Glass Lewis recommends shareholders vote FOR Actelion's Director nominees and proposals at upcoming AGM
(Thomson Reuters ONE) -
Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd /
Glass Lewis recommends shareholders vote FOR Actelion's Director nominees and
proposals at upcoming AGM
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The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Glass Lewis concludes that electing Actelion's slate is in shareholders' best
interests
ALLSCHWIL/BASEL, SWITZERLAND - 21 April 2011 - Actelion Ltd ("Actelion" or
"Company") (SIX: ATLN) today commented on the report issued by Glass Lewis, a
leading independent governance analysis and proxy voting firm, recommending that
shareholders vote FOR all of Actelion's Director nominees and all of the
Company's proposals with the exception of the proposed term duration of
Directors, in advance of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) that will take place
on 5 May 2011. Glass Lewis also recommended voting against all of Elliott
Advisor's Director nominees.
Robert E. Cawthorn, Chairman of Actelion's Board, commented: "We are pleased
that Glass Lewis' detailed analysis of Actelion's historical financial and
operating performance, of our balanced pipeline of promising compounds as well
as of our corporate governance standards, has led them to conclude that
Actelion's current Board and strategy has delivered significant value to
shareholders and will continue to do so in the future."
Robert Cawthorn added: "Glass Lewis' analysis is in line with the
recommendations issued earlier by other proxy advisors such as Ethos and Ivox as
well as with the supporting statement of BB Biotech, one of Actelion's largest
shareholders. Their statements underline our conviction that voting for all
Board proposals is in the best interest of all shareholders."
In its endorsement, Glass Lewis stated:
* ".we believe that shareholders would be best served by keeping the incumbent
Board in place at this time, particularly given that an overwhelming
majority of the incumbent Directors as well as the new Board nominees are
independent." (Glass Lewis Report, April 20, 2011, p. 23)
* "The Dissident has failed to outline serious troubles with the company or
provide shareholders with a detailed plan as to how it could improve its
performance." (Glass Lewis Report, April 20, 2011, p. 23)
* ".we believe the Dissident has failed to make a compelling case that the
current Board is not acting in shareholders' best interests." (Glass Lewis
Report, April 20, 2011, p. 23)
* ".the Company's R&D-to-sales ratio has been reasonably near the mean and
median percentages observed within the Peer Composite for at least each of
the last five years." [1] (Glass Lewis Report, April 20, 2011, p. 21)
* ".we note that the Company's revenue and net income have increased on a
year-over-year basis for each of the past three fiscal years." (Glass Lewis
Report, April 20, 2011, p. 22)
* "We see that the Board has recently implemented a share buyback program and
has proposed an annual dividend payment in an effort to enhance shareholder
value." (Glass Lewis Report, April 20, 2011, p. 22 - 23)
Actelion encourages all shareholders to register their shares no later than 28
April 2011 and to follow the Board's recommendations by voting FOR all of
Actelion's experienced director nominees and proposals - either by attending the
AGM on 5 May 2011 in person or by filling out and returning the independent
proxy card.
More information on how to register and vote your shares is available on
Actelion's website at:
http://www.actelion.com/en/investors/first-time-investor/how-to-register-
shares.page
If you need assistance with voting your shares, please call D.F. King & Co.,
Inc. toll free from North America at + 1 800 967 7635, or toll free from
Continental Europe at 00800 5464 5464.
###
Note to Editors
About Glass Lewis
Glass, Lewis & Co. LLC is the leading independent governance analysis and proxy
voting firm, serving institutional investors that collectively manage more than
$17 trillion in assets. With research focused on the long-term financial impact
of investment and proxy decisions, Glass Lewis empowers institutional investors
to make decisions by uncovering and assessing business, legal, governance and
accounting risk at more than 18,000 companies in over 80 countries. Founded in
2003, Glass Lewis is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in New York,
Tokyo, and Sydney.
References
1. Glass Lewis's "Peer Composite" for Actelion is composed of the following
companies: Novartis AG, Gilead Sciences Inc., Biogen Idec Inc., United
Therapeutics Corporation, Amgen Inc., and Celegene Corporation.
Actelion Ltd.
Actelion Ltd is a biopharmaceutical company with its corporate headquarters in
Allschwil/Basel, Switzerland. Actelion's first drug Tracleer®, an orally
available dual endothelin receptor antagonist, has been approved as a therapy
for pulmonary arterial hypertension. Actelion markets Tracleer® through its own
subsidiaries in key markets worldwide, including the United States (based in
South San Francisco), the European Union, Japan, Canada, Australia and
Switzerland. Actelion, founded in late 1997, is a leading player in innovative
science related to the endothelium - the single layer of cells separating every
blood vessel from the blood stream. Actelion's over 2,400 employees focus on the
discovery, development and marketing of innovative drugs for significant unmet
medical needs. Actelion shares are traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ticker
symbol: ATLN) as part of the Swiss blue-chip index SMI (Swiss Market Index
SMI®).
For further information please contact:
Roland Haefeli
Vice President, Head of Investor Relations & Public Affairs
Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Gewerbestrasse 16, CH-4123 Allschwil
+41 61 565 62 62
+1 650 624 69 36
www.actelion.com
The above information contains certain "forward-looking statements", relating to
the company's business, which can be identified by the use of forward-looking
terminology such as "estimates", "believes", "expects", "may", "are expected
to", "will", "will continue", "should", "would be", "seeks", "pending" or
"anticipates" or similar expressions, or by discussions of strategy, plans or
intentions. Such statements include descriptions of the company's investment and
research and development programs and anticipated expenditures in connection
therewith, descriptions of new products expected to be introduced by the company
and anticipated customer demand for such products and products in the company's
existing portfolio. Such statements reflect the current views of the company
with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties
and assumptions. Many factors could cause the actual results, performance or
achievements of the company to be materially different from any future results,
performances or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-
looking statements. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties
materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results
may vary materially from those described herein as anticipated, believed,
estimated or expected.
--- End of Message ---
Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd
Gewerbestrasse 16 Allschwil Switzerland
ISIN: CH0010532478;
Press Release PDF:
http://hugin.info/131801/R/1508501/443310.pdf
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other applicable laws; and
(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and
originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd via Thomson Reuters ONE
[HUG#1508501]
Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
Datum: 21.04.2011 - 14:25 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 53807
Anzahl Zeichen: 9072
contact information:
Town:
Allschwil
Kategorie:
Business News
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