Tampa, Fla. – SES has underlined plans for a more streamlined board of directors, but one of the largest shareholders of the satellite operator says that changes do not go far between growing competition in the space industry.
The Luxembourg -based company said it has decided to reduce its board from 11 to nine members, proposing two new directors with a comprehensive US national security and defense leadership experience:
- Ellen Lord, former Secretary of Defense for the acquisition and continuity of the Department of Defense of the United States.
- John Shaw, former Deputy Commander of US Space Force and the first commander and joint forces of the USSF Space Operations Command.
These appointments will help the SES “effectively navigate this rapidly changing landscape,” the company said, and will be placed on one vote in its next annual shareholder meeting on 3 April.
After the hedge fund Apploosa was called for the overhaul of its share capital and board structure, SES also discontinued a director’s discovery with the experience of capital markets.
Appaloosa SES has more than 7% of the economic interests of SES and an uniform stake in Intelsat, receiving the SES $ 3.1 billion.
While SES stated that it was recommending its rejection to shareholders in one vote – the operator rejected other proposals from the hedge funds, such as reducing state control – to distribute capital to shareholders in one vote – to distribute capital to shareholders in one vote.
Appaloosa said in a statement, “The SES board has the initial steps to modernize its structure long and only shareholders have come after pressure.”
“However, too much can, and must be done, should be done – is clear from the aging of the board with more and more urgency.”
Appaloosa urged other shareholders to vote in favor of their plan to return additional cash flow to the annual shareholders annually.
The SES stated that it attacks a healthy balance between the return of capital for shareholders and maintaining flexibility for development investment, warning that Applosa’s proposal could threaten its investment-grade credit rating.
The Luxembourg has been an anchor shareholder since the establishment of the company, SES noted, and the government’s special class B shares cannot be taken by the vote of other shareholders.
“In any event, the SES considers the Luxembourg government to be a valuable shareholder and stakeholder in the company and the Luxembourg government confirmed its strong support for the company on several occasions,” SES said.
The SES said that the government is unable to appoint more than one third of its total board directors, which can prevent the company’s development strategy from determining or interrupted.
Appaloosa had asked SES to remove its entire board and replace it with a small number of directors, which SES said would be chaotic and unnecessary.
