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| Exchange Disseminated Time | The Exchange had sought clarification as to how the company proposes to ensure that the proceedings of the AGM including addressing of queries raised by shareholders would be completed within the limited time period of 15 minutes assigned for the same.
In this regard, Indiabulls Wholesale Services Ltd has issued a clarification as under:
"1. Since the creation of most of the listed companies in the Indiabulls Group is an outcome of several demergers (Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd (IBREL) and Indiabulls Securities Limited got demerged from erstwhile Indiabulls Financial Services Limited. Subsequently Indiabulls wholesale Services Limited (IWSL) and Indiabulls Infrastructure & Power Limited got demerged from IBREL), a majority (almost 80 percent) of the shareholders are common between various Indiabulls group companies. Further some of these companies namely Store One Retail India Limited (SORIL) and IWSL, are small in size having market cap of around 75 Cr, the sole reason for scheduling of AGMs of all these companies on same day (September 30), at the same venue and with short intervals is to provide comfort to the shareholders, save them cost and time, and ensure their participation in all the meetings. In fact, last year a majority of the shareholders present in the AGMs of these companies demanded (some of these shareholders had subsequently sent written requests as well) that the meetings should be scheduled without any break so that they can participate in all the meetings.
2. The nature of the business to be transacted in these meetings, being fairly ordinary in nature (agenda items are only routine in nature such as adoption of accounts, reappointment of auditors and directors), the shareholders are comfortable in the said companies scheduling their AGMs back-to-back with 15 minutes intervals which we feel should be sufficient to cover the business to be transacted at the AGMs, as aforesaid. It has been seen in the past, AGMs of these companies usually get over in about 15 minutes, and if there is a large interval between two AGMs, shareholders feel restless and do not wait for the next meeting.
3. The venue of the AGM is Centaur Hotel, a 5 star hotel located near the international airport, is well connected with the other parts of the city and therefore very convenient for the shareholders to reach. Since 2006, Indiabulls group is constantly conducting its shareholders meeting at the same place, therefore this place has become well known amongst the shareholders and the shareholders find it very convenient & comfortable in attending the meeting at this venue.
4. The AGM venue is thrown open to the shareholders at least two hours before the start of the first AGM, and the company officials and management (including Executive director, Chairman of the Audit Committee, Statutory Auditors, CFO, Company Secretary, officials of Secretarial, Legal, A/C & Finance etc of the respective Companies) are present at the venue since early morning till all the queries of the shareholders are satisfactorily addressed. Therefore, the company welcomes queries from all shareholders not only during the meeting, but also before the commencement of AGM and after it gets over. The officials and senior management are available throughout for response to all queries. This is a tested process adopted by the Company which has been well received by the shareholders in the past as well. This is the reason why the shareholders have felt very comfortable and satisfied about the conduct of meetings by Indiabulls Group and there have been no complaints from them of whatsoever in nature on this count. We may mention that this in itself is a testimony to how much Indiabulls group values the convenience, comfort and meaningful participation of the shareholders at its general meetings.
5. Since the audited accounts and annual report of all the companies are sent to the shareholders well in advance, it has been observed that the shareholders keep their queries ready, well in advance. The shareholders are prompt in asking questions and they get satisfactory response quickly, as all the concerned officials are available there. It would also be pertinent to mention that during the interval between the date of receipt of annual reports and the actual date of the meetings, the shareholders have a sufficient opportunity and time to go through the annual report and raise queries, if any, on the concerned companies. In fact the companies do receive queries from various investors as also the research analysts who get hold of such reports and such queries are duly addressed.
6. Keeping in mind a hypothetical situation where an AGM does not get over at the stipulated time (which has not been happened till date), the chairman of the meeting can adjourn the AGM and resume with the unfinished agenda after the conclusion of the last scheduled meeting. It may also be pertinent to mention that voting at such meetings is normally held through a show of hands and takes a very short time. In case the shareholders present demand for a poll on any agenda, the poll demanded could be taken up post conclusion of last scheduled meeting.
7. Needless to say that the aforesaid establishes beyond doubt that how the Indiabulls Group Companies conduct their general meetings including the AGMs, has been appreciated by their shareholders all through, a testimony of which is the fact that no complaints have been received from any shareholders either about the general meetings/ AGMs or any matter related to the conduct thereof.
Trust this should clarify that scheduling of AGMs of the Company and other group companies has been done basically with an intent to ensure convenience to the shareholders while at the same time ensuring their meaningful participation in the AGMs." |
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