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1. Group structure and shareholders

This Corporate Governance Report contains the information that is stipulated by the directive on information relating to corporate governance issued by the SIX Swiss Exchange AG (“SIX Swiss Exchange”) and follows its structure.

1. Group structure and shareholders

1.1 Group structure

SIG Combibloc Group AG, Neuhausen am Rheinfall (“Company”) is the parent company of the SIG Group1, which directly or indirectly holds all other Group companies and interests in joint venture companies. The shares of the Company are listed on SIX Swiss Exchange (symbol: SIGN, valor symbol: 43 537 795, ISIN: CH0435377954). The market capitalisation of the Company amounted to CHF 8,593.3 million as of 31 December 2021.

Please see note 26 of the consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2021 for a comprehensive list of the Group’s subsidiaries and of its joint venture company. Except for the Company, the Group does not include any listed companies. The Group has effective oversight and efficient management structures at all levels. The operational Group structure as of 31 December 2021 is as follows:

The Company’s board of directors (“Board of Directors” or “Board”), acting collectively, has the ultimate responsibility for the conduct of business of the Company and for delivering sustainable shareholder and stakeholder value. The Board sets the Company’s strategic aims, ensures that the necessary financial and human resources are in place to meet the Company’s objectives, and supervises and controls the management of the Company. There are three permanent Board committees: an audit and risk committee (“Audit and Risk Committee”), a compensation committee (“Compensation Committee”), and a nomination and governance committee (“Nomination and Governance Committee”; collectively “Committees”).

In accordance with, and subject to, Swiss law, the Company’s articles of association (“Articles of Association”) and the Company’s organisational regulations (“Organisational Regulations”), the Board of Directors has delegated the executive management of the Company’s business (Geschäftsleitung) to the Group Executive Board (“Group Executive Board”) which is headed by the chief executive officer (“Chief Executive Officer” or “CEO”) pursuant to the Organisational Regulations.2 The Group Executive Board comprises seven members, specifically the CEO, the chief financial officer (“Chief Financial Officer” or “CFO”), the chief technology officer (“Chief Technology Officer” or “CTO”), the president and general manager of Europe (“President and General Manager Europe”), the president and general manager of Americas (“President and General Manager Americas”), the president and general manager of Asia Pacific (“President and General Manager Asia Pacific”) and the president and general manager of Middle East and Africa (“President and General Manager MEA”).3 For further information on the Group’s segments please refer to note 7 of the consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2021. The Group Executive Board is directly supervised by the Board of Directors and its Committees.

1.2 Significant shareholders

According to the disclosure notifications reported to the Company during 2021 and published by the Company via the electronic publishing platform of SIX Swiss Exchange, the following shareholders had holdings of 3% or more of the voting rights of the Company as of 31 December 20214:

Significant shareholders

 

% of voting rights1

 

Number of shares2

Haldor Foundation3

 

9.95%

 

31,849,994

Fahad al Obeikan4 Andreas Boy, André Rosenstock

 

5.18%

 

17,467,632

Norges Bank (the Central Bank of Norway)

 

4.96%

 

17,463,673

BlackRock, Inc. (Mother company)

 

3.57% / 0.01%

 

11,434,1685 / 45,468

UBS Fund Management (Switzerland) AG

 

3.18%

 

10,176,211

Ameriprise Financial, Inc.6

 

3.17% / 0.002%

 

10,698,0867 / 5,382

1

According to SIX: https://www.six-exchange-regulation.com/en/home/publications/significant-shareholders.html/.

2

According to SIX: https://www.six-exchange-regulation.com/en/home/publications/significant-shareholders.html/.

3

Direct shareholder: Winder Investment Pte Ltd.

4

The direct shareholder with respect to Fahad Al Obeikan is Al Obeikan Group for Investment Company CJS.

5

Of which the following voting rights were delegated by a third party and can be exercised at BlackRock, Inc.’s own discretion: 627,144 company shares.

6

Direct shareholders: Threadneedle Investment Funds ICVC, Threadneedle Management Luxembourg SA, Threadneedle Pensions Limited, Threadneedle Asset Management Limited, BMO Asset Management Limited, BMO Investment Business Limited, BNP Paribas Securities Services Zurich, Bank of Korea, Credit Suisse Zurich, UniCredit Bank Austria AG, Citi London, Nortrust Nominees Limited, State Street Nominees Limited.

7

Of which the following voting rights were delegated by a third party and can be exercised at Ameriprise Financial, Inc.’s own discretion: 1,567,726 company shares.

Notifications made in 2021 in accordance with art. 120 et seqq. of the Financial Market Infrastructure Act (“FMIA”) can be viewed using the following link: https://www.ser-ag.com/en/resources/notifications-market-participants/significant-shareholders.html#/

As regards the value of the percentage of voting rights shown, it should be noted that any changes in the percentage voting rights between the notifiable threshold values are not subject to disclosure requirements.

As of 31 December 2021, the Company held 2,430 treasury shares.

1.3 Cross-shareholdings

The Company has no cross-shareholdings exceeding 5% in any company outside the Group.

1 References to “SIG Group”, “Group” or “we” are to the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries.

2 For a comprehensive description on the delegation please refer to art. 19 of the Articles of Association and section 2.3 and 4.1 of the Organisational Regulations.

3 The Company appointed three new members to the Group Executive Board with effect as of 1 January 2022: Fan Lidong as President and General Manager Asia Pacific North, Angela Lu as President and General Manager Asia Pacific South and Suzanne Verzijden as Chief People and Culture Officer. Fan Lidong and Angela Lu took over from Lawrence Fok, President and General Manager Asia Pacific, who decided to leave the Company and resigned from the Group Executive Board as of 31 December 2021. As a result of these changes the Group Executive Board consists of 9 members as of 1 January 2022.

4 The number of shares shown here as well as the holding percentages are based on the last disclosure of shareholdings communicated by the shareholder to the Company and the Disclosure Office of SIX Swiss Exchange. The number of shares held by the relevant shareholder may have changed since the date of such shareholder’s notification.