At the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM) on 28 March 2007, DSM
announced that the company is withdrawing its proposal to introduce a loyalty
dividend program. DSM is now considering other ways of achieving the program’s
objective. Briefly put, this objective is to reinforce the company’s
relationship with its shareholders and ensure better and more direct
communication. This morning, the Enterprise Section of the Amsterdam Court of
Appeals ruled that DSM would not be allowed to put the proposal to the AGM
because, according to the Enterprise Section, the proposal was in violation of
the principle of equality.
Peter Elverding, chairman of DSM’s Managing Board: “Contrary to
our expectations, the Enterprise Section of the Amsterdam Court of Appeals has
not allowed us to put the proposal to our shareholders. The Enterprise Section
is of the opinion that the proposed loyalty dividend program is in violation
of the principle of equality. We are therefore withdrawing the proposal. Over
the past few months many of our shareholders have indicated that they support
our aim of communicating with them in more direct ways. We will therefore
continue to pursue this aim.”
A number of shareholders have already had their shares registered. DSM has
informed them (letter of 29 March 2007) about the new situation. The
company did its utmost to mitigate any inconveniences that may arise.
