Worldline’s 2021 Annual General Meeting
Approval of all resolutions submitted by the board of directors
Bezons, France — 20 / 05 / 2021
Worldline [Euronext: WLN], leader in the payments industry held today its Annual General Meeting chaired by Mr. Gilles Grapinet, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
This General Meeting was held behind closed doors due to the current health context and the resulting constraints on travels and gatherings. The General Shareholders Meeting gathered a large quorum of 77%.
The entire vote took place remotely prior to the General Meeting.
All resolutions have been approved. The General Meeting approved in particular the Company and consolidated accounts for the financial year ending December 31st, 2020, as well as all related-parties agreements submitted to its approval.
The General Meeting approved the renewal of Director’s term of office of Mrs. Danielle Lagarde[1], Mrs. Nazan Somer Özelgin1, Mrs. Agnès Audier1, Mr. Daniel Schmucki and Mr. Lorenz von Habsburg Lothringen, for a term of three (3) years. The General Meeting also renewed Mr Jos Dijsselhof as Censor for a one-year period.
At the end of this General Meeting, the Board of Directors of Worldline comprises 19 Directors (including 2 Directors representing the employees), one Censor and a representative of the Social and Economic Committee. With 65% of independent Directors, the composition of the Board is well-balanced and allows an adequate representation of its main shareholders and strategic partners. The Board is composed of 41% by women and of a diversity of profiles that ensures solid and complementary skills.
Furthermore, the General Meeting approved the elements of compensation and benefits granted to Mr. Gilles Grapinet, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and to Mr. Marc-Henri Desportes, Deputy Chief Executive Officer for 2020. The General Meeting also approved the 2021 compensation policies applicable to the corporate officers, including that of the non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors with the view of the contemplated nomination of Mr. Bernard Bourigeaud at the end of Q3 2021 in this position – Mr. Gilles Grapinet being maintained as Chief Executive Officer and Mr. Marc-Henri Desportes as Deputy Chief Executive Officer.
The Shareholders approved the renewal of the authorization granted to the Board of Directors with regards to share buybacks, as well as the authorizations and financial delegations regarding the issue of shares and/or securities notably with and without preferential subscription rights of shareholders, as the case may be.
The delegations granted to the Board to increase the share capital reserved for employees who are members of a company or group savings plan or employees of the Company’s foreign subsidiaries were also renewed.
The shareholders also approved the authorization granted to the Board to allocate performance shares and stock-options of the Company to employees and/or corporate officers of the Company or Group companies.
The General Meeting also approved the partial asset contribution transaction to be carried out between Worldline and its subsidiary Worldline France SAS, under the terms of which Worldline will contribute its operational and commercial activities and the associated support functions to its subsidiary.
The results of voting on all resolutions submitted to Shareholders are available on the Company’s website: https://investors.worldline.com/en/home/news-events/general-meeting-of-shareholders.html
[1] Independant Director
About Worldline
Worldline [Euronext: WLN] is the European leader in the payments and transactional services industry and #4 player worldwide. With its global reach and its commitment to innovation, Worldline is the technology partner of choice for merchants, banks and third-party acquirers as well as public transport operators, government agencies and industrial companies in all sectors. Powered by over 20,000 employees in more than 50 countries, Worldline provides its clients with sustainable, trusted and secure solutions across the payment value chain, fostering their business growth wherever they are. Services offered by Worldline in the areas of Merchant Services; Terminals, Solutions & Services; Financial Services and Mobility & e-Transactional Services include domestic and cross-border commercial acquiring, both in-store and online, highly-secure payment transaction processing, a broad portfolio of payment terminals as well as e-ticketing and digital services in the industrial environment. In 2020 Worldline generated a proforma revenue of 4.8 billion euros. worldline.com
Worldline’s corporate purpose (“raison d’être”) is to design and operate leading digital payment and transactional solutions that enable sustainable economic growth and reinforce trust and security in our societies. Worldline makes them environmentally friendly, widely accessible, and supports social transformation.