OREANDA-NEWS. Evolva (SIX: EVE) today publishes the agenda items for the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of shareholders on 13 May 2016.

After an extended period without changes, Evolva’s Board believes the time has come to start a gradual succession process reflecting not least the company’s increasing activities in manufacturing and commercialisation. As a first step, Evolva proposes to elect Mr Gerard Hoetmer as member of the Board of Directors. Mr Hoetmer brings international top-level experience in the food industry, gathered in various positions at Unilever and as CEO of Dutch listed company Corbion N.V. (previously CSM N.V.). All other Board members are available for re-election in the 2016 AGM. The proposed increase in the size of the Board from eight to nine is a temporary measure, aimed to facilitate the succession process.

As disclosed in the 2015 Compensation Report, the Board will also propose a switch from options to Restricted Stock Units (RSU) as long term equity compensation for Board members. The aim is to bring Evolva’s compensation policy closer to what is currently considered best practise by proxy advisors and some institutional investors.

In addition, the AGM agenda includes proposals to increase the authorisation to issue shares for financing transactions as well as for employee option exercise. Evolva’s current Articles of Association do not leave sufficient room for these purposes. The full AGM agenda is available on Evolva’s website.

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About Gerard Hoetmer

Gerard Hoetmer (born 1956, Dutch nationality) spent the first 25 years of his career in various units within the multinational consumer goods company Unilever. Starting in engineering and production management, his responsibilities increased to include logistics, supply chain and commercial. In his first general management steps during his Unilever career he was responsible for Sales and Marketing and later as CEO of Loders Croklaan, a specialty food ingredient company. In 2000, Mr Hoetmer took on the position as Senior Vice President Supply Chain Unilever Foods and Member of the Unilever Foods Executive Board, generating a turnover of EUR 27 billion. In 2005 he left Unilever to join Corbion N.V. (formerly CSM N.V.), a Dutch Euronext-listed group, as CEO. While at Corbion Mr Hoetmer oversaw the company’s transformation from a broad food and food ingredients manufacturer to a focused industrial biotech company delivering bio-based products made from renewable resources. In 2014, Corbion generated revenue of EUR 770 million and counted nearly 2,000 employees. Mr Hoetmer retired from this function in 2014. He has a Master degree in Mechanical Engineering from Delft University in the Netherlands. He is chairman of the boards of Devro plc (UK listed), AON Holdings B.V. (Netherlands, not listed) as well as Dutch football club Feyenoord (not listed).

About Evolva

Evolva is a pioneer and global leader in sustainable, fermentation-based approaches to ingredients for health, wellness and nutrition. Evolva’s products include stevia, resveratrol, vanillin, nootkatone and saffron. As well as developing its own proprietary ingredients, Evolva also deploys its technology for partners, providing them with a competitive edge and sharing in the returns they make. 

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This press release contains specific forward-looking statements, e.g. statements including terms like believe, assume, expect or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may result in a substantial divergence between the actual results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and those explicitly or implicitly presumed in these statements. Against the background of these uncertainties readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The company assumes no responsibility to update forward-looking statements or to adapt them to future events or developments.