LAVAL, Quebec -- A proposal to extend the dual-class structure of Alimentation Couche-Tard's founding directors was pulled from Tuesday's agenda of the convenience-store company's shareholders meeting, noting legal delays.
In July, the company, which announced this week intentions to expand and refresh its Circle K c-store brand, asked its shareholders to approve amendments that would maintain its dual-class structure longer, so that its four founders can remain involved in guiding the chain for years to come, as previously reported in CSP Daily News.
Together, co-founders and directors of the board Alain Bouchard (executive chairman of the board), Jacques D’Amours (former vice president of administration), Richard Fortin (former CFO) and Réal Plourde (former COO) currently own about 22.7% of the issued and outstanding shares of Couche-Tard, according to the SEC documents. Most of these shares are multiple-voting shares with 10 votes each, but they are subject to a sunset provision that would remove their superior voting status.
The proposed extension required two-thirds support from ordinary shareholders to pass. However, the board of directors removed the request from the meeting agenda "considering that the necessary votes were not obtained within the legal delays."
The board added that, if deemed appropriate, the subject could be addressed at a subsequent meeting.
During the meeting, all the candidates proposed as directors of the company were elected by a majority of the votes cast by the shareholders present or represented by proxy at the meeting, including the four founders.
Couche-Tard is the leader in the Canadian convenience-store industry. In the United States, it is the largest independent convenience-store operator in terms of number of company-operated stores. In Europe, Couche-Tard is a leader in convenience store and road transportation fuel retail in Scandinavia and the Baltic countries with a significant presence in Poland.
As of July 19, 2015, Couche-Tard's network comprised 7,987 convenience stores throughout North America, including 6,556 stores offering road transportation fuel.
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