Clariant’s shareholders approve all agenda items

• Extraordinary distribution of CHF 3.00 per share, subject to the closing of the Masterbatches transaction, confirmed
• Withholding of regular distribution and carrying forward to available earnings confirmed
• Nader I. Alwehibi and Thilo Mannhardt newly elected as members of the Board of Directors

Muttenz, June 29, 2020 – At today’s Annual General Meeting in Basel, the shareholders of Clariant Ltd, a focused, sustainable and innovative specialty chemical company, approved all agenda items and resolutions proposed by the Board of Directors. Due to the ongoing situation with regard to the spread of the coronavirus, shareholders could not attend this year’s Annual General Meeting in person and could exercise their rights exclusively via the independent proxy. Overall, 222 864 693 shares or around 67.14 % of the share capital of Clariant were represented.

Hariolf Kottmann, Executive Chairman ad interim, said: “The results we achieved in the year 2019 in a challenging economic and political environment prove the resilience of our portfolio. They also confirm the success of our long-term strategy with which we want to move further into the leading group of the specialty chemicals industry. Clariant's development over the last 25 years is a story of constant change, and even in an ever-changing environment Clariant will also have a good future.”

At the Annual General Meeting, the Integrated Report as well as the Financial Statements and Consolidated Financial Statements of Clariant for the 2019 fiscal year were approved with 99.96 % of the votes. The 2019 Compensation Report was also approved on an advisory basis with 87.93 % of the votes. The members of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee were discharged with 95.04 % of the votes. In addition, the Annual General Meeting approved the withholding of a regular distribution and the appropriation of the accumulated profit for 2019 to voluntary retained earnings with 99.56 % of the votes. The proposal for an extraordinary distribution of CHF 3.00 per share, subject to the closing of the Masterbatches transaction, was approved with 97.18 % of the votes.

Nominated by the Board of Directors, Nader I. Alwehibi (*1980), a Saudi Arabian citizen, and Thilo Mannhardt (*1954), a German citizen, were elected as board members by a large majority of the votes. Khaled Homza A. Nahas and Carlo G. Soave resigned from the Board of Directors. The newly elected members of the Board of Directors were appointed until the Annual General Meeting 2021.

The ten other members of the Board of Directors were also reelected by a large majority until the Annual General Meeting 2021, as was the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Hariolf Kottmann. Further, Dr. Balthasar Settelen, attorney, was reelected as independent proxy until the Annual General Meeting 2021 and PricewaterhouseCoopers AG was confirmed as the statutory auditor for 2020.

Eveline Saupper, Independent Lead Director, said: "I want to thank the shareholders for the trust they place in the Board of Directors. This strengthens me to fulfill my duty as Independent Lead Director until a new CEO has been appointed and Clariant again has two individuals for the positions of CEO and Chairman."

The proposal for total compensation of the Board of Directors for the term from the 2020 to the 2021 Annual General Meeting was approved with 87.79 % of the votes, as was the total compensation of the Executive Committee for the 2021 fiscal year, with 89.29 % of the votes.

The speech (German only) of Hariolf Kottmann, Chairman of the Board of Directors ad interim, along with pictures and the recordings of the live broadcast will shortly be available.