Billionaire local weather activist wins board battle at Australia’s AGL Vitality By Reuters

By Sonali Paul

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Shareholders in AGL Vitality (OTC:), Australia’s largest energy producer, on Tuesday defied their board and accepted all 4 administrators proposed by the corporate’s high shareholder, tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes.

On the similar time, in a shock end result, greater than 25% of shareholders rejected the manager pay plan, last votes confirmed. Beneath Australian company guidelines, the complete board might face re-election if that’s rejected once more subsequent yr.

Local weather activist Cannon-Brookes, with an 11% stake in AGL, succeeded earlier this yr in forcing the corporate to scrap a demerger and as a substitute announce plans to hurry up the closing of its coal-fired energy crops by a decade and spend as much as A$20 billion on renewable vitality by 2036.

Trying to increase his affect, Cannon-Brookes’ funding automobile, Grok Ventures, proposed 4 candidates for AGL’s board: ex-Tesla govt Mark Twidell, former Vitality Safety Board chair Kerry Schott, John Pollaers and Christine Holman.

All 4 had been accepted by AGL’s shareholders, Chair Patricia McKenzie advised shareholders on the group’s annual assembly, citing proxy votes, though the board had solely endorsed Twidell.

“An ideal day in the way forward for Australia’s decarbonisation,” Cannon-Brookes mentioned in a message on his Twitter feed, thanking his 4 board nominees for “stepping as much as assist information” AGL and shareholders for supporting them.

AGL Chair McKenzie mentioned the board would work constructively with the brand new administrators.

The expanded board’s first job can be to discover a new chief govt to guide the corporate’s transition to inexperienced vitality, after Cannon-Brookes’ battle to overtake the corporate led former CEO Graeme Hunt to stop.

“This represents one other majority vote by AGL shareholders pointing to their want for change, contemporary pondering and extra execution capability to understand the potential of this nice firm,” a Grok spokesperson mentioned in an emailed assertion after the annual assembly.

All 4 of Grok’s picks mentioned in recorded feedback on the annual assembly they had been impartial of the tech billionaire and would work in all shareholders’ pursuits.

Whereas McKenzie gained overwhelming help for her re-election to the board, greater than 25% of votes forged went in opposition to the corporate’s govt pay plan, which she mentioned was primarily on account of opposition from two main shareholders.

“This can be a disappointing end result given that each one main proxy advisors beneficial that shareholders vote in favour of the report and no materials issues had been recognized,” McKenzie mentioned on the annual assembly.

Beneath Australia’s company guidelines, shareholders might vote to take away an organization’s board if no less than 25% of voting shareholders object to the pay plan in two consecutive years.

Including to its challenges, AGL now faces a probably beefed-up arch rival after final week’s shock announcement that its spurned suitor, Canada’s Brookfield, has led an A$18 billion bid for Origin Vitality, Australia’s No. 2 energy producer.