Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the annual and special meeting of GURU Organic Energy Corp. Please note the meeting will be recorded. I would like to introduce Eric Graveline. Mr. Graveline, the floor is yours.
Bonjour, mesdames et messieurs, et bienvenue à l'assemblée annuelle et extraordinaire des actionnaires de GURU Organic Energy. Je suis Eric Graveline, président du conseil d'administration de la société.
Today's meeting is being held in a virtual format for accessibility and efficiency. We will first go through the formal portion of the meeting, after which shareholders will have the opportunity to ask questions to GURU's management. I'm pleased to be joined by Carl Goyette, President and CEO, Ingy Sarraf, CFO and Corporate Secretary, who will present the formal portion of the meeting.
Une fois que la portion formelle de l'assemblée sera terminée, les actionnaires auront l'occasion de poser des questions à l'un d'entre nous. L'assemblée aujourd'hui se tiendra dans les deux langues officielles, et les actionnaires pourront poser leurs questions dans la langue de leur choix.
Please note that this meeting is being held in both official languages, and questions may be asked in either language and will be answered accordingly. Before moving on to the formal part of the meeting, I'd like to take the opportunity to thank our employees, partners, and shareholders for their continued support and dedication to GURU's mission. The past year has seen its share of challenges, but I believe the steps taken by the leadership team have made us a stronger, better-for-you brand poised to capture a larger share of this evolving $20 billion market. Without further delay, I officially call this meeting to order, and I turn the floor over to Ingy to handle the formal proceedings. Ingy.
Merci, Eric. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We would like to remind shareholders that only registered shareholders and duly appointed proxy holders may vote or ask questions during the meeting. Once discussion on all items of business has concluded, we will take a short pause before declaring the voting closed on all resolutions. Please make sure you have voted ahead of this time. All votes will be conducted by poll using the online platform. Voting will be open for all motions simultaneously. You may vote on each motion immediately or wait until discussion concludes. To vote, please click the voting icon on the left side of the screen. Then simply select your vote for each resolution. It is important to add that a vote cannot be canceled once submitted. If you have already voted by proxy, you do not need to vote again.
If you choose to vote during the meeting, your new vote will override your proxy vote. Once the voting has opened, the resolutions and voting choices will be displayed. We now declare the polls open. We have received satisfactory proof that the notice of meeting was duly publicized and sent to shareholders in accordance with applicable regulations. Carl Goyette has been designated to act as proposer, and Eric Graveline will act as seconder. Please note that both Carl and Eric are shareholders of the company.
Conformément aux pouvoirs qui me sont conférés par les règlements administratifs généraux de la société, je nomme Julien Lavallière, de Fiducie TSX, comme scrutateur de l'assemblée.
Le scrutateur nous a informés que nous avons obtenu le quorum, étant donné qu'au moins deux actionnaires qui détiennent au moins 25% des droits de vote rattachés aux actions donnant le droit de voter sont présentés ou représentés par procuration. En conséquence, je déclare la présente assemblée constituée. Nous avons l'intention de traiter en premier lieu des aspects formels de l'ordre du jour.
Once the formal part of the meeting is terminated, we will proceed with the question and answer period. Any shareholder wishing to ask a question should, at the appropriate time during the question and answer period, submit their questions through the online platform in English or French.
The formal business of today's meeting includes: 1) the reception of the audited consolidated financial statements; 2) the election of directors; 3) the appointment of auditors; and 4) the approval of an amendment to our omnibus incentive plan and the ratification of conditional grants made under the plan.
La réception des états financiers audités de la société pour l'exercice terminé le 31 octobre 2024 est le premier point à l'ordre du jour. Les états financiers, y compris le rapport des auditeurs ainsi que le rapport de gestion, ont déjà été transmis aux actionnaires de la société dans le délai prescrit. Comme les actionnaires ont eu l'occasion d'examiner les états financiers et le rapport des auditeurs, et qu'aucun vote n'est requis à cet égard, je les inclurai dans le procès-verbal de l'assemblée. L'élection des administrateurs est le prochain point à l'ordre du jour.
Comme il est indiqué dans le circulaire de sollicitation de procuration, la direction a proposé sept candidats à titre d'administrateurs de la société. Le mandat de tous les administrateurs se terminera à la fin de la prochaine assemblée annuelle des actionnaires de GURU, ou lors de l'élection ou la nomination de leur successeur.
My name is Carl Goyette, and I move that the following be nominated as directors of the company: myself, Carl Goyette; Eric Graveline; Anne-Marie Laberge; Jeff Church; Joseph Zakher; Philippe Meunier; and Tyler Ricks. I now ask the motion to elect the directors.
My name is Eric Graveline, and I second the motion.
I confirm that to my knowledge, the company has received no written notice from a shareholder nominating another individual for election to the board of directors within the period prescribed by the bylaws.
Comme il n'y a pas d'autres candidats en nomination, les actionnaires voteront sur la motion visant à élire les candidats proposés par la direction à titre d'administrateurs de la société. Je vous invite maintenant à voter sur l'élection des administrateurs. Vous devez exercer votre droit de vote pour chacun des sept candidats. Nous vous rappelons qu'il est possible de voter pour toutes les propositions à l'ordre du jour, et ce, jusqu'à la clôture du vote après le dernier item à l'ordre du jour.
The next item on the agenda is the appointment of the auditors for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2025, and the authorization of the directors to determine their remuneration.
I would ask a motion for the appointment of the auditors.
My name is Carl Goyette, and I move that KPMG Chartered Professional Accountants be appointed auditors of the company for the fiscal year ending on October 31, 2025, and that their remuneration be determined by the board of directors.
My name is Eric Graveline, and I second the motion.
The final item of business is the approval of amendments to our omnibus incentive plan and the ratification of conditional grants made under the plan, as further described in our management information circular available on SEDAR+ .
As a reminder, and as further described in our circular, in order to better retain, attract, and incentivize skilled independent directors to join and remain on our board, our board approved a proposed amendment to increase the total number of common shares reserved and available for grant and issuance to directors who are not officers, employees, or consultants under the omnibus incentive plan, together with other security-based compensation arrangements from 2% to 5%. This amendment is subject to shareholder approval under our plan and the rules of the TSX. In addition, on July 31, 2024, the board granted a total of 500,000 stock options to four independent directors: Jeff Church, Anne-Marie Laberge, Philippe Meunier, and Tyler Ricks. These options have an exercise price of $2, expire on July 31, 2034, and vest upon the achievement of specific sales targets set by the board.
As these grants resulted in the number of common shares allocated to directors exceeding the initial 2% limit, those grants are conditional and subject to ratification by shareholders under our plan and the rules of the TSX. I will now ask for a motion to approve the amendment of our omnibus incentive plan and the ratification of the conditional grants.
My name is Carl Goyette, and I move for the resolution to approve the proposed amendments to the omnibus incentive plan and the ratification of the conditional grants, as outlined in the circular.
My name is Eric Graveline, and I second the motion.
As we have now covered all of the items of business and of the formal portion of the meeting, we ask that all registered shareholders and proxy holders complete and submit their votes now if they have not already done so.
I remind you that if you have already voted by proxy, it is not necessary to vote again. The voting period is now closed for all of the items of business on the meeting agenda. We will now take a short break to tabulate the votes.
Le scrutateur nous a remis son rapport préliminaire, et je déclare donc que : une majorité des votes exprimés par les actionnaires est en faveur de l'élection au poste d'administrateur de chacun de Carl Goyette, Eric Graveline, Anne-Marie Laberge, Jeff Church, Joseph Zakher, Philippe Meunier et Tyler Ricks. Une majorité des votes exprimés par les actionnaires est en faveur de la nomination de KPMG à titre d'auditeur de la société. Une majorité des votes exprimés par les actionnaires est en faveur de la résolution approuvant l'amendement de notre régime incitatif général et la ratification des octrois conditionnels.
Le résultat final des votes pour chacune de ces propositions sera déposé sur SEDAR+ dès que possible.
As there are no other matters to be presented before the meeting, I will now ask for a motion to close the formal portion of the proceedings.
My name is Carl Goyette, and I move that the meeting be closed.
My name is Eric Graveline, and I second that motion.
I now declare the formal portion of the meeting terminated. Before moving to the question and answer period, I would like to remind everyone that only shareholders or proxy holders can ask questions and that the instructions for asking a question appear on your screen.
I would like to remind everyone that today's management remarks may contain forward-looking statements about GURU's current and future plans, expectations and intentions, results, level of activity, performance, goals or achievements, or other future events or developments, which could cause GURU's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. As a result, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on them. In addition, please be aware that there may be references to certain financial measures that are not recognized under the International Financial Reporting Standards. Please refer to the Non-GAAP Financial Measures section of our latest MD&A for the period ended October 31, 2024, for a reconciliation of these measures to IFRS measures and additional information. We will now proceed with the shareholder question and answer session.
For those wishing to submit questions, you may do so by selecting the Ask a Question button located on the left of your screen. Please note that this meeting is being held in both official languages, and questions may be asked in either language and will be answered accordingly.
L'assemblée d'aujourd'hui se tient dans les deux langues officielles, et les actionnaires peuvent poser leurs questions dans la langue de leur choix. Please type your message within the chat box at the bottom of the message screen and click the Send button. As there are no questions, this concludes our meeting today. Je vais laisser le soin à Carl de dire le mot de la fin, Carl. Mesdames et Messieurs, je souhaite juste vous remercier à nouveau de vous être joints à nous aujourd'hui pour l'assemblée annuelle virtuelle de GURU. Je vous donne rendez-vous à l'année prochaine, l'année prochaine.
Thank you all for joining today's meeting. We appreciate your continued trust in GURU as we move forward in 2025. See you next year.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for attending today's meeting. You may now disconnect.