17th Nov 2022 16:54
17 November 2022
PPHE Hotel Group Limited
("PPHE Hotel Group", "PPHE" or the "Company")
Update Statement
At this year's Annual General Meeting held on 17th May 2022 ("AGM"), PPHE Hotel Group Limited received the following votes in respect of Resolution 10.
Resolution 10: To re-elect Ken Bradley as a Director of the Company
Total votes cast | For (*) | Against (*) | Withheld (**) | ||
Number | % | Number | % | ||
21,397,384 | 20,443,193 | 95.54% | 954,191 | 4.46% | 500,692 |
***3,022,567 | ***2,068,376 | 68.43% | ***954,191 | 31.57% | 500,682 |
*Includes discretionary votes
**A vote "Withheld" is not a vote in law and is therefore not counted towards the proportion of votes "For" or "Against" the resolution
*** Votes cast by independent shareholders
The Company has conducted engagement activities with its investors, including the commissioning of a materiality assessment of stakeholder priorities for environmental, social and governance ("ESG") and through investor roadshows. The executive leadership team also proactively seeks out investor input through investor roadshows conducted by the Chief Financial Officer and the Deputy Chief Executive Officer & Chief Operating Officer. These are exercises in gathering feedback from investors that are relayed to the Board and can input into Board discussions. The Company, additionally, conducts productive correspondence with investors directly and indirectly through investor information services, which informs our understanding of governance priorities for investors, and assists us in setting targets internally, and with communication priorities.
Having conducted engagement specifically on governance, the Board understands that the votes against Resolution 10 by the independent shareholders were motivated by factors relating to Board composition, specifically the tenure and independence of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Company and the road map to meeting diversity targets. It was felt by independent shareholders that the most appropriate way to address this point was to direct it towards Mr. Bradley, in his role as Chair of the Nomination Committee.
The Board will continue to be open and transparent about its journey to meeting targets on Board composition, diversity and independence and recognises the importance of taking diversity targets, amongst other factors, into consideration when appointing new directors.
As announced earlier this week, Kevin McAuliffe, Non-Executive Deputy Chairman of the Company, will not stand for re-election at the next Annual General Meeting and will resign from the Board at the conclusion of the meeting. In light of this, the Company will seek to appoint an independent Non-Executive Deputy Chairman in due course to support the Chairman on governance matters.
In addition, the Company is seeking to expand the Board and is currently undergoing the recruitment process to appoint a new independent Non-Executive Director. In respect of this appointment, the Company specifically required a duly engaged independent recruitment agency to have due regard to diversity targets in presenting candidates for interview. The Company will shortly provide further updates on the outcome of this process, which is well underway.
Enquiries:
PPHE Hotel Group Limited | |
Inbar Zilberman Chief Corporate Officer & Legal Officer | Tel: + 44 207 034 1376 |
Hudson Sandler | |
Wendy Baker Lucy Wollam Charlotte Cobb
| Tel: +44 (0)20 7796 4133 Email: [email protected] |
Notes to Editors
PPHE Hotel Group is an international hospitality real estate company, with a £1.8 billion portfolio, valued as at December 2021 by Savills and Zagreb nekretnine Ltd (ZANE), of primarily prime freehold and long leasehold assets in Europe.
Through its subsidiaries, jointly controlled entities and associates it owns, co-owns, develops, leases, operates and franchises hospitality real estate. Its portfolio includes full-service upscale, upper upscale and lifestyle hotels in major gateway cities and regional centres, as well as hotel, resort and campsite properties in select resort destinations. The Group's strategy is to grow its portfolio of core upper upscale city centre hotels, leisure and outdoor hospitality and hospitality management platform.
PPHE Hotel Group benefits from having an exclusive and perpetual licence from the Radisson Hotel Group, one of the world's largest hotel groups, to develop and operate Park Plaza® branded hotels and resorts in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In addition, PPHE Hotel Group wholly owns, and operates under, the art'otel® brand and its Croatian subsidiary owns, and operates under, the Arena Hotels & Apartments® and Arena Campsites® brands.
PPHE Hotel Group is a Guernsey registered company with shares listed on the London Stock Exchange. PPHE Hotel Group also holds a controlling ownership interest in Arena Hospitality Group, whose shares are listed on the Prime market of the Zagreb Stock Exchange.
Company websites
www.pphe.com www.arenahospitalitygroup.com
For reservations
www.parkplaza.com
www.artotel.com
www.arenahotels.com
www.arenacampsites.com