Unassociated Document
UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON,
D.C. 20549
FORM
6-K
REPORT
OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER
PURSUANT
TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16 UNDER
THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the
month of January 2011
Commission
File Number: 001-34541
CHINA
CORD BLOOD CORPORATION
(Translation
of registrant’s name into English)
48th Floor,
Bank of China Tower
1 Garden
Road
Central
Hong Kong
S.A.R.
(Address
of Principal Executive Office)
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under
cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.
Form 20-F
x Form
40-F ¨
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted
by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1): ¨
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted
by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7): ¨
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information contained in
this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant
to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Yes ¨ No
x
If “Yes”
is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant in
connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82-_______________.
Other
Information
Attached
hereto as Exhibit 99.1 is a Notice of Annual General Meeting of Shareholders and
Proxy Statement and Form of Proxy of China Cord Blood Corporation (the
“Company”) relating to the Company’s 2010 Annual General Meeting.
Where
to Find Additional Information
The
Company is a foreign private issuer. As such, the proxy statement is not subject
to review and comment by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
“SEC”).
Shareholders
are urged to carefully read the proxy statement, because it contains important
information about the Company and the 2010 Annual General Meeting of
Shareholders. Copies of the proxy statement and other documents filed or
submitted by the Company will be available at the website maintained by the SEC
at www.sec.gov. Copies of such filings can also be obtained, without charge, by
directing a request to China Cord Blood Corporation, 48th Floor, Bank of China
Tower, 1 Garden Road, Central, Hong Kong S.A.R. Shareholders may
obtain a copy of the Company’s annual report, free of charge, from the Company’s
website at www.chinacordbloodcorp.com, or by contacting Ms. Sabrina Khan at
48th
Floor, Bank of China Tower, 1 Garden Road, Central, Hong Kong
S.A.R.
Participants
in the Solicitation
The
Company and its directors and executive officers may be deemed to be
participants in the solicitation of proxies from the shareholders of the Company
in connection with the 2010 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders. Information
regarding certain directors and executive officers of the Company is available
in the Company’s documents filed with or submitted to the SEC. Other information
regarding the participants in the proxy solicitation and descriptions of their
direct and indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, are set forth
in the proxy statement filed herewith.
Exhibits
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99.1
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Final
Proxy Statement
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SIGNATURE
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has
duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto
duly authorized.
Dated:
January 18, 2010
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CHINA
CORD BLOOD CORPORATION
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By:
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/s/ Albert Chen
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Name:
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Albert
Chen
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Title:
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Chief
Financial Officer
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EXHIBIT
INDEX
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99.1
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Final
Proxy Statement
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Unassociated Document
CHINA
CORD BLOOD CORPORATION
(Incorporated in the Cayman Islands
with limited liability)
(NYSE
Ticker: CO)
48th Floor,
Bank of China Tower
1 Garden
Road
Central
Hong Kong
S.A.R.
NOTICE
OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
to Be
Held on February 18, 2011
(or any
adjourned or postponed meeting thereof)
To the
Shareholders of
China
Cord Blood Corporation
NOTICE IS
HEREBY GIVEN that the 2010 Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) of China Cord Blood
Corporation, a Cayman Islands Corporation (the “Company”), will be held at
48th
Floor, Bank of China Tower, 1 Garden Road, Central, Hong Kong S.A.R. on February
18, 2011 at 9:00 p.m., Hong Kong local time, and at any adjourned or postponed
meeting thereof, for the following purposes:
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1.
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To
elect Albert Chen and Mark Chen to serve on the Board of Directors until
the 2013 annual general meeting of the Company or until their
respective successors are duly appointed and
qualified.
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2.
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To
ratify the appointment of KPMG as auditor of the Company for the financial
year ending March 31, 2011 and to authorize the directors to fix the
remuneration of the auditors.
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3.
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To
adopt the 2011 China Cord Blood Corporation Restricted Share Unit Scheme,
or the “Incentive Plan,” which has a mandate limit of granting rights to
receive ordinary shares not exceeding 10.0% of our issued and outstanding
share capital, to directors, officers, employees and/or consultants of the
Company and its subsidiaries and authorize directors to grant awards and
allot and issue shares thereunder.
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4.
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To
transact such other business as may properly come before the AGM or any
adjournment or adjournments
thereof.
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The Board
of Directors of the Company has fixed the close of business on January 12, 2011
as the record date (the “Record Date”) for determining the shareholders entitled
to receive notice of and to vote at the AGM or any adjourned or postponed
meeting thereof. The stock transfer books of the Company will not be
closed. A list of the shareholders entitled to vote at the AGM may be
examined at the Company’s offices during the 10-day period preceding the
AGM.
Please
refer to the proxy form, which is attached to and made a part of this notice.
Holders of record of the Company’s ordinary shares at the close of business on
the Record Date are entitled to notice of and to vote at the AGM and any
adjourned or postponed meeting thereof.
Holders
of record of the Company’s ordinary shares as of the Record Date are cordially
invited to attend the AGM in person. Your vote is important. If you cannot
attend the AGM in person, you are urged to complete, sign, date and return the
accompanying proxy form as promptly as possible. We must receive the proxy form
no later than 48 hours before the time of the AGM to ensure your representation
at such meeting. A return envelope which requires no postage if mailed in the
United States is enclosed for your convenience. You may obtain
directions to the AGM by calling our offices at +852 3605 8180. This
Proxy Statement, a Form of Proxy and our most recent Annual Report are available
online at the following internet address:
www.chinacordbloodcorp.com/e_invest07.php.
Shareholders
may obtain a copy of the Company’s annual report, free of charge, from the
Company’s website at www.chinacordbloodcorp.com, or by contacting Ms. Sabrina
Khan at 48th Floor,
Bank of China Tower, 1 Garden Road, Central, Hong Kong S.A.R.
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By
Order of the Board of Directors,
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/s/
Ting Zheng
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Chairperson
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Hong
Kong, 18 January, 2011
IMPORTANT
Whether
you expect to attend the AGM, please complete, date, and sign the accompanying
proxy form, and return it promptly in the enclosed return envelope. If you grant
a proxy, you may revoke it at any time prior to the AGM or nevertheless vote in
person at the AGM.
PLEASE
NOTE: If your shares are held in street name, your broker, bank,
custodian, or other nominee holder cannot vote your shares in the election of
directors, unless you direct the nominee holder how to vote, by marking your
proxy form.
CHINA
CORD BLOOD CORPORATION
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Summary
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1
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General
Information About Voting
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2
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Security
Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management
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3
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Proposal
No. 1: Election of Directors
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5
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Executive
Officers
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12
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Certain
Relationships and Related Transactions
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17
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Proposal
No. 2: Ratification of the Appointment of Independent
Accountants
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18
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Proposal
No. 3: Approval of the Incentive Plan
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19
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General
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23
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Appendix
A: 2011 China Cord Blood Corporation Restricted Share Unit
Scheme
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A-1
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Form
of Proxy
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B-1
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CHINA
CORD BLOOD CORPORATION
48th Floor,
Bank of China Tower
1 Garden
Road
Central
Hong Kong
S.A.R.
PROXY
STATEMENT
for
ANNUAL
GENERAL MEETING
to Be
Held on February 18, 2011
(or any
adjourned or postponed meeting thereof)
This
Proxy Statement is furnished in connection with the solicitation of proxies by
the Board of Directors of China Cord Blood Corporation (the “Company,” “CCBC,”
“we,” “us,” or “our”) for the Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held at the
offices of the Company, 48th Floor,
Bank of China Tower, 1 Garden Road, Central, Hong Kong S.A.R. on February 18,
2011 at 9:00 p.m., Hong Kong local time and for any adjournment or adjournments
thereof, for the purposes set forth in the accompanying Notice of Annual Meeting
of Shareholders. Any shareholder appointing such a proxy has the power to revoke
it at any time before it is voted. Written notice of such revocation should be
forwarded directly to the secretary of the Company at the above stated
address.
If the
enclosed proxy is properly executed and returned, the shares represented thereby
will be voted in accordance with the directions thereon and otherwise in
accordance with the judgment of the persons designated as proxies. Any proxy
form on which no instruction is specified will be voted in favor of the actions
described in this Proxy Statement and for the election of the nominees set forth
under the caption “Election of Directors.”
The
Company will bear the entire cost of preparing, assembling, printing and mailing
this Proxy Statement, the accompanying proxy form, and any additional material
that may be furnished to shareholders. The date on which this Proxy
Statement and the accompanying Form of Proxy will first be mailed or given to
the Company’s shareholders is on or about January 18, 2011.
Your vote
is important. Accordingly, you are urged to sign and return the accompanying
proxy form whether or not you plan to attend the AGM. If you do attend the AGM
and are a record holder, you may vote by ballot at the AGM and your proxy will
be deemed to be revoked. If you hold your shares in street name and wish to vote
your shares at the AGM, you should contact your broker about getting a proxy
appointing you to vote your shares.
GENERAL
INFORMATION ABOUT VOTING
Record
Date, Outstanding Shares, and Voting Rights
As of
January 12, 2011, the record date for the AGM, the Company had outstanding
75,406,875 ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value per share (the “Shares”), being
the class of securities entitled to vote at the AGM. Each Share entitles its
holder to one vote.
Attending
the AGM
If you
are a shareholder of record, you may vote in person at the AGM. We will give you
a ballot sheet when you arrive. You may obtain directions to the meeting
by contacting Ms. Sabrina Khan at 48th Floor,
Bank of China Tower, 1 Garden Road, Central, Hong Kong S.A.R. or by writing to
Company at the above address, ATTN: Secretary. If you attend the
meeting, you may vote there in person, regardless whether you have voted by any
of the other means mentioned in the preceding paragraph.
Procedures
for Voting or Revoking Proxies
If you do
not wish to vote in person or you will not be attending the AGM, you may vote by
proxy. If you have received a printed copy of these proxy materials by mail, you
may vote by proxy using the enclosed proxy form. To vote by proxy using the
enclosed proxy form (only if you have received a printed copy of these proxy
materials by mail), complete, sign and date your proxy form and return it
promptly in the envelope provided.
If you
intend to vote by proxy, your vote must be received by the Company no later than
February 16, 2011 at 9:00 p.m., Hong Kong local time (48 hours before the time
of the AGM) to be counted.
If you
are not a shareholder of record, please follow the directions provided to you by
your bank or broker. If you wish to vote in person at the AGM, please contact
your bank or broker for the procedures necessary to allow you to vote your
shares in person.
Required
Votes
Only
holders of Shares of record at the close of business on January 12, 2011 are
entitled to vote at the AGM. For purposes of voting at the AGM, each Share is
entitled to one vote upon all matters to be acted upon at the AGM. Two or more
persons holding or representing by proxy not less than one-third in nominal
value of the outstanding Shares shall constitute a quorum throughout the
meeting. The affirmative vote of a simple majority of the votes cast in person
or by proxy at the AGM and entitled to vote on the election of directors is
required to elect our directors, to ratify the appointment of KPMG as our
independent auditors and authorize the directors to fix the remuneration of the
auditors, and to approve the Incentive Plan.
Only
Shares that are voted are taken into account in determining the proportion of
votes cast for the election of directors. Any Shares not voted
(whether by abstention, broker non-vote or otherwise) will only impact the
percentage of votes cast for or against the election of directors, the
ratification of the appointment of KPMG and the directors’ authorization to fix
the remuneration of the auditors, and approval of the Incentive Plan. Except for
determining the presence or absence of a quorum for the transaction of business,
broker non-votes are not counted for any purpose in determining whether a matter
has been approved.
SECURITY
OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT
The
following table sets forth, as of January 12, 2011, certain information with
respect to the beneficial ownership, within the meaning of Rule 13d-3 under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), of our
ordinary shares by:
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·
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each
of our directors and executive officers who beneficially own our ordinary
shares; and
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·
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each
person known to us to own beneficially more than 5% of our ordinary
shares.
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Information
provided as to 5% shareholders other than our employees or management is based
solely on Schedules 13D or 13G filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
and subsequent issuances by the Company.
Beneficial
ownership includes voting or investment power with respect to the securities and
takes into consideration options exercisable by a person within 60 days after
the date of this proxy statement. Except as indicated below, and subject to
applicable community property laws, the persons named in the table have sole
voting and investment power with respect to all ordinary shares shown as
beneficially owned by them.
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(1)
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Number of
Shares
Beneficially
Owned
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Percentage of
Ownership(2)
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Directors
and executive officers:
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Ting
Zheng
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1,071,994 |
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1.4 |
% |
Albert
Chen(3)
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393,064 |
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* |
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Mark
D. Chen(4)
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398,144 |
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* |
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Dr.
Ken Lu(5)
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314,049 |
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* |
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Jennifer
J. Weng(6)
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398,144 |
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* |
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Yue
Deng
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142,934 |
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* |
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Rui
Arashiyama
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— |
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— |
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Xin
Xu
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71,466 |
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* |
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All
directors and executive officers as a group
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2,391,651 |
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3.2 |
% |
Principal
shareholders:
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Golden
Meditech Holdings Limited(7)
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29,068,087 |
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38.5 |
% |
Kent
C. McCarthy(8)
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4,701,644 |
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6.2 |
% |
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*
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Beneficially
owns less than 1% of our ordinary
shares.
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(1)
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Unless
indicated otherwise, the business address of each of the individuals is
48th
Floor, Bank of China Tower, 1 Garden Road, Central, Hong Kong
S.A.R.
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(2)
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Based
on 75,406,875 shares outstanding as of January 12,
2011.
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(3)
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Includes
(i) 321,598 ordinary shares held by Mr. Albert Chen, and (ii) 71,466
ordinary shares held by Ms. Canness Chu, Mr. Albert Chen’s
wife.
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(4)
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Includes
(i) 53,488 ordinary shares held by Ms. Jennifer J. Weng, Mr. Mark
Chen’s wife, (ii) 183,198 ordinary shares held by Super Castle Investments
Limited, a company owned by Mr. Mark Chen, and (iii) 161,458 ordinary
shares held by Pantheon China Acquisition Limited, an entity controlled by
Mr. Mark Chen.
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(5)
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Represents
ordinary shares held by Time Galaxy Limited, a company incorporated under
the laws of the British Virgin Islands of which Dr. Ken Lu is a director.
Dr. Lu disclaims beneficial ownership with respect to such ordinary shares
except to the extent of his pecuniary interest therein. The business
address for Dr. Lu is 9B, Hamilton Court, No. 8, Po Shan Road, Mid-levels,
Hong Kong S.A.R.
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(6)
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Includes
(i) 53,488 ordinary shares held by Ms. Weng, (ii) 183,198 ordinary shares
held by Super Castle Investments Limited, a company owned by Mr. Mark
Chen, Ms. Weng’s husband, and (iii) 161,458 ordinary shares held by
Pantheon China Acquisition Limited, an entity controlled by Mr. Mark
Chen.
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(7)
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Represents
29,068,087 ordinary shares held by GM Stem Cells, a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Golden Meditech Holdings Limited. Based on a Schedule 13D
filed on July 9, 2009.
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(8)
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Includes
3,217,696 shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, held by
Jayhawk China Fund (Cayman), Ltd. and 1,483,948 shares of common stock,
par value $0.0001 per share, held by Jayhawk Private Equity Fund II,
L.P. Mr. McCarthy is the manager of and controls Jayhawk
Private Equity, LLC. Jayhawk Private Equity, LLC is the general partner of
Jayhawk Private Equity GP II, L.P. and, as a result, controls Jayhawk
Private Equity GP II, L.P. Jayhawk Private Equity GP II, L.P. is the
general partner of Jayhawk Private Equity Fund II, L.P. and, as a result,
controls Jayhawk Private Equity Fund II, L.P. Therefore, Mr. McCarthy,
Jayhawk Private Equity, LLC, and Jayhawk Private Equity GP II, L.P. are
deemed to be beneficial owners of the securities owned of record by
Jayhawk Private Equity Fund II, L.P. and have reported that they share
voting power and dispositive power over such securities. Mr. McCarthy is
also the manager of and controls Jayhawk Capital Management, L.L.C.
Jayhawk Capital Management, L.L.C. is the manager and investment advisor
of Jayhawk China Fund (Cayman), Ltd. and, as a result, controls Jayhawk
China Fund (Cayman), Ltd. Therefore, Mr. McCarthy and Jayhawk Capital
Management, L.L.C. are deemed to be beneficial of the securities owned of
record by Jayhawk China Fund (Cayman), Ltd. and have reported that they
share voting power and dispositive power over such securities. The
business address of Mr. McCarthy and each of the entities described above
is 930 Tahoe Blvd, 802-281, Incline Village, NV, 89451. Based on a
Schedule 13G/A filed on December 20,
2010.
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As of the
date of this proxy statement, 38.2% of our outstanding ordinary shares are held
by eight record holders in the United States.
We are
not aware of any arrangement that may, at a subsequent date, result in a change
of control of our company.
PROPOSAL
NO. 1
ELECTION
OF DIRECTORS
The Board
of Directors has nominated the persons identified under the caption “Nominees
for a Three-Year Term” for election as directors, to serve until the 2013 annual
meeting of shareholders and their successors have been elected and
qualified. If any nominee becomes unavailable for election, which is
not expected, the persons named in the accompanying Form of Proxy intend to vote
for any substitute whom the Board nominates, unless the proxy form contains
contrary instructions. Information regarding the directors whose
terms expire at the next two annual meetings is also set forth
below.
Name
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Age
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Other positions with Company; other
directorships held in last five years
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Has served as Company
director since
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Nominees
for three-year term
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Albert
Chen
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34
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Chief
Financial Officer and Director
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June
30, 2009
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Mark
D. Chen
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42
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Independent
Non-executive Director
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June
30, 2009
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Directors—two-year
term remaining
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Ting
Zheng
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38
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Chairperson
of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
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June
30, 2009
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Dr.
Ken Lu
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46
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Independent
Non-executive Director
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June
30, 2009
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Directors—one-year
term remaining
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Jennifer
J. Weng
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42
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Independent
Non-executive Director
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June
30, 2009
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Nominees
for a Three-Year Term
Albert Chen, serves as our
chief financial officer and a director. He is in charge of CCBC’s
finance-related matters, including accounting and budget planning. He is also
involved in CCBC’s corporate structuring and development, including mergers and
acquisitions, and investment in foreign healthcare companies. For example, he
played an important role in our acquisition of Nuoya and investments in
Cordlife. He has served as the corporate finance vice president of Golden
Meditech since March 2005. Prior to joining Golden Meditech, Mr. Chen worked in
a number of financial institutions, including SalomonSmithBarney, DBS Vickers
Securities and UOB Kay Hian in Hong Kong. During his employment as an analyst in
UOB Kay Hian from 2003 to March 2005, he was a senior analyst specializing in
the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries and was ranked as one of the best
analysts for small cap companies in the region in a poll conducted by Asia Money
among brokers in 2003. Mr. Chen is a CFA charterholder. He received his
bachelor’s degree in commerce from Queen’s University, Canada, School of
Business in 1999 with a major in finance and accounting.
Mark D. Chen, serves as one of
our independent non-executive directors. Prior to June 30, 2009, Mr. Chen was
chairman of the board of Pantheon China Acquisition Corp., a Special Purpose
Acquisition Company, and chief executive officer and president since its
inception. Since 1998, Mr. Chen has been a founding general partner of Easton
Capital Investment Group and its various affiliated funds, a New York based
private equity investment firm, and has served in various positions, including
managing director and currently a venture partner, a position he has held since
2005. He is currently a director and chairman of the audit committee of Skystar
Bio-Pharmaceutical Company (NASDAQ:SKBI). Mr. Chen received a B.S. from the
Shanghai Jiao Tong University in Shanghai, China, an M.S. from Pennsylvania
State University and an M.B.A. from the Columbia Business School at Columbia
University. Mr. Chen is the spouse of Jennifer J. Weng.
Involvement
in Certain Legal Proceedings
To the
best of our knowledge, there have been no events under any bankruptcy act,
criminal proceedings, judgments, injunctions, orders or decrees material to the
evaluation of the ability and integrity of any director, executive officer,
promoter or control person of the Company during the past ten
years.
Family
Relationships
Mr. Mark
D. Chen is married to Ms. Jennifer J. Weng, one of our independent non-executive
directors. To the best of our knowledge, there are no other family
relationships between any director, executive officer or any person nominated to
become a director or executive officer.
Director
Independence
The Board
of Directors has determined that Mark D. Chen, Dr. Ken Lu and Jennifer J. Weng
are independent under Section 303A.02 of the New York Stock Exchange Listed
Company Manual. None of these persons is party to any transaction not
otherwise disclosed under the caption “Certain Relationships and Related
Transactions”.
Board
Leadership Structure and Role in Risk Oversight
The Board
of Directors believes that Ms. Ting Zheng’s service as both Chairperson of the
Board and Chief Executive Officer is in the best interest of the Company and its
shareholders. Ms. Zheng possesses detailed and in-depth knowledge of the issues,
opportunities and challenges facing the Company and its business and is thus
best positioned to develop agendas that ensure that the Board’s time and
attention are focused on the most critical matters. Her combined role enables
decisive leadership, ensures clear accountability, and enhances the Company’s
ability to communicate its message and strategy clearly and consistently to the
Company’s shareholders, employees, customers and suppliers.
The board
has not designated a lead director. Given the limited number of directors
comprising the board, the independent directors call and plan their executive
sessions, including which director will preside over a give executive session,
collaboratively and, between board meetings, communicate with management and one
another directly. Given the circumstances, the directors believe that
formalizing in a lead director functions in which they all participate might
detract from rather than enhance performance of their responsibilities as
directors.
The Board
of Directors is responsible for the overall supervision of the Company’s risk
oversight efforts as they relate to the key business risks facing the
organization. Management identifies, assesses, and manages the risks most
critical to the Company’s operations on a day-to-day basis. The Board’s role in
risk oversight of the Company is consistent with the Company’s leadership
structure, with senior management having responsibility for assessing and
managing the Company’s risk exposure, and the Board and its Committees providing
oversight as necessary in connection with those efforts.
During
the year ended March 31, 2010, the Board of Directors met in person or in the
form of teleconference and took action by written consent on fourteen occasions.
All of the directors attended all the meetings of the board of directors and
meetings of any committee which such director is a member. Each director is
expected to participate, either in person or via teleconference, in meetings of
our Board of Directors and meetings of committees of our Board of Directors in
which each director is a member, and to spend the time necessary to properly
discharge such director’s respective duties and responsibilities. We do not have
a written policy with regard to directors’ attendance at annual meetings of
shareholders; however, all directors are encouraged to attend the annual
meeting.
Board
Committees
The Board
of Directors has standing audit, compensation, and nominating and corporate
governance committees, comprised solely of independent
directors. Each committee has a charter, which is available at
Company’s website, www.chinacordbloodcorp.com.
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Nominating and
Corporate Governance Committee
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Mark
D. Chen
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M
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M
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C
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Dr.
Ken Lu
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Jennifer
J. Weng
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C
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C Committee
Chair
M
Committee Member
Audit
Committee. The audit committee consists of Mr. Mark D. Chen,
Dr. Ken Lu and Ms. Jennifer J. Weng. Ms. Weng is the chair of our audit
committee, and we have taken reasonable actions to ensure that Ms. Weng
qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert”, as such term is defined in
the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr. Chen, Dr. Lu and Ms.
Weng do not have any direct or indirect material relationship with CCBC other
than as a director and meet the criteria for independence set forth in Rule
10A-3 under the Exchange Act. The audit committee held four meetings
during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010.
Our board
of directors has adopted an audit committee charter, providing for the following
responsibilities of the audit committee:
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retaining
and terminating our independent auditors and pre-approving all auditing
and non-auditing services permitted to be performed by the independent
auditors;
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discussing
the annual audited financial statements with management and the
independent auditors;
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annually
reviewing and reassessing the adequacy of our audit committee
charter;
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review
and approve any related party
transactions;
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such
other matters that are specifically delegated to our audit committee by
our board of directors after the Business Combination from time to
time;
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meeting
separately, periodically, with management, the internal auditors and the
independent auditors; and
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reporting
regularly to the board of
directors.
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Audit
Committee Report.
The Audit
Committee assists the Board in providing oversight of the systems and procedures
relating to the integrity of the Company’s financial statements, the Company’s
financial reporting process, its systems of internal accounting and financial
controls, the annual independent audit process of the Company’s annual financial
statements, the Company’s compliance with legal and regulatory requirements and
the qualification and independence of the Company’s independent registered
public accounting firm. Management has the responsibility for the implementation
of these activities. In fulfilling its oversight responsibilities, the Audit
Committee reviewed and discussed with management the audited financial
statements in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 20-F/A for the fiscal year
ended March 31, 2010, including a discussion of the quality and the
acceptability of the Company’s financial reporting and controls.
The
Company’s independent registered public accounting firm is responsible for
expressing an opinion on the conformity of those audited financial statements
with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles and on the effectiveness of
the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. With respect to the
audit of Company’s financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2010, the
Audit Committee has reviewed and discussed the audited financial statements with
management; has discussed with Company’s independent accountants the matters
required to be discussed by the statement on Auditing Standards No. 61, as
amended (AICPA, Professional Standards, Vol. 1, AU section 380), as adopted by
the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in Rule 3200T; and has received
the written disclosures and the letter from the independent accountant required
by applicable requirements of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
regarding the independent accountant’s communications with the Audit Committee
concerning independence and has discussed with the independent accountant the
independent accountant’s independence.
Based on
these reviews and discussions, the Audit Committee recommended to the Board of
Directors that the audited financial statements be included in the Company’s
Annual Report on Form 20-F/A for the fiscal year ended March 31,
2010.
The
members of the audit committee are:
Jennifer
J. Weng, Chair
Dr. Ken
Lu
Mark D.
Chen
Compensation
Committee. The compensation committee consists of Mr. Mark D.
Chen, Dr. Ken Lu and Ms. Jennifer J. Weng. Mr. Chen is the chair of our
compensation committee. Mr. Chen, Dr. Lu and Ms. Weng do not have any direct or
indirect material relationship with CCBC other than as a director.
Our board
of directors has adopted a compensation committee charter, providing for the
following responsibilities of the compensation committee:
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reviewing
and making recommendations to the board regarding our compensation
policies and forms of compensation provided to our directors and
officers;
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reviewing
and making recommendations to the board regarding bonuses for our officers
and other employees;
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reviewing
and making recommendations to the board regarding share-based compensation
for our directors and officers;
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annually
reviewing and reassessing the adequacy of the
charter;
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administering
our share option or incentive plans in accordance with the terms thereof;
and
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such
other matters that are specifically delegated to the compensation
committee by our board of directors from time to
time.
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Compensation
Committee Report.
The
compensation committee has reviewed and discussed with management the Executive
Compensation Discussion and Analysis set forth beginning on page 13 and, based
on the review and discussions, recommended to the board of directors that the
Executive Compensation Discussion and Analysis be included in this proxy
statement.
The
members of the compensation committee are:
Mark D.
Chen, Chair
Dr. Ken
Lu
Jennifer
J. Weng
Nominating and
Corporate Governance Committee. The nominating and corporate
governance committee consists of Mr. Mark D. Chen, Dr. Ken Lu and Ms. Jennifer
J. Weng. Dr. Lu is the chair of our nominating and corporate governance
committee. Mr. Chen, Dr. Lu and Ms. Weng do not have any direct or indirect
material relationship with CCBC other than as a director.
Our board
of directors has adopted a nominating and corporate governance committee
charter, providing for the following responsibilities of the nominating and
corporate governance committee:
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overseeing
the process by which individuals may be nominated to our board of
directors;
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identifying
potential directors and making recommendations as to the size, functions
and composition of our board of
directors;
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considering
nominees proposed by our
shareholders;
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annually
reviewing and reassessing the adequacy of the
charter;
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establishing
and periodically assessing the criteria for the selection of potential
directors; and
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making
recommendations to the board of directors on new candidates for board
membership.
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In making
nominations, the nominating and corporate governance committee is required to
submit candidates who have the highest personal and professional integrity, who
have demonstrated exceptional ability and judgment and who shall be most
effective, in conjunction with the other nominees to the board, in collectively
serving the long-term interests of the shareholders. In evaluating nominees, the
nominating and corporate governance committee is required to take into
consideration the following attributes, which are desirable for a member of the
board: leadership; independence; interpersonal skills; financial acumen;
business experiences; industry knowledge; and diversity of
viewpoints.
The
nominating and corporate governance committee will consider director candidates
recommended by security holders. Potential nominees to the board of directors
are required to have such experience in business or financial matters as would
make such nominee an asset to the board of directors and may, under certain
circumstances, be required to be “independent”, as such term is defined under
Section 303A.02 of the listing standards of the New York Stock Exchange and
applicable SEC regulations. Security holders wishing to submit the name of a
person as a potential nominee to the board of directors must send the name,
address, and a brief (no more than 500 words) biographical description of such
potential nominee to the nominating and corporate governance committee at the
following address: Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the Board of
Directors, c/o China Cord Blood Corporation, 48th Floor,
Bank of China Tower, 1 Garden Road, Central, Hong Kong S.A.R. Potential director
nominees will be evaluated by personal interview, such interview to be conducted
by one or more members of the nominating and corporate governance committee,
and/or any other method the nominating and corporate governance committee deems
appropriate, which may, but need not, include a questionnaire. The nominating
and corporate governance committee may solicit or receive information concerning
potential nominees from any source it deems appropriate. The nominating and
corporate governance committee need not engage in an evaluation process unless
(i) there is a vacancy on the board of directors, (ii) a director is not
standing for re-election, or (iii) the nominating and corporate governance
committee does not intend to recommend the nomination of a sitting director for
re-election. A potential director nominee recommended by a security holder will
not be evaluated differently from any other potential nominee. Although it has
not done so in the past, the nominating and corporate governance committee may
retain search firms to assist in identifying suitable director
candidates.
The board
does not have a formal policy on board candidate qualifications. The
board may consider those factors it deems appropriate in evaluating director
nominees made either by the board or shareholders, including judgment, skill,
strength of character, experience with businesses and organizations comparable
in size or scope to the Company, experience and skill relative to other board
members, and specialized knowledge or experience. Depending upon the
current needs of the board, certain factors may be weighed more or less
heavily. In considering candidates for the board, the directors
evaluate the entirety of each candidate’s credentials and do not have any
specific minimum qualifications that must be met.
Corporate
Governance
Our board
of directors has adopted a code of business conduct and ethics applicable to our
directors, offices and employees. In addition, it has adopted a set of corporate
governance guidelines. The guidelines reflect certain guiding principles with
respect to our board structure, procedures and committees. These guidelines are
not intended to change or interpret any law, or our amended and restated
memorandum and articles of association.
There are
no material differences in the Company's corporate governance practices from
those of U.S. domestic companies under the listing standards of the
NYSE.
Insider
Trading Policy
Directors,
executive officers and employees may acquire confidential information from time
to time through their employment or fiduciary relationship with CCBC. Golden
Meditech is a publicly traded company on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock
Exchange. The laws of Hong Kong strictly prohibit any director, officer or
employee of a publicly traded company, whenever and in whatever capacity
employed, from trading company securities while aware of material non-public
information about the company.
Our board
of directors has established an insider trading policy reinforcing the
principles behind the insider trading prohibition under U.S. and Hong Kong laws.
Among other things, directors, executive officers and employees are prohibited
from executing any trade in securities of our company as well as the securities
of Golden Meditech and any other company about which they acquire material
non-public information in the course of their duties for our
company.
Litigation
To the
best of the Company’s knowledge, there have been no material proceedings to
which any director or officer is a party adverse to the Company or any of its
subsidiaries or has any material interest averse to the Company or any of its
subsidiaries.
Director
Compensation
Between
July 1, 2009 and March 31, 2010, non-employee directors were each paid
$15,000.00 annually and reimbursed for travel and other expenses directly
related to activities as directors.
Prior to
July 1, 2009, our directors did not receive any compensation except for
reimbursement for travel and other expenses directly related to activities as
directors.
THE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE “FOR” THE ELECTION OF
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ NOMINEES.
PLEASE
NOTE: If your shares are held in street name, your broker, bank,
custodian, or other nominee holder cannot vote your shares in the election of
directors, unless you direct the holder how to vote, by marking your proxy
form.
EXECUTIVE
OFFICERS
The
following sets forth the names and ages of our current executive officers, their
respective positions and offices, and their respective principal occupations or
brief employment history.
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Ting
Zheng
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38
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Chairperson
of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
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Albert
Chen
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Chief
Financial Officer and Director
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Yue
Deng
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Chief
Executive Officer — Beijing Division
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Rui
Arashiyama
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Chief
Executive Officer — Guangdong Division
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Xin
Xu
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56
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Chief
Technology Officer
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Please
refer to the section entitled “Election of Directors” for details regarding
Albert Chen.
Ting Zheng,
serves as our chairperson and chief executive officer. She has been in
charge of our cord blood bank operations since 2003 and is responsible for the
strategic direction, development and overall management of CCBC. Aside from
overseeing the overall operation of CCBC, she is also responsible for strategic
developments, acquisition planning and negotiations, and formulating overall
business strategy and various business initiatives of CCBC. She has more than
ten years of experience in the fields of accounting, internal control, and
corporate strategies and development in China’s healthcare industry. Ms. Zheng
has served as an executive director of Golden Meditech and has been in charge of
its and its subsidiaries’ financial and internal control systems since September
2001. She assumed a critical role in the initial public offering by Golden
Meditech on the Growth Enterprise Market of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in
December 2001. In addition, she participated in the initial public offering by
China Medical Technology Inc., a Chinese medical equipment company, in the
NASDAQ Global Market in 2005 in her capacity as a director of that company. She
played an important role in our acquisition of Nuoya and investments in
Cordlife. Prior to joining us, Ms. Zheng worked for Sino-reality Certified
Public Accountants, an accounting firm in China, from 1997 to 2001. She
graduated from Renmin University of China with a bachelor’s degree in
accounting. As of the date of this report, Ms. Zheng is also a director of
Golden Meditech.
Yue Deng,
serves as our chief executive officer in the Beijing division. She is
responsible for the daily operations and management of Jiachenhong. She joined
Jiachenhong in November 2004. From 1998 to 2004, Ms. Deng managed sales and
marketing, product registration, government relations and customer services in
Guidant’s Beijing representative office. During her employment with Guidant, she
successfully developed a new market in the Liaoning province and won several
awards in sales and marketing in recognition of her communication, leadership
and strategic planning skills. From 1995 to 1998, Ms. Deng served as the office
manager and sales coordinator in Guidant’s Beijing representative office. From
1993 to 1995, she served as the secretary to the general manager at NOX
international (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. She graduated from Nankai University in China
in 1991 with a bachelor’s degree in economics.
Rui Arashiyama,
serves as our chief executive officer in the Guangdong division. She
oversees the daily operations and management of Nuoya and is responsible for the
formulation and implementation of marketing strategy for the Guangdong market.
She joined Nuoya in March 2009 and has over 10 years of sales and marketing
experiences in China and in-depth knowledge about China’s consumer market and
regulatory environment. From 1999 to 2009, she worked for Jatco Company Limited
and was responsible for new business and new market development, execution and
cost management. Between 1989 and 1999, she was with Nissan Motor Company
Limited with main responsibilities of overseas market development including
China, Hong Kong and Singapore. She graduated from Beijing International Studies
University (Beijing Second Foreign Language University) in 1981 with a
bachelor’s degree of Japanese culture. In 1988, she completed a postgraduate
mass media program in Japan Sophia University.
Xin Xu,
serves as our chief technology officer. She is in charge of the daily
operations and logistic control of the cord blood bank laboratories, and
oversees the laboratories procedures in relation to the processing, separation
and preservation of cord blood stems cells to ensure the laboratories
environment strictly comply with national standards. Prior to joining us in
November 2004, Ms. Xu has over 20 years of solid experience in Cryobiology
research and had lectured in Cryobiology at Beijing Medical
University.
Executive
Compensation Discussion and Analysis
This
section discusses the compensation we paid in previous fiscal years to certain
executive officers, which we refer to as the “named executive officers.” These
named executive officers include:
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Ms.
Ting Zheng, who is our chairperson of the board and the chief executive
officer.
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Mr.
Albert Chen, who is our chief financial officer and
director.
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Ms.
Yue Deng, who is our chief executive officer of the Beijing
division.
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Ms.
Rui Arashiyama, who is our chief executive officer of the Guangdong
division.
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Ms.
Xin Xu, who is our chief technology
officer.
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Compensation
Discussion and Analysis
The
primary objectives of our compensation policies with respect to executive
compensation are to attract and retain the best possible executives to lead it
and to properly motivate these executives to perform at the highest levels of
which they are capable. Compensation levels established for our executives are
designed to promote loyalty, long-term commitment and the achievement of its
goals, to motivate the best possible performance and to award achievement of
budgetary goals to the extent such responsibility is within the executive’s job
description. Compensation decisions with respect to our named executive officers
have historically focused on attracting and retaining individuals who could help
us to meet and exceed our financial and operational goals. Our board of
directors considered the growth of the company, individual performance and
market trends when setting individual compensation levels.
For the
fiscal years ended March 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010, the compensation of the above
executive officers substantially consisted of a base salary, and an annual bonus
and other benefits, each of which is described in more detail
below:
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Base
salary. We believe that the base salary element is
required in order to provide these executive officers with a stable income
stream that is commensurate with their responsibilities and competitive
market conditions. Our board of directors established base salaries
payable to the named executive officers with the goal of providing a fixed
component of compensation, reflecting the executive officer’s skill set,
experience, role and responsibilities. The determination of our board of
directors and compensation committee of whether any of the named executive
officers merited an increase in base salary during any particular year
depended on the individual’s performance during the prior fiscal year, our
performance during the prior fiscal year and competitive market practices.
In establishing the current base salary levels, our board of directors and
compensation committee did not engage in any particular benchmarking
activities or engage any outside compensation
advisors.
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For
the years ended March 31, 2008 and 2009, Ms. Ting Zheng and Mr. Albert
Chen received a portion of their compensation from Golden Meditech. During
these periods, Ms. Zheng, as executive director of Golden Meditech, and
Mr. Chen, as vice president of corporate finance of Golden Meditech, were
responsible for our development and Golden Meditech’s other businesses,
which include medical devices manufacturing, healthcare services, natural
herbal medicine manufacturing, and Golden Meditech’s various merger and
acquisition initiatives. The compensation that Ms. Ting Zheng and Mr.
Albert Chen received from Golden Meditech for services rendered to us for
the years ended March 31, 2008 and 2009 were not material. On June 30,
2009, Ms. Zheng and Mr. Chen entered into employment agreements with us
providing for annual base salaries of HK$1,300,000 and HK$1,300,000,
respectively (or US$167,742 and US$167,742, respectively, based on the
noon buying rate as of March 31, 2010, which was HK$7.75 to
US$1.00).
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Annual
bonus. Bonus for any of the above executive officers are
discretionary and is generally linked to his or her individual
performances for the year, including contribution to our strategic and
corporate operating plans, with individual performance and providing
executive officers performance incentives for attaining specific
goals.
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Severance
benefits. Prior to June 30, 2009, there were no written
employment contracts between us and any of the named executive officers.
In compliance with PRC law, however, Jiachenhong has entered into standard
employment contracts with Ms. Deng and Ms. Xu, and Nuoya has entered into
standard employment contracts with Ms. Arashiyama. These contracts provide
for severance payments under limited circumstances as required by PRC
law.
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Summary
Compensation Table
The
following table sets forth information regarding compensation of the named
executive officers for each of the three fiscal years in the period ended March
31, 2010.
Name and Principal Position
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Total Compensation ($)(1)
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Ting Zheng(2)
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2010
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170,256 |
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— |
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170,256 |
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Chief
Executive Officer
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2009
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— |
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— |
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— |
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2008
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— |
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10,939 |
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10,939
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Albert Chen(3)
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2010
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195,171
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— |
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195,171 |
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Chief
Financial Officer
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2009
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58,294 |
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— |
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58,294 |
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2008
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— |
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10,939 |
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10,939 |
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Yue
Deng
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2010
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122,508 |
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— |
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122,508 |
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Chief
Executive Officer – Beijing Division
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2009
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84,061 |
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42,749 |
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126,810 |
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2008
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55,167 |
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7,012 |
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62,179 |
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Rui Arashiyama(4)
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2010
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157,055 |
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— |
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157,055 |
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Chief
Executive Officer – Guangdong Division
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2009
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7,101 |
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— |
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7,101 |
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2008
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— |
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— |
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— |
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Xin
Xu
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2010
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63,095 |
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— |
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63,095 |
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Chief
Technology Officer
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2009
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42,065 |
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20,727 |
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62,792 |
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2008
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34,011 |
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— |
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34,011 |
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(1)
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All
of the named executive officers were paid by CCBS in Renminbi for the
years ended March 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010. The currency exchange rate used
to convert the payment amounts into US dollars was the noon buying rate as
of March 31, 2010, which was RMB6.8258 to US$1.00. The translations of
Renminbi amount into U.S. dollars in this table at the specified rate is
solely for the convenience of the
reader.
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(2)
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Ms.
Zheng is also the executive director of Golden Meditech, one of our
shareholders. For the years ended March 31, 2008 and 2009, Ms. Zheng
received from Golden Meditech $987,097 and $83,871, respectively as
compensation for such role. The compensation that Ms. Zheng received from
Golden Meditech during these years for services rendered to us were not
material and we were not liable for any portion of the compensation Ms.
Zheng received from Golden Meditech. Such amounts were therefore not
recognized as compensation expenses in our financial statements. On June
30, 2009, Ms. Zheng entered into an employment agreement with us providing
for an annual base salary of HK$1,300,000 (or $167,742). Ms. Zheng was
paid by Golden Meditech, and is now paid by CCBC, in Hong Kong dollars.
The currency exchange rate used to convert the payment amounts into US
dollars was the noon buying rate as of March 31, 2010, which was HK$7.75
to $1.00.
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(3)
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Mr.
Chen was also the vice-president of corporate finance of Golden Meditech,
one of our shareholders. For the years ended March 31, 2008 and 2009, Mr.
Chen received from Golden Meditech $470,968 and $83,871, respectively as
compensation for such role. The compensation that Mr. Chen received from
Golden Meditech during these years for services rendered to us were not
material and we were not liable for any portion of the compensation Mr.
Chen received from Golden Meditech. Such amounts were therefore not
recognized as compensation expenses in our financial statements. On June
30, 2009, Mr. Chen entered into an employment agreement with us providing
for an annual base salary of HK$1,300,000 (or $167,742). Mr. Chen was paid
by Golden Meditech, and is now paid by CCBC, in Hong Kong dollars. The
currency exchange rate used to convert the payment amounts into US dollars
was the noon buying rate as of March 31, 2010, which was HK$7.75 to
$1.00.
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(4)
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Ms.
Rui Arashiyama was hired by CCBS in mid-March
2009.
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As of the
date of this proxy statement there are no outstanding option
awards.
Post-Acquisition
Employment Agreements
On June
30, 2009, CCBC entered into service contracts with the above senior executive
officers. These officers are entitled to severance payments under certain
circumstances, including a change of control of CCBC. Except for these new
service contracts and the standard employment contracts required by PRC law for
Ms. Deng, Ms. Arashiyama and Ms. Xu, CCBC does not have other service contracts
with its directors or executive officers and does not set aside any amounts for
pension, retirement or other benefits for our directors and officers other than
to participate in statutory employee benefit plans mandated by PRC
law.
The
senior executive officers who are parties to the service contracts are Ms. Ting
Zheng, Mr. Albert Chen, Ms. Yue Deng, Ms. Rui Arashiyama and Ms. Xin Xu. The
service contracts have substantially identical terms, except with respect of the
duties of the executive and his or her compensation package.
The
material terms under the employment agreements are as follows:
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The
contract will be automatically renewed every three years until the death
or incapacitation of the executive unless terminated by either party with
notice.
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If
the service contract is terminated by the executive within 30 days
following a change of control of CCBC, the executive will be entitled to
(i) all the salary and guaranteed bonuses actually accrued and payable to
him/her as the case may be; (ii) immediate vesting of all of his/her
unvested options; and (iii) a severance payment in the amount of $5
million.
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CCBC
may terminate a service contract without cause with at least 30 days’
written notice, in which case the executive will be entitled to (i) all
the guaranteed bonuses actually accrued and payable to him/her as the case
may be, (ii) the immediate vesting of all of his or her unvested options
and (iii) if the termination is made within two years of a change of
control of our company, a severance payment in the amount of $5
million.
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In
all other cases, CCBC may terminate a service contract with cause at any
time without notice, or the executive may terminate his or her service
contract with at least 90 days’ written notice, and in either case the
executive will be entitled to all the guaranteed bonuses actually accrued
and payable to him/her but will not be entitled to the immediate vesting
of all of his or her unvested options nor any severance
payment.
|
In the
service contracts, each executive is required to hold, both during and after his
or her service contract expires or is terminated, in strict confidence and not
to use, except for CCBC’s benefit (including our affiliated entities and our
subsidiaries), any proprietary or confidential information, including technical
data and trade secrets of CCBC or the confidential information of any third
party, including CCBC’s affiliated entities and its subsidiaries, that CCBC
receives. Each executive is also required to disclose to CCBC and hold in trust
for CCBC all of the inventions, ideas, designs and trade secrets conceived of by
him or her during the period that he or she is employed by CCBC, and to assign
all of his or her interests in them to CCBC, and agreed that, while employed by
CCBC and for a period of three years after termination of his or her employment,
he or she will not serve, invest or assist in any business that competes with
any significant aspect of CCBC business or solicit, induce, recruit or encourage
any person to terminate his or her employment or consulting relationship with
CCBC.
Finally,
the contracts contain non-competition clauses, pursuant to which the executive
may not engage in activities that compete with CCBC during the term of their
employment with CCBC and for a period of one year after any termination of their
employment with CCBC. Each executive is also required not to disclose to any
third party any confidential information regarding CCBC or any of its
subsidiaries or to accept or invest in any opportunity that is in line with its
business operations, comes to them as a result of their employment with CCBC or
involves any of its assets, unless approved by the board.
CERTAIN
RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
General
Principles on Related Party Transactions
Our audit
committee has adopted an internal policy regarding the identification, review,
consideration and oversight of any transaction, arrangement or relationship (or
any series of similar transactions, arrangements or relationships) in which we
and any “related party” are participants. Transactions involving compensation
for services provided to us as an employee, director, consultant or similar
capacity by a related person are not covered. A related party is any executive
officer, director or a holder of more than five percent of our ordinary shares,
including any of their immediate family members and any entity owned or
controlled by such persons.
Under our
policy, where a transaction has been identified as a related party transaction,
management must present information regarding the proposed related party
transaction to the audit committee of our board of directors for review. The
presentation must include a description of, among other things, the material
facts, the direct and indirect interests of the related parties, the benefits of
the transaction to us and whether any alternative transactions are available. To
identify related party transactions in advance, we rely on information supplied
by our executive officers, directors and certain significant shareholders. In
considering related party transactions, the audit committee of our board of
directors takes into account the relevant available facts and circumstances
including, but not limited to the risks, costs and benefits to us; the impact on
a director’s independence in the event the related person is a director,
immediate family member of a director or an entity with which a director is
affiliated; the terms of the transaction; the availability of other sources for
comparable services or products; and the terms available to or from, as the case
may be, unrelated third parties or to or from our employees generally. In the
event a director has an interest in the proposed transaction, the director must
excuse himself or herself from the deliberations and approval.
Prior to
the establishment of our audit committee in connection with the closing of the
Business Combination, CCBS’s board of directors performed similar functions in
approving related party transactions. CCBC’s board of directors reviewed each of
the following related party transactions and has concluded that, in light of
known circumstances, each transaction is in, and is consistent with, its best
interests and its shareholders.
Lease
Agreement
In July
2009, Jiachenhong entered into a property lease agreement with Beijing Jingjing,
pursuant to which Beijing Jingjing leased its real property in Beijing to
Jiachenhong. Beijing Jingjing is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Golden Meditech
and is engaged in the medical equipment manufacturing business. The
lease covers a premises of 1,920 at a monthly rental is RMB120,000 and
expires in December 2014.
PROPOSAL
NO. 2
RATIFICATION
OF THE APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS
The Audit
Committee has appointed KPMG as the independent auditors of the Company to audit
the financial statements of the Company for the fiscal year ending March 31,
2011, and the Board of Directors is asking shareholders to ratify that
appointment and authorize directors to fix the remuneration of the
auditors. A representative of KPMG is expected to be present either
in person or via teleconference at the AGM, with the opportunity to make a
statement, if he or she desires to do so, and is expected to be available to
respond to appropriate questions.
The Audit
Committee is not required to take any action as a result of the outcome of the
vote on this proposal. In the event shareholders fail to ratify the appointment,
the Audit Committee will reconsider this appointment. Even if the appointment is
ratified, the Audit Committee, in its discretion, may direct the appointment of
a different independent accounting firm at any time during the year if the Audit
Committee determines that such a change would be in the best interest of the
Company and the shareholders.
Principal
Accountant Fees and Services
The
following table sets forth the aggregate fees by categories specified below in
connection with certain professional services rendered by KPMG, our principal
external independent registered public accountant firm, for the periods
indicated.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
RMB
|
|
|
RMB
|
|
|
RMB
|
|
|
|
(in
thousands)
|
|
Audit
fees(1)
|
|
|
3,832 |
|
|
|
5,309 |
|
|
|
6,174 |
|
Audit
related fees
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
Tax
fees
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
53 |
|
Total
fees
|
|
|
3,832 |
|
|
|
5,309 |
|
|
|
6,227 |
|
|
(1)
|
“Audit
fees” means the aggregate fees billed for an audit of our consolidated
financial statements and our internal control over financial
reporting.
|
The audit
committee or our board of directors is to pre-approve all auditing services and
permitted non- audit services to be performed for us by our independent auditor,
including the fees and terms thereof (subject to the de minimums exceptions for
non-audit services described in section 10A(i)(1)(B) of the Exchange Act which
are approved by the audit committee or our board of directors prior to the
completion of the audit).
Pre-Approval
of Services
The Audit
Committee appoints the independent accountant each year and pre-approves the
audit services. The Audit Committee chair is authorized to
pre-approve specified non-audit services for fees not exceeding specified
amounts, if she promptly advises the other Audit Committee members of such
approval. All services described under the caption Principal
Accountant Fees and Services which took place after June 30, 2009 were
pre-approved.
THE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS VOTING “FOR” THE RATIFICATION OF THE APPOINTMENT
OF KPMG AS CCBC’S INDEPENDENT AUDITORS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING MARCH 31, 2011
AND AUTHORIZE THE DIRECTORS TO FIX THE REMUNERATION OF THE
AUDITORS.
PROPOSAL
NO. 3
APPROVAL
OF THE INCENTIVE PLAN
The
discussion in this proxy statement of the 2011
China Cord Blood Corporation Restricted Share Unit Scheme, or the
Incentive Plan, is subject to, and is qualified in its entirety by
reference to, the Incentive Plan. The full text of the Incentive Plan is
attached hereto as Appendix A, which is incorporated by reference
herein. Terms used but not defined in this description have the
meaning given to them in the Incentive Plan.
General
Description of the Incentive Plan
The
purpose of the Incentive Plan is to attract skilled and experienced personnel,
to incentivise them to remain with the Company and to motivate them to
strive for the future development and expansion of the Company by providing
them with the opportunity to own equity interests in the Company. The Incentive
Plan shall be subject to the administration of the board whose decision
as to all matters arising in relation to the Incentive Plan or its
interpretation or effect shall (save as otherwise provided herein) be final and
binding on all parties. The board shall have the right to (a) interpret and
construe the provisions of the Incentive Plan, (b) determine the persons (if
any) who will be granted awards pursuant to the Incentive Plan, the terms on
which awards are granted, when the contingent right to receive shares (“RSU”) is
granted pursuant to the Incentive Plan may vest and the number of Shares
underlying the RSUs granted, (c) subject to terms of the Incentive Plan, make
such adjustments to the terms of the awards granted pursuant to the Incentive
Plan to the relevant grantee as the board deems necessary and shall notify the
relevant grantee of such adjustment by written notice and (d) make such other
decisions or determinations as it shall deem appropriate in relation to the
awards and/or the administration of the Incentive Plan provided that the same
are not inconsistent with the provisions of the Incentive Plan.
The
Incentive Plan shall take effect on the date when it is adopted by a resolution
of the shareholders of the Company (“Adoption Date”). Subject to other terms and
condition set forth in the Incentive Plan, the Incentive Plan shall be valid and
effective for a period of 10 years commencing on the Adoption Date (“Term”),
after which period no further awards shall be offered or granted but the
provisions of the Incentive Plan shall remain in full force and effect in all
other respects. Awards granted during the life of the Incentive Plan shall
continue to be valid in accordance with their terms of grant after the end of
the Term. No member of the board shall be personally liable by reason of any
contract or other instrument executed by such member or on his behalf in his
capacity as a member of the board nor for any mistake of judgment made in good
faith in relation to the administration or interpretation of the Incentive Plan,
and the Company shall indemnify on demand and hold harmless each employee or
officer of the Company or any director to whom any duty or power relating to the
administration or interpretation of the Incentive Plan may be allocated or
delegated, against any cost or expense (including legal fees) or liability
(including any sum paid in settlement of a claim with the approval of the board)
arising out of any act or omission to act in connection with the Incentive Plan
unless arising out of such person’s own negligence, fraud or bad
faith.
On and
subject to the terms of the Incentive Plan, the board shall be entitled (but
shall not be bound) at any time during the Term to make a grant to any
participant, as the board may in its absolute discretion select. Awards may be
granted on such terms as the board, at its absolute discretion, may determine,
provided such terms shall not be inconsistent with any other terms and
conditions of the Incentive Plan. Such terms may include, among other
things, (a) a minimum period before an RSU will vest in whole or in part, (b) a
performance target that must be reached before an RSU will vest in whole or in
part and/or (c) any other terms, all of which may be imposed (or not imposed)
either on a case-by-case basis or generally. A grant shall be made to a
participant by a letter (“Notice of Grant”) in
such form as the board may from time to time determine requiring the participant
to undertake to hold the award on the terms on which it is to be granted and to
be bound by the terms of the Incentive Plan and shall remain open for
acceptance by the participant for such time to be determined by the board,
provided that no such grant shall be open for acceptance after the expiry of the
Term or after the Incentive Plan has been terminated in accordance with the
terms of the Incentive Plan or after the participant to whom the grant is made
has ceased to be an eligible recipient. No grant shall be made to any
participant at a time when such participant would be prohibited from trading in
the Shares pursuant to the Company’s guidelines regarding trading while in
possession of material non-public information, unless the grant does not vest
until such time as such prohibition would no longer be applicable to such
participant A grant is deemed to be accepted when the Company receives from the
grantee the duplicate Notice of Grant duly signed by the grantee and a
remittance of the sum of US$1.00 or such other amount in any other currency as
may be determined by the board as consideration for the grant of the
award. Any grant to any director, chief executive or substantial
shareholder of the Company, or any of their respective associates, shall be
subject to the prior approval of the independent non-executive
directors.
Subject
to the terms of the Incentive Plan and the specific terms applicable to each
award, an RSU shall vest on the vesting date in respect of all or such
proportion of the Shares underlying the award. If the vesting of an
RSU is subject to the satisfaction of performance or other conditions and such
conditions are not satisfied, the RSU shall be cancelled automatically on the
date on which such conditions are not satisfied. Notwithstanding the foregoing,
if the Company or any grantee would or might be prohibited from dealing in the
Shares by any applicable laws, regulations or rules within the period specified
above, the date on which the relevant Shares shall be allotted and issued or
transferred (as the case may be) to the grantee shall occur as soon as possible
after the date when such dealing is permitted by any applicable laws,
regulations or rules. A grantee shall not be entitled to any dividends or
distributions in respect of any Shares underlying the RSUs granted until such
Shares have been allotted and issued or transferred (as the case may be) to the
grantee. Subject to the foregoing, the Shares to be allotted and
issued or transferred (as the case may be) upon the vesting of the RSUs granted
pursuant to the Incentive Plan shall be subject to all the provisions of the
memorandum of association and bye-laws of the Company for the time being in
force and shall rank pari
passu in all respects with, and shall have the same voting, dividend,
transfer and other rights (including those rights arising on a liquidation of
the Company) as, the existing fully paid Shares in issue on the date on which
those Shares are allotted and issued or transferred (as the case may be) upon
the vesting of the RSUs granted and, without prejudice to the generality of the
foregoing, shall entitle the holders to participate in all dividends or other
distributions paid or made on or after the date on which Shares are allotted and
issued or transferred (as the case may be), other than any dividends or
distributions previously declared or recommended or resolved to be paid or made
if the record date thereof shall be before the date on which the Shares are
allotted and issued or transferred (as the case may be).
At any
time during the Term, the maximum aggregate number of Shares that may underlie
the RSUs granted pursuant to the Incentive Plan shall be calculated in
accordance with the following formula:
X
|
=
|
the
maximum aggregate number of Shares that may underlie the RSUs granted
pursuant to the Incentive Plan;
|
A
|
=
|
the
scheme mandate limit which is 10% of the Shares in issue on the Adoption
Date (“Scheme Mandate Limit”);
and
|
B
|
=
|
the
maximum aggregate number of Shares underlying the RSUs already granted
pursuant to the Incentive
Plan.
|
As of
January 12, 2011, we had an aggregate of 75,406,875 shares outstanding. Assuming
the same number of shares outstanding on the Adoption Date, the Scheme Mandate
Limit will be 7,540,687.
Shares
underlying the RSUs cancelled in accordance with the terms of the Incentive Plan
will not be counted for the purposes of determining the maximum aggregate number
of Shares that may underlie the RSUs granted pursuant to the Incentive Plan. The
Scheme Mandate Limit may be renewed subject to prior shareholders’ approval, but
in any event, the total number of Shares that may underlie the RSUs granted
following the date of approval of the renewed limit (the “New Approval Date”)
under the limit as renewed must not exceed 10 percent of the Shares in issue as
at the New Approval Date. Shares underlying the RSUs granted pursuant
to the Incentive Plan (including those outstanding, cancelled or vested RSUs)
prior to the New Approval Date will not be counted for the purpose of
determining the maximum aggregate number of Shares that may underlie the RSUs
granted following the New Approval Date under the limit as renewed. For the
avoidance of doubt, Shares issued prior to the New Approval Date pursuant to the
vesting of RSUs granted pursuant to the Incentive Plan will be counted for the
purpose of determining the number of Shares in issue as at the New Approval
Date.
An award
shall be personal to the grantee and shall not be assignable or transferable by
the grantee, provided that (a) during the validity period of the award, the
grantee may transfer RSUs to his family members by gift or pursuant to a court
order relating to the settlement of marital property rights; and (b) following
the grantee’s death, RSUs may be transferred by will or by the laws of testacy
and distribution. Subject to condition set forth in the Incentive Plan, a
grantee shall not in any way sell, transfer, charge, mortgage, encumber or
create any interests in favour of any third party over or in relation to any
RSU.
An unvested RSU shall be cancelled
automatically upon the earliest of: (a) the date of the termination of the
grantee’s employment or service by the Company or any of its subsidiaries for
cause, (b) the date the grantee becomes an officer, director, employee,
consultant, adviser, partner of, or a stockholder or other proprietor owning
more than a 5 percent interest in, any competitor; or knowingly performs any act
that may confer any competitive benefit or advantage upon any competitor; (c)
the date on which the grantee commits a breach of according to the terms of the
Incentive Plan; and (d) the date on which the condition(s) to vesting are not
satisfied. The board shall have the right to determine what constitutes the
cancelation. The board may at any time cancel any unvested RSUs granted to a
grantee.
In the
event of an alteration in the capital structure of the Company whilst any RSU
has not vested by way of a capitalisation of profits or reserves, bonus issue,
rights issue, open offer, subdivision or consolidation of shares or reduction of
the share capital of the Company in accordance with legal requirements and
requirements of the stock exchange (other than any alteration in the capital
structure of the Company as a result of an issue of Shares as consideration in a
transaction to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or in
connection with any share option, restricted share or other equity incentive
schemes of the Company), such corresponding adjustments (if any) shall be made
to the number or nominal amount of Shares underlying the RSU so far as unvested,
provided that any such adjustments give a grantee the same proportion of the
share capital of the Company as that to which that grantee was previously
entitled.
The RSUs do not carry any right to vote
at general meetings of the Company, or any dividend, transfer or other rights
(including those arising on the liquidation of the Company). No grantee shall
enjoy any of the rights of a shareholder by virtue of the grant of an RSU
pursuant to the Incentive Plan, unless and until the Shares underlying the RSU
are actually allotted and issued or transferred (as the case may be) to the
grantee upon the vesting of such RSU. Any disputes arising in connection
with the Incentive Plan shall be referred to the decision of the auditors or the
independent financial adviser to the Company (as the case may be) who shall act
as experts and not as arbitrators and whose decision shall, in the absence of
manifest error, be final and binding on the Company and the
grantee.
Save as
provided in the Incentive Plan, the board may alter any of the terms of the
Incentive Plan at any time. The Company by ordinary resolution in general
meeting or the board may at any time terminate the Incentive Plan and in such
event, no further RSUs may be granted but in all other respects the provisions
of the Incentive Plan shall remain in full force and effect in respect of RSUs
which are granted during the life of the Incentive Plan and which remain
unvested immediately prior to the termination of the operation of the Incentive
Plan.
Any
liability of a grantee to tax or social security contributions in respect of an
award shall be for the account of the grantee. All allotments and issues and/or
transfers of Shares will be subject to all necessary consents under any relevant
legislation for the time being in force in the Cayman Islands and such other
jurisdictions where a grantee is located, resident or employed. A
grantee shall be responsible for obtaining any governmental or other official
consent and going through any other governmental or other official procedures
that may be required by any country or jurisdiction for the grant or vesting of
his RSU. A grantee shall pay all tax and discharge all other
liabilities to which he may become subject to as a result of his participation
in the Incentive Plan or the vesting of any RSU. The Company or any
of its subsidiaries may coordinate or assist a grantee in complying with such
applicable requirements and taking any other actions as may be required by any
applicable laws, regulations or rules, however, neither the Company nor any of
its subsidiaries shall be responsible for any failure by a grantee to obtain any
such consent or for any tax or other liability to which a grantee may become
subject as a result of his participation in the Incentive Plan. A grantee shall,
on demand, indemnify the Company in full against all claims and demands which
may be made against the Company (whether alone or jointly with other party or
parties) for or in respect of or in connection with any failure on the part of
the grantee to obtain any necessary consent referred to above or to pay tax or
other liabilities referred to above and against all incidental costs and
expenses which may be incurred by the Company.
The board
shall have the power from time to time to make or vary regulations for the
administration and operation of the Incentive Plan, provided that the same are
not inconsistent with the other provisions of the Incentive Plan. The board
shall also have the power to delegate its powers to grant awards to participants
to any of the directors or any duly authorised committee of the board from time
to time.
The board shall be entitled to
establish such arrangements as it deems reasonably necessary with respect to the
mechanisms to implement the vesting of RSUs and the related registration,
recordation and reporting matters to ensure that the grantees and the Company
can comply with all applicable securities, foreign exchange and tax regulations
of all relevant jurisdictions, including without limitation, the Cayman
Islands. Each grantee shall authorise the Company to establish all
necessary brokerage and other accounts on the grantee’s behalf and shall provide
to the Company such information as the board deems necessary in connection with
the Company’s and the grantee’s compliance with the foregoing obligations. The
Incentive Plan and all RSUs granted hereunder shall be governed by and construed
in accordance with the laws of the Cayman Islands.
Regulation
on PRC Resident’s Participation of Share Option Plan Offered by an Offshore
Company
The
regulations governing foreign exchange matters of PRC residents promulgated by
the People’s Bank of China require an employee share option plan or incentive
plan offered by an offshore listed company to be filed with and approved by
SAFE. A special bank account will be opened in the PRC for the purpose of
receiving, and subsequent allocation to the participating PRC residents of the
proceeds or dividends derived from such share option plan. When the Incentive
Plan becomes effective, we will be required to make the requisite filing and
open a special bank account so as to fulfill these regulatory
requirements.
THE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS VOTING “FOR” APPROVAL OF THE INCENTIVE
PLAN.
GENERAL
The
Company will bear the cost of preparing, printing, assembling and mailing the
proxy form, Proxy Statement and other material which may be sent to shareholders
in connection with this solicitation. It is contemplated that brokerage houses
will forward the proxy materials to beneficial owners at our
request. In addition to the solicitation of proxies by use of the
mails, officers and regular employees of the Company may solicit proxies without
additional compensation, by telephone or telegraph. We may reimburse brokers or
other persons holding shares in their names or the names of their nominees for
the expenses of forwarding soliciting material to their principals and obtaining
their proxies.
Other
Matters to Be Presented at the AGM
Management
does not know of any matters other than those stated in this Proxy Statement
that are to be presented for action at the meeting. If any other matters should
properly come before the meeting, it is intended that proxies in the
accompanying form will be voted on any such other matters in accordance with the
judgment of the persons voting such proxies. Discretionary authority
to vote on such matters is conferred by such proxies upon the persons voting
them.
Communications
with the Board of Directors
The Board
of Directors maintains a process for shareholders to communicate with the Board
of Directors. Shareholders wishing to communicate with the Board of Directors or
any individual director may write to the Board of Directors or the individual
director to the Board of Directors, c/o China Cord Blood Corporation, 48th Floor,
Bank of China Tower, 1 Garden Road, Central, Hong Kong S.A.R. Any such
communication must state the number of Shares beneficially owned by the
shareholder making the communication. All such communications will be forwarded
to the full Board of Directors or to any individual director or directors to
whom the communication is directed unless the communication is clearly of a
marketing nature or is unduly hostile, threatening, illegal, or similarly
inappropriate, in which case the Company has the authority to discard the
communication or take appropriate legal action regarding the
communication.
Where
you can Find More Information
The
Company files annual and current reports and other documents with the SEC under
the Exchange Act. The Company’s SEC filings made electronically through the
SEC’s EDGAR system are available to the public at the SEC’s website at
http://www.sec.gov. You may also read and copy any document we file with or
submit to the SEC at the SEC’s public reference room located at 100 F Street,
NE, Room 1580, Washington, DC 20549. Please call the SEC at (800) SEC-0330
for further information on the operation of the public reference
room.
January
18, 2010
|
By
Order of the Board of Directors,
|
|
|
|
/s/ Ting Zheng
|
|
Ting
Zheng
|
|
Chairperson
and Chief Executive
Officer
|
APPENDIX
A
2011
CHINA CORD BLOOD CORPORATION RESTRICTED SHARE UNIT SCHEME
CHINA
CORD BLOOD CORPORATION
(incorporated
in the Cayman Islands with limited liability)
Rules
of the
Restricted
Share Unit Scheme
Adopted
by a resolution of the shareholders of
China
Cord Blood Corporation on _________ 2011
Contents
|
|
Page
|
|
|
|
|
|
1.
|
Definitions
and Interpretation
|
1
|
|
2.
|
Purpose,
Duration and Administration of this Scheme
|
3
|
|
3.
|
Grant
of Awards
|
4
|
|
4.
|
Vesting
|
5
|
|
5.
|
Maximum
Number of Shares Underlying the RSUs
|
6
|
|
6.
|
Transferability
|
7
|
|
7.
|
Cancellation
|
7
|
|
8.
|
Reorganisation
of Capital Structure
|
8
|
|
9.
|
Share
Capital
|
8
|
|
10.
|
Disputes
|
8
|
|
11.
|
Alteration
of this Scheme
|
8
|
|
12.
|
Termination
|
8
|
|
13.
|
Miscellaneous
|
8
|
|
CHINA
CORD BLOOD CORPORATION LIMITED
(incorporated
in the Cayman Islands with limited liability)
Rules
of the Restricted Share Unit Scheme
1.
Definitions
and Interpretation
1.1 In
this Scheme, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions
have the meanings set out below:
Adoption
Date means [ ] 2011, being the date on which this Scheme
is adopted by a resolution of the Shareholders;
Auditors
means the auditors of the Company from time to time;
Award
means an award of RSUs granted to a Participant pursuant to this
Scheme;
Board
means the board of Directors from time to time or a duly authorised
committee of the Board or such other committee as the Board may
authorise;
Business
Day means
any day on which the Stock Exchange is open for the business of dealing in
securities;
Cause
means, with respect to a Grantee, such event which will entitle the Company
and/or any of its subsidiaries to terminate the employment or service of the
Grantee with immediate notice without compensation under the relevant employment
or service agreement or, if it is not otherwise provided for in the relevant
employment or service agreement, (a) the commission of an act of theft,
embezzlement, fraud, dishonesty, ethical breach or other similar acts or
commission of a criminal offence, (b) a material breach of any agreement or
understanding between the Grantee and the Company and/or any of its
subsidiaries, including any applicable invention assignment, employment,
non-competition, confidentiality or other similar agreement, (c)
misrepresentation or omission of any material fact in connection with his
employment agreement or service agreement, (d) a material failure to perform the
customary duties as an employee of the Company and/or any of its subsidiaries,
to obey the reasonable directions of a supervisor or to abide by the policies or
codes of conduct of the Group or (e) any conduct that is materially adverse to
the name, reputation or interests of the Group;
Companies Law
means the Companies Law (2010 Revision) of the Cayman Islands, as amended
and restated from time to time;
Company
means China Cord Blood Corporation Limited, a company incorporated in the Cayman
Islands with limited liability, the shares of which are listed on the Stock
Exchange;
Competitor
means any governmental unit, corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust,
individual proprietorship, firm or other enterprise (including any of their
respective affiliates) that carries on activities for profit or is engaged in or
is about to become engaged in any activity of any nature that competes with a
product, process, technique, procedure, device or service of the Company or any
of its subsidiaries;
Director
means a director of the Company;
Disability
means a disability, whether temporary or permanent, partial or total as
determined by the Board in its absolute discretion;
Family
Member means the Grantee’s child, stepchild, grandchild, parent,
stepparent, grandparent, spouse, sibling, niece, nephew, mother-in-law,
father-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law or sister-in-law,
including adoptive relationships, a trust in which these persons have more than
50 per cent. of the beneficial interest, a foundation in which these persons (or
the Grantee) control the management of assets and any other entity in which
these persons (or the Grantee) own more than 50 per cent. of the voting
interests;
Grant
means the offer of the grant of an Award made in accordance with paragraph 3;
Grantee
means any Participant who accepts a Grant in accordance with the terms of this
Scheme or, where the context so permits, any person entitled to any such Award
in consequence of the death of the original Grantee or the legal personal
representative of such person;
Group
means the Company and its Subsidiaries;
New Approval
Date has the meaning ascribed to it in paragraph 5.2;
Notice of
Grant has the meaning ascribed to it in paragraph 3.3;
Participants means the Directors (including
executive Directors, non-executive Directors and independent non-executive
Directors), the directors of the Company’s subsidiaries and the employees of the
Group who the Board considers, in its absolute discretion, have contributed or
will contribute to the Group;
RSU means
a contingent right to receive a Share granted to a Participant pursuant to this
Scheme;
Scheme
means this restricted share unit scheme in its present form or as amended from
time to time in accordance with the provisions hereof;
Scheme Mandate
Limit means the total number of Shares that may underlie the RSUs granted
pursuant to this Scheme, being (a) 10 per cent. of the Shares in issue on the
Adoption Date or (b) 10 per cent. of the Shares in issue as at the New Approval
Date (as the case may be);
Shareholder(s)
means holder(s) of Shares;
Shares
means ordinary shares with a nominal value of US$0.0001 each in the share
capital of the Company or, if there has been a sub-division, reduction,
consolidation, reclassification or reconstruction of the share capital of the
Company, the shares forming part of the ordinary share capital of the Company of
such nominal amount as shall result from any such sub-division, reduction,
consolidation, reclassification or reconstruction;
Stock
Exchange means the New York Stock Exchange, Inc.;
Subsidiary
has the meaning ascribed to it in the Listing Rules;
Term has
the meaning ascribed to it in paragraph 2.4;
Vest
means, with respect to a Grantee, the time when the Grantee becomes entitled to
receive all or such proportion of the Shares underlying the RSUs granted and in
accordance with the terms of the relevant Award; and
Vesting
date means, with respect to an RSU granted to a Grantee, the date on
which the RSU vests.
1.2 Paragraph
headings are inserted for convenience of reference only and shall be ignored in
the interpretation of this Scheme. References herein to “paragraphs” are to the
paragraphs of this Scheme. Words importing the singular include the
plural and vice versa,
words importing a gender or the neuter include both genders and the neuter
references to persons include bodies corporate or unincorporate.
1.3 References
in this Scheme to any document are to that document as amended, consolidated,
supplemented, novated or replaced from time to time.
1.4 References
(express or implied) in this Scheme to ordinances and to statutory and
regulatory provisions shall be construed as references to those ordinances or
statutory and regulatory provisions as respectively amended or re-enacted or as
their application is modified by other provisions (whether before or after the
date hereof) from time to time and shall include any provisions of which there
are re-enactments (whether with or without modification) and any orders,
regulations, instruments, other subordinate legislation or practice notes under
the relevant ordinance, statutory or regulatory provision.
1.5
In
construing this Scheme:
(a)
|
the
rule known as the ejusdem generis rule
shall not apply and accordingly, general words introduced by the word
“other” shall not be given a restrictive meaning by reason of the fact
that they are preceded by words indicating a particular class of acts,
matters or things; and
|
(b)
|
general
words shall not be given a restrictive meaning by reason of the fact that
they are followed by particular examples intended to be embraced by the
general words.
|
2. Purpose,
Duration and Administration of this Scheme
2.1 The
purpose of this Scheme is to attract skilled and experienced personnel, to
incentivise them to remain with the Group and to motivate them to strive for the
future development and expansion of the Group by providing them with the
opportunity to own equity interests in the Company.
2.2 This
Scheme shall be subject to the administration of the Board whose decision as to
all matters arising in relation to this Scheme or its interpretation or effect
shall (save as otherwise provided herein) be final and binding on all parties.
The Board shall have the right to (a) interpret and construe the provisions of
this Scheme, (b) determine the persons (if any) who will be granted Awards
pursuant to this Scheme, the terms on which Awards are granted, when the RSUs
granted pursuant to this Scheme may vest and the number of Shares underlying the
RSUs granted, (c) subject to paragraphs 8 and 11, make such adjustments to
the terms of the Awards granted pursuant to this Scheme to the relevant Grantee
as the Board deems necessary and shall notify the relevant Grantee of such
adjustment by written notice and (d) make such other decisions or determinations
as it shall deem appropriate in relation to the Awards and/or the administration
of this Scheme provided that the same are not inconsistent with the provisions
of this Scheme.
2.3 This
Scheme shall take effect on the Adoption Date.
2.4 Subject
to paragraphs 12, this
Scheme shall be valid and effective for a period of 10 years commencing on the
Adoption Date (the Term),
after which period no further Awards shall be offered or granted but the
provisions of this Scheme shall remain in full force and effect in all other
respects. Awards granted during the life of this Scheme shall continue to be
valid in accordance with their terms of grant after the end of the
Term.
2.5 No
member of the Board shall be personally liable by reason of any contract or
other instrument executed by such member or on his behalf in his capacity as a
member of the Board nor for any mistake of judgment made in good faith in
relation to the administration or interpretation of this Scheme, and the Company
shall indemnify on demand and hold harmless each employee or officer of the
Company or any Director to whom any duty or power relating to the administration
or interpretation of this Scheme may be allocated or delegated, against any cost
or expense (including legal fees) or liability (including any sum paid in
settlement of a claim with the approval of the Board) arising out of any act or
omission to act in connection with this Scheme unless arising out of such
person’s own negligence, fraud or bad faith.
3. Grant
of Awards
3.1 On
and subject to the terms of this Scheme, the Board shall be entitled (but shall
not be bound) at any time during the Term to make a Grant to any Participant, as
the Board may in its absolute discretion select.
3.2 Awards
may be granted on such terms as the Board, at its absolute discretion, may
determine, provided such terms shall not be inconsistent with any other terms
and conditions of this Scheme. Such terms may include, among other
things, (a) a minimum period before an RSU will vest in whole or in part, (b) a
performance target that must be reached before an RSU will vest in whole or in
part and/or (c) any other terms, all of which may be imposed (or not imposed)
either on a case-by-case basis or generally.
3.3 A
Grant shall be made to a Participant by a letter (the Notice of
Grant) in
such form as the Board may from time to time determine requiring the Participant
to undertake to hold the Award on the terms on which it is to be granted and to
be bound by the terms of this Scheme and shall remain open for acceptance by the
Participant for such time to be determined by the Board, provided that no such
Grant shall be open for acceptance after the expiry of the Term or after this
Scheme has been terminated in accordance with the terms of this Scheme or after
the Participant to whom the Grant is made has ceased to be a
Participant.
3.4 No
Grant shall be made to any Participant at a time when such Participant would be
prohibited from trading in the Shares pursuant to the Company’s guidelines
regarding trading while in possession of material non-public information, unless
the Grant does not vest until such time as such prohibition would no longer be
applicable to such Participant
3.5 A
Grant is deemed to be accepted when the Company receives from the Grantee the
duplicate Notice of Grant duly signed by the Grantee and a remittance of the sum
of US$1.00 or such other amount in any other currency as may be determined by
the Board as consideration for the grant of the Award. Such
remittance is not refundable in any circumstances.
3.6 Any
Grant to any Director, chief executive or substantial shareholder of the
Company, or any of their respective associates, shall be subject to the prior
approval of the independent non-executive Directors (excluding the independent
non-executive Director who is the proposed Grantee of the Awards in
question).
4. Vesting
4.1 Subject
to the terms of this Scheme and the specific terms applicable to each Award, an
RSU shall vest on the vesting date in respect of all or such proportion of the
Shares underlying the Award. If the vesting of an RSU is subject to
the satisfaction of performance or other conditions and such conditions are not
satisfied, the RSU shall be cancelled automatically on the date on which such
conditions are not satisfied.
RSUs
which have vested shall be satisfied within 10 Business Days of the vesting date
by the Company allotting and issuing the relevant number of Shares to the
Grantee credited as fully paid and issuing to the Grantee (or his custodian
agent) share certificates in respect of the Shares so allotted.
Notwithstanding
the foregoing, if the Company or any Grantee would or might be prohibited from
dealing in the Shares by any applicable laws, regulations or rules within the
period specified above, the date on which the relevant Shares shall be allotted
and issued or transferred (as the case may be) to the Grantee shall occur as
soon as possible after the date when such dealing is permitted by any applicable
laws, regulations or rules.
4.2 In
the event a general offer by way of takeover or otherwise (other than by way of
scheme of arrangement pursuant to paragraph 4.3 below) is made
to all the Shareholders (or all such Shareholders other than the offeror and/or
any person controlled by the offeror and/or any person acting in association or
concert with the offeror) and such offer becomes or is declared unconditional
prior to the vesting date of any RSU, the Board shall, prior to the offer
becoming or being declared unconditional, determine at its absolute discretion
whether such RSU shall vest and the period within which such RSU shall vest. If
the Board determines that such RSU shall vest, it shall notify the Grantee that
the RSU shall vest and the period within which such RSU shall vest.
4.3 In
the event a general offer for Shares by way of scheme of arrangement is made by
any person to all the Shareholders and has been approved by the necessary number
of Shareholders at the requisite meetings prior to the vesting date of any RSU,
the Board shall, prior to such meetings, determine at its absolute discretion
whether such RSU shall vest and the period within which such RSU shall vest. If
the Board determines that such RSU shall vest, it shall notify the Grantee that
the RSU shall vest and the period within which such RSU shall vest.
4.4 If,
pursuant to the Companies Law, a compromise or arrangement between the Company
and the Shareholders and/or the creditors of the Company is proposed for the
purposes of or in connection with a scheme for the reconstruction of the Company
or its amalgamation with any other company or companies prior to the vesting
date of any RSU, the Board shall determine at its absolute discretion whether
such RSU shall vest and the period within which such RSU shall vest. If the
Board determines that such RSU shall vest, it shall notify the Grantee that the
RSU shall vest and the period within which such RSU shall vest.
4.5 In
the event a notice is given by the Company to the Shareholders to convene a
general meeting for the purpose of considering and, if thought fit, approving a
resolution to voluntarily wind-up the Company prior to the vesting date of any
RSU, the Board shall determine at its absolute discretion whether such RSU shall
vest and the period within which such RSU shall vest. If the Board determines
that such RSU shall vest, it shall notify the Grantee that the RSU shall vest
and the period within which such RSU shall vest.
4.6 A
Grantee shall not be entitled to any dividends or distributions in respect of
any Shares underlying the RSUs granted until such Shares have been allotted and
issued or transferred (as the case may be) to the Grantee. Subject to
the foregoing, the Shares to be allotted and issued or transferred (as the case
may be) upon the vesting of the RSUs granted pursuant to this Scheme shall be
subject to all the provisions of the memorandum of association and bye-laws of
the Company for the time being in force and shall rank pari passu in all respects
with, and shall have the same voting, dividend, transfer and other rights
(including those rights arising on a liquidation of the Company) as, the
existing fully paid Shares in issue on the date on which those Shares are
allotted and issued or transferred (as the case may be) upon the vesting of the
RSUs granted and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, shall
entitle the holders to participate in all dividends or other distributions paid
or made on or after the date on which Shares are allotted and issued or
transferred (as the case may be), other than any dividends or distributions
previously declared or recommended or resolved to be paid or made if the record
date thereof shall be before the date on which the Shares are allotted and
issued or transferred (as the case may be).
5. Maximum
Number of Shares Underlying the RSUs
5.1 At
any time during the Term, the maximum aggregate number of Shares that may
underlie the RSUs granted pursuant to this Scheme shall be calculated in
accordance with the following formula:
X
|
=
|
the
maximum aggregate number of Shares that may underlie the RSUs granted
pursuant to this Scheme;
|
A
|
=
|
the
Scheme Mandate Limit; and
|
B
|
=
|
the
maximum aggregate number of Shares underlying the RSUs already granted
pursuant to this Scheme.
|
Shares
underlying the RSUs cancelled in accordance with the terms of this Scheme will
not be counted for the purposes of determining the maximum aggregate number of
Shares that may underlie the RSUs granted pursuant to this Scheme.
5.2 The
Scheme Mandate Limit may be renewed subject to prior Shareholders’ approval, but
in any event, the total number of Shares that may underlie the RSUs granted
following the date of approval of the renewed limit (the New Approval
Date) under the limit as renewed must not exceed 10 per cent. of the
Shares in issue as at the New Approval Date. Shares underlying the
RSUs granted pursuant to this Scheme (including those outstanding, cancelled or
vested RSUs) prior to the New Approval Date will not be counted for the purpose
of determining the maximum aggregate number of Shares that may underlie the RSUs
granted following the New Approval Date under the limit as renewed. For the
avoidance of doubt, Shares issued prior to the New Approval Date pursuant to the
vesting of RSUs granted pursuant to this Scheme will be counted for the purpose
of determining the number of Shares in issue as at the New Approval
Date.
6. Transferability
6.1 An
Award shall be personal to the Grantee and shall not be assignable or
transferable by the Grantee, provided that:
(a)
|
during
the validity period of the Award, the Grantee may transfer RSUs to his
Family Members by gift or pursuant to a court order relating to the
settlement of marital property rights;
and
|
(b)
|
subject
to paragraph 7.3
below, following the Grantee’s death, RSUs may be transferred by will or
by the laws of testacy and
distribution.
|
The terms
of this Scheme and the Notice of Grant shall be binding upon the executors,
administrators, legal personal representatives, heirs, successors and permitted
assigns and transferees of the Grantee.
6.2 Subject
to paragraph 6.1, a
Grantee shall not in any way sell, transfer, charge, mortgage, encumber or
create any interests in favour of any third party over or in relation to any
RSU.
7.
Cancellation
7.1 An
unvested RSU shall be cancelled automatically upon the earliest of:
(a)
|
the
date of the termination of the Grantee’s employment or service by the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries for
Cause;
|
(b)
|
the
date the Grantee:
|
|
(i)
|
becomes
an officer, director, employee, consultant, adviser, partner of, or a
stockholder or other proprietor owning more than a 5 per cent. interest
in, any Competitor; or
|
|
(ii)
|
knowingly
performs any act that may confer any competitive benefit or advantage upon
any Competitor;
|
(c)
|
the
date on which the Grantee commits a breach of paragraph 6;
and
|
(d)
|
the
date on which the condition(s) to vesting are not
satisfied.
|
7.2 The
Board shall have the right to determine what constitutes Cause, whether the
Grantee’s employment has been terminated for Cause, the effective date of such
termination for Cause and whether someone is a Competitor, and such
determination by the Board shall be final and conclusive.
7.3 If
the Grantee’s employment or service with the Company or any of its Subsidiaries
is terminated for any reason other than for Cause (including by reason of
resignation, retirement, death, Disability or non-renewal of the employment or
service agreement upon its expiration for any reason other than for Cause), the
Board shall determine at its absolute discretion and shall notify the Grantee
whether any unvested RSU granted to such Grantee shall vest and the period
within which such RSU shall vest. If the Board determines that such
RSU shall not vest, such RSU shall be cancelled automatically with effect from
the date on which the Grantee’s employment or service is
terminated.
7.4
The Board may at any time cancel any unvested RSUs
granted to a Grantee. Where the Company cancels unvested RSUs and
makes a Grant of new RSUs to the same Grantee, such Grant may only be made with
available RSUs to the extent not yet granted (excluding the cancelled RSUs)
within the limits prescribed by paragraph 5.
8.
Reorganisation of Capital Structure
8.1
In the event of an alteration in the capital
structure of the Company whilst any RSU has not vested by way of a
capitalisation of profits or reserves, bonus issue, rights issue, open offer,
subdivision or consolidation of shares or reduction of the share capital of the
Company in accordance with legal requirements and requirements of the Stock
Exchange (other than any alteration in the capital structure of the Company as a
result of an issue of Shares as consideration in a transaction to which the
Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or in connection with any share
option, restricted share or other equity incentive schemes of the Company), such
corresponding adjustments (if any) shall be made to the number or nominal amount
of Shares underlying the RSU so far as unvested, provided that any such
adjustments give a Grantee the same proportion of the share capital of the
Company as that to which that Grantee was previously entitled.
9.
Share Capital
9.1 The
RSUs do not carry any right to vote at general meetings of the Company, or any
dividend, transfer or other rights (including those arising on the liquidation
of the Company).
9.2 No
Grantee shall enjoy any of the rights of a Shareholder by virtue of the grant of
an RSU pursuant to this Scheme, unless and until the Shares underlying the RSU
are actually allotted and issued or transferred (as the case may be) to the
Grantee upon the vesting of such RSU.
10.
Disputes
10.1 Any
disputes arising in connection with this Scheme shall be referred to the
decision of the Auditors or the independent financial adviser to the Company (as
the case may be) who shall act as experts and not as arbitrators and whose
decision shall, in the absence of manifest error, be final and binding on the
Company and the Grantee. The costs of the Auditors or the independent
financial adviser to the Company (as the case may be) shall be shared equally
between the Company and the relevant Grantee.
11.
Alteration of this Scheme
11.1 Save
as provided in this Scheme, the Board may alter any of the terms of this Scheme
at any time.
12.
Termination
12.1
The
Company by ordinary resolution in general meeting or the Board may at any time
terminate this Scheme and in such event, no further RSUs may be granted but in
all other respects the provisions of this Scheme shall remain in full force and
effect in respect of RSUs which are granted during the life of this Scheme and
which remain unvested immediately prior to the termination of the operation of
this Scheme.
13. Miscellaneous
13.1 The
Company shall bear the costs of establishing and administering this
Scheme.
13.2 A
Grantee shall be entitled to receive copies of all notices and other documents
sent by the Company to the Shareholders.
13.3 Any
notice or other communication between the Company and a Grantee may be given by
sending the same by prepaid post or personal delivery to, in the case of the
Company, its principal place of business in the Hong Kong SAR or such other
address as notified to the Grantee from time to time and, in the case of the
Grantee, his address as notified to the Company from time to time.
13.4 Any
notice or other communication served by post:
(a)
|
by
the Company shall be deemed to have been served 48 hours after the same
was put in the post; and
|
(b)
|
by
the Grantee shall not be deemed to have been received until the Company
shall have received the same.
|
Any
notice or other communication served by either party by hand shall be deemed to
be served when delivered.
13.5 Any
liability of a Grantee to tax or social security contributions in respect of an
Award shall be for the account of the Grantee.
13.6 All
allotments and issues and/or transfers of Shares will be subject to all
necessary consents under any relevant legislation for the time being in force in
the Cayman Islands and such other jurisdictions where a Grantee is located,
resident or employed. A Grantee shall be responsible for obtaining
any governmental or other official consent and going through any other
governmental or other official procedures that may be required by any country or
jurisdiction for the grant or vesting of his RSU. A Grantee shall pay
all tax and discharge all other liabilities to which he may become subject to as
a result of his participation in this Scheme or the vesting of any
RSU. The Company or any of its Subsidiaries may coordinate or assist
a Grantee in complying with such applicable requirements and taking any other
actions as may be required by any applicable laws, regulations or rules,
however, neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries shall be responsible
for any failure by a Grantee to obtain any such consent or for any tax or other
liability to which a Grantee may become subject as a result of his participation
in this Scheme. A Grantee shall, on demand, indemnify the Company in full
against all claims and demands which may be made against the Company (whether
alone or jointly with other party or parties) for or in respect of or in
connection with any failure on the part of the Grantee to obtain any necessary
consent referred to above or to pay tax or other liabilities referred to above
and against all incidental costs and expenses which may be incurred by the
Company.
13.7 The
Board shall have the power from time to time to make or vary regulations for the
administration and operation of this Scheme, provided that the same are not
inconsistent with the other provisions of this Scheme. The Board shall also have
the power to delegate its powers to grant Awards to Participants to any of the
Directors or any duly authorised committee of the Board from time to
time.
13.8 This
Scheme shall not form part of any contract of employment or engagement of
services between the Company or any of its Subsidiaries and any Participant and
the rights and obligations of any Participant under the terms of his office,
employment or engagement in services shall not be affected by the participation
of the Participant in this Scheme or any right which he may have to participate
in it and this Scheme shall afford such Participant no additional rights to
compensation or damages in consequence of the termination (howsoever caused) of
such office, employment or engagement for any reason (whether lawful or
unlawful).
13.9 The
Board shall be entitled to establish such arrangements as it deems reasonably
necessary with respect to the mechanisms to implement the vesting of RSUs and
the related registration, recordation and reporting matters to ensure that the
Grantees and the Company can comply with all applicable securities, foreign
exchange and tax regulations of all relevant jurisdictions, including without
limitation, the Cayman Islands. Each Grantee shall authorise the
Company to establish all necessary brokerage and other accounts on the Grantee’s
behalf and shall provide to the Company such information as the Board deems
necessary in connection with the Company’s and the Grantee’s compliance with the
foregoing obligations.
13.10
This Scheme and all RSUs granted hereunder shall be governed by and construed in
accordance with the laws of the Cayman Islands.
CHINA
CORD BLOOD CORPORATION
(Incorporated in the Cayman Islands
with limited liability)
(NYSE
Ticker: CO)
48th Floor,
Bank of China Tower
1 Garden
Road
Central
Hong Kong
S.A.R.
ANNUAL
GENERAL MEETING
to Be
Held on February 18, 2011
(or any
adjourned or postponed meeting thereof)
NOTICE
OF INTERNET AVAILABILITY OF PROXY MATERIAL:
The
Notice of Meeting, Proxy Statement and Proxy Form are available at:
http://www.chinacordbloodcorp.com/e_invest07.php
Please
sign, date and mail your proxy form in the envelope provided
promptly.
PROXY
CHINA
CORD BLOOD CORPORATION
(Incorporated
in the Cayman Islands with limited liability)
ANNUAL
MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS
This
Proxy is Solicited on Behalf of the Board of Directors
The
undersigned hereby appoints Ting Zheng or Albert Chen, individually, as proxy to
represent the undersigned at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held at
48th
Floor, Bank of China Tower, 1 Garden Road, Central, Hong Kong S.A.R. on February
18, 2011 at 9:00 p.m., Hong Kong
local time, and at any adjournments thereof, and to vote the ordinary
shares the undersigned would be entitled to vote if personally present, as
indicated below.
Unless otherwise specified,
this proxy will be voted FOR Proposals 1, 2 and 3.
The Board of Directors
recommends that you vote “FOR” each proposal.
1. Election
of Directors:
Albert
Chen FOR
o AGAINST
o ABSTAIN
o
Mark D.
Chen FOR o AGAINST
o ABSTAIN
o
2. Ratification
of the appointment of KPMG as independent auditors of the Company for the
financial year ending March 31, 2011 and to authorize the directors to fix the
remuneration of the auditors.
FOR o AGAINST
o ABSTAIN
o
3. Adoption
of the 2011 China Cord Blood Corporation Restricted Share Unit Scheme (“Incentive
Plan”), which has a mandate limit of granting rights to receive ordinary
shares not exceeding 10.0% of our issued and outstanding share capital, to
directors, officers, employees and/or consultants of the company and its
subsidiaries and authorize directors to grant awards and allot and issue shares
thereunder in the future period.
FOR o AGAINST
o ABSTAIN
o
If any
other business is presented at the meeting, this proxy will be voted by those
named in this proxy in their best judgment. At the present time, the Board of
Directors is not aware of any other business to be presented at the
meeting.
The
ordinary shares represented by this proxy, when properly executed, will be voted
as directed; however, abstentions will have no effect on the election of
directors (Item 1). Abstentions will be treated as being present and entitled to
vote on the other items presented at the annual meeting and, therefore, will
have the effect of votes against such proposals. If you do not provide your
broker or other nominee with instructions on how to vote your “street name”
shares, your broker or nominee will not be permitted to vote them on non-routine
matters (a broker “non-vote”) such as Items 1 and 3. Shares subject to a broker
“non-vote” will not be considered entitled to vote with respect to Item 1 or 3,
and will not affect the outcome on those Items. Please note that the rules
regarding how brokers may vote your shares have changed. Brokers may no longer
vote your shares on the election of directors in the absence of your specific
instructions as to how to vote. We encourage you to provide instructions to your
broker regarding the voting of your shares.
Signature of Shareholder:
_________________________ Date: ______________________, 2011
Signature of Shareholder:
_________________________ Date: ______________________, 2011
Note: If
shares are held jointly, each holder should sign. When signing as executor,
administrator, attorney, trustee or guardian, please give full title as such. If
the signer is a corporation, please sign full corporate name by duly authorized
officer, giving full title as such. If signer is a partnership, please sign in
partnership name by authorized person.
PLEASE
MARK, SIGN, DATE AND RETURN THE PROXY FORM PROMPTLY USING THE ENCLOSED
ENVELOPE.