Alcon, Inc., (NYSE: ACL) announced the following actions were taken by
shareholders at the company’s Annual General
Meeting of Shareholders held today in Zug, Switzerland:
-
Approved a dividend of 2.63 Swiss francs per share to be paid on May
22, 2008 to shareholders of record on May 12, 2008 (U.S. dollar
equivalent of $2.51 per share based on exchange rates in effect today).
-
Re-elected Thomas G. Plaskett, Paul Polman and Cary R. Rayment to the
Board of Directors for three-year terms of office.
-
Elected Paul Bulcke as a new member of the Board of Directors for a
one-year term of office.
-
Elected James Singh and Dr. Daniel Vasella as new members of the Board
of Directors for three-year terms of office, subject to and with
effect as of the closing of the sale of (at least) 74 million shares
of Alcon, Inc. by Nestlé S.A. to Novartis
AG.
-
Approved the cancellation of 7,657,400 shares, at CHF 0.20 par value
per share, which have been repurchased by Alcon, Inc. and that, as a
result, the share capital of Alcon, Inc. will be reduced from CHF
62,347,145.60 to CHF 60,815,665.60. Subject to fulfillment of certain
formal Swiss law requirements, the cancellation is expected to become
effective in July or August 2008.
The company also announced that its Board of Directors re-elected Cary
Rayment as its chairman and re-elected Francisco Castañer
as its vice-chairman in a Board meeting that followed the completion of
the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders. As previously announced by
the company, Joseph Weller retired from the Board of Directors for
personal reasons. Mr. Weller was elected to Alcon’s
Board of Directors in 2006 and contributed greatly to Alcon’s
strategic business and financial direction during his tenure. Alcon
extends its thanks and appreciation to him for his counsel and
contributions to the company’s success.
Paul Bulcke, who replaces Joseph Weller on the Board, is also a member
of the Board of Directors of Alcon’s majority
shareholder, Nestlé S.A. and serves as Nestlé’s
chief executive officer. He was elected to Nestlé’s
Board and appointed to his position on April 10, 2008. Mr. Bulcke has
had a long and distinguished career within the Nestlé
group since 1979, where he advanced through the sales and marketing
divisions and then into regional executive management. Most recently,
Mr. Bulcke was Executive Vice President and Director for Zone Americas
in addition to serving as Co-Chairman of Beverage Partners Worldwide
S.A. and Co-Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Cereal Partners
Worldwide. Mr. Bulcke graduated from the University of Leuven as a
Commercial Engineer and obtained his post graduate in Management at the
University of Gent in Belgium.
Mr. Singh was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Financial
Officer of Nestlé S.A. in 2008. Prior to this
appointment, Mr. Singh was Senior Vice President, Acquisitions and
Business Development of Nestlé S.A. during
which period he was, amongst others, involved in Alcon’s
initial public offering in 2002. Mr. Singh has been with Nestlé
for more than 30 years. Mr. Singh graduated from the University of
Guyana and received his masters in business administration from the
University of Windsor, Canada.
Dr. Vasella has served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Novartis
Group and as executive member of the Board of Directors of Novartis AG
since 1996. In 1999, he additionally was appointed Chairman of the Board
of Directors of Novartis AG. Prior to his appointment in 1996, he held a
number of positions at Sandoz Pharmaceutical Corporation, including the
position of Chief Executive Officer. He graduated with an M.D. from the
University of Bern.
About Alcon
Alcon, Inc. is the world’s leading eye care
company with sales of $5.6 billion in 2007. Alcon, which has been
dedicated to the ophthalmic industry for more than 60 years, develops,
manufactures and markets pharmaceuticals, surgical equipment and
devices, contact lens solutions and other vision care products that
treat diseases, disorders and other conditions of the eye. For more
information on Alcon, Inc., visit the company’s
web site at www.alcon.com.
