PPG Shareholders Vote to Avoid Supermajority Voting Requirements, Enhance Corporate Governance

PPG's delayed annual meeting was effectively reconvened recently, with shareholders voting to change the supermajority voting criteria in the company's Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws. The Board of Directors of PPG recommended that shareholders vote "FOR" the proposal, which would improve the way the company runs its business.

PPG used a highly-regarded proxy counsel to make over 60,000 phone calls, persuading shareholders to vote for their shares. PPG's annual meeting began on April 21, 2022, and was only extended to provide shareholders more time to vote on this issue.

In addition to McGarry, shareholders re-elected Gary R. Heminger, retired chairman and chief executive officer of Marathon Petroleum Corporation; Kathleen A. Ligocki, former chief executive officer of Agility Fuel Solutions, LLC; and Michael T. Nally, chief executive officer of Generate Biomedicines, Inc. and CEO-partner of Flagship Pioneering on April 21, 2022.

Shareholders also approved the salary of the company's named executive officers in a non-binding resolution and confirmed PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for 2022. Shareholders voted against a plan to set targets for how much the CEO should be paid.

PPG chairman and CEO Michael McGarry said:

"We are proud that our shareholders have voted to replace the supermajority voting requirements, which will further modernise PPG’s governance as part of our continued ESG focus. Obtaining the affirmative vote of 80% of our outstanding shares for this proposal required a significant shareholder outreach effort this year.”

Source: Businesswire