The meeting was held based on the rules set out in the Grand Ducal Regulation of 20 March 2020 with shareholders participating remotely by appointing SES designated proxyholders to represent them at the meeting and to carry out their voting instructions given ahead of the meeting. Compliance with voting instructions was verified by the bureau of the AGM.
The approved resolutions included the company's 2019 financial accounts and the proposed dividend of EUR 0.40 per A-share which will be paid to shareholders on 23 April 2020. Accordingly, SES’s 2019 Annual Report has been published and is available to download at http://www.ses.com/annual-report.
Shareholders also approved a reduction in Board size from 14 to 12 Directors.
In addition, shareholders elected Béatrice de Clermont-Tonnerre and Peter van Bommel for an initial two-year mandate and elected Paul Konsbruck and Frank Esser for another three-year mandate. They also re-elected Ramu Potarazu, Kaj-Erik Relander and Anne-Catherine Ries for three years.
In the context of the reduction in Board size, shareholders also noted the resignations of Victor Casier, Hadelin de Liedekerke Beaufort, Marc Serres and François Tesch as Directors of SES. The AGM thanked those Directors for their contributions.
Consequently, the Board is now composed as follows: A-shareholders are represented by (all of them independent) Romain Bausch, Béatrice de Clermont-Tonnerre, Frank Esser, Tsega Gebreyes, Ramu Potarazu, Kaj-Erik Relander, Peter van Bommel, Katrin Wehr-Seiter; and B-shareholders are represented by Serge Allegrezza, Paul Konsbruck, Anne-Catherine Ries, Françoise Thoma.
At the AGM, Romain Bausch, Chairman of the SES Board and former President and CEO, informed the shareholders that he would not seek a new mandate as Chairman. Mr Bausch will remain on the Board as an independent Director.
Accordingly, in its meeting following the AGM, the Board of Directors elected Frank Esser as Chairperson of the Board for a period of one year and re-elected both Tsega Gebreyes and Anne-Catherine Ries as Vice-Chairpersons of the Board, also for a period of one year.
“Having been at the helm of the company for 25 years, firstly as CEO and latterly as Chairman and with the company now entering an exciting period of transformation under Steve Collar’s leadership and with a newly invigorated and streamlined Board, I consider it to be the right time to pass the baton to a new Chair in the renewed Board,” said Romain Bausch. “It has been a true privilege to serve SES in these different roles and I want to thank our shareholders for their continued support.”
“I am honoured to be elected Chairperson at this important and exciting time for our company with SES being in a great position for further development,” said Frank Esser. “I am delighted to be joining the Board with several new Directors who will each bring strong competencies, complementing those of the rest of our Board colleagues. I would also like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Romain and his contribution, commitment and on-going service to SES with his continued presence as a Director.”
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About SES
SES has a bold vision to deliver amazing experiences everywhere on earth by distributing the highest quality video content and providing seamless connectivity around the world. As the leader in global content connectivity solutions, SES operates the world’s only multi-orbit constellation of satellites with the unique combination of global coverage and high performance, including the commercially-proven, low-latency Medium Earth Orbit O3b system. By leveraging a vast and intelligent, cloud-enabled network, SES is able to deliver high-quality connectivity solutions anywhere on land, at sea or in the air, and is a trusted partner to the world’s leading telecommunications companies, mobile network operators, governments, connectivity and cloud service providers, broadcasters, video platform operators and content owners. SES’s video network carries over 8,300 channels and has an unparalleled reach of over 365 million households, delivering managed media services for both linear and non-linear content. The company is listed on Paris and Luxembourg stock exchanges (Ticker: SESG). Further information is available at: www.ses.com.
