Panalpina’s board of directors has proposed to elect Thomas Kern as chairman of the board at the upcoming annual general meeting (AGM), to be held on May 9. Meanwhile, the board has also proposed that no dividend be paid out to shareholders in 2019.
Kern currently chairs Panalpina’s independent board of directors and headed the final phase of evaluating the company’s strategic options which then eventually led to the decision to recommend DSV's recent offer for the company's shares.
He was elected to Panalpina’s board of directors in 2015 and from 2008 to 2014 was chief executive of Zurich Airport. He was also chief executive of Globus-Gruppe and holds a master degree in law from the University of Zurich..
If elected at the AGM, Kern will succeed Peter Ulber as chairman, who already in 2018 announced he would not stand for re-election at the AGM. Ulber will also not stand for re-election as a regular board member.
Proposal to refrain from dividend payment
In view of the recently announced public exchange offer submitted by DSV, which is based on a defined exchange ratio of Panalpina shares against DSV shares, Panalpina’s board of directors also proposed that no dividend be paid out to shareholders in 2019. A dividend payment would be qualified as having a dilutive effect, which would lead to an adjustment of the offered exchange ratio.
Panalpina's board of independent directors has resolved to continue the grandfathering practice and to admit the Ernst Goehner Foundation, which is reported to support the DSV deal, to vote with all its shares at the upcoming AGM.
