The shareholders in Nolato AB (publ), reg. no. 556080-4592, (“Nolato” or the “Company”) are hereby given notice that the Annual General Meeting will be held on Tuesday 3 May 2022 at 4:00 p.m. at Grevieparken, Hålarpsvägen 14 in Grevie. Shareholders are welcome from 3:15 p.m.
Pursuant to chapter 12 of Nolato’s Articles of Association, the Board has resolved that shareholders may exercise their voting rights at the Annual General Meeting by post. Shareholders may therefore choose to exercise their voting rights in person at the Meeting, by proxy or through postal voting. The address by the CEO will be available, following the closing of the Meeting, at www.nolato.com/agm.
Those who wish to exercise their voting rights at the Annual General Meeting must:
- be recorded in the share register maintained by Euroclear Sweden AB (“Euroclear”) on 25 April 2022; and
- give notice to the Company of their intention to attend the Annual General Meeting according to the instructions under the heading “Notification of attendance in person or by proxy” or cast a postal vote according to the instructions under the heading “Instructions for postal voting” no later than 27 April 2022.
Nominee-registered shares
Shareholders whose shares are nominee-registered through a bank or other authorized depositary, e.g. in a custody account, must – in addition to giving notice of their attendance – request that the shares be temporarily re-registered in their own name so that the shareholder is registered in Euroclear’s share register as of the record date on 25 April 2022. Re-registration may be temporary (so-called voting rights registration) and requested from the nominee in advance in accordance with the nominee’s routines. Voting right registration that the shareholder has requested and has been issued by the nominee no later than 27 April 2022 will be accepted in the preparation of the share register.
Notification of attendance in person or by proxy
Shareholders who wish to attend the Annual General Meeting in person or by proxy must notify the Company of this no later than 27 April 2022 either:
- at the Company’s website, www.nolato.com/agm;
- with the response card attached to the annual report which has been sent to the shareholders who have requested to receive it;
- by phone +468-402 91 87; or
- by post to Nolato AB, “Årsstämma”, c/o Euroclear Sweden AB, Box 191, 101 23 Stockholm.
In the notification, provide your name or Company name, personal or organization ID number, address, phone number and, if applicable, the number of persons attending with you (maximum two).
If attending by proxy or representative, authorization documents (a power of attorney and/or registration certificate) should be sent to the Company at the above address well in advance of the Annual General Meeting and preferably by 27 April 2022. Power of attorney forms are available on the Company’s website at www.nolato.com/agm.
Instructions for postal voting
A special form shall be used for postal voting. Postal voting form is available at Nolato’s website www.nolato.com/agm.
Shareholders can vote by post in any of the following ways:
- Completed and signed postal voting form can be sent by post to Nolato AB, “Årsstämma”, c/o Euroclear Sweden AB, Box 191, 101 23 Stockholm, or by e-mail to GeneralMeetingService@euroclear.com. The completed form must be received by Euroclear no later than 27 April 2022.
- Shareholders may also, no later than 27 April 2022, cast a postal vote electronically via verification with BankID on Euroclear’s website https://anmalan.vpc.se/EuroclearProxy.
The shareholder may not give instructions other than to mark one of the alternative answers on the form. If the shareholder has included special instructions or conditions on the form, or changed or made amendments to the pre-printed text, the postal vote will be considered invalid. Further instructions and conditions can be found in the postal voting form and at https://anmalan.vpc.se/EuroclearProxy.
If a shareholder casts a postal vote by proxy, a written and dated power of attorney signed by the shareholder shall be enclosed with the postal voting form. Power of attorney forms are available on Nolato’s website at www.nolato.com/agm. If the shareholder is a legal entity, a registration certificate or other authorization document must be enclosed with the form.
Those who wish to withdraw a submitted postal vote and instead cast their vote by participating in the Annual General Meeting in person or by proxy must notify the Annual General Meeting’s secretariat before the Meeting is opened.
For questions concerning the postal voting procedure, please contact Euroclear, tel. +468-402 91 87 (Monday – Friday, between 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.).
Personal data
Personal data obtained from the share register, notices of attendance at the Annual General Meeting and information on proxies will be used for registration, preparation of the voting list for the Meeting and, where applicable, the minutes of the Meeting.
For information about how your personal data is processed, please refer to the Privacy Policy available on Euroclear’s website:
https://www.euroclear.com/dam/ESw/Legal/Privacy-notice-bolagsstammor-engelska.pdf
Proposed agenda
1. Opening of the Meeting and election of the chairman for the Meeting.
2. Establishment and approval of the voting list.
3. Approval of the agenda.
4. Election of one or two persons to verify the minutes.
5. Motion as to whether the Meeting has been duly convened.
6. Presentation of the annual accounts, auditor’s report, consolidated accounts, auditor’s report of consolidated accounts, the Boards’ remuneration report and auditor’s statement regarding whether the guidelines for the remuneration of senior executives have been adhered to.
7. Resolutions on:
a) adoption of income statement and balance sheet and the consolidated income statement and balance sheet,
b) approval of the Board’s remuneration rapport,
c) appropriation of profits in accordance with the adopted balance sheet, and the record dates for payment of the dividend, and
d) discharging the members of the Board and the CEO from liability.
8. Decision regarding the number of Board members, deputy Board members, auditors and deputy auditors.
9. Approval of fees payable to the Board and the auditors.
10. Election of Board members, deputy Board members, Chairman of the Board and auditors.
11. Resolution on guidelines for remuneration for senior executives.
12. Resolution on the establishment of incentive programs for senior executives in the Group through
a) issue of warrants with deviation from the shareholders’ preferential rights, and
b) approval of the transfer of the warrants to senior executives in the Company and other Group companies.
13. Resolution on authorization for the Board to resolve on new issues of class B shares.
14. Closing of the Meeting.
The Nomination Committee
The Nomination Committee, which was formed in accordance with the nomination procedure agreed on at the 2020 Annual General Meeting, consists of Henrik Jorlén, Chairman of the Nomination Committee (Jorlén family), Gun Boström (Boström family), Lovisa Hamrin (Hamrin family), Johan Ståhl (Lannebo Fonder) and Sophie Larsén (Första AP-fonden).
In connection with agenda items 8 – 10, a presentation of the Nomination Committee’s proposal, work, function and members will be made.
Resolution proposal
Chairman of the Meeting (agenda item 1)
The Nomination Committee has proposed that the Chairman of the Board, Fredrik Arp, shall be elected Chairman of the 2022 Annual General Meeting, or in the event of his absence, the person appointed by the Nomination Committee.
Approval of remuneration report (agenda item 7 b)
Prior to the 2022 Annual General Meeting, the Board has, in accordance with Chapter 8, section 53 a of the Swedish Companies Act, prepared a report detailing paid and outstanding compensation which is covered by the remuneration guidelines resolved at the 2021 Annual General Meeting.
The remuneration report, which is available on Nolato’s website, must be approved by the Annual General Meeting. Thus, the Board proposes that the Annual General Meeting approves the remuneration report for the financial year 2021.
Dividend and record date (agenda item 7 c)
The Board proposes a dividend of SEK 1.90 per share, which constitutes 51 % of the profit for 2021 after tax, excluding non-recurring items. The proposal is consistent with Nolato’s dividend policy, which is to propose a dividend that exceeds 50 % of profit after tax, taking into account Nolato’s long-term development opportunities, financial position and investment needs.
The Board has decided to propose that 5 May 2022 be set as the dividend record date, meaning that, if the Meeting resolves in accordance with the proposal, the dividend is expected to be paid out by Euroclear on 10 May 2022.
Determination of the number of Board members, deputy Board members, auditors and deputy auditors to be appointed by the Meeting (agenda item 8)
The Nomination Committee has proposed that the Board shall consist of eight ordinary members elected by the Meeting and no deputies and that the number of auditors shall be one accounting firm without any deputies.
Determination of fees payable to the Board and the auditors (agenda item 9)
The Nomination Committee has proposed that, until the next Annual General Meeting, the Board shall receive fees totaling SEK 3,360,000 (2,510,000), excluding travel allowance, for board work and remuneration for work in the Audit and Remuneration Committee, to be distributed as follows among the non-employed members elected by the Annual General Meeting: SEK 975,000 (750,000) to the Chairman of the Board and SEK 300,000 (250,000) each to the other members, SEK 100,000 (90,000) to the Chairman of the Audit Committee and SEK 65,000 (60,000) to the ordinary member, SEK 80,000 (75,000) to the Chairman of the Remuneration Committee and SEK 40,000 (35,000) to the ordinary member.
The Nomination Committee has also proposed that the auditor’s fee shall be payable in accordance with approved invoice.
Election of Board members, deputy Board members, Chairman of the Board and auditors (agenda item 10)
The Nomination Committee has proposed that re-election of the following members of the Board will take place: Fredrik Arp, Tomas Blomquist, Sven Boström, Lovisa Hamrin, Åsa Hedin, Erik Lynge-Jorlén and Lars-Åke Rydh as well as election of Carina van den Berg as a new member of the Board until the next Annual General Meeting. The Nomination Committee has also proposed that Fredrik Arp be re-elected as Chairman of the Board.
Carina van den Berg, proposed as a new member of the Board, has in-depth knowledge and wide-ranging experience within the industrial industry, and has held a number of senior management positions in several global companies over the past 15 years. Carina, born in 1974, is the Director of Global Finance Operations & Development at SKF Group which, inter alia, develops, designs and manufactures bearings and seals. She has previously held senior management positions at Hasselblad and FlexLink. Carina does not hold any shares in Nolato.
The Nomination Committee has also proposed that the registered auditing firm Ernst & Young Aktiebolag be appointed auditor until the end of the 2023 Annual General Meeting, in accordance with the Audit Committee’s proposal. The auditing firm has announced that Authorized Public Accountant Joakim Falck will continue to serve as auditor in charge, provided that the firm is re-elected.
Guidelines for the remuneration of senior executives (agenda item 11)
The Board propose that the Annual General Meeting adopt updated guidelines for remuneration of Board members and senior executives. The senior executives are the CEO and other members of group management. The changes compared with the previously applicable guidelines consists of an increase, from 50 percent to 60 percent of the base salary, in the maximum amount that the CEO can receive as variable compensation. For full guidelines, see the complete proposal on the Company’s website www.nolato.com/agm.
Resolution on the establishment of incentive programs for senior executives in the Group through
a) issue of warrants with deviation from the shareholders’ preferential rights, and
b) approval of the transfer of the warrants to senior executives in the Company and other Group companies (agenda item 12)
The Board proposes that the Annual General Meeting resolves to implement an incentive program in the Company to current and future senior executives in the Company and, where applicable, its subsidiaries by A) issuing warrants to the wholly-owned subsidiary Nolato Incentive AB, reg. no. 559082-2614, (the “Incentive Company”) and B) approve the transfer of 1/3 of the total number of issued warrants of the program each year during three years to the participants in the incentive program (“Incentive Program 2022/2028”).
Background and motive
The Board deems it important and in the interest of all shareholders that the employees within the Nolato Group have a long-term interest in the positive development of the share in the Company. At the Annual General Meeting 2019, the Company resolved to implement a warrant-based incentive program. This incentive program is still outstanding. No more warrants may be transferred to participants in this incentive program (see further under the heading "Supplementary information" below).
The motive for the proposal and the reason for the deviation from the shareholders’ preferential rights is that the Board assess that a personal long-term ownership interest for the management is expected to contribute to an increased interest for the Company’s business and earnings development. Through a warrant-based incentive program for employees within the Nolato Group, employees' rewards can be linked to the Company's future earnings and value development. The long-term value increase is thereby rewarded and shareholders and concerned employees get the same objective. Incentive programs are also considered to facilitate the recruitment and retainment of key employees. The Board therefore assesses, based on the outline of the incentive program, that there is no need to establish any predetermined and measurable performance criteria for the participants in the program.
In light of the terms, the size of the allocation and other circumstances, the Board assesses that the proposed incentive program, in accordance with the following, is both reasonable and favorable for the Company and its shareholders.
The detailed terms and principles for the Incentive Program 2022/2028 are described below.
A. Issue of warrants to the Incentive Company
The Board proposes that the Annual General Meeting resolves to issue not more than 7,980,000 warrants of three different series (Series 1 2022/2026, Series 2 2023/2027 and Series 3 2024/2028), with 2,660,000 warrants in each series, entitling for subscription for an equal number of class B shares in the Company. If all warrants are used for subscription of shares, the Company’s registered share capital will increase with not more than SEK 3,990,000, corresponding to an increase in the share capital of not more than SEK 1,330,000 for each series. In addition, the following terms shall apply for the resolution.
The right to subscribe for the warrants shall, with deviation from the shareholders’ preferential rights, only vest in the Incentive Company, with the right and obligation to transfer the warrants to the participants in the Incentive Program 2022/2028 in accordance with the proposal under point B below. There can be no oversubscription.
The reason for the deviation from the shareholders' preferential rights is the introduction of the Incentive Program 2022/2028 and appears under the heading "Background and reason" above.
The warrants shall be issued at no consideration.
Subscription for warrants shall be made on a separate subscription list within three weeks from the date of the resolution on the issue of warrants. The Board shall be entitled to extend the subscription period.
Subscription for B-shares at exercise of the warrants can be made according to the following schedule.
- For warrants of Series 1 (2022/2026) during the period from 15 December 2025 until and including 15 June 2026.
- For warrants of Series 2 (2023/2027) during the period from 15 December 2026 until and including 15 June 2027.
- For warrants of Series 3 (2024/2028) during the period from 15 December 2027 until and including 15 June 2028.
Each warrant in Series 1 (2022/2026) entitles to subscription for one new B-share in the Company at a subscription price corresponding to 120 percent of the volume weighted average price for the Company’s B-share according to Nasdaq Stockholm’s official price list during ten (10) trading days from 1 November 2022. However, the subscription price may not be less than the quota value. The subscription price for all three series shall be rounded to the nearest SEK 0.10, whereby SEK 0.05 shall be rounded downwards.
Each warrant in Series 2 (2023/2027) entitles to subscription for one new B-share in the Company at a subscription price corresponding to 120 percent of the volume weighted average price for the Company’s B-share according to Nasdaq Stockholm’s official price list during ten (10) trading days from 1 November 2023. However, the subscription price may not be less than the quota value. The subscription price for all three series shall be rounded to the nearest SEK 0.10, whereby SEK 0.05 shall be rounded downwards.
Each warrant in Series 3 (2024/2028) entitles to subscription for one new B-share in the Company at a subscription price corresponding to 120 percent of the volume weighted average price for the Company’s B-share according to Nasdaq Stockholm’s official price list during ten (10) trading days from 1 November 2024. However, the subscription price may not be less than the quota value. The subscription price for all three series shall be rounded to the nearest SEK 0.10, whereby SEK 0.05 shall be rounded downwards.
Any premium when subscribing for new shares when exercising a warrant shall be transferred to the unrestricted premium reserve.
The shares subscribed for by exercising warrants shall entitle to dividends for the first time on the record date for dividends that occurs after the subscription is effected.
For the warrants, the terms and conditions set out in the complete terms and conditions for the warrants, Appendices A – C, shall apply. As stated in the complete terms and conditions, the subscription price as well as the number of shares that each warrant entitles to subscribe for may be recalculated in the event of a bonus issue, new share issue and in certain other cases. Recalculation can also take place when subscribing for shares through a so-called Net Strike formulae. Furthermore, the time for the exercise of the warrants may be brought forward and postponed in certain cases.
The new B-shares that may be issued at subscription are not subject to any restrictions.
The Board or a person appointed by the Board shall be authorized to make any minor adjustments required to register and execute the resolution.
B. Transfer of warrants to senior executives
The Board propose that the Annual General Meeting resolves to approve that the Incentive Company transfer not more than 7,980,000 warrants, with a maximum of 2,660,000 warrants per year, to the management of the Company or other Group Company under the Incentive Program 2022/2028, on the following terms:
Under Incentive Program 2022/2028, a right to purchase warrants from the Incentive Company shall vest in current and future senior executives in the Company or other Group Company in accordance to the following:
- Category A (Group CEO) is offered to purchase not more than 280,000 warrants per year;
- Category B (Group Management – not more than 6 individuals) is offered to purchase not more than 140,000 warrants each per year;
- Category C (Other in Top Management – not more than 15 individuals) is offered to purchase not more than 70,000 warrants each per year; and
- Category D (New employees in the management or former employees with new positions included in the management – not more than 7 individuals) may be offered to purchase a maximum of 140,000 warrants each per year. For category D, the Board shall be entitled to decide on an offer of warrants to one or more additional persons in the management hired after the implementation of Incentive Program 2022/2028 and former employees with new positions included in the management.
The Board shall be entitled to decide which individuals of the management are to be offered to acquire warrants in accordance with the guidelines above.
The participants may choose to subscribe for a lower number of warrants than stated above.
The warrants shall be transferred to the participants on market terms at a price that is determined based on an estimated market value of the warrants using the Black-Scholes Model, based on the prevailing market conditions on the day of the onward transfer.
Estimation of market value and estimation of subscription price regarding subscription of a new share in the Company shall be carried out by People & Corporate Performance AB or, if this should prove not possible, by another independent valuer.
Application to acquire warrants shall be made during the following periods:
- 15 November – 15 December 2022 for Series 1 (2022/2026),
- 15 November – 15 December 2023 for Series 2 (2023/2027), and
- 15 November – 15 December 2024 for Series 3 (2024/2028).
The Board shall however be entitled to prolong or adjust the application period for acquiring warrants.
A prerequisite for the allotment of warrant is that (i) the participant's employment or assignment with the Company or other Group Company has not been terminated nor been given any notice of termination at the end of the subscription period for each series and (ii) that the participant has entered into a pre-emption agreement with the Company, according to which the participant is obliged to offer the Company to repurchase his/her warrants if the participant's employment ends.
Any warrants held by the Incentive Company which have not been acquired/transferred according to the above may, with the consent of the Board in the Incentive Company, be cancelled by a resolution of the Company’s Board. Cancellation shall be registered with the Swedish Companies Registration Office.
Financing and bonus offer
The participants are offered an opportunity to receive a bonus amounting to half of the participants premium for the warrants and the income tax levied on such bonus, provided the participants employment with the Company or other Group Company is not terminated until three years has passed from:
- 1 November 2022 for the first part of the program, Series 1 (2022/2026),
- 1 November 2023 for the second part of the program, Series 2 (2023/2027), and finally
- 1 November 2024 for the last part of the program, Series 3 (2024/2028).
In case a right to early exercise of the allocated warrants exists, for instance, but not limited to, a delisting or a sale of the majority of the shares in the Company, the participants shall be offered a possibility to receive the bonus even if the time limits above have not been met.
The Board or a person appointed by the Board is also entitled to offer a bonus for allotted warrants if a change of circumstances attributable to the participant occur, for example death, sickness or other distressing circumstances.
The participant is responsible for the financing of the premium at the purchase of the warrants.
Supplementary information
Effect on key figures and costs for the Company etc.
The current incentive program is expected to have a minor impact on the Company’s key figures.
Based on a price for the Company's share of SEK 91.95, a subscription price of SEK 110.30 per share, a risk-free interest rate of 0.68 percent and a volatility of 27 percent, the value per warrant has been estimated at SEK 8.68, which gives a value for all warrants of approximately MSEK 69.3.
Calculated on the basis of the above estimated value for the warrants, the incentive program is expected to incur costs of approximately MSEK 102, of which MSEK 78 relates to the cash subsidy to the participants and MSEK 24 refers to social security contributions. In addition, minor costs for foreign social security charges may also be levied for participants in other countries. In addition, the incentive program is expected to entail certain limited costs in the form of external consulting fees and administration regarding the warrants and the program as a whole. Based on the above, no actions have been taken to hedge the program.
Dilution
The estimated maximum dilution of the Incentive Program 2022/2028 is approximately 2.9 percent of the share capital and 1.5 percent of all votes in the Company (based on the number of shares outstanding in the Company after the exercise of the warrants).
In total, 544,500 warrants are outstanding and held by participants in the Incentive program 2019/2024, resolved at the 2019 Annual General Meeting. No more warrants may be transferred to participants in this incentive program. Outstanding warrants from the incentive program resolved at the 2019 Annual General Meeting together with the proposed incentive program comprise a maximum of 8,524,500 warrants that can be exercised for subscription of a maximum of 8,524,500 shares in total, which corresponds to a dilution effect of a maximum of approximately 3.1 percent of the share capital and 1.6 percent of all votes in the Company (based on the number of shares outstanding in the Company upon exercise of the warrants).
Other share based incentive programs
At the Annual General Meeting on 8 May 2019, a similar program (Incentive Program 2019/2024), through an issue of a maximum of 7,980,000 warrants in three different series divided into 2019/2022 (Series 1), 2020/2023 (Series 2) and 2021/2024 (Series 3), with 2,660,000 warrants in each series granting the right to subscribe for an equal number of B-shares, was approved. The number and amount have been adjusted taking into account the share split (10:1) resolved by the 2021 Annual General Meeting. The program was offered to approximately twenty employees within the Company’s management. In total 544,500 warrants of the issued warrants have been acquired, 0 by series 2019/2022, 287,500 by series 2020/2023 and 257,000 by series 2021/2024.
The warrants of series 2020/2023 may be exercised for subscription of shares from and including 1 May 2023 to and including 15 December 2023. Each warrant gives the right to subscribe for one B share at a price of SEK 92.88 per share.
The warrants of series 2021/2024 may be exercised for subscription of shares from and including 1 May 2024 to and including 15 December 2024. Each warrant gives the right to subscribe for one B share at a price of SEK 140.20 per share.
Preparation of the proposal
The principles for the warrant program have been developed by the Company's Remuneration Committee and the Board. The proposal has been prepared with the assistance of external advisors. The Board has subsequently decided to submit this proposal to the Annual General Meeting. Except for the officials who prepared the matter pursuant to instructions from the Board, no employee that may be included in the program has taken part in the preparation thereof.
Majority requirement
A resolution to approve Incentive Program 2022/2028 as set out in A and B above shall be made as one decision and is therefore conditional upon each other. A resolution is valid only when supported by shareholders holding not less than nine-tenths of both the shares voted and of the shares represented at the meeting.
Resolution on authorization for the Board to resolve on new issues of class B shares (agenda item 13)
The Board proposes that the Annual General Meeting authorizes the Board to resolve – on one or more occasions and for the period until the end of the next Annual General Meeting – to increase the Company’s share capital by issuing new class B shares, to the extent that such new issues can be made without amending the Articles of Association. The total number of class B shares that may be issued pursuant to the authorization may not exceed ten per cent of the total number of outstanding shares in the Company, at the time of the notice of the Meeting.
New share issues may be made with or without deviation from the shareholders’ preferential rights and with or without provisions for assets contribution in kind or set-off. The purpose of the authorization is to increase the financial flexibility of the Company and the acting scope of the Board. Should the Board resolve on a new issue with deviation from the shareholders’ preferential rights, the reason shall be to secure financing capacity for Company acquisitions, alternatively, to enable shares to be used as payment in such acquisitions. Upon such deviation from the shareholders’ preferential rights, the new issue shall be made at market terms and conditions.
The CEO, or any person appointed by the CEO, shall be authorized to make minor adjustments of the resolution mentioned above, as may be required in connection with the registration with the Swedish Companies Registration Office.
A valid resolution in accordance with the Boards’ submitted proposal as described above, requires that the resolution is supported by shareholders holding not less than two-thirds of both the votes cast and the shares represented at the Annual General Meeting.
Information at the Annual General Meeting
The Board and CEO shall, if requested by any shareholder and if the Board is of the opinion that it can be done without causing material harm to the Company, provide information regarding circumstances that may affect the assessment of an item on the agenda or circumstances that may affect the assessment of the Company's or a subsidiary’s financial situation and the Company’s relationship with another Group company.
The Company’s shares
On the day this notice was issued, the Company had a total of 27,594,000 class A shares and 241,783,080 class B shares, 269,377,080 shares in total. A class A share entitles the holder to ten votes, while a class B share entitles the holder to one vote. The Company has a total of 517,723,080 votes. Currently, none of these shares are repurchased treasury shares.
Documents
Information regarding the persons proposed to the Board and the Nomination Committee’s reasoned statement is available at www.nolato.com/agm.
The Nolato Annual report and Auditors report, consolidated accounts, the Board’s complete proposal for resolutions, the Board’s remuneration report, the Auditor’s opinion regarding the remuneration guidelines and the Nomination Committee’s reasoned statement are presented by keeping them available on the Company’s website and at Nolato’s office, Nolatovägen 32, 269 78 Torekov, in accordance with the Swedish Companies Act and the Swedish Corporate Governance Code. The documents will also be sent to shareholders who so request.
Torekov, March 2022
Nolato AB (publ)
The Board of Directors
This document is an English translation of the Swedish original. In the event of any discrepancies, the Swedish version shall govern.