HEWLETT-PACKARD CO.
NYS: HPQ Meeting Date: 3/19/2014
In November of 2012, H-P had hit rock bottom following the announcement that it would be writing off $8.8 billion in connection the acquisition of UK-based software company Autonomy. H-P shares were trading around $12, compared to $30 immediately before then-CEO Leo Apotheker announced the acquisition and the board’s decision to explore a possible spin-off of HP’s flagship PC division in 2011; the decisions shocked investors and sparked over a year of precipitous declines. Meg Whitman, appointed following Mr. Apotheker’s abrupt firing at the end of 2011, has spent her tenure attempting to rebuild confidence and cast aside a decade of boardroom dysfunction. The H-P board responded to shareholder backlash in 2013 by removing two directors, stripping executive chairman Ray Lane of his title, and making improvements to its compensation program. While the Company’s share price recently reached similar levels to those before the ill-fated Autonomy acquisition, questions still remain over some long-serving board members, as well as the Company’s compensation practices. This year, shareholders will be given a chance to weigh in on whether the board’s substantial actions during the past year have been sufficient enough to put HP’s troubled past behind it and focus on regaining its status as a Silicon Valley powerhouse.
TONG YANG SECURITIES (see Proxy Season Insider here)
Korea Exchange: 003470 Meeting Date: 3/14/2014
DANSKE BANK
NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen: DDB Meeting Date: 3/18/2014
WALT DISNEY CO. (see Proxy Season Insider here)
NYSE: DIS Meeting Date: 3/18/2014
SWEDBANK
NASDAQ OMX Stockholm: SWED Meeting Date: 3/19/2014
BERLIAN LAJU TANKER TBK (see Proxy Season Insider here)
Indonesia Stock Exchange: BLTA Meeting Date: 3/19/2014