Ciba AGM : Textile BU selling to Huntsman is best solution
03 Mar '06
3 min read
Ciba HQ - Basel
At the ninth Annual General Meeting (AGM) of March 2, 2006, in the Congress Center Basel (Switzerland), the shareholders of Ciba Specialty Chemicals Holding Inc approved all the motions proposed by the Board of Directors. The 1,416 shareholders present represented 16,657,636 of the votes, or 24.1 percent of the 69,064,617 registered shares.
AGM approved by a large majority the proposal by the Board of Directors for a dividend of CHF 3 per share. The shareholders also approved the discharge of the Board of Directors and the management from liability for their activities in 2005 with 16,010,629 votes in favor, 322,785 votes against and 173,289 abstentions.
With a large majority, the Annual General Meeting elected Beat Hess as a new non-executive director to the Board. Beat Hess (56, Swiss) is Group Legal Director for Royal Dutch Shell plc and brings with him substantial experience in international leadership positions.
Armin Meyer, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive of Ciba explained “the definitive agreement to sell the textile business, the 2005 financial results and the company strategy.”
“2005 was the most challenging year in the history of Ciba Specialty Chemicals,” said Armin Meyer. He pointed in particular to sharply rising raw material costs.
Despite the difficult conditions, the company was able to limit the decline in operating margins in the financial year 2005 by means of price increases and cost reduction measures. According to Meyer, the definitive agreement for the sale of the textile business to Huntsman is the best solution for the textile business and its employees as well as for Ciba as a company.
marketing@alchempro.com
