Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Inc. Annual General and Special Meeting of Shareholders. As a reminder, all participants have been joined to the call with their lines muted and the conference is being recorded. During the meeting, there will be an opportunity for registered shareholders and duly appointed proxy holders who pre-registered to speak to the items of business. To indicate you would like to speak, please press star then one on your telephone keypad, and you will be introduced at the appropriate time. You are asked to hold any questions regarding the business operations until the Q&A session following the formal meeting. It's now my pleasure to turn over today's meeting to Don Tringali, Chairman of the annual general and special meeting. Mr. Tringali, the floor is yours.
Thank you and good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Don Tringali, and I'm currently Swiss Water's appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors. I've been appointed to chair today's meeting in accordance with the articles in the bylaws of the company. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I wish to welcome shareholders, employees, and guests to the 2022 annual general and special meeting of shareholders of Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Inc. We wish this meeting could have been done in person, but to protect the health and the well-being of those who would normally attend, we are conducting this year's meeting via live teleconference. We are pleased that all of you have come today, and we look forward to reporting on our activities. It's now 2:02 P.M., and I'd like to call the meeting to order.
At the end of the meeting, for any registered shareholders, we will have a question- and- answer period. As this meeting is held virtually via teleconference, we need to set out a few rules for the orderly conducting of the meeting. First, the purposes of the meeting today is voting on all matters will be conducted by telephone. If you are a registered shareholder of record or a duly appointed proxy holder and you wish to vote during the call, you must have pre-registered, and you must have joined the meeting using the dial-in numbers and PIN that were sent to you when you pre-registered. The public access call is listen only.
For those of you who have pre-registered, voting by phone will be your only opportunity to vote by ballot during the meeting, and you will only have a certain amount of time to do so when the polls are open. The second rule is that questions can only be asked by registered shareholders or duly appointed proxy holders who have pre-registered. When asking a question, you must indicate your name, which entity you represent, if any, and confirm that you are a registered shareholder or a duly appointed proxy holder. Questions regarding procedural matters which are directly related to the motions will be addressed during the meeting, and I will provide instructions if we do get any questions from pre-registered shareholders or proxy holders. Questions not relating to procedural matters will be addressed at the end of the meeting.
We will begin today with the formal business of the annual general and special meeting of shareholders, after which we will open the floor for those of you who are pre-registered for any questions that you may have. The executive officers and management of the company and the scrutineer who are on this call are as follows: Frank Dennis, the President and CEO, who's also Director; Iain Carswell, the CFO; Eve Bartnik, the Director of Financial Reporting and Treasury and the Secretary of the company; and Marissa Beintema of Computershare Investor Services, who's serving as the scrutineer. I hereby appoint Eve Bartnik to act as a recording secretary and Marissa Beintema to act as a scrutineer for the meeting.
The notice calling this meeting, together with the related information circular and proxy form, was delivered to all registered shareholders of record as of March 29th, 2022, and in accordance with applicable securities legislations to beneficial holders of shares. I've received from the secretary a statutory declaration attesting to this mailing, and I direct the secretary to attach the declaration to the minutes of this meeting. According to the company's bylaws, a quorum at a shareholder meeting is met when at least two persons are present where each is entitled to vote at the meeting and holding or representing by proxy not less than 10% of the votes entitled to be cast at the meeting. I've been advised by the secretary that the scrutineer's report is complete and that a quorum is present.
I therefore declare this meeting to be properly constituted for the transaction of company business. The minutes of last year's annual meeting of shareholders of the company are available for inspection. Unless there's any objection, I will dispense with reading them. Registered shareholders and proxy holders may press star one on your telephone if you object. Hearing no objections, we'll move on.
Mr. Chairman, no one asked to speak.
Thank you. Since there are no questions or objections regarding last year's minutes, I will move on to presenting the financial statements and the auditor's report thereon. Could I have a motion to approve last year's minutes?
Mr. Chairman, I so move.
Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.
Thank you. I now place before the meeting the report to shareholders, including the consolidated financial statements of the company for the period ended December 31, 2021, and the independent auditor's report thereon. This material is contained in the annual report that was mailed to shareholders who requested financial reports and was also made available on SEDAR and the company's website. If you have any questions on the financial report, our CFO, Iain Carswell, is available to respond during the question- and- answer period, which will be after the formal meeting. As set forth in the notice of meeting and the accompanying proxy statement, there are four matters presented for shareholders vote at today's meeting.
The election of directors, the appointment of auditors, the approval of the amendment to the company's RSU plan, and the approval to create Class A preferred shares and Class B preferred shares. After each matter is presented and the first and second motions are complete, I will ask registered shareholders and proxy holders to raise questions relevant to the matter. After all four matters have been put forward, shareholders will then be able to vote on each of these matters using their telephone. During the meeting, I will provide preliminary voting results, and final results will be posted on SEDAR and our website. Moving now to the first proposal to be voted on, which is the election of the board of directors. In accordance with the articles and bylaws of the company, the directors have set the number of directors at seven.
The board of directors have nominated seven individuals named in the proxy statement to be elected to the board of directors for a term expiring at the close of the next annual general meeting of shareholders. They are Frank Dennis, Roland Veit, Anne Saunders, Robert Johnston, Nancy McKenzie, Alan Wallace, and myself, Donald Tringali. Could I have a motion for the appointment of Mr. Dennis, Mr. Veit, Ms. Saunders, Mr. Johnston, Ms. McKenzie, Mr. Wallace, and myself, Don Tringali?
Mr. Chairman, I so move.
Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.
Thank you. At this time, I request that all other nominations for election to the board of directors be disclosed. If you are a registered shareholder or proxy holder and you wish to present other nominees, press star one on your phone now.
Mr. Chairman, there are no other nominee directors.
Thank you. Since there are no other nominations, I declare the nominations for directors be closed and that the seven persons nominated to be put forward for election as directors of the corporation. Operator, could you please provide instructions for voting on the motion?
Thank you. Telephone voting is now open for the motion to elect the directors. To vote in favor of the motion, press star one. To withhold your vote, press star two. If you are voting multiple control numbers and do not want to vote the same for all, or if you need voting support, such as to vote in favor of some directors but not all, please press star four and your line will be flagged to speak with the scrutineer and place your vote at the end of the meeting. Once again, if you're in favor, star one. If you're wish to withhold, press star two. To speak to the scrutineer at the end of the meeting, press star four. Voting will close in five seconds. Voting is closed.
The next item of business is the appointment of independent auditors of the company for the ensuing year and to authorize the directors of the company to fix the remuneration of the auditors. The audit committee of the company has approved, to shareholder confirmation, the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the auditors of the company. Could I have a motion for the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the auditors of the company?
Mr. Chairman, I so move.
Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.
Thank you. At this time, if there are any objections or nominations for company's auditor, registered shareholders and proxy holders should press star one on their telephone, and the operator will open the line for you to speak.
Mr. Chairman, no one asked to speak.
Thank you. Since there are no questions or objections or other nominations for the company's auditor, we will move on to the vote. Operator, could you please provide instructions on voting on the motion?
Certainly. Telephone voting is now open for the motion to appoint the auditor. To vote in favor of the motion, press star one. To withhold your vote, press star two. If you're voting multiple control numbers and do not want to vote the same for all, or if you need any voting support, please press star four and your line will be flagged to speak with the scrutineer and place your vote at the end of the meeting. Once again, if you are in favor, press star one. To withhold, press star two. To speak with the scrutineer at the end of the meeting, press star four. Voting will close in five seconds. Voting has closed.
Thank you. The next item of business is the approval of the amendments to the 2001 restricted share unit plan as amended in 2019. In the information circular dated March 30, 2022, the directors proposed a change to the 2001 plan as previously amended 2019. The company is proposing that the number of common shares available for issuance under the plan be increased from 815,509 shares to a maximum of 1,115,509 shares, which is 12.2% of the current issued and outstanding shares. The directors propose the following.
First, that the proposed amendments to the RSU plan described under the heading Approval of Amendments to the 2001 Restricted Share Unit Plan, as amended in 2019, and substantially in the form attached as Appendix A to the company's Management Information Circular dated March 30, 2022, are approved. Second, that any director or officer is hereby authorized to take all necessary steps and proceedings and to execute, deliver and file any and all applications, declarations, documents and other instruments and do all such other acts and things, whether under corporate seal of the company or otherwise, that may be necessary or desirable to give effect to this resolution. May I now please have a motion.
Mr. Chairman, I so move.
Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.
Thank you. At this time, I request that all questions relevant to the amendments to the RSU plan are raised. Registered shareholders or proxy holders, if you wish to speak, press star one and the operator will open the line for you to speak.
Mr. Chairman, no one is asking to speak.
Thank you. Since there are no questions, I'll move on to the vote. Operator, could you please provide instructions on voting on the motion?
Certainly. Telephone voting is now open for the motion to approve the amendments to the convertible debenture. To vote in favor of the motion, please press star one. To vote against the motion, please press star two. If you're voting multiple control numbers and do not want to vote the same for all, or if you need voting support, please press star four and your line will be flagged to speak with the scrutineer and place your vote at the end of the meeting. Once again, if you're in favor, press star one. To vote in opposition, press star two. Voting will close in five seconds. Voting has closed.
Thank you. The next item of business at the meeting is the approval for the company to create Class A preferred shares and Class B preferred shares. In the information circular dated March 30, the directors propose that shareholders approve a special resolution amending the articles of amalgamation of the company to create two new classes of shares, being Class A preferred shares and Class B preferred shares. In order for the special resolution to be passed, it must be approved by not less than two-thirds of the votes cast by holders of common shares in person or by proxy at the meeting.
The new classes of shares will be issuable in series, which means the directors may create and determine the specific rights, privileges, restrictions and conditions to attach to the shares of each series, including the rate, form, entitlement and payment of preferential dividends, the dates and place of payment thereof, and the redemption price, terms, procedures and conditions of redemptions, if any, along with voting rights and conversion rights, if any. It's not intended that any new series of the preferred shares would be listed on the TSX or would give voting rights to holders. However, the creation and issue of any series of preferred shares will be subject to the prior approval of the TSX. Registered shareholders are entitled to dissent from this special resolution in the manner provided in Section 190 of the Canada Business Corporations Act.
Section 190 of the Act, as reprinted in its entirety, was attached as Appendix B2 to the Management Information Circular. As an alteration of the articles of amalgamation of the company to create the Class A and Class B preferred shares will allow more flexibility to issue equity shares. For the purposes of addressing future financing requirements, the board of directors recommends that shareholders vote for the approval of the special resolution set out in Appendix B1 of the company's information circular to alter the articles of amalgamation of the company to create Class A and Class B preferred shares. May I now please have a motion.
Mr. Chairman, I so move.
Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.
Thank you. At this time, I request that all questions relative to this proposal be raised. Registered shareholders and proxy holders, if you wish to speak, press star one and the operator will open the line for you to speak.
Mr. Chairman, no one asked to.
Thank you. Since there are no questions, I'll move on to the vote. Operator, could you please provide voting instructions?
Certainly. Telephone voting is now open for the motion to approve the amendments. I'm so sorry. That convertible debenture. That's the wrong wording there. This is the motion relevant to the fourth proposal.
Correct. Preferred shares.
The amendment to the company's articles for the shares. If you are voting in favor, please press star one. To vote against, please press star two. If you're voting multiple control numbers and do not want to vote the same for all, or if you need voting support, please press star four and your line will be flagged to speak with a scrutineer and place your vote at the end of the meeting. Once again, if you're in favor, press star one. To vote in opposition, press star two. Voting will close in five seconds. Voting is closed.
Thank you. So, the shareholders and proxy holders have cast their votes on all matters of this meeting. I would ask that the conference operator transfer the voting report to the scrutineer and ask that the scrutineer compile a report regarding the results of voting on all business matters. We will pause briefly to allow the votes to be counted.
Mr. Chairman, the scrutineer has compiled a report on votes on all business matters.
Thank you. The ballots have been counted and the votes tabulated by the scrutineer. The scrutineer is reporting the following preliminary results. There were 2,318,820 shares, or 25.3% of the total issued and outstanding shares present and voting in person or by proxy. The preliminary results are as follows. On the first proposal, each of the seven nominees have been elected as directors of the company to serve until the next annual meeting of shareholders or until their successors are elected or appointed. On the second proposal, the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the independent auditors of the company has been approved, and the board of directors of the company has been authorized to fix their remuneration. On the third proposal, the amendment to the RSU plan, it has been approved.
The fourth proposal, the creation of Class A and Class B preferred shares, it has been approved. I direct that the results of the poll be included with the minutes of this meeting, and the results of the meeting will be announced in a press release in accordance with the policies of the TSX and filed on SEDAR. All the business for which this annual general meeting and special meeting of shareholders was called has been completed. At this time, I request that all other business be brought before we terminate the meeting. Registered shareholders and proxy shareholders, if you wish to speak, please press star one and the operator will open the line for you.
Mr. Chairman, no one asked to speak.
Thank you. Could I have a motion to terminate the meeting?
Mr. Chairman, I so move.
Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.
Thank you. As there is no further business to come before the meeting, I declare the formal part of the meeting to be concluded. Also, as there are no questions from registered voters or proxy holders, this concludes the conference call. Thank you very much.