OREANDA-NEWS. The invitation to the Annual General Meeting of gategroup Holding AG, including the full agenda, has been sent to shareholders and published in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce.

gategroup Holding AG’s Annual General Meeting of Shareholders will take place on Thursday, April 16, 2015, at 10:00 am CET at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Zurich Airport, Switzerland.

The Board of Directors has continued its process of renewal. Paolo Amato, David Barger and Julie Southern, the three new Board candidates proposed to the shareholders, have all been in leading positions in international airlines until recently. They are acknowledged professionals with an impressive track record in the aviation sector, with broad international management experience and previous memberships as executive and non-executive Board members. Together with the current members of the Board of Directors standing for re-election they constitute a diverse, yet aligned board ready to shape the next steps of gategroup. 

To enable the delivery of its strategy, stability and continuity on the Board is important. In addition to the nomination of the three new Board members, the Board of Directors proposes the re-election of current Board members Remo Brunschwiler, Ilona de March and Anthonie Stal as well as Andreas Schmid, who is proposed to continue to chair the Board.

The Articles of Incorporation of gategroup Holding AG foresee that the Board of Directors shall consist of no less than five and up to twelve members. These limits represent the minimum and maximum possible numbers of Board members, not the structure that would allow greatest efficiency and effectiveness. In fact, the Board of Directors is convinced that a seven member Board is the appropriate size.

The Board of Directors recommends to support the election of its proposed slate and to reject the candidates proposed by two hedge funds.

Since in-depth airline industry knowhow and experience as a long-standing member of the board of directors of a listed Swiss company are considered particularly important to qualify for the role of Chairman of gategroup, the Board of Directors recommends the current Chairman Andreas Schmid for re-election.

Only shareholders registered in the shareholders’ register with the right to vote on April 9, 2015, 5:00 p.m. CET may exercise their voting rights. Shareholders, whose shares are not yet registered, need to contact their depositary bank or broker (prime custodian) immediately to request registration so that registration is completed by the April 9 deadline and fill out and return any registration form sent by the bank or broker as soon as possible.