attests the signature or by at least two persons for the time being appointed to a committee authorised by the Directors as aforesaid, and any instrument to which an official seal is applied need not, unless the Directors for the time being otherwise decide or the law otherwise requires, be signed by any person. |
128 | The profits of the Company at any time available for dividend and determined to be distributed by way of dividend for any period shall be applicable in order of priority and manner following: | |
FIRST to the payment of a dividend for such period at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum on the capital paid up or credited as paid up on the Ordinary Shares. | ||
SECONDLY to the payment of a dividend for such period at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum or at such less rate as may be payable under the provisions of the Trust Deed dated 1st May, 1909, and made between William Hesketh Lever of the first part, the Company of the second part and Sydney Gross, Robert Barrie, John Lever Tillotson, John Gray and James Lever Ferguson of the third part and Deeds supplemental thereto on the nominal amount of the then issued and outstanding Preferential Certificates therein mentioned, such dividend to be paid to the Trustees of the said Trust Deed for distribution amongst the holders of such Preferential Certificates. | ||
THIRDLY to the payment of a further dividend for such period at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum on the capital paid up or credited as paid up on the Ordinary Shares. | ||
FOURTHLY to the payment of a dividend for such period at the rate of 6 per cent. per annum on the capital paid up or credited as paid up on the Deferred Shares. |
LASTLY the surplus after making the payments aforesaid shall be applied to the payment of an additional dividend on the capital paid up or credited as paid up on the Ordinary Shares. |
129 | Subject to the provisions of the Companies Acts, the Company may by ordinary resolution from time to time declare dividends to be paid to the members according to their rights and interests in the profits available for distribution, but no dividend shall be declared in excess of the amount recommended by the Directors, or contrary to the provisions of the Agreement referred to in article 3. |
130 | The Directors may from time to time, out of accrued or accruing profits, pay to the members such interim dividends as in their judgment the position of the Company justifies. |
131 | Except in so far as the rights attaching to, or the terms of issue of, any share otherwise provide:- | |
(A) all dividends shall be declared and paid according to the amounts paid up on the shares in respect of which the dividend is paid, but no amount paid up on a share in advance of calls shall be treated for the purposes of this article as paid up on the share, and | ||
(B) all dividends shall be apportioned and paid pro rata according to the amounts paid up on the shares during any portion or portions of the period in respect of which the dividend is paid. |
132 | The Directors may deduct from any dividend or other moneys payable to a member by the Company on or in respect of any shares all sums of money (if any) presently payable by him to the Company on account of calls or otherwise in respect of shares of the Company. |
133 | No dividend or other moneys payable by the Company on or in respect of any share shall bear interest against the Company. |
134 | Any dividend or any other moneys payable on or in respect of shares may be paid by cheque, warrant or similar financial instrument, or by other means, sent direct to the registered address of the holder or person entitled thereto or, in the case of joint holders, to the registered address of the holder who is first named in the register, or sent to such person and to such address as the holder or joint holders may in writing direct. Such payment may be sent through the post or equivalent means of delivery or by such other means, including by electronic media and more specifically, in respect of uncertificated shares, by means of the facilities and requirements of a relevant system, offered by the Company as the holder or joint holders may in writing agree. Every such cheque, warrant, financial instrument |
or other form of payment shall be made payable to the person to whom it is sent or to such other person as the holder, or joint holders, may in writing direct, and payment of the cheque, warrant, financial instrument or other form of payment shall be a good discharge to the Company. Every such payment shall be sent at the risk of the person entitled to the money represented thereby. Any one of two or more joint holders may give effectual receipts for any dividends or other moneys payable or property distributable in respect of the shares held by them. |
135 | Any dividend unclaimed after a period of twelve years from the date of declaration of the dividend shall be forfeited and shall revert to the Company and the payment by the Directors of any unclaimed dividend or other sum payable on or in respect of a share into a separate account shall not constitute the Company a trustee in respect of it. |
136 | Any general meeting declaring a dividend may, upon the recommendation of the Directors, by ordinary resolution direct, and the Directors may in relation to any interim dividend direct, payment or satisfaction of the dividend wholly or in part by the distribution of specific assets, and in particular of paid up shares or debentures of any other company, and the Directors shall give effect to the direction, and where any difficulty arises in regard to the distribution the Directors may settle it as they think expedient, and in particular may issue fractional certificates or authorise any person to sell and transfer any fractions or may ignore fractions altogether, and may fix the value for distribution purposes of any specific assets to be distributed and may determine that cash payments shall be made to any members upon the footing of the value so fixed in order to secure equality of distribution and may vest any specific assets to be distributed in trustees as may seem expedient to the Directors. |
137 | The Company may, upon the recommendation of the Directors, at any time and from time to time pass an ordinary resolution to the effect that it is desirable to capitalise all or any part of any amount for the time being standing to the credit of any reserve or fund (including the profit and loss account) whether or not the same is available for distribution and accordingly that the amount to be capitalised be set free for distribution among the holders of Ordinary Shares of the Company who would be entitled to it if it were distributed by way of dividend and in the same proportions, on the footing that it is applied either in or towards paying up the amounts for the time being unpaid on Ordinary Shares of the Company held by those members respectively or in paying up in full Ordinary Shares that are to be allotted and distributed as fully paid up, debentures or other obligations of the Company to be allotted and distributed credited as fully paid up among those members, or partly in one way and partly in the other, but so that, for the purposes of this article: (i) a share premium account and a capital redemption reserve, |
and any reserve or fund representing unrealised profits, may be applied only in paying up in full Ordinary Shares of the Company that are to be allotted and distributed as fully paid up, and (ii) where the amount capitalised is applied in paying up in full shares that are to be allotted and distributed as fully paid up, the Company will also be entitled to participate in the relevant distribution in relation to any shares of the relevant class held by it as treasury shares and the proportionate entitlement of the relevant class of members to the distribution will be calculated accordingly. |
138 | The Directors may, if authorised by an ordinary resolution of the Company, offer the holders of Ordinary Shares (excluding any member holding shares as treasury shares) the right to elect to receive Ordinary Shares, credited as fully paid, instead of cash in respect of any dividend or any part of any dividend specified by the ordinary resolution. | |
The following provisions shall apply:- | ||
(A) An ordinary resolution may specify a particular dividend, or may specify all or any dividends declared within a specified period, but such period may not end later than the expiry of two months following the conclusion of the annual general meeting next following the date of the meeting at which the ordinary resolution is passed. | ||
(B) The entitlement of each holder of Ordinary Shares to new Ordinary Shares shall be such that the relevant value of the entitlement shall be as nearly as possible equal to (but not greater than) the cash amount that such holder would have received by way of dividend. For this purpose relevant value shall be calculated by reference to the average of the middle market quotations for the Companys Ordinary Shares on the London Stock Exchange plc as derived from the Daily Official List, on the day on which the Ordinary Shares are first quoted ex the relevant dividend and the four subsequent dealing days, or in such other manner as may be determined by or in accordance with the ordinary resolution. A certificate or report by the auditors as to the amount of the relevant value in respect of any dividend shall be conclusive evidence of that amount. | ||
(C) The Directors, after determining the basis of allotment, may notify the holders of Ordinary Shares in writing of the right of election offered to them, and specify the procedure to be followed and place at which, and the latest time by which, elections must be lodged in order to be effective. | ||
(D) The Directors may exclude from any offer any holders of Ordinary Shares where the Directors believe that the making of the offer to them would or might involve the contravention of the laws of any territory or that for any other reason the offer should not be made to them. | ||
(E) The dividend (or that part of the dividend in respect of which a right of election has been offered) shall not be payable on Ordinary Shares in respect of which an election has been made (the elected Ordinary Shares) and instead additional Ordinary |
Shares shall be allotted to the holders of the elected Ordinary Shares on the basis of allotment calculated as stated. For such purpose the Directors shall capitalise, out of any amount for the time being standing to the credit of any reserve or fund (including the profit and loss account) whether or not the same is available for distribution as the Directors may determine, a sum equal to the aggregate nominal amount of the additional Ordinary Shares to be allotted on that basis and apply it in paying up in full the appropriate number of unissued Ordinary Shares for allotment and distribution to the holders of the elected Ordinary Shares on that basis. | ||
(F) The additional Ordinary Shares when allotted shall rank pari passu in all respects with the fully paid Ordinary Shares then in issue except that they will not be entitled to participate in the relevant dividend. | ||
(G) Unless the Directors otherwise determine, or unless the uncertificated securities rules and/or the rules of the relevant system concerned otherwise require, the new ordinary share or shares which a member has elected to receive instead of cash in respect of the whole (or some part) of the specified dividend declared in respect of his elected ordinary shares shall be in uncertificated form (in respect of the members elected ordinary shares which were in uncertificated form on the date of the members election) or in certificated form (in respect of the members elected ordinary shares which were in certificated form on the date of the members election). |
139 | Where any difficulty arises in regard to any distribution under the last two preceding articles the Directors may settle the matter as they think expedient and in particular may issue fractional certificates or authorise any person to sell and transfer any fractions or may resolve that the distribution should be as nearly as may be practicable in the correct proportion but not exactly so or may ignore fractions altogether, and may determine that cash payments shall be made to any members in order to adjust the rights of all parties, as may seem expedient to the Directors. The Directors may authorise any person to enter into an agreement with the Company on behalf of the persons entitled to participate in the distribution providing for the allotment to them respectively of any shares, debentures or other obligations of the Company to which they are entitled on the capitalisation and the agreement shall be binding on those persons. |
140 | Notwithstanding any other provision of these articles the Company or the Directors may fix any date as the record date for any dividend, distribution, allotment or issue and such record date may be on or at any time before or after any date on which the dividend, distribution, allotment or issue is declared, paid or made. The power to fix any such record date shall include the power to fix a time on the chosen date. |
141 | The accounting records shall be kept at the office or, subject to the provisions of the Companies Acts, at such other place or places as the Directors may think fit and shall always be open to inspection by the officers of the Company. No member in his capacity as such shall have any right of inspecting any accounting record or book or document of the Company except as conferred by law or authorised by the Directors or by ordinary resolution of the Company. |
142 | Any notice, document (including a share certificate) or other information may be served on, sent or supplied to any member by the Company either personally or by sending it through the post addressed to the member at his registered address or by leaving it at that address addressed to the member or by means of a relevant system or, where appropriate, by sending or supplying it in electronic form to an address for the time being notified by the member concerned to the Company for that purpose or by publication on a website in accordance with the Companies Acts or in any other manner provided by these articles. In the case of joint holders of a share, service, sending or delivery of any notice or document on or to one of the joint holders shall for all purposes be deemed a sufficient service on or sending or delivery to all the joint holders. If on three consecutive occasions a notice to a member has been returned undelivered, such member shall not thereafter be entitled to receive notices from the Company until he shall have communicated with the Company and supplied to the Company (or its agent) a new registered address, or a postal address within the United Kingdom for the service of notices, or shall have informed the Company, in such manner as may be specified by the Company, of an address for the service of notices in electronic form. For these purposes, a notice sent by post shall be treated as returned undelivered if the notice is sent back to the Company (or its agent), and a notice sent in electronic form shall be treated as returned undelivered if the Company (or its agent) receives notification that the notice was not delivered to the address to which it was sent. The Company may at any time and in its sole discretion choose to serve, send or supply notices, documents or other information in hard copy form alone to some or all of the members. |
143 | Any member whose registered address is not within the United Kingdom or some other part of Europe or any holder of a share warrant and who gives to the Company a postal address within the United Kingdom at which notices may be served upon him shall be entitled to have notices served on or sent or delivered to him at that address or where applicable by making them available on a website and notifying the holder at that address. Any member whose registered address is not within the United Kingdom and who gives to the Company an address for the purposes of electronic communications may, at the absolute discretion of the Board, be entitled to have notices or documents |
served upon, or delivered to, him at that address or where applicable by making them available on a website and notifying the holder at that address. Otherwise, a member whose registered address is not within the United Kingdom, shall not be entitled to receive any notice or other document from the Company. |
144 | Any notice or document, if sent by post, shall be deemed to have been served on the day following that on which it was put in the post and, in proving service or delivery, it shall be sufficient to prove that the notice or document was properly addressed, stamped and put in the post. Any notice or document not sent by post but left at a registered address (other than an address for the purposes of communication by electronic means) shall be deemed to have been served or delivered on the day it was so left. Any notice served or delivered by the Company by means of a relevant system shall be deemed to have been served or delivered when the Company or any sponsoring system participant acting on its behalf sends the issuer-instruction relating to the notice. | |
Any notice or document sent by the Company using electronic means shall be deemed to have been received on the day following that on which it was sent notwithstanding that the Company subsequently sends a hard copy of such notice, document or information by post. Any notice, document or other information made available on a website shall be deemed to have been received on the day on which the notice, document or other information was first made available on the website or, if later, when a notice of availability is received or deemed to have been received pursuant to this article. In proving that a notice, document or other information served, sent or supplied by electronic means was served, sent or supplied, it shall be sufficient to prove that it was properly addressed. Any notice, document or other information served, sent or supplied by the Company by any other means authorised in writing by the member concerned shall be deemed to have been received when the Company has carried out the action it has been authorised to take for that purpose. |
145 | Where a person is entitled by transmission to a share, any notice or document shall be served upon or delivered to him, and any dividend or other sum payable in cash in respect of the share may be paid to him, as if he was the holder of that share and his address noted in the register was his registered address. A person who is entitled by transmission to a share, upon supplying the Company with an address for the purpose of communications by electronic means for the service of notices, may, at the absolute discretion of the Directors, have sent to him at such address any notice or document to which he would have been entitled if he were the holder of that share. Except where there is a person entitled by transmission to a share, any notice or document served on or delivered to any member pursuant to these articles shall, notwithstanding that the member is then dead or bankrupt or that any other event giving rise to the transmission of the share by operation of law has occurred |
and whether or not the Company has notice of the death, bankruptcy or other event, be deemed to have been properly served or delivered in respect of any share registered in the name of that member as sole or joint holder unless, before the day of posting (or, if it is not sent by post, before the day of service or delivery) of the notice or document, his name has been removed from the register as the holder of the share. Service or delivery in the foregoing manner shall be deemed for all purposes a sufficient service or delivery of the notice or document on all persons interested (whether jointly with or as claiming through or under that member) in the share. |
146 | (A) If there is a suspension or curtailment of postal services within the United Kingdom or some part of the United Kingdom, the Company need only give notice of a general meeting to those members with whom the Company can communicate by electronic means and who have provided the Company with an address for this purpose. The Company shall also advertise the notice in at least two newspapers with a national circulation in the United Kingdom and make it available on its website from the date of such advertisement until the conclusion of the meeting or any adjournment thereof. If at least six clear days prior to the meeting the sending or supply of notices by post in hard copy form has again become generally possible, the Company shall send or supply confirmatory copies of the notice by post to those members who would otherwise receive the notice in hard copy form. | |
(B) Any notice to the bearer of a warrant or to any other person who holds or is interested in shares in the Company in bearer form or any related coupons or talons shall be sufficiently given if advertised in at least two daily newspapers with a national circulation in the United Kingdom and any such notice shall be deemed given on the day when the advertisement appears. |
147 | If the Company destroys: | |
(A) any share certificate which has been cancelled at any time after a period of one year has elapsed from the date of cancellation; or | ||
(B) any instruction concerning the payment of dividends or other moneys in respect of any share or any notification of change of name or address at any time after a period of two years has elapsed from the date the instruction or notification was recorded by the Company; or | ||
(C) any instrument of transfer of shares which has been registered at any time after a period of six years has elapsed from the date of registration; or |
(D) any other document on the basis of which any entry is made in the register at any time after a period of six years has elapsed from the date the entry was first made in the register in respect of it, |
148 | If the Company shall be wound-up, the assets available for distribution amongst the members (excluding any member holding shares as treasury shares) shall be applied first in repaying to the holders of the Ordinary Shares and Deferred Shares pari passu the capital paid or credited as paid up thereon respectively and any balance of such assets then remaining shall belong to the holders of the Ordinary Shares. |
149 | To the extent permitted by the Companies Acts, the Company may indemnify any Director against any liability and may purchase and maintain for any Director insurance against any liability. No Director of the Company or of any associated company shall be accountable to the Company or the members for any benefit provided pursuant to this article and the receipt of any such benefit shall not disqualify any person from being or becoming a Director of the Company. For the purpose of this article the term Director shall include any former Director of the Company. |
A | The Capital of the Company be reduced to £117,000,000, divided into: | |
£30,762,082 7 per cent. Cumulative Preference Stock, 9,237,918 7 per cent. Cumulative Preference Shares of £1 each, | ||
£15,655,173 8 per cent. Cumulative A Preference Stock, | ||
24,344,827 8 per cent. Cumulative A Preference Shares of £1 each, | ||
£2,287,312 20 per cent. Cumulative Preferred Ordinary Stock, | ||
24,850,752 20 per cent. Cumulative Preferred Ordinary Shares of 5s. each, | ||
7,000,000 20 per cent. Cumulative A Preferred Ordinary Shares of £1 each | ||
and | ||
2,150,000 Ordinary Shares of £10 each | ||
by the cancellation pursuant to and for the purposes of the said Scheme of: | ||
£1,500,000 20 per cent. Cumulative Preferred Ordinary Stock, |
£3,000,000 20 per cent. Cumulative A Preferred Ordinary Stock, | ||
and | ||
£8,500,000 Ordinary Stock | ||
which three Stocks are beneficially held by Unilever Limited; | ||
B | The Capital of the Company be thereupon converted, consolidated, sub-divided and increased pursuant to and in accordance with the said Scheme so as thereafter to be constituted as provided in Clause 7 of the said Scheme; | |
C | All Shares in the capital of the Company from time to time unissued be converted into Stock as and when the same are issued and are fully paid up; | |
D | The name of the Company be changed to Lever Brothers & Unilever Limited. |
CHANCERY DIVISION
MR. JUSTICE SIMONDS Monday the 15th day of November, 1937 In the Matter of UNILEVER LIMITED and In the Matter of LEVER BROTHERS, LIMITED and In the Matter of THE COMPANIES ACT, 1929 |
Fo. 272
W.4 Stamp £2 (Seal) |
1 | That the Scheme of Arrangement dated 25th August, 1966, between the Company and its six classes of members, a print of which has been submitted to this Meeting and for the purpose of identification subscribed by the Chairman hereof, be and it is hereby approved. | |
2 | That subject to the said Scheme being sanctioned the capital of the Company be reduced by the cancellation of the assented Preferential Stock (as in the said Scheme defined) and of the 1,655,310 unissued 5 per cent. Cumulative Preference Shares of £1 each and the 24,338,251 unissued 8 per cent. Cumulative A Preference Shares of £1 each in the capital of the Company. |
3 | That forthwith upon the said reduction of capital taking effect: | |
(a) the capital of the Company be increased to its former amount of £141,418,750 by the creation of the appropriate number of Ordinary Shares of 5s. each. | ||
(b) the 7 per cent. Cumulative Preference Stock and Shares, the 5 per cent. Cumulative Preference Stock and Shares, the 8 per cent. Cumulative A Preference Stock and Shares and the 20 per cent. Cumulative Preferred Ordinary Stock and Shares be redesignated as 7 per cent. First Cumulative Preference Stock and Shares, 5 per cent. First Cumulative Preference Stock and Shares, 8 per cent. Second Cumulative Preference Stock and Shares and 20 per cent. Third Cumulative Preferred Ordinary Stock and Shares respectively. |
CHANCERY DIVISION
MR. JUSTICE PLOWMAN FO. 123 R.28 Monday the 24th day of October 1966 |
Seal
Supreme Court of Judicature |
(1) | its 7 per cent. Cumulative Preference Stock; | |
(2) | its 5 per cent. Cumulative Preference Stock; | |
(3) | its 8 per cent. Cumulative A Preference Stock; | |
(4) | its 20 per cent. Cumulative Preferred Ordinary Stock; | |
(5) | its Ordinary Shares of 5s. each; and | |
(6) | its Deferred Stock. |
the Company
|
means Unilever Limited; | |
|
||
the Preferential Stock
|
means the £35,984,690 7 per cent. Cumulative Preference Stock, the £2,360,000 5 per cent. Cumulative Preference Stock, the £15,661,749 8 per cent. Cumulative A Preference Stock and the £2,287,312 20 per cent. Cumulative Preferred Ordinary Stock in the capital of the Company; |
the term non-assented in relation
to Preferential Stock
|
means Preferential Stock in respect of which the holder shall give a valid Notice of Non-Assent under Clause 5 of this Scheme; | |
|
||
the term assented in relation to
Preferential Stock
|
means Preferential Stock which is not non-assented; | |
|
||
the New Loan Stock
|
means the Unsecured Loan Stock of the Company to be created pursuant to Clause 1 of this Scheme; | |
|
||
the Effective Date |
means the day on which this Scheme becomes effective in accordance with Clause 9 of this Scheme; |
|
|
||
this Scheme
|
means this Scheme (including the Appendices hereto) in its present form or with any modification thereof or addition thereto or condition approved or imposed by the Court; | |
|
||
holder
|
includes person entitled by transmission. |
1 | (a) The Company shall create New Loan Stock up to £62,695,050 in aggregate nominal amount as follows: | |
(i) up to £60,335,050 7 3 / 4 per cent. Unsecured Loan Stock 1991/2006; | ||
(ii) up to £2,360,000 5 1 / 2 per cent. Unsecured Loan Stock 1991/2006. | ||
(b) The New Loan Stock shall be constituted by a Trust Deed between the Company of the one part and The Law Debenture Corporation, Limited as trustees of the other part and shall contain or incorporate provisions to the effect of those set forth in Appendix A to this Scheme and shall be in the form of the draft already prepared and subscribed for the purposes of identification by Slaughter and May, Solicitors, with such modifications and additions, if any, as may prior to the execution thereof be approved by the Company and the Trustees. |
2 | (a) The share capital of the Company shall be reduced by the cancellation of the assented Preferential Stock and of the 1,655,310 unissued 5 per cent. Cumulative Preference Shares of £1 each and the 24,338,251 unissued 8 per cent. Cumulative A Preference Shares of £1 each in the capital of the Company. | |
(b) Forthwith upon the said reduction of capital taking effect the share capital of the Company shall be increased to its former amount by the creation of Ordinary Shares of 5s. each. |
3 | (a) In consideration of the cancellation of the assented Preferential Stock the Company shall within 28 days after the Effective Date (but subject as regards fractions to the provisions of paragraph (b) of this Clause) allot and issue credited as fully paid to the persons who at the close of business on the day immediately preceding the Effective Date are the registered holders of the assented Preferential Stock for every £100 in nominal amount of assented Preferential Stock of the class shown in column 1 of the Table below set out New Loan Stock of the nominal amount and class shown in column 2 of the said Table and so in proportion for holdings of less than £100 or which are not an exact multiple thereof: |
|
Table
1 £100 Preferential Stock 7 per cent. Cumulative Preference Stock. |
2
New Loan Stock £100 7 3 / 4 per cent. Unsecured Loan Stock 1991/2006. |
||
|
||||
|
5 per cent.
Cumulative Preference Stock. |
£100 5
1
/
2
per cent.
Unsecured Loan Stock 1991/2006. |
|
8 per cent.
Cumulative A Preference Stock. |
£114 7
3
/
4
per cent.
Unsecured Loan Stock 1991/2006. |
||
|
||||
|
20 per cent.
Cumulative Preferred Ordinary Stock. |
£284 7
3
/
4
per cent.
Unsecured Loan Stock 1991/2006. |
(b) No holder of any of the assented Preferential Stock shall be entitled to be allotted any fraction of £1 of New Loan Stock but any fractional amounts to which but for this provision holders of assented Preferential Stock would have been entitled shall be aggregated and allotted to the Secretary of the Company or to some person or persons nominated by him upon trust to sell the same and the Company shall distribute the net proceeds of such sale to the persons entitled thereto. | ||
(c) The amount of 7 3 / 4 per cent. Unsecured Loan Stock to be allotted to a holder of assented Preferential Stock of two or more classes and the fractional entitlement, if any, of any such holder shall be determined by aggregating the amounts of 7 3 / 4 per cent. Unsecured Loan Stock which, but for the provisions of paragraph (b) of this Clause, would have been allotted to such holder. |
4 | (a) The New Loan Stock to be issued pursuant to this Scheme shall carry interest calculated as from and including the 1st July, 1966. | |
(b) The holders of the assented Preferential Stock shall not be entitled to receive any dividends on the assented Preferential Stock held by them respectively in respect of any period commencing after the 30th June, 1966. | ||
(c) Each mandate in force at the close of business on the day immediately preceding the Effective Date relating to the payment of dividends on assented Preferential Stock shall unless and until revoked be deemed as from such date to be a valid and effective mandate to the Company in relation to interest on the corresponding New Loan Stock. |
5 | (a) If any holder of Preferential Stock shall, in manner provided in paragraph (b) of this Clause, give notice in the form prescribed by the Company (herein called Notice of Non-Assent) to the Company that such holder does not wish to have all or some part of the Preferential Stock held by him cancelled, the Preferential Stock held by such holder shall, to the extent specified in such Notice of Non- Assent, for the purposes of this Scheme be non-assented. | |
(b) Every such notice shall be signed (or in the case of a body corporate executed under its Common Seal, if any) by the holder or, in the case of joint holdings, all the holders of the Preferential Stock concerned and sent or delivered to the Joint Registrars of the Company accompanied by the relative stock certificate or certificates so as to be received by the Joint Registrars on or before the 19th September, 1966, or posted before the 19th September, 1966 and received by the said Joint Registrars on or before the 27th September, 1966. |
6 | (a) The Company shall alter its Articles of Association by substituting for Articles 3 and 49 the new Articles 3 and 49 set forth in Resolution numbered 3 in the Notice convening an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Company for the 20th September, 1966. | |
(b) From and after the Effective Date the rights set forth in Appendix B to this Scheme shall be attached to the non-assented Preferential Stock in substitution for and to the exclusion of those rights now set forth in paragraph (viii) of Article 9 of the Articles of Association of the Company. | ||
(c) Nothing in this Scheme contained shall prevent the alteration or variation of any rights attached to any Stock or Shares in the capital of the Company or any provision in the Articles of Association of the Company in any manner for the time being authorised by law or by such Articles. |
7 | As soon as practicable after the allotments of the New Loan Stock, the Company shall send to the allottees notices informing them that this Scheme has become effective and, unless prohibited by law, enclosing certificates for the amounts of New Loan Stock and shall, either simultaneously or as soon as practicable thereafter and unless prohibited by law, send to the allottees cheques or postal orders for any cash payments in respect of fractions, being the amounts and payments to which they are respectively entitled under this Scheme. | |
8 | (a) All certificates for New Loan Stock shall be sent by the Company to the holders of the assented Preferential Stock through the post in prepaid envelopes addressed to such holders at their respective registered addresses (or, in the case of joint holders, to the address of that one of the joint holders whose name stands first in the register in respect of such joint holding) and the Company shall not be responsible for any loss in transmission. | |
(b) All cash payments in respect of fractions required to be made pursuant to this Scheme to holders of assented Preferential Stock shall be made by the Company to such holders by sending cheques or postal orders for the amounts payable through the post in the manner and to the addresses mentioned in paragraph (a) of this Clause, and the Company shall not be responsible for any loss in transmission. | ||
All such cheques and postal orders shall be made payable to the order of the person to whom the payment is due or, in the case of joint holders entitled to such payment, to the order of that one of the joint holders whose name stands first in the register in respect of such joint holding. Payment of any cheque or encashment of any postal order (as the case may be) shall be a complete discharge to the Company for the moneys represented thereby. |
9 | This Scheme shall become effective as soon as an office copy or office copies of the Order of the Court sanctioning under Section 206 of the Companies Act, 1948 this Scheme and confirming under Section 68 of the said Act the reduction of capital provided for in this Scheme shall have been duly delivered to the Registrar of Companies for registration; and unless this Scheme shall have become effective as aforesaid on or before the 31st December, 1966, or such later date, if any, as the Court may allow, the same shall never become effective. | |
10 | The Company may consent on behalf of all concerned to any modification of or addition to this Scheme or to any conditions which the Court may think fit to approve or impose. |
11 | Notwithstanding anything hereinbefore contained if less than 50 per cent. in aggregate nominal amount of the Preferential Stock (or such lesser nominal amount as the Company shall within fourteen days after the holding of the meetings convened by Order of the Court for the purpose of considering this Scheme by Resolution of its Board of Directors decide) falls to be treated as assented Preferential Stock for the purposes of this Scheme, this Scheme shall not be capable of becoming effective. | |
Dated 25th August, 1966. |
1 | Amounts | |
The
5
1
/
2
per cent. Stock will not exceed £2,360,000;
the 7 3 / 4 per cent. Stock will not exceed £60,335,050. |
||
2 | Interest | |
The 5 1 / 2 per cent. Stock and the 7 3 / 4 per cent. Stock will carry interest respectively at the rates of 5 1 / 2 per cent. and 7 3 / 4 per cent. per annum, payable half-yearly on 30th June and 31st December. The first payment of interest will be made on 31st December, 1966 and will amount to £2 15s. 0d. (less income tax) per £100 nominal of the 5 1 / 2 per cent. Stock and £3 17s. 6d. (less income tax) per £100 nominal of the 7 3 / 4 per cent. Stock. |
3 | Redemption, Purchase and Final Repayment | |
(a) The Stocks, unless previously purchased or redeemed, will be repaid on 30th June, 2006, at par plus accrued interest. | ||
(b) The Company will be entitled to redeem the whole or any part, to be selected by drawings, of the Stocks at par plus accrued interest on or at any time after 30th June, 1991, on giving not less than three months notice in writing. | ||
(c) The Company may at any time purchase any part of the Stocks on any recognised Stock Exchange or by tender (available to all Stockholders of the particular Stock alike) at any price or by private treaty at a price not exceeding par in the case of the 5 1 / 2 per cent. Stock and £105 per cent. in the case of the 7 3 / 4 per cent. Stock (exclusive in each case of expenses and accrued interest) but not otherwise. | ||
(d) The Company may exercise its rights and powers of redemption and purchase as regards the 5 1 / 2 per cent. Stock and the 7 3 / 4 per cent. Stock at its sole discretion and without obligation to maintain any ratio between the amounts for the time being outstanding of either of such series. | ||
(e) All stock purchased or redeemed shall be cancelled and shall not be available for re-issue. |
(A) The Company shall procure that so long as any part of the Stocks remains outstanding the aggregate principal amount (including any premium payable on final repayment) outstanding of borrowings by the Company and all its subsidiaries (but excluding borrowings by any of such companies from any other of them) shall not exceed a sum equal to twice the adjusted total of capital and reserves (as defined below). | ||
(B) The Company shall procure that so long as any part of the Stocks remains outstanding the aggregate principal amount (including any premium payable on final repayment) outstanding of (a) secured borrowings of the Company (otherwise than from any of its subsidiaries) and (b) all borrowings whether secured or unsecured of its subsidiaries (otherwise than from the Company or from another subsidiary) shall not exceed a sum equal to two thirds of the adjusted total of capital and reserves. | ||
For the purposes of the provisions of (A) and (B) above relating to borrowing: | ||
(i) the principal amount (together with any premium payable on final repayment) of any debentures within the meaning of Section 455 of the Companies Act, 1948 issued by the Company or any of its subsidiaries shall (unless otherwise taken into account) be deemed to be borrowings; | ||
(ii) the principal amount raised by the Company or any of its subsidiaries by acceptances under any acceptance credit opened on its behalf by any bank or accepting house shall be deemed to be borrowings; |
(iii) the nominal amount of any issued share capital and the principal amount of any borrowings (together in each case with any premium on redemption or repayment) the repayment whereof is guaranteed by the Company or by any of its subsidiaries shall be deemed to be borrowings by the guaranteeing company unless otherwise taken into account; | ||
(iv) any borrowings of the Company or any of its subsidiaries for the express purpose of repaying the whole or any part of any borrowings of the Company or any of its subsidiaries for the time being outstanding (including any premium on redemption or repayment) and taken into account and applied for that purpose within four months of such borrowing shall pending application for such purpose within such period be deemed not to be borrowings; | ||
(v) the nominal amount of any issued share capital (not being equity share capital) of a subsidiary owned otherwise than by the Company or by a subsidiary shall be deemed to be borrowings of the subsidiary; | ||
(vi) in the case of a subsidiary, part of whose equity share capital is held otherwise than by the Company or another subsidiary, the proportion of the total amounts borrowed by such subsidiary which is borrowed otherwise than from the Company or another subsidiary which corresponds to the proportion of the total nominal amount of the issued equity share capital of such subsidiary held otherwise than by the Company or another subsidiary shall be deemed not to be borrowings. | ||
5 | Definitions | |
The expression the adjusted total of capital and reserves means at any material time the amount of the issued and paid-up share capital of the Company plus the aggregate amount standing to the credit of the consolidated capital and revenue reserves (including any share premium account and capital redemption reserve fund) plus or minus the amount standing to the credit or debit (as the case may be) of the consolidated profit and loss account of the Company and its subsidiaries all as shown in the latest audited consolidated accounts of the Company but: | ||
(i) adjusted as may be appropriate to take account of (a) any increase in or reduction of the issued and paid-up share capital or the share premium account of the Company since the date to which the consolidated balance sheet incorporated in such accounts shall have been made up and any distributions (other than normal preference dividends and interim dividends paid in each case out of profits earned since such date) in cash or specie made from such reserves or profit and loss account since such date and (b) any subsidiary not consolidated in such accounts, any companies which since the date of such accounts have ceased to be subsidiaries and any companies which will become subsidiaries as a result of the transaction in relation to which the calculation falls to be made; |
(ii) excluding any sums set aside for taxation, other than any sums set aside in respect of taxation equalisation; | ||
(iii) after deducting any amount for goodwill or any other intangible asset (not being an amount representing part of the cost of an acquisition of shares or other property) incorporated as an asset in such balance sheet (as adjusted); | ||
(iv) excluding any amounts attributable to minority interests in subsidiaries; | ||
(v) after making such other adjustments (if any) as the Auditors of the Company may consider appropriate. | ||
6 | Transfer | |
The Stocks will each be registered and transferable in amounts and multiples of £1. | ||
7 | Modification of Rights | |
The provisions of the Trust Deed and the rights of the holders of the Stocks will be subject to modification by Extraordinary Resolution of the Stockholders concerned as provided in the Trust Deed. In addition, the Trustees may from time to time without any consent or sanction of the Stockholders concerned (but only if and in so far as in the opinion of the Trustees the interests of such Stockholders will not be materially prejudiced thereby) assent to any modification of the provisions of the Trust Deed or any Supplemental Trust Deed. Provision will be made for separate meetings of the holders of the series concerned where the subject matter of any proposed Resolution is considered by the Trustees to involve a conflict of interest between the holders of one series of the Stock and the holders of the other series of the Stock. | ||
8 | Indemnification | |
The Trust Deed will contain provisions for indemnifying the Trustees and for relieving them from responsibility in certain events. |
(1) | that this Order be produced by the Company to the Registrar of Companies and that it deliver an Office Copy to him together with a copy of the said Minute | |
(2) | that notice of the registration by the Registrar of Companies of this Order and of the said Minute be published by the Company once in the Financial Times newspaper within 21 days after such registration. |
(1) | Pursuant to Section 8 of the Companies Act, 1980 the Company be re-registered as a public company. | |
(2) | The Memorandum of Association of the Company be altered in manner following: |
(a) | By deleting Clause 1 and substituting therefor the following clause: | ||
1 The name of the Company is Unilever PLC. |
(b) | By adding after Clause 1 the following Clause 1a: | ||
1a The Company is to be a public company. | |||
(c) | By deleting Clause 2 and substituting therefor the following clause: | ||
2 The registered office of the Company will be situated in
England and Wales. |
(a) | by deleting in article 2 the words, Preference Shares. includes Preferred Ordinary Shares; | |
(b) | by deleting in article 3 the second and third sentences and substituting therefor the following: | |
No modification of the terms of the said Agreement shall be made without the previous sanction of | ||
(a) an ordinary resolution of the Company in general meeting; and | ||
(b) an ordinary resolution passed at a separate general meeting of the holders of the Ordinary Shares. | ||
The provisions of article 11 shall apply to the separate general meeting hereinbefore mentioned, except only that the quorum necessary for the said meeting shall be the holders of a majority in nominal value of the Ordinary Shares present in person or by proxy, but so that if at any adjourned separate general meeting of the holders of the Ordinary Shares such quorum be not |
present, those of such holders who are present in person or by proxy shall be a quorum.; | ||
(c) | by deleting article 5 and substituting therefor the following: |
5 | Subject to the provisions of the Companies Acts and to any rights conferred on the holders of any class of shares, any share may be issued which is to be redeemed, or is to be liable to be redeemed at the option of the Company or the holder, on such terms and in such manner as may be provided by these articles.; |
(d) | by deleting article 9 and substituting therefor the following: |
9 | (i) On the 3rd May, 1989 the authorised capital of the Company is £136,275,682, divided as follows: 2,723,513,640 Ordinary Shares of 5p each. 100,000 Deferred Shares of £1 each, all of which have been issued and are now represented by £100,000 Deferred Stock. |
(ii) The Ordinary Shares of 5p each and the Deferred Shares of £1 each shall respectively confer on the holders thereof the right to receive dividends in accordance with the provisions of article 135 hereof.; |
(e) | by deleting in article 10 all sentences save the last; | |
(f) | by deleting in article 11 paragraph (D) and substituting therefor the following: | |
(D) Subject as aforesaid the rights and privileges attached to any class shall for the purposes of this article not be deemed to be modified unless the modification prejudicially affects such rights or privileges.; | ||
(g) | by deleting in article 58 the last sentence; | |
(h) | by deleting in article 67 the words one-tenth of the issued Preference Shares or; | |
(i) | by deleting in article 117 the words and an extraordinary resolution passed at a separate general meeting held in manner provided by article 11 of the holders of the whole of the Preference and Preferred Ordinary Shares (which for this purpose shall be deemed to constitute a single class); | |
(j) | by deleting article 135 and substituting therefor the following: |
135 | The profits of the Company at any time available for dividend and determined to be distributed by way of dividend for any period shall be applicable in order of priority and manner following: | ||
FIRST to the payment of a dividend for such period at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum on the capital paid up or credited as paid up on the Ordinary Shares. | |||
SECONDLY to the payment of a dividend for such period at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum or at such less rate as may be payable under the provisions of the Trust Deed dated 1st May, 1909, and made between | |||
William Hesketh Lever of the first part, the Company of the second part and Sydney Gross, Robert Barrie, John Lever Tillotson, John Gray and James Lever Ferguson of the third part and Deeds supplemental thereto on the nominal amount of the then issued and outstanding Preferential Certificates therein mentioned, such dividend to be paid to the Trustees of the said Trust Deed for distribution amongst the holders of such Preferential Certificates. | |||
THIRDLY to the payment of a further dividend for such period at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum on the capital paid up or credited as paid up on the Ordinary Shares. |
FOURTHLY to the payment of a dividend for such period at the rate of 6 per cent. per annum on the capital paid up or credited as paid up on the Deferred Shares. | |||
LASTLY the surplus after making the payments aforesaid shall be applied to the payment of an additional dividend on the capital paid up or credited as paid up on the Ordinary Shares.; |
(k) | by deleting in article 137 the words the preferential dividends on their Preference Shares for the time being, and also; and | |
(l) | by deleting article 156 and substituting therefor the following: |
156 | If the Company shall be wound-up, the assets available for distribution amongst the members shall be applied first in repaying to the holders of the Ordinary Shares and Deferred Shares pari passu the capital paid or credited as paid up thereon respectively and any balance of such assets then remaining shall belong to the holders of the Ordinary Shares. |
117 | (A) The Directors may exercise all the powers of the Company to borrow money and to mortgage or charge its undertaking, property and uncalled capital and to issue debentures and other securities but shall restrict the Borrowings of the Company and exercise all voting and other rights or powers of control exercisable by the Company in relation to its subsidiaries with a view to securing that Borrowings shall not at any time without the previous sanction of an ordinary resolution of the Company in general meeting exceed an amount equal to three times the Adjusted Capital and Reserves of the Company. | |
(B) For the purposes of this article | ||
(i) Borrowings means the aggregate principal amount for the time being remaining outstanding of all borrowings of the Company and its subsidiaries, whether secured or unsecured, but excluding: | ||
(a) borrowings by the Company from any subsidiary | ||
(b) borrowings by any subsidiary from another subsidiary or from the Company |
(c) borrowings by any subsidiary in its capacity as a trustee of any pension or other fund for the benefit of employees | ||
(d) borrowings of a company which becomes a subsidiary hereafter for a period of twelve months from the date it becomes a subsidiary | ||
and deducting therefrom an amount equal to: | ||
(e) the principal amount of any obligations, whether secured or unsecured, issued by the Company or any subsidiary the proceeds of which are intended to be used within six calendar months in repayment of other borrowings of the Company or such subsidiary then outstanding, and | ||
(f) all cash deposits, certificates of deposit and securities of governments and companies and similar instruments owned by the Company or any of its subsidiaries. | ||
(ii) Adjusted Capital and Reserves means the aggregate of: | ||
(a) the amount paid up or credited as paid up on the issued share capital of the Company, | ||
(b) the amounts standing to the credit of the capital and revenue reserves, including share premium account, plus the balance at the credit of profit and loss account (or minus the amount, if any, standing to the debit of such account), and | ||
(c) the amounts standing as attributed to outside interests. | ||
all as shown in the latest published audited consolidated accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries Provided always that appropriate adjustments shall be made in respect of any variation in the paid up share capital or in the share premium account of the Company since the date of such audited accounts and Provided Further that in arriving at the said aggregate there shall be added back amounts equal to: |
(d) the premium arising on consolidation of acquired subsidiaries, associated companies and businesses which, as at the date of calculation, have been written off against the consolidated reserves of the Company and its subsidiaries in accordance with United Kingdom accounting practices provided that the Company shall not have sold its interest in such subsidiaries, associated companies and businesses at the date of calculation, less a sum equal to amortisation of such premiums over 40 years on a straight line basis. | ||
(e) any provision made for deferred taxation in excess of the amount required to be provided by United Kingdom accounting practices. | ||
(C) The determination of the auditors as to the amount of Borrowings and Adjusted Capital and Reserves shall be conclusive and binding on all concerned and for the purposes of their computation the auditors may make such other adjustments as they deem fit. Nevertheless, for the purposes of this article the Directors may at any time act in reliance on a bona fide estimate of the said aggregates and if the limit herein contained is inadvertently exceeded, the amount borrowed in excess of the limit shall be disregarded until the expiration of 182 days after the date on which the Directors became aware that the situation had arisen. | ||
No debt incurred or security given in respect of moneys borrowed or secured in excess of the limit hereby imposed shall be invalid or ineffectual except in the case of express notice at the time the debt was incurred or the security given that the limit hereby imposed had been or was thereby exceeded. |
(a) | by deleting in Article 110(F) and (ix) the Agreement referred to in Article 3 or any matters arising thereout and substituting therefor the following: | |
(ix) any contract for the purchase or maintenance for any Director or Directors of insurance against any liability, and | ||
(x) the Agreement referred to in Article 3 or any matters arising thereout. | ||
(b) | by deleting Article 158 and substituting therefor the following: |
(A) | The Directors may delegate any of their powers, authorities and discretions (with power to sub-delegate) to any committee, consisting of such person or persons (whether or not a Director or Directors) as they think fit. | |
(B) | Any committee so formed shall, in the exercise of the powers, authorities and discretions so delegated, conform to any regulations which may be imposed on it by the Directors. The meetings and proceedings of any committee consisting of two or more members shall be governed by the provisions contained in these articles for regulating the meetings and proceedings of the Directors so far as the same are applicable and are not superseded by any regulations imposed by the Directors. | |
(C) | The power to delegate contained in this article shall be effective in relation to the powers, authorities and discretions of the Directors generally and shall not be limited by the fact that in certain articles, but not in others, express reference is made to particular powers, authorities or discretions being exercised by the Directors or by a committee authorised by the Directors. |
(a) | by deleting Article 14 and substituting therefor the following: |
14 | Every share certificate shall be executed under a seal or in such other manner as the Directors having regard to the terms of issue and any listing requirements may authorise and shall specify the number and class of shares to which it relates and the amount or respective amounts paid up on the shares. The Directors may by resolution decide, either generally or in any particular case or cases, that any signatures on any share certificates need not be autographic but may be applied to the certificates by some mechanical means or may be printed on them or that the certificates need not be signed by any person. | |
(b) | by deleting Article 128 and substituting therefor the following: |
128 | All or any of the Directors or members of any committee may participate in a meeting of the Directors or that committee by means of a conference telephone or any communication equipment which allows all persons participating in the meeting to hear each other. A person so participating shall be deemed to be present in person at the meeting and shall be entitled to vote or be counted in a quorum accordingly. Such a meeting shall be deemed to take place where the largest group of those participating is assembled, or, if there is no such group, where the chairman of the meeting then is. | |
(c) | by deleting Article 141 and substituting therefor the following: |
141 | Any dividend or any other moneys payable on or in respect of shares may be paid by cheque, warrant or similar financial instrument, or by other means, sent direct to the registered address of the holder or person entitled thereto or, in the case of joint holders, to the registered address of the holder who is first named in the register, or sent to such person and to such address as the holder or joint holders may in writing direct. Such payment may be sent through the post or equivalent means of delivery or by such other means, including by electronic media, offered by the Company as the holder or joint holders may in writing agree. Every such cheque, warrant, financial instrument or other form of payment shall be made payable to the person to whom it is |
sent or to such other person as the holder, or joint holders, may in writing direct, and payment of the cheque, warrant, financial instrument or other form of payment shall be a good discharge to the Company. Every such payment shall be sent at the risk of the person entitled to the money represented thereby. Any one of two or more joint holders may give effectual receipts for any dividends or other moneys payable or property distributable in respect of the shares held by them. |
(a) | by deleting Article 57 and substituting therefor the following: |
57 | The Company may cease to send any cheque or warrant or other financial instrument through the post or employ any other means of payment for any dividend payable on any shares in the Company which is normally paid in that manner on those shares if either (a) in respect of at least two consecutive dividends payable on those shares the cheques or warrants or other financial instruments have been returned undelivered or remain uncashed or that means of payment has failed or (b) following one such occasion reasonable enquiries have failed to establish any new address of the registered holder. Subject to the provisions of these articles, the Company may recommence sending cheques or warrants or other financial instruments or employing such means in respect of dividends payable on those shares if the holder or person entitled by transmission requests such recommencement in writing. |
(b) | by deleting Article 134 and substituting therefor the following: |
134 | The Directors shall provide for the custody of every seal. | |
A seal shall only be used by the authority of the Directors or a committee authorised by the Directors in that behalf pursuant to Article 127. Subject as otherwise provided in these articles, any instrument to which the common seal is applied shall be signed by at least one Director and the Secretary or by at least two Directors or by at least two persons for the time being appointed to a committee authorised by the Directors as aforesaid, and any instrument to which an official seal is applied need not, unless the Directors for the time being otherwise decide or the law otherwise requires, be signed by any person. |
(a) | by deleting Article 75 and substituting therefor the following: |
75 | (A) The chairman may at any time without the consent of the meeting adjourn any meeting (whether or not it has commenced or a quorum is present) either sine die or to another time or place where it appears to him that (a) the members wishing to attend cannot be conveniently accommodated in the place appointed for the meeting or (b) the conduct of persons present prevents or is likely to prevent the orderly continuation of business or (c) an adjournment is otherwise necessary so that the business of the meeting may be properly conducted. In addition, the chairman may at any time with the consent of any meeting at which a quorum is present (and shall if so directed by the meeting) adjourn the meeting either sine die or to another time or place. When a meeting is adjourned sine die the time and place for the adjourned meeting shall be fixed by the Directors. | |
No business shall be transacted at any adjourned meeting except business which might properly have been transacted at the meeting had the adjournment not taken place. | ||
(B) When a meeting is adjourned for three months or more, or sine die , notice of the adjourned meeting shall be given as in the case of an original meeting. Except where these articles otherwise require, it shall not be necessary to give any notice of an adjourned meeting or of the business to be transacted at an adjourned meeting. |
(b) | by deleting Article 76 and substituting therefor the following: |
76 | The Directors may direct that members or proxies wishing to attend any general meeting should submit to such searches or other security arrangements or restrictions as the Directors shall consider appropriate in the circumstances and shall be entitled in their absolute discretion to refuse entry to such general meeting to any member or proxy who fails to submit to such searches or to otherwise comply with such security arrangements or restrictions. | |
In the case of any general meeting the Directors may, notwithstanding the specification in the notice of the place of the general meeting (the Principal Place) at which the chairman of the meeting shall preside, make arrangements for simultaneous attendance and participation at other places by members and proxies entitled to attend the general meeting but excluded from the Principal Place under the provisions of this article. | ||
Such arrangements for simultaneous attendance at the meeting may include arrangements regarding the level of attendance at the other places provided that they shall operate so that any members and proxies excluded from attendance at the Principal Place are able to attend at one of the other places. For the purpose of all other provisions of these articles any such meeting shall be treated as being held and taking place at the Principal Place. | ||
The Directors may, for the purpose of facilitating the organisation and administration of any general meeting to which such arrangements apply, from time to time make arrangements, whether involving the issue of tickets (on a basis intended to afford to all members and proxies entitled to attend the meeting an equal opportunity of being admitted to the Principal Place) or the imposition of some random means of selection or otherwise as they shall in their absolute discretion consider to be appropriate, and may from time to time vary any such arrangements or make new arrangements in their place and the entitlement of any member or proxy to attend a general meeting at the Principal Place shall be subject to such arrangements as may be for the time being in force whether stated in the notice of the meeting to apply to that meeting or notified to the members concerned subsequent to the provision of the notice of the meeting. |
(a) | by amending Article 2: | |
(i) | by adding the following definitions: |
(a) | certificated share means a share which is not an uncertificated share; | ||
(b) | anticipating class means a class of shares title to which is permitted by an Operator to be transferred by means of a relevant system; | ||
(c) | uncertificated share means a share of a class which is for the time being a participating class title to which is recorded on the register as being held in uncertificated form; | ||
the Uncertificated Securities Regulations means The Uncertificated Securities Regulations 1995 as amended from time to time and any provisions of or under the Companies Acts (including any orders, regulations or other subordinate legislation made thereunder) which supplement or replace such Regulations; |
(ii) | by inserting the words or the Uncertificated Securities Regulations between the words Companies Acts and in force in the penultimate paragraph. | |
(b) | by deleting the heading CERTIFICATES before Article 12 and substituting therefor the following: |
(c) | by deleting Article 12 and substituting therefor the following: |
12.1 | (A) Pursuant and subject to the Uncertificated Securities Regulations, the Directors may permit title to shares of any class to be evidenced otherwise than by a certificate and title to shares of such a class to be transferred by means of a relevant system and may make arrangements for a class of shares (if all shares of that class are in all respects identical) to become a participating class. Title to shares of a particular class may only be evidenced otherwise than by a certificate where that class of shares is for the time being a participating class. The Directors may also, subject to compliance with the Uncertificated Securities Regulations and the rules of any relevant system, determine at any time that title to any class of shares may from a date |
specified by the Directors no longer be evidenced otherwise than by a certificate or that title to such a class shall cease to be transferred by means of any particular relevant system. For the avoidance of doubt, shares which are uncertificated shares shall not be treated as forming a class which is separate from certificated shares with the same rights. | ||
(B) In relation to a class of shares which is, for the time being, a participating class and for so long as it remains a participating class, no provision of these articles shall apply or have effect to the extent that it is inconsistent in any respect with: | ||
(i) the holding of shares of that class in uncertificated form; | ||
(ii) the transfer of title to shares of that class by means of a relevant system; and | ||
(iii) any provision of the Uncertificated Securities Regulations. | ||
(C) Shares of a class which is for the time being a participating class may be changed from uncertificated to certificated form, and from certificated to uncertificated form, in accordance with and subject as provided in the Uncertificated Securities Regulations and the rules of any relevant system, and the Directors shall record on the register of members that the shares are held in certificated or uncertificated form as appropriate. |
12.2 | Subject to the provisions of the Uncertificated Securities Regulations, the rules of any relevant system and these articles, every person (except a person to whom the Company is not by law required to issue a certificate) whose name is entered in the register as a holder of any certificated shares shall be entitled, without payment, to receive within two months after allotment or lodgment of a transfer to him of the shares or within two months after the relevant Operator-instruction is received by the Company (or within such other period as the terms of issue shall provide) one certificate for all the shares of any one class or several certificates each for one or more of the shares of the class in question upon payment for every certificate after the first of such reasonable out-of-pocket expenses as the Directors may from time to time decide. In the case of a certificated share held jointly by several persons, delivery of a certificate to one of several joint holders shall be sufficient delivery to all. A member who has transferred some of the shares comprised in his holding shall be entitled to a certificate for the balance without charge. |
(d) | by deleting Article 34 and substituting therefor the following: |
34 | Subject to such of the restrictions of these articles as may be applicable: | |
(i) any member may transfer all or any of his uncertificated shares by means of a relevant system in such manner provided for, and subject as provided in the Uncertificated Securities Regulations and the rules of any relevant system, and accordingly no provision of these articles shall apply in respect of an uncertificated share to the extent that it requires or contemplates the effecting of a transfer by an instrument in writing or the production of a certificate for the share to be transferred; and | ||
(ii) any member may transfer all or any of his certificated shares by an instrument of transfer in any usual form or in any other form which the Directors may approve. | ||
(e) | by amending Article 35 by inserting the following words: | |
(i) certificated between the words a and share in the first line; | ||
(ii) concerned between the words share and until in the third line. | ||
(f) | by deleting the sub-heading before Article 36 and substituting therefor the following: |
(g) | by deleting Article 37 and substituting therefor the following: |
37 | (A) The Directors may only decline to register a transfer of an uncertificated share in the circumstances set out in the Uncertificated Securities Regulations, and where, in the case of a transfer to joint holders, the number of joint holders to whom the uncertificated share is to be transferred exceeds four. | |
(B) The Directors may decline to register any transfer of a certificated share unless: | ||
(i) the instrument of transfer is lodged with the Company accompanied by the certificate for the shares to which it relates and such other evidence as the Directors may reasonably require to show the right of the transferor to make the transfer, | ||
(ii) the instrument of transfer is in respect of only one class of share, and | ||
(iii) in the case of a transfer to joint holders, the number of joint holders to whom the share is to be transferred does not exceed four. |
(h) | by amending Article 38 by inserting the following words: | |
or, in the case of uncertificated shares, within two months after the date on which the relevant Operator-instruction is received between the words lodged and send in the second line. | ||
(i) | by amending Article 39 by deleting the word other in the first line. | |
(j) | by deleting Article 42 and substituting therefor the following: |
42 | Any person entitled by transmission to a share may, subject as provided elsewhere in these articles, elect either to become the holder of the share or to have some person nominated by him registered as the holder. If he elects to be registered himself, he shall give notice to the Company to that effect. If he elects to have another person registered, he shall transfer title to the share to that person. All the provisions of these articles relating to the transfer of shares shall apply to the notice or transfer as if the death or bankruptcy of the member or other event giving rise to the transmission had not occurred and the notice or transfer was given or executed by the member. | |
(k) | by deleting the sub-heading before Article 55 and substituting therefor the following: |
(l) | by amending Article 56: |
(i) | by the addition of a new sub-paragraph: |
(ii) | by inserting the following words: |
(m) | by amending Article 57 by inserting the following words: |
(i) | including by means of a relevant system, between the words payment and for in the second line; | ||
(ii) | or account between the words address and of in the eighth line; | ||
(iii) | other between the words such and means in the tenth line. |
(n) | by deleting Article 70 and substituting therefor the following: |
70 | The accidental omission to give any notice of a meeting or the accidental omission to send any document relating to any meeting, or the non-receipt of any such notice or document, by any person entitled to receive the notice or document shall not invalidate the proceedings at that meeting. | |
(o) | by amending Article 141 by inserting the following words: | |
and more specifically, in respect of uncertificated shares, by means of the facilities and requirements of a relevant system between the words media and offered in the seventh line. | ||
(p) | by amending Article 145 by the addition of a new sub-paragraph: | |
(g) Unless the Directors otherwise determine, or unless the Uncertificated Securities Regulations and/or the rules of the relevant system concerned otherwise require, the new ordinary share or shares which a member has elected to receive instead of cash in respect of the whole (or some part) of the specified dividend declared in respect of his elected ordinary shares shall be in uncertificated form (in respect of the members elected ordinary shares which were in uncertificated form on the date of the members election) and in certificated form (in respect of the members elected ordinary shares which were in certificated form on the date of the members election). |
(q) | by amending Article 147 by the addition of a final sentence: | ||
The power to fix any such record date shall include the power to fix a time on the chosen date. | |||
(r) | by amending Article 150: |
(i) | by deleting the word other where it occurs in the first and sixth lines; | ||
(ii) | by inserting the following words: | ||
or by means of a relevant system between the words member and or in the fourth line. |
(s) | by amending Article 152: |
(i) | by deleting the word other where it occurs in the first and fifth lines; | ||
(ii) | by the addition of a final sentence: | ||
Any notice served or delivered by the Company by means of a relevant system shall be deemed to have been served or delivered when the Company or any sponsoring system participant acting on its behalf sends the issuer-instruction relating to the notice. |
(t) | by amending Article 153 by deleting the word other where it occurs in the first and sixth lines. |
(a) | by deleting Article 9 and substituting therefor the following: |
9 | (i) | On 13 October, 1997 the authorised capital of the Company is £136,275,682, divided as follows: |
10,894,054,560 Ordinary Shares of 1.25p each 100,000 Deferred Shares of £1 each, all of which have been issued and are now represented by £100,000 Deferred Stock. | |||
(ii) | The Ordinary Shares of 1.25p each and the Deferred Shares of £1 each shall respectively confer on the holders thereof the right to receive dividends in accordance with the provisions of article 135 hereof. |
(b) | by amending Article 83 by substituting 1.25p for 5p in the third line. |
(a) | the part of the final dividend which comprises the special dividend of 66.13p for each Ordinary Share to be paid to Ordinary Shareholders shown on the register as holders of Ordinary Shares at the close of business on 7 May 1999 and as described in the circular to Ordinary Shareholders produced to the Annual General Meeting and initialled by the Chairman of the meeting for the purposes of identification be and is hereby declared; | |
(b) | (i) each issued and each authorised but unissued Ordinary Share of 1.25p in the capital of the Company (Existing Ordinary Share) be and is hereby sub-divided into 100 Ordinary Shares of 0.0125p each in the capital of the Company (Intermediate Ordinary Shares); | |
(ii) immediately thereafter every 112 of the issued Intermediate Ordinary Shares be and are hereby consolidated into one new ordinary share of 1.4p in the capital of the Company (a New Ordinary Share) on terms that fractional entitlements to such New Ordinary Shares shall be aggregated and sold and the proceeds of sale distributed in due proportion amongst those members entitled; and | ||
(iii) immediately thereafter, every 112 of the authorised but unissued Intermediate Ordinary Shares be and are hereby consolidated into one New Ordinary Share; |
(c) | the Companys Articles of Association be and are hereby amended by deleting Article 9 and substituting therefor the following: |
9 | (i) | On 10 May, 1999 the authorised capital of the Company is £136 275 682, divided as follows: 9 726 834 428 Ordinary Shares of 1.4p each. 100 000 Deferred Shares of £1 each, all of which have been issued and are now represented by £100 000 Deferred Stock. | |
(ii) | The Ordinary Shares of 1.4p each and the Deferred Shares of £1 each shall respectively confer on the holders thereof the right to receive dividends in accordance with the provisions of Article 135 hereof. |
(d) | the Companys Articles of Association be and are hereby amended by deleting the reference to 11.25p in Article 83 and substituting therefor a reference to 1.4p. |
1 | the amendment of article 2 by: | |
(i) the addition of the following definitions: | ||
(a) address, in relation to electronic communications, includes any number or address used for the purposes of such communications;; | ||
(b) electronic signature means anything in electronic form which the Directors require to be incorporated into or otherwise associated with an electronic communication for the purpose of establishing the authenticity or integrity of the communication;; | ||
(ii) the insertion of the words except by means of an electronic signature after the words executed under hand or under seal or by any other method; | ||
(iii) the insertion of as a new sub-paragraph the words: references to a document being signed or to signature include references to its being executed under hand or under seal or by any other method and, in the case of an electronic communication, are to its bearing an electronic signature;; | ||
(iv) the insertion of the words including by way of electronic communications where specifically provided in a particular article or where permitted by the Directors in their absolute discretion after the words in a legible and non-transitory form; | ||
2 | the amendment of articles 69 and 72 by the addition of a final paragraph: | |
References in this article to notice in writing include the use of electronic communications and publication on a website in accordance with the Companies Acts. |
3 | the amendment of article 85: | |
(i) by deleting the word delivered and inserting the word received in the seventh line; | ||
(ii) by deleting the words delivery of instruments appointing a proxy and inserting the words receipt of appointments of a proxy in writing which are not electronic communications in the eighth line; | ||
(iii) by deleting the words an instrument of proxy and inserting the words such an appointment in the ninth line; | ||
(iv) by deleting the word delivered and inserting the word received in the tenth line; | ||
4 | the deletion of article 89 and substitution therefor of the following: | |
Appointment of proxies | ||
An appointment of a proxy shall be in writing under the hand of the appointor or his attorney duly authorised in writing or, if the appointor is a corporation, shall either be executed under its seal or signed by an officer, attorney or other person authorised to sign it. | ||
In this article references to in writing include the use of electronic communications subject to such terms and conditions as the Directors may decide.; | ||
5 | the deletion of article 90 and substitution therefor of the following: | |
Receipt of proxies | ||
The appointment of a proxy must: | ||
(a) | in the case of an appointment which is not contained in an electronic communication, be received at the office (or such other place in the United Kingdom as may be specified in the notice convening the meeting or in any notice of any adjournment or, in either case, in any accompanying document) together with (if required by the Directors) any authority under which it is made or a copy of the authority, certified notarially or in accordance with the Powers of Attorney Act 1971 or in some other manner approved by the Directors not less than forty eight hours (or any shorter time specified in such notice) before the time appointed for holding the meeting or adjourned meeting at which the person named in the appointment proposes to vote; |
(b) | in the case of an appointment contained in an electronic communication, where an address has been specified for the purposes of receiving electronic communications in the notice convening the meeting or in any notice of any adjournment or, in either case, in any accompanying document, be received at such address not less than forty eight hours (or any shorter time specified in such notice) before the time appointed for holding the meeting or adjourned meeting at which the person named in the appointment proposes to vote. Any authority pursuant to which an appointment contained in an electronic communication is made or a copy of the authority, certified notarially or in accordance with the Powers of Attorney Act 1971 or in some other manner approved by the Directors, must, if required by the Directors, be received at the office (or such other place in the United Kingdom as may be specified in the notice convening the meeting or in any notice of any adjournment or, in either case, in any accompanying document) not less than forty eight hours (or any shorter time specified in such notice) before the time appointed for holding the meeting or adjourned meeting at which the person named in the appointment proposes to vote; or | |
(c) | in the case of a poll taken subsequently to the date of the meeting or adjourned meeting, be received as aforesaid not less than twenty four hours (or any shorter time specified in such notice) before the time appointed for the taking of the poll, | |
and an appointment of a proxy which is not so received in a manner so permitted shall be invalid. When two or more valid but differing appointments of a proxy are received in respect of the same share for use at the same meeting, the one which is last received (regardless of its date or of the date of its signature) shall be treated as replacing and revoking the others as regards that share; if the Company is unable to determine which was last received, none of them shall be treated as valid in respect of that share.; | ||
6 | the deletion of article 91 and substitution therefor of the following: | |
Validity of proxy | ||
No appointment of a proxy shall be valid after twelve months have elapsed from the date of its receipt. The appointment of a proxy shall not preclude a member from attending and voting in person at the meeting or poll concerned.; |
7 | the amendment of article 92: | |
(i) by deleting the words Instruments of and inserting the words The appointment of a in the first line; | ||
(ii) by deleting the words instrument of and inserting the words appointment of a in the fourth line; | ||
(iii) by deleting the words instrument of and inserting the words appointment of a in the seventh line; | ||
8 | the amendment of article 93: | |
(i) by deleting the words in the United Kingdom and inserting the words or address in the fifth line; | ||
(ii) by deleting the words delivery of instruments and inserting the words receipt of appointments in the sixth line.; | ||
9 | the amendment of articles 93, 104, 105, 121, 126 and 129 by inserting a final paragraph: | |
In this article references to in writing include the use of electronic communications subject to such terms and conditions as the Directors may decide.; | ||
10 | the deletion of article 95 and substitution therefor of the following: | |
Resolution in writing | ||
A resolution in writing signed by or on behalf of each member who would have been entitled to vote upon it if it had been proposed at a general meeting at which he was present shall be as effectual as if it had been passed at a general meeting properly convened and held and may consist of several instruments in the like form each signed by or on behalf of one or more of the members. | ||
In this article references to in writing include the use of electronic communications subject to such terms and conditions as the Directors may decide.; | ||
11 | the amendment of article 104 by inserting the words or received at after the words delivered to in sub-paragraph (a); |
12 | the amendment of article 105: | |
(i) by deleting the word executed and inserting the word signed in the fourth line in sub-paragraph A; | ||
(ii) by inserting the words or received at after the words delivered to in the fifth line in sub-paragraph A; | ||
(iii) by deleting the word Execution and inserting the word Signature in the third line in sub-paragraph C; | ||
(iv) by deleting the word execution and inserting the word signature in the fifth line in sub-paragraph C.; | ||
13 | the amendment of article 129 by deleting the word executed and inserting the word signed in the first line and in the seventh line; | |
14 | the amendment of article 150: | |
(i) by inserting the word sent after the word on in the first line; | ||
(ii) by inserting the words or, where appropriate, by sending it using electronic communications to an address for the time being notified by the member concerned to the Company for that purpose or by publication on a website in accordance with the Companies Acts after the word system in the fifth line; | ||
(iii) by inserting the word sending after the word service in the sixth line; | ||
(iv) by inserting the words or sending after the words service on in the seventh line; |
15 | the amendment of article 151: | |
(i) by deleting the words an address and inserting the words a postal address in the third line; | ||
(ii) by deleting the words upon him at that address but, unless he does so and inserting the words on or sent or delivered to him at that address. Any member whose registered address is not within the United Kingdom and who gives to the Company an address for the purposes of electronic communications may, at the absolute discretion of the Board, be entitled to have notices or documents served upon, or delivered to, him at that address. Otherwise, a member whose registered address is not within the United Kingdom; | ||
16 | the amendment of article 152: | |
(i) by deleting the words by post in the title; | ||
(ii) by inserting the words (other than an address for the purposes of electronic communications) after the word address in the fifth line; and | ||
(iii) by inserting a final paragraph: Any notice or document sent by the Company by using electronic communications shall be deemed to have been received on the day following that on which it was sent. Proof that a notice contained in an electronic communication was sent in accordance with guidance issued from time to time by the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators shall be conclusive evidence that the notice was given. |
1 | the amendment of article 2 by |
2 | the deletion of article 74 and substitution therefore of the following: |
74 | Each Director shall be entitled to attend and speak at any general meeting of the Company and at any separate general meeting of the holders of any class of shares in the Company. Any proxy appointed by a member shall also be entitled to speak at any general meeting of the Company and at any separate general meeting of the holders of any class of shares in the Company at which such member would have been entitled to attend and speak.; |
3 | the amendment of article 77 by inserting the words Without prejudice to the other provisions of this article, the chairman may, in his absolute discretion, demand a poll on all or some of the resolutions put to the vote of the meeting before or on the declaration of the result of the show of hands or on the withdrawal of any other demand for a poll. after the first sentence of the article and before the sentence beginning Subject to the Companies Acts; |
4 | the deletion of article 97 and substitution therefore of the following: |
97 | There shall be no requirement for any Director to hold shares in the capital of the Company.; |
5 | the deletion of article 101 and substitution therefore of the following: |
101 | No persons shall be eligible to be elected as Directors except such persons as shall: |
6 | the insertion of a new article 103 as follows and the consequential renumbering of all subsequent articles: |
103 | (A) If at the annual general meeting in any year the resolution or resolutions for the election or re-election of all, or all but one, of the eligible persons nominated for election or re-election as Directors for the succeeding year are put to the meeting and lost, then all such eligible persons who are Directors as at the commencement of the annual general meeting and are standing for re-election shall be deemed to have been re-elected as Directors and shall remain in office but so that such Directors may act only for the purpose of summoning general meetings of the Company and to perform such duties as are essential to maintain the Company as a going concern but not for any other purpose. |
7 | the insertion of a new article 108 (after the article headed Executive Directors which is numbered article 106 in the current articles) as follows and the consequential renumbering of all subsequent articles: |
8 | the deletion of article 107 and substitution therefore of the following (renumbered to take into account the other proposed changes to the articles): |
109 | Each of the Directors shall be paid a fee at such rate as may from time to time be determined by the Directors provided that the aggregate of all fees so paid to Directors (excluding amounts payable under any other provisions of these articles) shall not exceed £600,000 per annum or such higher amount as may from time to time be decided by ordinary resolution of the Company.; |
9 | the amendment of article 118 by deleting the words Advisory Director, in the article; |
10 | the insertion of a new article 130 (after the article headed Delegation to committees which is numbered article 127 in the current articles) as follows and the consequential renumbering of all subsequent articles; |
130 | (A) Without prejudice to the powers conferred on the Directors by article 129 above, and in addition to such powers, the Directors may delegate their powers, authorities and discretions (with power to sub-delegate) in relation to the operational running of the Company to an executive committee consisting, from time to time, of all of the Directors who have been appointed to hold any employment or executive office with the Company pursuant to article 107 (for the purposes of this article executive directors) and such other person or persons (whether or not a Director or Directors) as the Directors shall agree from time to time, provided that the number of such other persons appointed to the committee shall not at any time equal or exceed the number of executive directors appointed to the committee. |
11 | the deletion of articles 132 and 133 (including the headings to these articles) and the heading ADVISORY DIRECTORS above these articles; | |
12 | the amendment of article 134 by deleting the words Article 127 and inserting the words articles 129 and 130 in their place in this article; and | |
13 | the renumbering of the articles and relevant cross-references to take into account the changes set out above. |
1 | the amendment of article 3 by deleting the word Board and inserting the word Directors in its place in the first paragraph; | |
2 | the amendment of article 11 by |
(i) | inserting the words (excluding any shares of that class held as treasury shares) after the words three-fourths of the issued shares of that class and after the words one-third of the capital paid up on the issued shares of the class in paragraph (A) of that article, and | ||
(ii) | inserting the words (but excluding any shares held as treasury shares) after the words one-half in nominal value of the entire issued share capital for the time being of the Company in paragraph (C) of that article; |
3 | the amendment of article 44 by inserting the words (excluding any shares held as treasury shares) after the words may convert any paid-up shares in the first sentence of that article; | |
4 | the amendment of articles 56 and 145 by deleting the words The International Stock Exchange of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland Limited and inserting the words the London Stock Exchange plc in their place in the first paragraph of article 56 and paragraph (b) of article 145; | |
5 | the amendment of article 56 by |
(i) | inserting the word and at the end of paragraph (iv), | ||
(ii) | deleting , and at the end of paragraph (v) and inserting a full stop in its place, and | ||
(iii) | deleting paragraph (vi); |
6 | the amendment of article 72 by inserting the words and entitled to vote after the words in person or by proxy in both places where they appear in the article; |
7 | the amendment of article 75 by inserting the words entitled to vote after the words it appears to him that (a) the members in paragraph (A) of that article; | |
8 | the amendment of article 110 by inserting the words (calculated exclusive of any shares of that class of that company held as treasury shares) after the words equity share capital of that company in the first sentence of paragraph (G) of that article; | |
9 | the amendment of article 144 by |
(i) | inserting : (i) after the words but so that, for the purposes of this article in the article, and | ||
(ii) | deleting the full stop at the end of the article and inserting in its place the words , and (ii) where the amount capitalised is applied in paying up in full unissued shares, the Company will also be entitled to participate in the relevant distribution in relation to any shares of the relevant class held by it as treasury shares and the proportionate entitlement of the relevant class of members to the distribution will be calculated accordingly. at the end of the article; |
10 | the amendment of article 145 by inserting the words (excluding any member holding shares as treasury shares) after the words offer the holders of Ordinary Shares in the first paragraph of that article; | |
11 | the amendment of article 156 by inserting the words (excluding any member holding shares as treasury shares) after the words the assets available for distribution amongst the members in the article; | |
12 | the amendment of article 158 by |
(i) | removing the words or auditor in the first sentence and the words , and if the Directors so determine an auditor may be indemnified, and , or as auditor, in the second sentence of the article, and | ||
(ii) | inserting a new sentence at the end of the article as follows: For the purpose of this article the terms Director or officer shall include any former Director or officer of the Company.; and |
13 | to the extent necessary, the renumbering of the articles and relevant cross-references to take into account the changes set out above. |
1 | THAT the Articles of Association be altered by making the following amendments provided that this resolution will only become effective if resolution 5 as set out in the Notice of Annual General Meeting of Unilever N.V. dated 24 March 2005 was approved by the shareholders of Unilever N.V. at the Annual General Meeting of Unilever N.V. held on Tuesday 10 May 2005 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, or at any adjournment thereof: |
(a) | the words any employment or which follow the words its body to hold in article 107 be deleted; | ||
(b) | the words Managing Director in article 107 be replaced by the words Group Chief Executive; | ||
(c) | the words an employment or which follow the words do not hold in article 108 be deleted; | ||
(d) | the words , where appropriate, be inserted following the word recognising and before the words that it is not in article 108; and | ||
(e) | article 130 be deleted and the following substituted therefor: |
130 | The Board may entrust to and confer upon the Group Chief Executive any of its powers, authorities and discretions (with power to sub-delegate) upon such terms and conditions and with such restrictions as it thinks fit, and either collaterally with, or to the exclusion of, its own powers, authorities and discretions and may from time to time revoke or vary all or any of them but no person dealing in good faith and without notice of the revocation or variation shall be affected by it. The power to delegate contained in this article shall be effective in relation to the powers, authorities and discretions of the board generally and shall not be limited by the fact that in certain articles, but not in others, express reference is made to particular powers, authorities or discretions being exercised by the Board or by a committee authorised by the Board. |
2 | THAT article 159 be deleted and the following substituted therefor: |
1 | THAT, conditional upon the admission of the issued new Ordinary shares (as defined below) to the Official List of the UK Listing Authority becoming effective, upon listing of the Companys new American Depositary Receipts arising on consolidation on the New York Stock Exchange, upon the resolutions in relation to a share capital sub-division by Unilever N.V. as described in the Notice of Meeting dated 29 March 2006 convening the Annual General Meeting of Unilever N.V. being passed, upon the new Unilever N.V. Ordinary shares arising as a result of the sub-division referred to in such resolutions being admitted to listing on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange and upon the new Unilever N.V. depositary receipts arising as a result of such sub-division being admitted to listing on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange: |
(a) | all the Ordinary shares of 1.4 pence each in the capital of the Company which at 6.00 pm on 19 May 2006 (or such other time and date as the Directors of the Company may determine) which are shown in the books of the Company as authorised, whether issued or unissued, shall be sub-divided into new Ordinary shares of 7 / 45 pence each in the capital of the Company (the Intermediate Ordinary Shares); | ||
(b) | immediately thereafter, all Intermediate Ordinary Shares that are unissued shall be consolidated into new Ordinary shares of 3 1 / 9 pence each in the capital of the Company (the Unissued New Ordinary Shares) provided that, where such consolidation would otherwise result in a fraction of an Unissued New Ordinary Share, that number of Intermediate Ordinary Shares which would otherwise constitute such fraction shall be cancelled pursuant to section 121(2)(e) of the Companies Act 1985; | ||
(c) | immediately thereafter, all Intermediate Ordinary Shares that are in issue shall be consolidated into new Ordinary shares of 3 1 / 9 pence each in the capital of the Company (the New Ordinary Shares), provided that, where such consolidation results in any shareholder being entitled to a fraction of New Ordinary Share, such fraction shall, so far as possible, be aggregated with the fractions of New Ordinary Share to which other shareholders of the Company may be entitled and the Directors of the Company be and are hereby authorised in accordance with the Companys Articles of Association to sell (or appoint any other person to sell), on behalf of the relevant shareholders, all the New Ordinary Shares representing such aggregated fractions at the best price reasonably obtainable to any person and to distribute the proceeds of sale (net of expenses) in due proportion among the relevant shareholders |
entitled thereto (save that any fraction of a penny which would otherwise be payable shall be rounded up or down in accordance with the usual practice of the registrar of the Company) and that any Director of the Company (or any person appointed by the Directors of the Company) shall be and is hereby authorised to execute an instrument of transfer in respect of such shares on behalf of the relevant shareholders and to do all acts and things as the Directors of the Company consider necessary or expedient to effect the transfer of such shares to, or in accordance with the directions of, any buyer of any such shares; | |||
(d) |
the Companys Articles of Association be and are hereby amended by deleting Article 9 and
substituting therefor the following:
(i) On the 9th May 2006 the authorised capital of the Company is £136,275,682, divided as follows: 4,377,075, 492 Ordinary Shares of 3 1 / 9 pence each and 100,000 Deferred Shares of £1 each, all of which Deferred Shares have been issued and are now represented by £100,000 Deferred Stock. (ii) The Ordinary Shares of 3 1 / 9 pence each and the Deferred Shares of £1 each shall respectively confer on the holders thereof the right to receive dividends in accordance with the provisions of article 136 hereof., and |
||
(e) | the Directors be authorised to agree to modify the Agreement dated 28 June 1946 (as amended by Supplemental Agreements dated 20 July 1951 and 21 December 1981) with Unilever N.V. of the Netherlands known as the Equalisation Agreement by replacing all references therein to Fl.12 with references to EUR 0.16 and by replacing all references therein to £1 with references to 3 1 / 9 pence and to make certain other minor modifications as reflected in the form of Equalisation Agreement Amendment Agreement produced to the meeting and for the purposes of identification signed by the Chairman thereof (subject to any non-material changes as may be approved by the Director(s) executing the Equalisation Agreement Amendment Agreement). |
2 | THAT the Companys Articles of Association be and are hereby amended by: |
(a) | deleting article 11(C) and substituting therefor the following: | ||
Any alteration of the rights set out in article 101 shall be treated as a variation of the class rights of the holders of the Deferred Shares provided, however, that an alteration to such rights may be effected (without any such consent or sanction as aforesaid) by a resolution passed at a general meeting of the Company by a majority consisting of not less than two-thirds of such members as being entitled to vote at such meeting vote thereat in person or by proxy, such majority comprising the holders of not less than one-half in nominal value of the entire issued share capital for the time being of the Company (but excluding any shares held as treasury shares) and being computed by reference to the number of votes to which each member is entitled by virtue of these articles. | |||
(b) | deleting article 99 and substituting therefor the following: |
99 | At every annual general meeting all the Directors shall retire from office, with such retirement to become effective at the conclusion of the annual general meeting of the Company or the corresponding annual general meeting of Unilever N.V. (whichever is the later). |
(c) | deleting article 101 and substituting therefor the following: |
101 | No person shall be eligible to be elected as a Director unless: |
(d) | deleting article 102 and substituting therefor the following: |
102 | If at the annual general meeting in any year no persons shall be eligible to be elected as Directors in accordance with article 101 or if the number of persons so eligible is less than the minimum number for the time being in force under article 96 then the retiring Directors (other than those eligible for re-election under article 101) or so many of them as shall be willing to offer themselves for re-election shall be deemed to be eligible for election under article 101 as Directors or Director for the succeeding year. |
(e) | deleting article 103 and substituting therefor the following: |
103 | (A) If at the annual general meeting in any year the resolution or resolutions for the election or re-election of all, or all but the minimum number for the time being in force under article 96, of the persons eligible for election or re-election as Directors for the succeeding year are put to the meeting and lost, then all such eligible persons who are Directors as at the commencement of the annual general meeting and are standing for re-election shall be deemed to have been re-elected as Directors and shall remain in office but so that such Directors may act only for the purposes of summoning general meetings of the Company and perform such duties as are essential to maintain the Company as a going concern but not for any other purpose. |
3 | That article 109 of the Companys Articles of Association be and is hereby amended by deleting the amount of £600,000 and inserting the amount of £1,500,000 in its place. |
1 | THAT the Companys Articles of Association be and are hereby amended by: |
(a) | deleting the definition of address below the definition of electronic signature in Article 2; | ||
(b) | adding the following sentence to the end of Article 90(c) after the words, in respect of that share. The proceedings at a general meeting shall not be invalidated where an appointment of a proxy in respect of that meeting is delivered in a manner permitted by these articles by electronic communications but, because of a technical problem, it cannot be read by the recipient.; | ||
(c) | adding the following sentences to the end of Article 151 after the words, sending or delivering to all the joint holders. If on three consecutive occasions a notice to a member has been returned undelivered, such member shall not thereafter be entitled to receive notices from the Company until he shall have communicated with the Company and supplied to the Company (or its agent) a new registered address, or a postal address within the United Kingdom for the service of notices, or shall have informed the Company, in such manner as may be specified by the Company, of an address for the service of notices by electronic communications. For these purposes, a notice sent by post shall be treated as returned undelivered if the notice is sent back to the Company (or its agent), and a notice sent by electronic communications shall be treated as returned undelivered if the Company (or its agent) receives notification that the notice was not delivered to the address to which is was sent.; | ||
(d) | adding the following sentence to Article 154 after the end of the first sentence which ends with the words, his registered address. A person who is entitled by transmission to a share, upon supplying the Company with an address for the purposes of the electronic communication for the service of notices, may, at the absolute discretion of the Directors, have sent to him at such address any notice or document to which he would have been entitled if he were the holder of that share. The wording of the article will then continue with, Except where there is a person entitled by transmission to a share; |
(e) | deleting Article 155(A) and substituting therefor the following: 155(A) if at any time by reason of the suspension or curtailment of postal services or of the relevant electronic communication system within the United Kingdom the Company is unable effectively to convene a general meeting by notice sent through the post or by electronic communications, a general meeting may be convened by notice advertised in at least two daily newspapers with a national circulation in the United Kingdom and in that event the notice shall be deemed to have been served on all members and persons entitled by transmission who are entitled to have notice of the meeting served upon them on the day when the advertisement appears. If at least six clear days prior to the meeting the posting of notices or sending by electronic communications to addresses through the United Kingdom has again become practicable, the Company shall send confirmatory copies of the notice by post or by electronic communications to the persons entitled to receive them.; | ||
(f) | deleting the words On the 9th May 2006 the authorised capital of the Company is £136 275 682 in Article 9 of the Companys Articles of Association and replacing them with On the 22nd May 2006 the authorised capital of the Company was £136 275 682; and | ||
(g) | deleting the amount of 1.4p in Article 83 and inserting 3 1 / 9 p in its place. |
2 | THAT Article 109 of the Companys Articles of Association be and is hereby amended by deleting 1 500 000 and inserting £2 000 000 in its place. |
1 | THAT the Articles of Association produced to the meeting and initialled by the Chairman of the meeting for the purpose of identification be adopted as the Articles of Association of the Company in substitution for, and to the exclusion of, the existing Articles of Association. |
1 | THAT |
(a) | the Articles of Association of the Company be amended by deleting all the provisions of the Companys Memorandum of Association which, by virtue of Section 28 of the Companies Act 2006, are to be treated as provisions of the Companys Articles of Association; and | ||
(b) | the Articles of Association produced to the meeting and initialled by the Chairman of the meeting for the purpose of identification be adopted as the Articles of Association of the Company in substitution for, and to the exclusion of, the existing Articles of Association. |
(1) | Unilever NV (Commercial Register No. 24051830) whose registered office is at Rotterdam (NV) and Unilever PLC (registered in England No. 41424) whose registered office is at Port Sunlight, Wirral, Merseyside, CH62 4ZD (PLC) (together the Company) and | |
(2) | Paul Polman of 31 Av de LErmitage, 1224 Chene Bougeries, Geneva, Switzerland (the Executive) | |
1. | Definitions and interpretation | |
1.1 | Throughout this document, the following definitions shall apply: | |
Board means the board of directors of NV and PLC; | ||
Commencement Date means; 1 st October 2008 | ||
Company means together Unilever N.V. and Unilever PLC | ||
Confidential Information means information (whether or not reduced to writing) in respect of the business, affairs and financing of the Company or any member of the Unilever Group, its or their suppliers, agents, distributors or customers, including but not limited to information relating to trade secrets or secret information, research, technical know-how, products, designs, pricing, marketing, business and financial plans, acquisition plans, clients and customers, stored or kept in any format including but not limited to software, diskettes including but not limited to copy-rightable material and/or documents, books, notes, tapes, instruments and property of any kind (either tangible or intangible); | ||
CLO means the General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer of the Unilever Group. | ||
Intellectual Property Rights means patents, copyright and related or neighbouring rights, trade marks and services marks, rights in goodwill or to sue for passing off, rights in designs, rights in computer software, database rights, topography rights, rights in Confidential Information (including know-how and trade secrets) and any other intellectual property rights (including, without limitation, rights in get-up and rights to Inventions, trade or business names or signs and domain names) in each case whether registered or unregistered and including all applications (or rights to apply) for, and renewals or extensions of, such rights and all similar or equivalent rights or forms of protection which may now or in the future subsist in any part of the world; | ||
Inventions means inventions, ideas and improvements, whether or not patentable, and whether or not recorded in any medium; | ||
Group Secretary means the Secretary of NV and PLC; | ||
Remuneration Committee means the remuneration committee of the Board; | ||
Termination Date means the date on which the Executives employment terminates, as referred to in Clause 6; | ||
Unilever Executive means the principal Executive Committee of the Board under the chairmanship of the Group Chief Executive; | ||
Unilever Group means PLC, NV and any company in which either or both together directly or indirectly owns or controls the voting rights attaching to not less than 50% of the issued share capital, or controls directly or indirectly the appointment of a majority of the board of management, and references to a member of the Unilever Group or a Unilever Group company will be construed accordingly; |
2. | Commencement | |
This Agreement is effective as of the Commencement Date which for the purpose of the UK Employment Rights Act 1996 is the date on which the Executives continuous period of employment began. | ||
3. | Duties of the Executive | |
3.1 | The Executive shall be employed as a member of the Unilever Executive as Group Chief Executive and shall carry out all duties (including, if relevant, the duties of a Board director) as may reasonably be assigned to him in whatever location is reasonably required. | |
3.2 | All such duties shall be carried out honestly, faithfully, to the best of the Executives ability and at all times in compliance with the Unilever Code of Business Principles. | |
3.3 | Further the Executive shall comply with all rules, regulations and legal requirements relevant to the business of the Unilever Group. | |
3.4 | The Executive shall report to the Board in his capacity as a Director and, when requested by the Board, shall promptly provide (in writing if requested) all information, explanations and assistance relevant to any matters which have an impact on the business and affairs of the Unilever Group or any member thereof. | |
3.5 | The Executives normal place of work shall be London or such other place as the Company may from time to time reasonably require. The Executive shall travel to such places as are necessary for the proper discharge of his duties. | |
4 | Remuneration and Benefits | |
4.1 | The remuneration of the Executive will be reviewed annually by the Company and communicated to the Executive in writing and paid in accordance with the Unilever Groups payroll practice, as amended from time to time. | |
4.2 | The Executive will not be entitled to receive any fees or other remuneration additional to the agreed remuneration by virtue of, or in respect of, any directorships that may be held from time to time of any Unilever Group company. | |
4.3 | Any remuneration arising from a directorship of an organisation outside the Unilever Group shall be treated in accordance with the prevailing Company policy. | |
4.4 | Details of the Executives pension entitlement shall be notified to him separately in writing by the Company. | |
4.5 | The Company shall reimburse the Executive, against production of receipts, for all reasonable travelling, hotel, entertainment and other out-of-pocket expenses which he may from time to time incur in the proper execution of his duties hereunder and pursuant to any Company policy in force from time to time. | |
5. | Working Hours and Holidays | |
5.1 | The Executive shall work such hours as are necessary for the proper performance of his duties and devote the whole of his professional time, attention and abilities to carrying out his duties hereunder. | |
5.2 | The Executive shall be entitled to thirty working days holiday in each calendar year (in addition to Public Holidays applicable in the Executives normal place of work) to be taken at times mutually agreed between the Executive and the Chairman. |
6. | Termination | |
The Executives employment shall continue unless and until it is terminated: |
| by the Company giving the Executive twelve months prior written notice; or | ||
| by the Executive giving the Company six months prior written notice; or | ||
| by the Executive giving six months prior written notice to terminate his employment with NV which shall automatically constitute the same notice of termination by the Executive of his employment with PLC; or | ||
| at any time in accordance with clauses 7 or 8. |
7. | Severance Payments | |
7.1 | In the event of termination of the employment of the Executive by the Company for any reason other than a reason pursuant to Clause 8, the Company may, instead of requiring the Executive to work during the period of notice, elect to make a severance payment to the Executive, in which case the Executives employment will immediately terminate and such date shall be the date of termination for the purposes of this Agreement. If the Company so elects, the Executive shall be entitled to the payments and benefits referred to in Clauses 7.2 to 7.4. | |
7.2 | In such circumstances, the Executive shall, subject as provided in Clause 7.5 be entitled to receive a severance payment which shall be the aggregate of:- |
| a sum equal to the basic salary together with a sum equal to the benefits in kind payable by the Company to the Executive for the period for which this Agreement would otherwise have continued; | ||
| the amount of the variable pay award estimated by the Company to be payable to the Executive in respect of the financial year in which the notice is served, pro rated to the date of termination |
7.3 | By this means, if the Company elects to operate Clause 7.1, termination may be effected by a payment of basic salary and benefits in lieu of notice for the period of notice or a combination of notice period followed by such a payment in lieu of the remaining notice period. Bonus and other share based awards shall be made pro rated to the date of termination. | |
7.4 | Further, in these circumstances, the Company will ensure that the Executive shall be credited with twelve months service for the purposes of the pension scheme referred to in the notification to be made under Clause 4.4 such twelve month period to run from the date of serving of notice of termination. | |
7.5 | The Executive will if requested sign a general release of all and any claims (contractual and statutory) in a form satisfactory to the Company in exchange for any payment under this Clause 7. | |
8. | Summary Termination | |
8.1 | The Company may terminate the Executives employment forthwith, without notice or compensation, in any circumstances where the Executive: |
| shall become incapacitated from any cause whatsoever from performing his duties hereunder for at least twelve months (provided that termination of employment will not deprive the Executive of benefits under any permanent health insurance scheme provided by the Company); or | ||
| if being a director of the Company, shall be or become prohibited by law from being a director in either the UK or the Netherlands; or |
| is convicted of any criminal offence which prevents him from fulfilling his duties hereunder: or | ||
| shall fail to perform his duties competently or is guilty of any serious or persistent neglect in the discharge of duties, or commits any wilful, serious or persistent breach of any codes of conduct, policies and procedures issued by the Company; or | ||
| becomes bankrupt or makes any composition or enters into any deed of arrangement with creditors; |
8.2 | Any delay by the Company in exercising the right to terminate summarily under the clauses set out above shall not constitute a waiver of that right. The Executive shall have no claim for compensation in respect of such termination. | |
9. | Following Termination | |
9.1 | Following the termination of employment, for whatever reason or by whatever means, the Executive shall not represent, either expressly or impliedly, to any person, firm or company that he is authorised to act on behalf of any member of the Unilever Group, nor represent himself as being connected in any way with any member of the Unilever Group. | |
9.2 | Upon termination of employment, the Executive shall tender his resignation with immediate effect from any directorship that he may then be holding in any member of the Unilever Group without any right to any claim whether for compensation or otherwise. | |
In the event that the Executive fails to tender his resignation as aforesaid, and without prejudice to the Companys and/or the Unilever Groups rights and remedies under law and in equity, the Executive will automatically be deemed to have tendered such resignation with immediate effect and the Group Secretary and the CLO are hereby irrevocably, and severally, authorised by the Executive, in the Executives name and on his behalf to sign documents (including but not limited to letters of resignation) for the purpose of bringing such deemed resignation into immediate effect. | ||
10. | Confidential Information | |
10.1 | The Executive shall not (except in the proper course of his duties) at any time during the course of employment or any time thereafter, without the prior written consent of the Company or the Unilever Group, use or disclose directly or indirectly any Confidential Information to any person for any reason other than for the proper conduct of the Companys business whilst in the course of their employment, except as required by law (provided that the Executive shall at the Companys expense resist any alleged requirement if the Company properly asks him to do so). | |
10.2 | All Confidential Information that the Executive has received or made (alone or with others) during employment with the Company or any other member of the Unilever Group is the property of the Company or the Unilever Group and the Executive shall promptly, whenever requested by the Company and in any event upon the termination of his employment for whatever reason, return such Confidential Information to the Company and the Executive shall not be entitled to and shall not retain any copies thereof. Title and copyright therein shall vest in the Company. | |
10.3 | The Executive shall not during the continuance of employment or for 12 months thereafter without the Companys prior written consent, publish or cause to be published any opinion, fact or material relating to or connected with the business of the Company or any member of the Unilever Group or its or their suppliers, customers or partners (whether confidential or not) without first obtaining the consent of the Board. This restriction shall not apply where the information has already come into the public domain other than through unauthorised disclosure by the Executive. |
11.
Executives Covenants
11.1
The Executive shall not, without the prior written consent of the Company, be or become directly or indirectly engaged or
concerned or interested in any other business, trade, profession or occupation or undertake any work for any other person, firm
or company whether paid or unpaid during his employment hereunder. However nothing herein shall prevent the Executive from
holding, or otherwise having an interest in, any shares or other securities of any company for investment purposes only, unless
that holding is a significant one in a company that is a material competitor of any member of the Unilever Group.
11.2
The Executive shall not, for the period of six months following the Termination Date, work for or be engaged by, or otherwise be
involved with, any material competitors, suppliers, customers or partners of the Company or of any member of the Unilever Group,
without the prior written consent of the Company, which consent will not be unreasonably withheld.
12.
Intellectual Property
12.1
The Executive shall notify the Company of the existence of all Inventions and of all works embodying Intellectual Property Rights
made wholly or partially by him at any time during the course of his employment with the Company and, at the Companys request,
shall provide full written details thereof. The Executive acknowledges that all Intellectual Property Rights subsisting (or which
may in the future subsist) in all such Inventions and works shall automatically, on creation, vest in either NV or PLC
absolutely. To the extent that they do not vest automatically, the Executive holds them on trust for either NV or PLC and shall,
at the request and expense of the Company, (during the course of his employment or thereafter) assign them to the either NV or
PLC their nominee. The Executive agrees promptly to execute all documents and do all acts as may, in the opinion of either NV or
PLC, be necessary or desirable to give effect to this clause 12.1 and/or to effect all relevant registration(s) and protections.
12.2
The Executive hereby irrevocably waives all moral rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (and all similar
rights in other jurisdictions) which he has or will have in any existing or future works.
12.3
The Executive hereby irrevocably appoints the Company to execute and do any such instrument or thing and generally to use his
name for the purpose of giving the Company or its nominee the benefit of this clause.
13.
Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures
Other than as set out in this Agreement, there are no explicit disciplinary rules in force in relation to the Executive who is
expected at all times to conduct himself in a manner consistent with his senior status. There is no formal grievance procedure
but in the event of any grievance, the Executive may raise the matter with the Chairman or the Board, as may be appropriate.
14.
Directorship/Indemnity
14.1
Subject and without prejudice to the Companys rights under Clause 8 of this Agreement, if the Executive is a director of the
Company, the Companys failure to nominate the Executive for re-election to the office of director of the Company, the removal of
the Executive from the office of director of the Company or failure of the shareholders in general meeting to
re-elect
the
Executive as a director of the Company, unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Executive, shall be deemed notice of
termination by the Company under the provisions of Clause 6. In accordance with the Articles of Association, where an Executive
is disqualified or removed as a director of PLC he will be deemed to have been removed as a director of NV with immediate effect.
14.2
If a director of the Company, details of indemnity protection shall be notified to the Executive separately in writing by the Company.
15.
Garden Leave
15.1
Once notice is given under clause 6, the Company shall be under no obligation to vest in or assign to the Executive any powers or
duties or to provide any work for the Executive, and the Company may at any time or from time to time during any period of notice
(whether given by the Company or the Executive) require that the Executive does not attend at any premises of the Company.
15.2
Salary and benefits will not cease to be payable by reason of such requirement and the Executive shall continue to be bound by
the provisions of this Agreement and must continue at all times to conduct himself with good faith towards the Company and not do
anything that is harmful to the Company.
16
Suspension
In circumstances where the Company believes there is a reasonable suspicion of breach of this Agreement, in order that the
circumstances giving rise to that belief may be investigated, the Company may suspend the Executive from the performance of his
duties. Salary and benefits will not cease to be payable by reason of such suspension and the Executive shall continue to be
bound by the provisions of this Agreement and must continue at all times to conduct himself with good faith towards the Company
and not do anything that is harmful to the Company.
17.
Miscellaneous
17.1
If the Executive is at any time granted options or rights pursuant to any share option or share incentive scheme of the Company
or any other member of the Unilever Group, those options or rights shall be subject to the rules of that scheme as in force from
time to time which rules shall not form part of the Executives service contract. In particular, if the Executives employment
should terminate for any reason (including as a result of a repudiatory breach of contract by the Company) his rights will be
governed entirely by the terms of that scheme and he will not be entitled to any further or other compensation for any loss of
any right or benefit or prospective right or benefit under any such scheme which he may have enjoyed, whether such compensation
is claimed by way of damages for wrongful dismissal or other breach of contract or by way of compensation for loss of office or
otherwise.
17.2
The Executive consents to the Company or any member of the Unilever Group holding and processing both electronically and manually
the data it collects which relates to the Executive for the purposes of the administration and management of its employees and
its business and for compliance with applicable procedures, laws and regulations. The Executive also consents to the transfer of
such personal information to other offices the Company may have or to any member of the Unilever Group or to other third parties
whether or not outside the European Economic Area for administration purposes in connection with the Executives employment where
it is necessary or desirable for the Company to do so.
17.3
If any clause, or identifiable part of any clause, of this Agreement is held to be invalid or unenforceable by any court of
competent jurisdiction, then this shall not affect the validity or enforceability of the remaining clauses or identifiable parts
of such.
17.4
No modification, variation or amendment to this Agreement shall be effective unless it is in writing and has been signed by, or on behalf of, the
parties.
18. | Status of these terms and conditions | |
This Agreement is supplemental to the letter dated 29 th August 2008 setting out the Executives reward package and the pensions notification but otherwise it supersedes and replaces all agreements or arrangements whether written, oral or implied between the Company or any member of the Unilever Group and the Executive relating to the employment of the Executive or the termination of that employment and the Executive acknowledges and warrants that he is not entering into this Agreement in reliance on any representation not expressly set out herein and shall have no remedy in relation to any such representation. | ||
19. | Notices | |
19.1 | Any notice, or other communication which is required to be served by the Company under these terms and conditions, shall be signed by the CLO, and/or the Group Secretary if the Executive is a director of the Company, and addressed to the Executive at the appropriate business address. | |
19.2 | Any notice or other communication which is required to be served by the Executive on the Company, will require the signature of the Executive and be addressed to either the CLO or the Group Secretary at their office. | |
20. | Governing Law | |
All communications, agreements and contracts pertaining to the Executives employment with the Company (including, without limitation, this Agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales and each of the parties hereby irrevocably agrees for the exclusive benefit of the Company and the Unilever Group that the Courts of England are to have jurisdiction to settle any disputes which may arise out of or in connection with those documents, this Agreement or the Executives employment with the Company. |
Signed for and on behalf of the Company:
|
Acceptance of these Terms and Conditions by the Executive: | |
|
||
Sgd/S G Williams, Authorised Signatory
|
Sgd/P G J M Polman | |
Sgd/S H M A Dumoulin, Authorised
|
||
Signatory
|
||
END
|
(1) | Unilever NV (Commercial Register No. 24051830) whose registered office is at Rotterdam (NV) and Unilever PLC (registered in England No. 41424) whose registered office is at Port Sunlight, Wirral, Merseyside, CH62 4ZD (PLC) (together the Company) and | |
(2) | Jean Marc Huët of c/o Unilever PLC, 100 Victoria Embankment, Blackfriars, London EC4Y 0DY (the Executive) |
1. | Definitions and interpretation | |
1.1 | Throughout this document, the following definitions shall apply: |
Board means the board of directors of NV and PLC; |
Commencement Date means; 1 st February 2010 |
Company means together Unilever N.V. and Unilever PLC |
Confidential Information means information (whether or not reduced to writing) in respect of the business, affairs and financing of the Company or any member of the Unilever Group, its or their suppliers, agents, distributors or customers, including but not limited to information relating to trade secrets or secret information, research, technical know-how, products, designs, pricing, marketing, business and financial plans, acquisition plans, clients and customers, stored or kept in any format including but not limited to software, diskettes including but not limited to copy-rightable material and/or documents, books, notes, tapes, instruments and property of any kind (either tangible or intangible); |
CLO means the General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer of the Unilever Group. |
Intellectual Property Rights means patents, copyright and related or neighbouring rights, trade marks and services marks, rights in goodwill or to sue for passing off, rights in designs, rights in computer software, database rights, topography rights, rights in Confidential Information (including know-how and trade secrets) and any other intellectual property rights (including, without limitation, rights in get-up and rights to Inventions, trade or business names or signs and domain names) in each case whether registered or unregistered and including all applications (or rights to apply) for, and renewals or extensions of, such rights and all similar or equivalent rights or forms of protection which may now or in the future subsist in any part of the world; |
Inventions means inventions, ideas and improvements, whether or not patentable, and whether or not recorded in any medium; |
Group Secretary means the Secretary of NV and PLC; |
Remuneration Committee means the remuneration committee of the Board; |
Termination Date means the date on which the Executives employment terminates, as referred to in Clause 6; |
Unilever Executive means the principal Executive Committee of the Board under the chairmanship of the Group Chief Executive; |
Unilever Group means PLC, NV and any company in which either or both together directly or indirectly owns or controls the voting rights attaching to not less than 50% of the issued share capital, or controls directly or indirectly the appointment of a majority of the board of management, and references to a member of the Unilever Group or a Unilever Group company will be construed accordingly; |
2. | Commencement | |
This Agreement is effective as of the Commencement Date which for the purpose of the UK Employment Rights Act 1996 is the date on which the Executives continuous period of employment began. |
3. | Duties of the Executive |
3.1 | The Executive shall be employed as a member of the Unilever Executive as Chief Financial Officer and shall carry out all duties (including, if relevant, the duties of a Board director) as may reasonably be assigned to him in whatever location is reasonably required. |
3.2 | All such duties shall be carried out honestly, faithfully, to the best of the Executives ability and at all times in compliance with the Unilever Code of Business Principles. |
3.3 | Further the Executive shall comply with all rules, regulations and legal requirements relevant to the business of the Unilever Group. |
3.4 | The Executive shall report to the Board in his capacity as a Director and, when requested by the Board, shall promptly provide (in writing if requested) all information, explanations and assistance relevant to any matters which have an impact on the business and affairs of the Unilever Group or any member thereof. |
3.5 | The Executives normal place of work shall be London or such other place as the Company may from time to time reasonably require. The Executive shall travel to such places as are necessary for the proper discharge of his duties. |
4 | Remuneration and Benefits |
4.1 | The remuneration of the Executive will be reviewed annually by the Company and communicated to the Executive in writing and paid in accordance with the Unilever Groups payroll practice, as amended from time to time. |
4.2 | The Executive will not be entitled to receive any fees or other remuneration additional to the agreed remuneration by virtue of, or in respect of, any directorships that may be held from time to time of any Unilever Group company. |
4.3 | Any remuneration arising from a directorship of an organisation outside the Unilever Group shall be treated in accordance with the prevailing Company policy. |
4.4 | Details of the Executives pension entitlement shall be notified to him separately in writing by the Company. |
4.5 | The Company shall reimburse the Executive, against production of receipts, for all reasonable travelling, hotel, entertainment and other out-of-pocket expenses which he may from time to time incur in the proper execution of his duties hereunder and pursuant to any Company policy in force from time to time. |
5. | Working Hours and Holidays |
5.1 | The Executive shall work such hours as are necessary for the proper performance of his duties and devote the whole of his professional time, attention and abilities to carrying out his duties hereunder. |
5.2 | The Executive shall be entitled to thirty working days holiday in each calendar year (in addition to Public Holidays applicable in the Executives normal place of work) to be taken at times mutually agreed between the Executive and the Chairman. |
6. | Termination |
The Executives employment shall continue unless and until it is terminated: |
| by the Company giving the Executive twelve months prior written notice; or | ||
| by the Executive giving the Company six months prior written notice; or | ||
| by the Executive giving six months prior written notice to terminate his employment with NV which shall automatically constitute the same notice of termination by the Executive of his employment with PLC; or | ||
| at any time in accordance with clauses 7 or 8. |
7. | Severance Payments |
7.1 | In the event of termination of the employment of the Executive by the Company for any reason other than a reason pursuant to Clause 8, the Company may, instead of requiring the Executive to work during the period of notice, elect to make a severance payment to the Executive, in which case the Executives employment will immediately terminate and such date shall be the date of termination for the purposes of this Agreement. If the Company so elects, the Executive shall be entitled to the payments and benefits referred to in Clauses 7.2 to 7.4. |
7.2 | In such circumstances, the Executive shall, subject as provided in Clause 7.5 be entitled to receive a severance payment which shall be the aggregate of:- |
| a sum equal to the basic salary together with a sum equal to the benefits in kind payable by the Company to the Executive for the period for which this Agreement would otherwise have continued; |
| the amount of the variable pay award estimated by the Company to be payable to the Executive in respect of the financial year in which the notice is served, pro rated to the date of termination |
7.3 | By this means, if the Company elects to operate Clause 7.1, termination may be effected by a payment of basic salary and benefits in lieu of notice for the period of notice or a combination of notice period followed by such a payment in lieu of the remaining notice period. Bonus and other share based awards shall be made pro rated to the date of termination. |
7.4 | Further, in these circumstances, the Company will ensure that the Executive shall be credited with twelve months service for the purposes of the pension scheme referred to in the notification to be made under Clause 4.4 such twelve month period to run from the date of serving of notice of termination. |
7.5 | The Executive will if requested sign a general release of all and any claims (contractual and statutory) in a form satisfactory to the Company in exchange for any payment under this Clause 7. |
8. | Summary Termination |
8.1 | The Company may terminate the Executives employment forthwith, without notice or compensation, in any circumstances where the Executive: |
| shall become incapacitated from any cause whatsoever from performing his duties hereunder for at least twelve months (provided that termination of employment will not deprive the Executive of benefits under any permanent health insurance scheme provided by the Company); or |
| if being a director of the Company, shall be or become prohibited by law from being a director in either the UK or the Netherlands; or | ||
| is convicted of any criminal offence which prevents him from fulfilling his duties hereunder: or |
| shall fail to perform his duties competently or is guilty of any serious or persistent neglect in the discharge of duties, or commits any wilful, serious or persistent breach of any codes of conduct, policies and procedures issued by the Company; or | ||
| becomes bankrupt or makes any composition or enters into any deed of arrangement with creditors; |
8.2 | Any delay by the Company in exercising the right to terminate summarily under the clauses set out above shall not constitute a waiver of that right. The Executive shall have no claim for compensation in respect of such termination. |
9. | Following Termination |
9.1 | Following the termination of employment, for whatever reason or by whatever means, the Executive shall not represent, either expressly or impliedly, to any person, firm or company that he is authorised to act on behalf of any member of the Unilever Group, nor represent himself as being connected in any way with any member of the Unilever Group. |
9.2 | Upon termination of employment, the Executive shall tender his resignation with immediate effect from any directorship that he may then be holding in any member of the Unilever Group without any right to any claim whether for compensation or otherwise. | |
In the event that the Executive fails to tender his resignation as aforesaid, and without prejudice to the Companys and/or the Unilever Groups rights and remedies under law and in equity, the Executive will automatically be deemed to have tendered such resignation with immediate effect and the Group Secretary and the CLO are hereby irrevocably, and severally, authorised by the Executive, in the Executives name and on his behalf to sign documents (including but not limited to letters of resignation) for the purpose of bringing such deemed resignation into immediate effect. |
10.
Confidential Information
10.1
The Executive shall not (except in the proper course of his duties) at any time during the
course of employment or any time thereafter, without the prior written consent of the Company
or the Unilever Group, use or disclose directly or indirectly any Confidential Information to
any person for any reason other than for the proper conduct of the Companys business whilst
in the course of their employment, except as required by law (provided that the Executive
shall at the Companys expense resist any alleged requirement if the Company properly asks him
to do so).
10.2
All Confidential Information that the Executive has received or made (alone or with others)
during employment with the Company or any other member of the Unilever Group is the property
of the Company or the Unilever Group and the Executive shall promptly, whenever requested by
the Company and in any event upon the termination of his employment for whatever reason,
return such Confidential Information to the Company and the Executive shall not be entitled to
and shall not retain any copies thereof. Title and copyright therein shall vest in the
Company.
10.3
The Executive shall not during the continuance of employment or for 12 months thereafter
without the Companys prior written consent, publish or cause to be published any opinion,
fact or material relating to or connected with the business of the Company or any member of
the Unilever Group or its or their suppliers, customers or partners (whether confidential or
not) without first obtaining the consent of the Board. This restriction shall not apply where
the information has already come into the public domain other than through unauthorised
disclosure by the Executive.
11.
Executives Covenants
11.1
The Executive shall not, without the prior written consent of the Company, be or become
directly or indirectly engaged or concerned or interested in any other business, trade,
profession or occupation or undertake any work for any other person, firm or company whether
paid or unpaid during his employment hereunder. However nothing herein shall prevent the
Executive from holding, or otherwise having an interest in, any shares or other securities of
any company for investment purposes only, unless that holding is a significant one in a
company that is a material competitor of any member of the Unilever Group.
11.2
The Executive shall not, for the period of six months following the Termination Date, work
for or be engaged by, or otherwise be involved with, any material competitors, suppliers,
customers or partners of the Company or of any member of the Unilever
Group, without the prior written consent of the Company, which consent will not be
unreasonably withheld.
12.
Intellectual Property
12.1
The Executive shall notify the Company of the existence of all Inventions and of all works
embodying Intellectual Property Rights made wholly or partially by him at any time during the
course of his employment with the Company and, at the Companys request, shall provide full
written details thereof. The Executive acknowledges that all Intellectual Property Rights
subsisting (or which may in the future subsist) in all such Inventions and works shall
automatically, on creation, vest in either NV or PLC absolutely. To the extent that they do
not vest automatically, the Executive holds them on trust for either NV or PLC and shall, at
the request and expense of the Company, (during the course of his employment or thereafter)
assign them to the either NV or PLC their nominee. The Executive agrees promptly to execute
all documents and do all acts as may, in the opinion of either NV or PLC, be necessary or
desirable to give effect to this clause 12.1 and/or to effect all relevant registration(s) and
protections.
12.2
The Executive hereby irrevocably waives all moral rights under the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988 (and all similar rights in other jurisdictions) which he has or will have in
any existing or future works.
12.3
The Executive hereby irrevocably appoints the Company to execute and do any such instrument
or thing and generally to use his name for the purpose of giving the Company or its nominee
the benefit of this clause.
13.
Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures
Other than as set out in this Agreement, there are no explicit disciplinary rules in force
in relation to the Executive who is expected at all times to conduct himself in a manner
consistent with his senior status. There is no formal grievance procedure but in the event
of any grievance, the Executive may raise the matter with the Chairman or the Board, as may
be appropriate.
14.
Directorship/Indemnity
14.1
Subject and without prejudice to the Companys rights under Clause 8 of this Agreement, if
the Executive is a director of the Company, the Companys failure to nominate the Executive
for re-election to the office of director of the Company, the removal of the Executive from
the office of director of the Company or failure of the shareholders in general meeting to
re-elect
the Executive as a director of the Company, unless otherwise agreed in writing by the
Executive, shall be deemed notice of termination by the Company under the provisions of Clause
6. In accordance with the Articles of Association, where an Executive
is disqualified or removed as a director of PLC he will be deemed to have been removed as a director of NV
with immediate effect.
14.2
If a director of the Company, details of indemnity protection shall be notified to the
Executive separately in writing by the Company.
15.
Garden Leave
15.1
Once notice is given under clause 6, the Company shall be under no obligation to vest in or
assign to the Executive any powers or duties or to provide any work for the Executive, and the
Company may at any time or from time to time during any period of notice (whether given by the
Company or the Executive) require that the Executive does not attend at any premises of the
Company.
15.2
Salary and benefits will not cease to be payable by reason of such requirement and the
Executive shall continue to be bound by the provisions of this Agreement and must continue at
all times to conduct himself with good faith towards the Company and not do anything that is
harmful to the Company.
16
Suspension
In circumstances where the Company believes there is a reasonable suspicion of breach
of this Agreement, in order that the circumstances giving rise to that belief may be
investigated, the Company may suspend the Executive from the performance of his duties.
Salary and benefits will not cease to be payable by reason of such suspension and the
Executive shall continue to be bound by the provisions of this Agreement and must continue
at all times to conduct himself with good faith towards the Company and not do anything
that is harmful to the Company.
17.
Miscellaneous
17.1
If the Executive is at any time granted options or rights pursuant to any share option or
share incentive scheme of the Company or any other member of the Unilever Group, those options
or rights shall be subject to the rules of that scheme as in force from time to time which
rules shall not form part of the Executives service contract. In particular, if the
Executives employment should terminate for any reason (including as a result of a
repudiatory breach of contract by the Company) his rights will be governed entirely by the
terms of that scheme and he will not be entitled to any further or other compensation for any
loss of any right or benefit or prospective right or benefit under any such scheme which he
may have enjoyed, whether such compensation is claimed by way of damages for wrongful dismissal or other breach of
contract or by way of compensation for loss of office or otherwise.
17.2
The Executive consents to the Company or any member of the Unilever Group holding and
processing both electronically and manually the data it collects which relates to the
Executive for the purposes of the administration and management of its employees and its
business and for compliance with applicable procedures, laws and regulations. The Executive
also consents to the transfer of such personal information to other offices the Company may
have or to any member of the Unilever Group or to other third parties whether or not outside
the European Economic Area for administration purposes in connection with the Executives
employment where it is necessary or desirable for the Company to do so.
17.3
If any clause, or identifiable part of any clause, of this Agreement is held to be invalid or
unenforceable by any court of competent jurisdiction, then this shall not affect the validity
or enforceability of the remaining clauses or identifiable parts of such.
17.4
No modification, variation or amendment to this Agreement shall be effective unless it is in
writing and has been signed by, or on behalf of, the parties.
18.
Status of these terms and conditions
This Agreement is supplemental to the letter dated 29
th
August 2008 setting out
the Executives reward package and the pensions notification but otherwise it supersedes
and replaces all agreements or arrangements whether written, oral or implied between the
Company or any member of the Unilever Group and the Executive relating to the employment of
the Executive or the termination of that employment and the Executive acknowledges and
warrants that he is not entering into this Agreement in reliance on any representation not
expressly set out herein and shall have no remedy in relation to any such representation.
19.
Notices
19.1
Any notice, or other communication which is required to be served by the Company under these
terms and conditions, shall be signed by the CLO, and/or the Group Secretary if the Executive
is a director of the Company, and addressed to the Executive at the appropriate business
address.
19.2 | Any notice or other communication which is required to be served by the Executive on the Company, will require the signature of the Executive and be addressed to either the CLO or the Group Secretary at their office. | |
20. | Governing Law | |
All communications, agreements and contracts pertaining to the Executives employment with the Company (including, without limitation, this Agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales and each of the parties hereby irrevocably agrees for the exclusive benefit of the Company and the Unilever Group that the Courts of England are to have jurisdiction to settle any disputes which may arise out of or in connection with those documents, this Agreement or the Executives employment with the Company. |
Signed for and on behalf of the Company: | Acceptance of these Terms and Conditions by the Executive: | |
|
||
Sgd/S G Williams
|
Sgd/RJ-M Huët | |
END
|
(1) | If you are no longer an employee at the moment of Bonus payment the Bonus will be paid wholly in cash. |
/S/ Michael Treschow | ||||
Michael Treschow | ||||
| A maximum of 140% of salary will be based on the achievement of Underlying Volume Growth, Operating Margin and Working Capital targets (1), equally weighted. | ||
| A maximum of 35% of salary will be based upon achievement of your personal targets. |
(1) | measures applicable for 2009 bonus plan. |
| The vesting of 40% of the shares in the award is based on Unilevers relative TSR performance against a comparator group consisting of 20 other FMCG companies over a three year period. The vesting schedule under the TSR portion of the plan is as follows: 50% of the target award will vest if Unilever is ranked 11 th among the peer group of companies, 100% if ranked 7 th , and 200% if ranked 3 rd or above straight line vesting will occur between these discreet points; | ||
| The vesting of a further 30% of the shares in the award is conditional on average underlying sales growth performance over a three-year period; and | ||
| The vesting of the final 30% of shares in the award is conditional on cumulative ungeared free cash flow performance which is the basic driver of the returns that Unilever is able to generate for shareholders. |
(2) | Measures applicable for 2009 share grants |
/S/ AJ Ogg | ||||
Sandy Ogg | ||||
/s/ JM Huet | ||||
Signature | ||||
/S/ S. O. Ogg | ||||
Sandy Ogg | ||||
Chief Human Resources Officer | ||||
/S/ P. Polman | ||||
Paul Polman | ||||
/S/ AJ Ogg | ||||
Sandy Ogg | ||||
Shareholders Approval: | PLC 12 May 2010 | |
NV 11 May 2010 | ||
Boards Adoption: | 28 April 2010 | |
Expiry Date: | 12 May 2020 |
Contents | Page | |||||||
1 |
Definitions
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1 | ||||||
|
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2 |
Invitations
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2 | ||||||
|
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3 |
Granting Awards
|
3 | ||||||
|
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4 |
Before Vesting
|
6 | ||||||
|
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5 |
Timing of Vesting
|
7 | ||||||
|
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6 |
Consequences of Vesting
|
8 | ||||||
|
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7 |
Leaving the Group before Vesting
|
9 | ||||||
|
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8 |
Takeovers and Restructurings
|
10 | ||||||
|
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9 |
Exchange of Awards
|
11 | ||||||
|
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10 |
General
|
12 | ||||||
|
||||||||
11 |
Amending the Plan and Termination
|
15 |
i
1 | Definitions | |
In these rules: | ||
Acquiring Company means a person who obtains Control of NV or PLC; | ||
Annual Bonus Award means the total annual award under the Unilever Annual Bonus Program, which may be paid in one or more instalments; | ||
Award means a conditional right to acquire Shares granted under the Plan; | ||
Award Date means the date which the Board sets for the grant of an Award; | ||
Board means, subject to rule 8.5 (Board), the board of directors of NV or PLC or a duly authorised committee appointed by the board of directors, except that in respect of Awards to executive directors of the Board, Board shall mean RemCo; | ||
Business Day means a day on which the London Stock Exchange or Euronext, as applicable, (or, if relevant and if the Board determines, any stock exchange nominated by the Board on which the Shares are traded) is open for the transaction of business; | ||
Company means NV or PLC; | ||
Control has the meaning given to it in Section 995 of the Income Tax Act 2007 in relation to NV or PLC; | ||
Dealing Restrictions means restrictions imposed by statute, order, regulation or Government directive or by the Model Code or any code adopted by NV or PLC based on the Model Code or a statute, order, regulation or Government directive; | ||
Dividend Equivalents means an amount equal in value to the ordinary dividends which would have been payable on the number of Vested Shares between the Award Date and the date of Vesting had they been issued/transferred at the Award Date; | ||
Employee means any employee (including an executive director) of a Member of the Group; | ||
Euronext means Euronext Amsterdam; | ||
Expiry Date means the tenth anniversary of shareholder approval of the Plan; | ||
Grantor means, in respect of an Award, the entity which grants that Award under the Plan, which can be: |
(i) | the Company; | ||
(ii) | any other Member of the Group; or | ||
(iii) | a trustee of any trust set up for the benefit of Employees or any Member of the Group. |
Group means NV, PLC and their Subsidiaries or associated companies and Member of the Group shall be construed accordingly; | ||
Investment Shares means Shares acquired for or on behalf of a Participant as described in rule 2.3 (Acquisition of Investment Shares); |
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Listing Rules means the rules relating to admission to the Official List; | ||
London Stock Exchange means the London Stock Exchange plc; | ||
Matching Ratio means the ratio which the number of Shares subject to an Award bears to the number of Investment Shares acquired for or on behalf of a Participant and will be set by the Grantor under rule 2.2 (Terms of Invitation); | ||
Model Code means the Model Code on dealings in securities set out in Listing Rule 9, annex 1 (of the London Stock Exchange), as varied from time to time; | ||
NV means Unilever NV; | ||
Official List means the list maintained by the Financial Services Authority for the purposes of Section 74(1) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000; | ||
Participant means a person holding an Award or his personal representatives; | ||
Performance Condition means any performance condition imposed under rule 3.6 (Performance Conditions); | ||
Performance Period means the period in respect of which a Performance Condition is to be satisfied; | ||
Plan means these rules known as The Management Co-Investment Plan, as changed from time to time; | ||
PLC means Unilever PLC; | ||
RemCo means the Remuneration Committee of the Board; | ||
Shares means fully paid ordinary shares in NV or PLC and includes: |
(i) | depositary receipts representing ordinary shares in NV listed on Euronext; and | ||
(ii) | any Shares representing NV and/or PLC Shares following a reconstruction; |
Subsidiary means a body corporate which is a subsidiary of NV within the meaning of 24a Book 2 (Civil Code) or company which is a subsidiary of the PLC within the meaning of Section 1159 of the Companies Act 2006; | |
Vesting means a Participant becomes entitled to have the Shares subject to an Award transferred to him subject to these rules; and | |
Vesting Period means the period from the Award Date to the date of Vesting set by the Board on the grant of the Award. |
2 | Invitations | |
2.1 | Eligibility | |
The Grantor may invite any Employee to participate in the Plan in accordance with any selection criteria that the Board in its discretion may set. However, unless the Board considers that special circumstances exist, the Grantor will not invite an Employee who on the date of invitation has given or received notice of termination of employment, whether or not such termination is lawful. |
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2.2 | Terms of Invitation | |
The Grantor will decide the following for each invitation and specify in the invitation document: |
2.2.1 | the maximum percentage of an Annual Bonus Award which a Participant or group of Participants may elect to use to acquire Investment Shares under the Plan and the manner in which and the date by which such irrevocable election must be communicated to the Grantor; | ||
2.2.2 | any percentage of Annual Bonus Award which a Participant or group of Participants is required to use to acquire Investment Shares; and | ||
2.2.3 | the Matching Ratio, |
subject, in each case, to rule 2.4 (Individual Limits). | ||
2.3 | Acquisition of Investment Shares | |
The amounts that a Participant elects to be used and is required to use to acquire Investment Shares under rules 2.2.1 and 2.2.2 will be deducted from the Participants Annual Bonus Award. The Grantor will ensure that these amounts (or, if the Grantor so decides, the gross equivalent of these) are used to acquire Investment Shares for or on behalf of the Participant. | ||
The Investment Shares will be valued based on the closing share price of such Shares on the Award Date, unless the Grantor decides otherwise. | ||
The Investment Shares will be registered in the name of the Participant or be held by a nominee chosen by the Grantor on such terms as the Grantor may decide. | ||
Any mandatory taxes due on the full Annual Bonus Award, will be deducted from the Participants Annual Bonus Award. If for any reason, the net amount of cash available from the Participants Annual Bonus Award, after deduction of any tax and social security contributions and any amount already paid, is less than the amount that the Participant elected to be used to acquire Investment Shares, the Participant will be required to pay the additional amount due to the Grantor through payroll deductions or such other arrangements as the Grantor deems appropriate. | ||
2.4 | Individual Limits |
2.4.1 | The amount of a Participants Annual Bonus Award, which can be used to acquire Investment Shares under the Plan in any one year (as determined by totalling the percentages defined under rules 2.2.1 and 2.2.2) will not exceed 60 per cent of the Annual Bonus Award before any deductions for tax and social security contributions. | ||
2.4.2 | The Matching Ratio for an Award will not exceed one Share subject to an Award for every Investment Share which could be acquired pursuant to rule 2.3 (Acquisition of Investment Shares). |
3 | Granting Awards | |
3.1 | Conditions to Granting Awards | |
An Award will not be granted to a Participant if, on the date it is granted, the Participant: |
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3.1.1 | has ceased to be an Employee; | ||
3.1.2 | has given or received notice of termination of employment, whether or not such termination is lawful (unless the Board considers that special circumstances exist); or | ||
3.1.3 | has not irrevocably agreed to allocate the percentage of the Participants Annual Bonus Award to acquire Investment Shares as specified under rules 2.2.1 on such terms as the Grantor may specify. |
3.2.1 | the Company (it being noted that in respect of Awards granted to executive directors of the Board, it shall be RemCo that resolves on the Awards); | ||
3.2.2 | any other Member of the Group; or | ||
3.2.3 | a trustee of any trust set up for the benefit of Employees or any Member of the Group, |
but having regard to relevant registration requirements such as rules on financial assistance and securities laws. | ||
3.3 | Timing of Award | |
Awards may not be granted at any time after the Expiry Date and Awards may only be granted within 42 days starting on any of the following: |
3.3.1 | the date of shareholder approval of this Plan; | ||
3.3.2 | the day after the announcement of NVs and PLCs results for any period; | ||
3.3.3 | any day on which the Board resolves that exceptional circumstances exist which justify the grant of Awards; | ||
3.3.4 | any day on which changes to the legislation or regulations affecting share plans are announced, effected or made; or | ||
3.3.5 | the lifting of Dealing Restrictions which prevented the granting of Awards during any period specified above. |
3.4 | Number of Shares subject to Award | |
The number of Shares subject to Award shall be the number of Investment Shares acquired for or on behalf of the Participant under rule 2.3 (Acquisition of Investment Shares) multiplied by the Matching Ratio. | ||
3.5 | Other Terms of Awards | |
Awards are subject to the rules of the Plan and any Performance Condition. Awards subject to English law must be granted by deed. Awards subject to Dutch law will be in such form as specified by the Board. The terms of the Award must be determined by the Grantor and approved by the Board (it being noted that in respect of Awards granted to executive directors of the Board, it shall be RemCo that resolves on the Awards including their terms), including: |
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3.5.1 | the Performance Condition as determined under rule 3.6 (Performance Condition); | ||
3.5.2 | any condition specified under rule 3.7 (Other conditions); | ||
3.5.3 | the date of Vesting, unless specified in the Performance Condition; | ||
3.5.4 | whether the Participant is entitled to receive any cash or Shares under rule 6.2 (Dividend Equivalents); and | ||
3.5.5 | the Award Date. |
3.6 | Performance Condition | |
When granting an Award, the Grantor will make its Vesting conditional on the satisfaction of one or more conditions linked to the performance of the Group and the Participants continued employment until Vesting, subject to rules 3.7 (Other Conditions), 7 (Leaving the Group before Vesting) and 8 (Takeovers and Restructurings). A Performance Condition must be objective and determined at the Award Date and may provide that an Award will lapse to the extent that it is not satisfied. The Grantor, with the consent of the Board, may waive or change a Performance Condition in accordance with its terms or if anything happens which causes the Grantor reasonably to consider it appropriate to do so. | ||
3.7 | Other Conditions | |
The Grantor may impose other conditions when granting an Award. Any condition must be objective, specified at the Award Date and may provide that an Award will lapse to the extent that it is not satisfied. The Grantor, with the consent of the Board, may waive or change a condition imposed under this rule 3.7. | ||
3.8 | Award Certificates | |
Each Participant will receive a certificate setting out the terms of the Award as soon as practicable after the Award Date. The certificate may be the deed or other document referred to in rule 3.5 (Other Terms of Awards) or any other document. If any certificate is lost or damaged, the Company may replace it on such terms as it decides. | ||
3.9 | Administrative Errors | |
If the Grantor grants an Award which is inconsistent with rule 2.1 (Eligibility), it will lapse immediately. If the Grantor makes an invitation or tries to grant an Award which is inconsistent with rules 2.4 (Individual Limits), 3.10 (10 Per Cent in 10 Years Limit) or 3.11 (5 Per Cent in 10 Years Limit), the invitation or Award will be limited and will take effect from the Award Date on a basis consistent with those rules. | ||
3.10 | 10 Per Cent in 10 Years Limit | |
A Grantor must not grant an Award if the number of Shares committed to be issued under that Award exceeds 10 per cent of the ordinary share capital of NV and PLC in issue immediately before that day when added to the number of Shares which have been issued or are committed to be issued to satisfy Awards under the Plan, or options or awards under any other employee share plan operated by NV and PLC, granted in the previous 10 years. |
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3.11 | 5 Per Cent in 10 Years Limit | |
A Grantor must not grant an Award if the number of Shares committed to be issued under that Award exceeds 5 per cent of the ordinary share capital of NV and PLC in issue immediately before that day when added to the number of Shares which have been issued or are committed to be issued to satisfy Awards under the Plan, or options or awards under any other discretionary employee share plan adopted by NV and PLC, granted in the previous 10 years. | ||
3.12 | Listing Rules | |
No Shares will be issued under the Plan if it would cause Listing Rule 6.1.19 (shares in public hands) to be breached. | ||
3.13 | Inclusions and Exclusions | |
For the purposes of rules 3.10 (10 per cent in 10 years limit) and 3.11 (5 per cent in 10 years limit), as long as so required by the Association of British Insurers, Shares transferred from treasury are counted as Shares issued by the Company. | ||
Where the right to acquire Shares is released or lapses, the Shares concerned are ignored when calculating the limits in rules 3.10 (10 per cent in 10 years limit) and 3.11 (5 per cent in 10 years limit). | ||
3.14 | Clawback | |
In the event of a significant downward restatement of the financial results of the Company the Board, at its discretion, may: |
| reduce or lapse any Award, and/or; | ||
| require some or all of the after-tax number of Shares which have vested to be transferred to the Company or as it directs or the value (on such date as the Board determines) of the Shares to the Company or as it directs. |
4 | Before Vesting | |
4.1 | Rights | |
A Participant will not be entitled to vote, to receive dividends or to have any other rights of a shareholder in respect of Shares subject to an Award until the Shares are issued or transferred to the Participant. | ||
Subject to rule 4.2 (Transfer of Investment Shares), the Participant will have all the rights of a shareholder, including dividend and voting rights during the Vesting Period, in respect of the Participants Investment Shares. When dividends are paid on Shares during the Vesting Period, the Board will have sole discretion to determine whether dividends will be reinvested as additional Investment Shares or paid in cash on the dividend payment date. | ||
4.2 | Transfer of Investment Shares | |
If a Participant transfers, assigns, pledges or otherwise disposes or encumbers of any Investment Shares or any interest therein before the corresponding Award has Vested, the corresponding Award will immediately lapse. | ||
This will not apply to: |
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4.2.1 | a disposal of Investment Shares (or an undertaking to dispose of them) in connection with a change of Control; | ||
4.2.2 | the sale of sufficient nil-paid rights in relation to an Investment Share to take up the balance of the rights under a rights issue or similar transaction; | ||
4.2.3 | the transfer of Investment Shares to a Participants personal representatives following his death; or | ||
4.2.4 | a disposal of Investment Shares acquired as a result of reinvested dividend shares. |
4.3 | Transfer of Awards | |
A Participant may not transfer, assign, pledge or otherwise dispose of or encumber an Award or any rights in respect of it. If he does, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, then it will immediately lapse. This rule 4.3 (Transfer of Awards) does not apply to the transmission of an Award on the death of a Participant to the Participants personal representatives or assignment by way of court order. | ||
4.4 | Rights Issues and Other Variations of Capital | |
If there is: |
4.4.1 | a variation in the equity share capital of NV and/or PLC, including a capitalisation or rights issue, sub-division, consolidation or reduction of share capital; | ||
4.4.2 | any change in the certification of NV Shares by the Foundation Unilever N.V. Trust Office or any of its successors; | ||
4.4.3 | a demerger (in whatever form) or exempt distribution by virtue of Section 213 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988; | ||
4.4.4 | a special dividend or distribution; or | ||
4.4.5 | any other corporate event which might affect the current or future value of any Award, |
the Board may adjust the number or class of Shares or securities subject to the Award. | ||
Any securities which a Participant receives in respect of his Investment Shares as a result of an event described above will, unless the Board decides otherwise, also be treated as Investment Shares. This will not apply to any Shares which a Participant acquires on a rights issue to the extent that they exceed the number he would have acquired on a sale of sufficient rights under the rights issued nil-paid to take up the balance of the rights. | ||
5 | Timing of Vesting | |
5.1 | Satisfying conditions | |
As soon as reasonably practicable after the end of the Performance Period, the Board will determine whether and to what extent any Performance Condition or other condition imposed under rule 3.7 (Other Conditions) has been satisfied or waived and how many Shares will Vest for each Award, subject to the Participants continued employment until the date of Vesting. The Board has authority, in its discretion, to adjust the Awards downwards, and upwards with prior shareholders approval if, in the Boards opinion, taking all circumstances in to account, it would produce an unfair result. |
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5.2 | Timing of Vesting | |
Subject to rules 3.7 (Other Conditions), 7 (Leaving the Group before Vesting) and 8 (Takeovers and Restructurings), an Award Vests, to the extent determined under rule 5.1 (Satisfying conditions), on the date of Vesting or, if on that date a Dealing Restriction applies, the first date on which it ceases to apply. | ||
5.3 | Lapse | |
To the extent that any Performance Condition is not satisfied at the end of the Performance Period, the relevant portion of the Award will lapse to the extent that the Performance Condition is not satisfied, unless otherwise specified in the Performance Condition. To the extent that any other condition is not satisfied, the Award will lapse if so specified in the terms of that condition. | ||
If an Award lapses under the Plan, it cannot Vest and a Participant has no rights in respect of it. | ||
6 | Consequences of Vesting | |
6.1 | Delivery of Shares | |
Within 30 days of an Award Vesting, the Grantor will arrange (subject to rules 6.4 (Tax and Social Security Contributions Withholding) and 10.8 (Consents)) for the transfer or issue to, or to the order of, the Participant of the number of Shares in respect of which the Award has Vested. | ||
6.2 | Dividend Equivalents | |
An Award will, unless the Board decides otherwise, include the right to the extent the Awards have Vested, to receive Dividend Equivalents, subject to rule 6.4 (Tax and Social Security Contributions Withholding). Dividend Equivalents will be delivered in additional Shares (rounded down to the nearest whole Share if the Board so decides), unless otherwise determined at any time by the Grantor with the consent of the Board. | ||
Dividend Equivalents will be paid to any relevant Participant as soon as practicable after Vesting. | ||
6.3 | Cash Alternative | |
The Grantor may, subject to the approval of the Board, decide to satisfy an Award by paying an equivalent amount in cash (subject to rule 6.4 (Tax and Social Security Contributions Withholding). | ||
6.4 | Tax and Social Security Contributions Withholding | |
The Company, the Grantor, any employing company or trustee of any employee benefit trust may withhold such amount and make such arrangements as it considers necessary to meet any liability to taxation or social security contributions in respect of Annual Bonus Awards, Investment Shares or Awards. These arrangements may include the sale or reduction in number of any Shares subject to an Award or Investment Shares or the Participant discharging the liability himself as the Grantor deems appropriate. |
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6.5 | Tax Elections | |
The Participant will, if required to do so, make an election regarding the method of payment of any mandatory taxes. | ||
7 | Leaving the Group before Vesting | |
7.1 | General Rule on Leaving Employment |
7.1.1 | Unless rule 7.2 (Leaving in specified circumstances) applies, an Award which has not Vested will lapse on the date the Participant ceases to be an Employee. | ||
7.1.2 | The Board may decide that an Award which has not Vested will lapse on the date on which the Participant gives or receives notice of termination of his employment with any Member of the Group (whether or not such termination is lawful), unless the reason for giving or receiving notice is listed in rule 7.2.1(i) to 7.2.1(iv) below. |
7.2 | Leaving in Specified Circumstances |
7.2.1 | If a Participant ceases to be an Employee before the date of Vesting for any of the reasons set out below, then his Awards will Vest as described in rule 7.3 (Vesting Awards) and lapse as to the balance. The reasons are: |
(i) | ill health, injury or disability, as established to the satisfaction of NV or PLC; | ||
(ii) | retirement with the agreement of the Participants employer; | ||
(iii) | the Participants employing company ceasing to be under the Control of neither NV or PLC; | ||
(iv) | a transfer of the undertaking, or the part of the undertaking, in which the Participant works to a person which is neither under the Control of NV or PLC nor a Member of the Group; | ||
(v) | redundancy; | ||
(vi) | death; and | ||
(vii) | any other reason, if the Board so decides in any particular case. |
7.2.2 | The Board may only exercise the discretion provided for in rule 7.2.1(vii) within 2 months after cessation of the relevant Participants employment or office, and the Award will lapse or Vest (as appropriate) on the earlier of the date on which the discretion is exercised and the end of the 2-month period. The Board may delegate decisions under this rule 7.2 (Leaving in Specified Circumstances) and 7.3 (Vesting Awards) as it considers appropriate. |
7.3 | Vesting Performance | |
Where rule 7.2 applies, the Award does not lapse and the extent to which it will Vest is measured in accordance with rule 5.1 (Satisfying conditions) at the end of the Performance Period. However, the Board may decide in its discretion that the Performance Period in respect of an Award should be treated as ending on the date of the termination of employment or office and that the Award should Vest immediately, to the extent that the Performance Condition has been satisfied (as determined by the Board in the manner specified in the Performance Condition or in such manner as it considers reasonable). Unless the Board decides otherwise, the level of Award should be reduced pro rata so that |
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it reflects only the proportion of the original Vesting Period which has elapsed before the termination of employment or office. |
7.4 | Meaning of ceasing to be an Employee | |
For the purposes of this rule 7, a Participant will not be treated as ceasing to be an Employee until he is no longer an Employee of any Member of the Group or if he then recommences employment with, or becomes a director of, a Member of the Group within 30 days. | ||
8 | Takeovers and Restructurings | |
8.1 | Takeover |
8.1.1 | If rule 8.3 (Reconstruction) does not apply, where a person (or a group of persons acting in concert) obtains Control of NV and/or PLC as a result of making an offer to acquire Shares, an Award Vests, subject to rule 8.1.3, on the date the person obtains Control. | ||
8.1.2 | Where an Award Vests under rule 8.1.1, the Board will determine the extent to which any Performance Condition has been satisfied under rule 6.1 (Delivery of Shares) and the proportion of the Award which will Vest. | ||
The Board may decide that an Award which has Vested under rule 8.1.1 is reduced pro rata to reflect the acceleration of Vesting. | |||
To the extent that an Award has not Vested, it shall lapse as to the balance, unless exchanged under rule 9 (Exchange of Awards). | |||
8.1.3 | An Award will not Vest under rule 8.1.1 but will be exchanged under rule 9 (Exchange of Awards) if: |
(i) | an offer to exchange Awards is made and accepted by a Participant; or | ||
(ii) | the Board, with the consent of the Acquiring Company, decides before the person obtains Control that the Awards will be automatically exchanged. |
8.2 | Scheme of Arrangement |
8.2.1 | If rule 8.3 (Reconstruction) does not apply, when under Section 895 of the Companies Act 2006 a court sanctions a compromise or arrangement in connection with the acquisition of PLC Shares or any similar Dutch law in connection with NV Shares, an Award Vests, subject to rule 8.2.3, on the date of court sanction. This rule also applies where there is an equivalent procedure under local legislation. | ||
8.2.2 | Where an Award Vests under rule 8.2.1, the Board will determine the extent to which any Performance Condition has been satisfied under rule 6.1 (Delivery of Shares) and the proportion of the Award which will Vest. | ||
The Board may decide that an Award which has Vested under rule 8.2.1 is reduced pro rata to reflect the acceleration of Vesting. | |||
To the extent that an Award has not Vested, it shall lapse as to the balance, unless exchanged under rule 9 (Exchange of Awards). |
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8.2.3 | An Award will not Vest under rule 8.2.1 but will be exchanged under rule 9 (Exchange of Awards) if: |
(i) | an offer to exchange Awards is made and accepted by a Participant; or | ||
(ii) | the Board, with the consent of the Acquiring Company, decides before court sanction that the Awards will be automatically exchanged. |
8.3 | Reconstruction | |
If there is any internal reconstruction, reorganisation or acquisition of NV and/or PLC which does not involve a significant change in the identity of the ultimate shareholders of NV and PLC, this rule applies to any Awards which have not Vested by the day the reconstruction takes effect. The Board will arrange for the Awards to be replaced by an equivalent award of shares in the new parent company or companies as determined by the Board. The Board may amend (or waive) any Performance Condition as it considers appropriate, subject to applicable laws. | ||
8.4 | Demerger or Other Corporate Event |
8.4.1 | If the Board becomes aware that NV and/or PLC is or is expected to be affected by any demerger, distribution (other than an ordinary dividend) or other transaction not falling within rule 8.1 (Takeover) or rule 8.2 (Scheme of Arrangement) which, in the opinion of the Board, would affect the current or future value of any Award, the Board may allow an Award to Vest and subject to any such conditions as the Board may decide to impose. | ||
8.4.2 | Where an Award Vests under rule 8.4.1, the Board will determine the extent to which any Performance Condition has been satisfied under rule 6.1 and the proportion of the Award which will Vest. | ||
The Board may decide that an Award which has Vested under rule 8.4.1 is reduced pro rata to reflect the acceleration of Vesting. | |||
To the extent that an Award has not Vested, it shall lapse as to the balance. | |||
8.4.3 | Participants will be notified if they are affected by the Board exercising its discretion under this rule. |
8.5 | Board | |
In this rule 8, Board means those people who were members of the board of NV and PLC immediately before the change of Control. | ||
9 | Exchange of Awards | |
9.1 | Exchange | |
If an Award is to be exchanged under rule 8 (Takeovers and Restructuring), the exchange will take place as soon as practicable after the relevant event. | ||
9.2 | Exchange Terms | |
Where a Participant is granted a new award in exchange for an existing Award, the new award: |
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9.2.1 | must confer a right to acquire shares in the Acquiring Company or another body corporate determined by the Acquiring Company; | ||
9.2.2 | must be equivalent to the existing Award, subject to rule 9.2.4; | ||
9.2.3 | is treated as having been acquired at the same time as the existing Award and, subject to rule 9.2.4, Vests in the same manner and at the same time; | ||
9.2.4 | must either: |
(i) | be subject to a Performance Condition which is, so far as possible, equivalent to any Performance Condition applying to the existing Award; or | ||
(ii) | not be subject to any Performance Condition, but be in respect of the number of shares which is equivalent to the number of Shares comprised in the existing Award which would have Vested under rule 8.1 (Takeover), and Vest at the end of the Performance Period; or | ||
(iii) | be subject to such other terms as the Board considers appropriate in all the circumstances; and |
9.2.5 | is governed by the Plan as if references to Shares were references to the shares over which the new award is granted and references to NV and PLC were references to the Acquiring Company or the body corporate determined under rule 9.2.1. |
10 | General | |
10.1 | Terms of Employment |
10.1.1 | For the purposes of this rule 10.1, Employee means any person who is or will be eligible to be a Participant. | ||
10.1.2 | This rule 10.1 applies: |
(i) | whether NV, PLC or the Grantor (including acting through its Board) has full discretion in the operation of the Plan, or whether NV or PLC could be regarded as being subject to any obligations in the operation of the Plan; | ||
(ii) | during an Employees employment or employment relationship; and | ||
(iii) | after the termination of an Employees employment or employment relationship, whether or not the termination is lawful. |
10.1.3 | Nothing in these rules or the operation of the Plan forms part of the contract of employment of an Employee. The rights and obligations arising from the employment relationship between the Employee and his employer are separate from, and are not affected by, the Plan. Participation in the Plan does not create any right to, or expectation of, continued employment. | ||
10.1.4 | No Employee has a right to participate in the Plan. Participation in the Plan, payment of an Annual Bonus Award or the grant of Awards on a particular basis in any year does not create any right to or expectation of invitation, participation in the Plan or the grant of Awards on the same basis, or at all, in any future year. | ||
10.1.5 | The terms of the Plan do not entitle the Employee to the exercise of any discretion in his favour. |
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10.1.6 | The Employee will have no claim or right of action in respect of any decision, omission or discretion which may operate to the disadvantage of the Employee even if it is unreasonable, irrational or might otherwise be regarded as being in breach of the duty of trust and confidence (and/or any other implied duty) between the Employee and his employer. | ||
10.1.7 | No Employee has any right to compensation for any loss in relation to the Plan, including any loss in relation to: |
(i) | any loss or reduction of rights or expectations under the Plan in any circumstances (including lawful or unlawful termination of employment); | ||
(ii) | any exercise of a discretion or a decision taken in relation to an Award or to the Plan, or any failure to exercise a discretion or take a decision; | ||
(iii) | the operation, suspension, termination or amendment of the Plan. |
10.2 | Boards Decisions Final and Binding | |
The decision of the Board on the interpretation of the Plan or regarding any dispute relating to any Award or matter relating to the Plan will be final and conclusive. | ||
10.3 | Third Party Rights | |
Nothing in this Plan confers any benefit, right or expectation on a person who is not a Participant. No such third party has any rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any term of this Plan. This does not affect any other right or remedy of a third party which may exist. | ||
10.4 | Documents Sent to Shareholders | |
NV or PLC is not required to send to Participants copies of any documents or notices normally sent to the holders of its Shares. | ||
10.5 | Costs | |
NV and PLC will pay the costs of introducing and administering the Plan. A Participants employer will be required to bear the costs in respect of an Award to that Participant. | ||
10.6 | Employee Trust | |
NV, PLC and any Subsidiary may provide money to the trustee of any trust or any other person to enable them or him to acquire Shares to be held for the purposes of the Plan, or enter into any guarantee or indemnity for those purposes, to the extent permitted by Sections 681-683 of the Companies Act 2006 or any applicable law. | ||
10.7 | Data Protection | |
By participating in the Plan the Participant consents to the holding and processing of personal data provided by the Participant to any Member of the Group, trustee or third party service provider for all purposes relating to the operation of the Plan. These include, but are not limited to: |
10.7.1 | administering and maintaining Participant records; | ||
10.7.2 | providing information to Members of the Group, trustees of any employee benefit trust, registrars, brokers or third party administrators of the Plan; |
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10.7.3 | providing information to future purchasers of the NV, PLC or the business in which the Participant works; and | ||
10.7.4 | transferring information about the Participant to a country or territory outside the European Economic Area that may not provide the same statutory protection for the information as the Participants home country. |
10.8 | Consents | |
All allotments, issues and transfers of Shares will be subject to any necessary consents under any relevant enactments or regulations for the time being in force in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom or elsewhere. The Participant is responsible for complying with any requirements he needs to fulfil in order to obtain, or avoid the necessity for, any such consent. | ||
10.9 | Share Rights | |
Shares issued to satisfy Awards under the Plan or as Investment Shares will rank equally in all respects with the Shares in issue on the date of allotment. They will not rank for any rights attaching to Shares by reference to a record date preceding the date of allotment. Where Shares are transferred to a Participant, including a transfer out of treasury, the Participant will be entitled to all rights attaching to the Shares by reference to a record date on or after the transfer date. The Participant will not be entitled to rights before that date. | ||
10.10 | Listing |
10.10.1 | If and so long as the NV Shares are listed on Eurolist by Euronext and traded on Euronext, NV will apply for listing of any NV Shares issued under the Plan as soon as practicable. | ||
10.10.2 | If and so long as PLC Shares are listed on the Official List and traded on the London Stock Exchange, PLC will apply for listing of any PLC Shares issued under the Plan as soon as practicable. |
10.11 | Notices |
10.11.1 | Any notice or other document which has to be given to a person who is or will be eligible to be a Participant under or in connection with the Plan may be: |
(i) | delivered or sent by post to him at his home address according to the records of his employing company; or | ||
(ii) | sent by e-mail or fax to any e-mail address or fax number which according to the records of his employing company is used by him; |
or, in either case, such other address which the Board considers appropriate. | |||
10.11.2 | Any notice or other document which has to be given to NV, PLC, the Grantor or other duly appointed agent under or in connection with the Plan may be delivered or sent by post to it at its registered office (or such other place as the Board or duly appointed agent may from time to time decide and notify to Participants) or sent by e-mail or fax to any e-mail address or fax number notified to the Participant. | ||
10.11.3 | Notices sent by post will be deemed to have been given on the second day after the date of posting. However, notices sent by or to a Participant who is working overseas will be deemed to have been given on the seventh day after the date of posting. Notices sent by e-mail or fax, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, will be deemed to have been received on the day after sending. |
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10.12 | Governing Law and Jurisdiction |
10.12.1 | Dutch law governs the Plan in respect of Awards granted over NV Shares and the Rotterdam District Court has non-exclusive jurisdiction in respect of any disputes arising. | ||
10.12.2 | English law governs the Plan in respect of Awards granted over PLC Shares and the English Courts have non-exclusive jurisdiction in respect of any disputes arising. | ||
10.12.3 | Where Awards are granted over a combination of NV and PLC Shares, the applicable law and jurisdiction in relation to such Awards will be determined on the Award Date by the Grantor. |
11 | Amending the Plan and Termination | |
11.1 | Boards powers | |
Except as described in the rest of this rule 11 and in accordance with relevant provisions of UK and Dutch company law, the RemCo may at any time change the Plan in any way. | ||
11.2 | Shareholder approval |
11.2.1 | Except as described in rule 11.2.2, the shareholders of NV or PLC in general meeting must approve in advance by ordinary resolution any proposed change to the Plan to the advantage of present or future Participants, which relates to: |
(i) | the persons to or for whom Shares may be provided under the Plan; | ||
(ii) | the limits on the number of Shares which may be issued under the Plan; | ||
(iii) | the individual limit for each Participant under the Plan; | ||
(iv) | any rights attaching to existing and/or future Awards and the Shares; | ||
(v) | the rights of a Participant in the event of a capitalisation issue, rights issue, sub-division or consolidation of Shares or reduction or any other variation of capital of NV and/or PLC; or | ||
(vi) | the terms of this rule 11.2.1. |
11.2.2 | The RemCo can change the Plan and/or any Awards granted under it and need not obtain the approval of NV or PLC in general meeting for any changes: |
(i) | to benefit the administration of the Plan; | ||
(ii) | to comply with or take account of the provisions of any proposed or existing legislation; | ||
(iii) | to take account of any changes to legislation; or | ||
(iv) | to obtain or maintain favourable tax, exchange control or regulatory treatment of NV, PLC, any Subsidiary or any present or future Participant. |
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11.3 | Notice | |
The RemCo is not required to give written notice of any changes made to any Participant affected. | ||
11.4 | Termination | |
The Plan will terminate on the Expiry Date, but the Board may terminate the Plan at any time before that date. The termination of the Plan will not affect existing Awards. |
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1. | I have reviewed this annual report on Form 20-F of UNILEVER PLC ; | |
2. | Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report; | |
3. | Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the company as of, and for, the periods presented in this report; | |
4. | The companys other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the company and have: |
(a) | Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the company, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared; | ||
(b) | Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles; | ||
(c) | Evaluated the effectiveness of the companys disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and | ||
(d) | Disclosed in this report any change in the companys internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the period covered by the annual report that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the companys internal control over financial reporting; and |
5. | The companys other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the companys auditors and the audit committee of the companys board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions): |
(a) | All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the companys ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and | ||
(b) | Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the companys internal control over financial reporting. |
1. | I have reviewed this annual report on Form 20-F of UNILEVER PLC ; | |
2. | Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report; | |
3. | Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the company as of, and for, the periods presented in this report; | |
4. | The companys other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the company and have: |
(a) | Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the company, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared; | ||
(b) | Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles; | ||
(c) | Evaluated the effectiveness of the companys disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and | ||
(d) | Disclosed in this report any change in the companys internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the period covered by the annual report that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the companys internal control over financial reporting; and |
5. | The companys other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the companys auditors and the audit committee of the companys board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions): |
(a) | All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the companys ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and | ||
(b) | Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the companys internal control over financial reporting. |
/s/ Paulus Gerardus Josephus Maria Polman | ||||
Paulus Gerardus Josephus Maria Polman | ||||
Chief Executive Officer |
/s/ Raoul Jean-Marc Sidney Huet | ||||
Raoul Jean-Marc Sidney Huet | ||||
Chief Financial Officer |
/s/ R A J Swaak RA | ||||
R A J Swaak RA |
/s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP | ||||
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP |