-
Increase in the dividend from
CHF 1.75 to CHF 2.00 per share
-
Lukas Braunschweiler and Daniel
R. Marshak elected as new members of the Board of
Directors
-
Lukas Braunschweiler elected as
new Chairman of Tecan
-
Heinrich Fischer, Oliver
Fetzer, Lars Holmqvist, Karen Huebscher and Christa Kreuzburg
re-elected as members of the Board of Directors
-
Christa Kreuzburg and Oliver
Fetzer confirmed as members of the Compensation Committee; Daniel
R. Marshak elected as new member
-
Amendment to the Articles of
Incorporation on renewal of the authorized capital
approved
-
All proposals relating to
compensation approved
Männedorf, Switzerland, April 17,
2018 - The Annual General Meeting of Tecan Group Ltd. (SIX
Swiss Exchange: TECN) has today endorsed all motions proposed by
the Board of Directors. The shareholders approved the Annual
Report, the financial statements and the consolidated financial
statements, and granted discharge to the Board of Directors and the
Management Board. They also agreed to an increase in the dividend
from CHF 1.75 to CHF 2.00 per share. The payout will take place on
April 23, 2018.
Elections to the Board of
Directors
The shareholders elected two new members of Tecan's Board of
Directors, Dr. Lukas Braunschweiler and Dr. Daniel R. Marshak and
subsequently, Lukas Braunschweiler was elected as the new Chairman
of the Board of Directors. All members of the Board of Directors
who stood for re-election were confirmed by the shareholders for a
further term: Heinrich Fischer, Dr. Oliver Fetzer, Lars Holmqvist,
Dr. Karen Huebscher and Dr. Christa Kreuzburg. The shareholders
also confirmed Christa Kreuzburg and Oliver Fetzer as members of
the Compensation Committee and elected Daniel R. Marshak as a new
member of it.
As already announced in October 2017, Rolf
Classon, Chairman of the Board of Directors since 2009, and Gérard
Vaillant, a member of the Board of Directors since 2004, did not
stand for re-election. Heinrich Fischer, Vice-Chairman of the Board
of Directors, warmly thanked the departing members on behalf of the
Board for their service over many years. He commented: "Tecan is
now well set up for continued successful development over the
coming years. Rolf Classon and Gérard Vaillant have made an
extraordinarily valuable contribution toward this. We are very glad
to have been able to gain two highly successful managers with
international experience, Lukas Braunschweiler and Daniel R.
Marshak, as new members of Tecan's Board of Directors."
Amendment to the Articles of
Incorporation on renewal of the authorized capital
approved
The Annual General Meeting also approved an amendment to the
Articles of Incorporation to renew the authorized capital. The
shareholders had most recently approved the creation of authorized
capital at the Annual General Meeting on April 13, 2016, with
validity for the two years up to the 2018 Annual General Meeting.
By doing this, they authorized the Board of Directors to increase
the company's share capital by just under 20% and to rule out
subscription rights to any of the newly created shares. At this
year's Annual General Meeting, the Board of Directors proposed the
extension of the authorized capital to April 17, 2020, with the
innovation that subscription rights could now be ruled out only for
just under 10% of the newly issued shares. This modification
reduces the risk of the future profits and voting rights of current
shareholders being diluted and helps to further improve Tecan's
corporate governance. As a general rule, extending the authorized
capitals enables the Company to retain additional entrepreneurial
freedom and flexibility to exploit external growth
opportunities.
Other proposals also
approved
The shareholders voted on the conditions governing the compensation
of the Board of Directors and Management Board in the coming year,
as required by the Swiss Ordinance Against Excessive Compensation
in Listed Companies (OeEC). They made a binding decision to endorse
the proposed maximum total amount of compensation for the
Management Board for fiscal year 2019 and also, for the Board of
Directors, for the period until the 2019 Annual General Meeting.
The 2017 Compensation Report, which was submitted for an advisory
vote, was also accepted by shareholders.
Ernst & Young AG, Zurich, was reappointed as
the statutory auditors for fiscal year 2018.
Shareholders approved the motion proposed by the Board of Directors
to appoint Proxy Voting Services GmbH, Zurich, as the independent
proxy for the period up to the close of Tecan Group Ltd.'s 33rd
Annual General Meeting in 2019.
Next key date
Tecan will publish the 2018 Interim Report on August 16, 2018.
About Tecan
Tecan (www.tecan.com) is a leading global provider of laboratory
instruments and solutions in biopharmaceuticals, forensics and
clinical diagnostics. The company specializes in the development,
production and distribution of automated workflow solutions for
laboratories in the life sciences sector. Its clients include
pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, university research
departments, forensic and diagnostic laboratories. As an original
equipment manufacturer (OEM), Tecan is also a leader in developing
and manufacturing OEM instruments and components that are then
distributed by partner companies. Founded in Switzerland in 1980,
the company has manufacturing, research and development sites in
both Europe and North America and maintains a sales and service
network in 52 countries. In 2017, Tecan generated sales of
CHF 548 million (USD 560 million;
EUR 494 million). Registered shares of Tecan Group are
traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange (TECN; ISIN CH0012100191).
For further information:
Tecan Group
Martin Brändle
Vice President, Communications & Investor Relations
Tel. +41 (0) 44 922 84 30
Fax +41 (0) 44 922 88 89
investor@tecan.com
www.tecan.com
Press Release