EX-1.1
Published on March 8, 2021
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Ardagh Group S.A.
Société anonyme
Siège social : L-2134 Luxembourg, 56, Rue Charles Martel
R.C.S. Luxembourg section B numéro 160804
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STATUTS COORDONNÉS AU
18 DECEMBRE 2020
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTERPRETATION
1. Definitions
FORM, NAME, DURATION AND REGISTERED OFFICE
2. Form and Name
3. Duration
4. Registered Office
CORPORATE OBJECTS
5. Corporate Objects
SHARES
6. Share Capital and Rights Attaching to Shares
7. Power to Issue Shares
8. Variation of Rights Attaching to Shares
9. Power of the Company to Purchase or otherwise Acquire its own Shares
10. Suspension and/or Waiver of Voting Right; Voting by Incapacitated Holders
11. Statements of Share Ownership
REGISTRATION OF SHARES
12. Register of Shareholders
13. Transfer of Shares
14. Conversion of Class B Common Shares
15. Compulsory Transfer of Shares
ALTERATION OF SHARE CAPITAL
16. Power to Alter Capital
DIVIDENDS AND LEGAL RESERVE
17. Dividends
18. Legal Reserve
MEETINGS OF SHAREHOLDERS
19. General Meetings
20. Record Date For Shareholder Notice; Voting.
21. Convening of General Meetings
22. Participation by telephone or video conference
23. Quorum at General Meetings
24. Voting on Ordinary and Special Resolutions
25. Instrument of Proxy
26. Adjournment of General Meeting
DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS
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27. Number of Directors
28. Election of Directors
29. Classes of Directors
30. Term of Office of Directors
31. Removal of Directors
32. Vacancy in the Office of Director
33. Remuneration of Directors
34. Directors to Manage Business
35. Powers of the Board of Directors
36. Appointment of Chairman and Secretary
37. Appointment, Duties and Remuneration of Officers
38. Indemnification of Directors and Officers
39. Binding Signatures
MEETINGS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
40. Board Meetings
41. Notice of Board Meetings
42. Participation by telephone or video conference
43. Quorum at Board Meetings
44. Board to Continue in the Event of Vacancy
45. Written Resolutions
46. Validity of Acts of Directors
CORPORATE RECORDS
47. Minutes of the Meetings of the Shareholders
48. Minutes of the Meetings of the Board
49. Place Where Corporate Records Kept
50. Service of Notices
FINANCIAL YEAR
51. Financial Year
AUDITOR
52. Appointment of Auditor
VOLUNTARY WINDING-UP AND DISSOLUTION
53. Winding-Up
CHANGES TO CONSTITUTION
54. Changes to Articles
55. Governing Law
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INTERPRETATION
Acquiror has the meaning ascribed in Article 15.1;
Acquiror Expert has the meaning ascribed in Article 15.1;
Acquiror Purchase Price has the meaning ascribed in Article 15.2;
Act the Luxembourg law of 10 August 1915 pertaining to commercial companies, as amended from time to time;
Affected Class B common share has the meaning ascribed in Article 14.4;
Affiliate with respect to a person, means any person directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by or under common control with such person;
Articlesmeans these articles, as amended from time to time in accordance with Article 54;
Article 15 Notice has the meaning ascribed in Article 15.1;
Auditor means one or more independent auditors (réviseurs d’enterprises) appointed in accordance with these Articles and includes an individual, company or partnership;
Board the board of directors appointed or elected from time to time pursuant to these Articles;
Chairman the chairman of the Board;
Class A common shares has the meaning ascribed in Article 6.1;
Class B common shares has the meaning ascribed in Article 6.1;
clear days in relation to the period of a notice, that period excluding the day when the notice is given or deemed to be given and the day for which it is given or on which it is to take effect;
Common Shares has the meaning ascribed in Article 6.1;
Company the company for which these Articles are approved and confirmed;
Compulsory Acquisition Notice has the meaning ascribed in Article 15.2;
Control with respect to any person, means the possession, directly or indirectly, by another person of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of such first person, whether through the ownership of voting securities, by contract or otherwise;
Conversion has the meaning ascribed in Article 14.2;
Conversion Trigger has the meaning ascribed in Article 14.3;
Depository has the meaning ascribed in Article 12.4;
Director a director of the Company;
EUR the single currency of participating member states of the European Union and the lawful currency for the time being of Luxembourg;
Fair Market Value has the meaning ascribed in Article 9.6;
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Family Member with respect to any natural person who is a Pre-IPO Equity Interest Holder, such person’s spouse, domestic partner, parents, stepparents, grandparents, lineal descendants, siblings and lineal descendants of siblings. Lineal descendants include adopted persons and stepchildren;
Indemnified party has the meaning ascribed in Article 38.1;
Luxembourg has the meaning ascribed in Article 4.1;
notice written notice as further provided in these Articles unless otherwise specifically stated;
Notice of Objection has the meaning ascribed in Article 15.3;
notice to the Company written notice addressed to the Secretary or another officer identified by the Company to Shareholders from time to time, delivered to the registered office of the Company by hand or mail, or to the Company by facsimile or electronic mail (with customary proof of confirmation that such notice has been transmitted);
Officer any person appointed as an officer of the Company by the Board, with such title, powers and duties as designated by resolution of the Board in accordance with Article 37;
Ordinary Resolution a resolution adopted at an ordinary general meeting (including the annual general meeting) with the quorum set forth in Article 23.1 and the majority set forth in Article 24.1;
Parent ARD Holdings S.A. and any successors thereto;
Permitted Entity (a) a Permitted Trust solely for the benefit of (i) a Pre-IPO Equity Interest Holder, (ii) one or more Family Members of such Pre-IPO Equity Interest Holder and/or (iii) any other Permitted Entity of such Pre-IPO Equity Interest Holder;
(b) any general partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, corporation or other entity exclusively owned by (i) a Pre-IPO Equity Interest Holder, (ii) one or more Family Members of such Pre-IPO Equity Interest Holder and/or (iii) any other Permitted Entity of such Pre-IPO Equity Interest Holder;
(c) the personal representative of the estate of a Pre-IPO Equity Interest Holder upon the death of such Pre-IPO Equity Interest Holder solely to the extent such individual or entity is acting in the capacity as personal representative of such estate;
(d) a revocable living trust, which revocable living trust is itself a Permitted Trust, following the death of the natural person grantor of such trust, solely to the extent that such shares are held in such trust pending distribution to the beneficiaries designated in such trust, all of whom are Qualified Holders; and
(e) a guardian or conservator of a Qualified Holder who has been adjudged disabled, incapacitated, incompetent or otherwise unable to manage his own affairs by a court of competent jurisdiction, solely in that guardian's or conservator's capacity as such.
Except as explicitly provided for in these Articles, a Permitted Entity of a Pre-IPO Equity Interest Holder shall not cease to be a Permitted Entity of that Pre-IPO Equity Interest Holder solely by reason of his death;
Permitted Transfer any transfer of a Class B common share to a Qualified Holder;
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Permitted Trust a trust where each trustee is (a) a Pre-IPO Equity Interest Holder, (b) a Family Member of a Pre-IPO Equity Interest Holder, or (c) a professional (including an attorney or accountant) in the business of providing trustee services, including private professional fiduciaries, trust companies and bank trust departments.
person any individual, corporation, partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, trust or other incorporated or unincorporated organisation or any other entity, including a governmental entity or authority;
Pre-IPO Equity Interest a beneficial direct or indirect equity interest in (i) Parent, including as a holder of a beneficial equity interest in any corporation, partnership, limited liability company or similar business entity that holds the beneficial interest in shares in Parent, or (ii) any Subsidiary of Parent, including as a holder of a beneficial equity interest in any corporation, partnership, limited liability company or similar business entity that holds the beneficial interest in shares in such Subsidiary;
Pre-IPO Equity Interest Holder a person who, as of the date of the closing of the initial public offering of Class A common shares, is a beneficial owner (and thus ignoring and excluding any holder who is a nominee for the benefit of a beneficial owner, no such nominee being a Pre-IPO Equity Interest Holder for these purposes) of a Pre-IPO Equity Interest, including any natural person who has transferred his Pre-IPO Equity Interest to a Permitted Entity as of such date;
Purchase Price has the meaning ascribed in Article 15.3;
Qualified Holder (i) Parent or any Subsidiary of Parent (or any successor to Parent or any of its Subsidiaries), or (ii) any Pre-IPO Equity Interest Holder or any Family Member or Permitted Entity of such Pre-IPO Equity Interest Holder;
Register of Shareholders the register of shareholders referred to in these Articles;
Relevant Shareholder has the meaning ascribed in Article 14.5;
Remaining Holder Expert has the meaning ascribed in Article 15.3;
Reorganisation Event an event in which the shareholders of Parent and/or other Subsidiaries of Parent (or any successors thereto) will receive direct ownership in a number of Class B common shares or Class A common shares (in proportion to their respective ownership interest in Parent and/or other Subsidiaries of Parent), whether by dividend, distribution, exchange offer or other means; provided that the aggregate number of Class B common shares received by such shareholders in such event shall be substantially the same as or fewer than (adjusting for fractional shares) the number of the Class B common shares owned by Parent and any Subsidiaries of Parent (or any successors thereto) immediately prior to the date of such event;
Remaining Holders has the meaning ascribed in Article 15.1;
Remaining Shares has the meaning ascribed in Article 15.1;
Secretary the person appointed as secretary of the Company by the Board, including any deputy or assistant secretary and any person appointed by the Board to perform any of the duties set forth in Article 36.2 and specifically entrusted by resolution to the Secretary;
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Share Capital in Issue the sum of the aggregate par value of the issued Common Shares, taking into account that the par value of each Class A common share is EUR 0.01 and the par value of each Class B common share is EUR 0.10;
Shareholder any person registered in the Register of Shareholders as the holder of shares in the Company;
Special Resolution a resolution adopted at an extraordinary general meeting with the quorum set forth in Article 23.2 and the majority set forth in Article 24.2;
Subsidiary an incorporated or unincorporated entity in which another person (i) has a majority of the shareholders' or members' voting rights or (ii) has the right to appoint or remove a majority of the members of the administrative, management or supervisory body and is at the same time a shareholder in or member of such entity;
Transfer has the meaning ascribed in Article 13.6; and
Treasury Share a share of the Company that was or is treated as having been acquired and held by the Company and has been held (or is treated as having been held) continuously by the Company since it was so acquired and has not been cancelled.
(a)words denoting the plural number include the singular number and vice versa;
(b)words denoting the masculine gender include the feminine and neuter genders;
(c)the word:
(i)"may" shall be construed as permissive;
(ii) "shall" shall be construed as imperative; and
(iii) "including" shall be deemed to be followed by the words "without limitation";
(d)a reference to statutory provision shall be deemed to include any amendment or re-enactment thereof;
(e)the word "corporation" means a legal entity (personne morale);
(f)unless otherwise provided herein, words or expressions used in these Articles and defined in the Act shall bear the same meaning in these Articles as in the Act.
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FORM, NAME, DURATION AND REGISTERED OFFICE
The Company’s legal name is "Ardagh Group S.A." and it is a public limited liability company (société anonyme).
The Company is incorporated for an unlimited duration.
CORPORATE OBJECTS
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SHARES
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(b)Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Board may not pursuant to Article 7.3(a) issue Class B common shares in excess of the 1,111,120 Class B common shares issued on 3 March 2017 except:
(i) in connection with stock splits or share dividends (also known as bonus issues) being made to all holders of outstanding Common Shares in accordance with Article 17.2; or
(ii) in connection with a Reorganisation Event, provided that the number of Class B common shares issued in such Reorganisation Event is substantially the same as or less than the number of Class B common shares received by the Company in such Reorganisation Event as treasury shares which are to be cancelled by the Company in due course; or
(iii) in connection with the conversion, prior to initial public offering of the Company’s Class A common shares, of the Convertible Loan Note that the Company issued to ARD Group Finance Holdings S.A., on 16 September 2016.
The Board is authorised to withdraw or limit the Luxembourg statutory preemption provisions upon the issuance of Common Shares pursuant to the authority conferred by Article 7.3.
Where a resolution of an extraordinary general meeting is such as to change the respective rights of the Class A common shares or the Class B common shares, the Special Resolution must, in order to be valid, fulfil the quorum and majority requirements with respect to each such class of shares.
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At the request of a Shareholder, the Company shall issue a statement of share ownership evidencing the number of Common Shares registered in such Shareholder’s name in the Register of Shareholders on the date of such statement.
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REGISTRATION OF SHARES
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Notwithstanding the foregoing, the following shall not be considered a “Transfer” for such purposes:
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ALTERATION OF SHARE CAPITAL
DIVIDENDS, OTHER DISTRIBUTIONS AND LEGAL RESERVE
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The Company shall be required to allocate a sum of at least five per cent (5%) of its annual net profit to a legal reserve, until such time as the legal reserve amounts to ten per cent (10%) of the Share Capital in Issue. If and to the extent that this legal reserve falls below such ten per cent (10%) amount, the Company shall allocate a sum of at least five per cent (5%) of its annual net profit to restore the legal reserve to the minimum amount required by law.
MEETINGS OF SHAREHOLDERS
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The Board may organise participation of the Shareholders in general meetings by telephone or video conference and participation in such a meeting shall constitute presence in person at such meeting. The participation in a meeting by these means is deemed equivalent to a participation in person at the general meeting.
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DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS
The Board shall consist of no fewer than three (3) Directors and no more than fifteen (15) Directors, with the number of Directors within that range being determined by the Board from time to time. The Board consists of twelve (12) Directors as of 3 March 2017.
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The Directors shall be divided into three (3) classes designated Class I, Class II and Class III. The Board shall designate the Directors who will initially serve in each of Class I, Class II and Class III. Each class of Directors shall consist, as nearly as possible, of one third (1/3) of the total number of Directors constituting the entire Board.
At the first general meeting which is held after the date of adoption of these Articles for the purpose of electing Directors, the Class I Directors shall be elected for a three (3) year term of office, the Class II Directors shall be elected for a two (2) year term of office and the Class III Directors shall be elected for a one (1) year term of office. At each succeeding annual general meeting, successors to the class of Directors whose term expires at that annual general meeting shall be elected for a three (3) year term of office. If the number of Directors is changed, any increase or decrease shall be apportioned by the Board among the classes so as to maintain the number of Directors in each class as near to equal as possible, and any Director of any class elected to fill a vacancy shall hold office for a term that shall coincide with the remaining term of the other Directors of that class, but in no case shall a decrease in the number of Directors shorten the term of any Director then in office. A Director shall hold office until the annual general meeting for the year in which his term expires, subject to his office being vacated pursuant to Article 32.
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The remuneration (if any) of the Directors shall be determined by the Board subject to ratification by Shareholders at a general meeting of Shareholders. Such remuneration shall be deemed to accrue from day to day. Any Director who holds an executive office (including for this purpose the office of Chairman) or who serves on any Board committee, or who otherwise performs services that in the opinion of the Board are outside the scope of the ordinary duties of a director, may be paid such additional remuneration for such additional services as the Board may determine. The Directors may also be paid all travel, hotel and other expenses properly incurred by them in attending and returning from Board meetings or general meetings, or in connection with the business of the Company or their duties as Directors generally.
The business of the Company shall be managed and conducted by or under the direction of the Board. In managing the business of the Company, the Board may exercise all such powers of the Company as are not, by the Act or by these Articles, required to be exercised by the Company in general meeting.
Without limiting the powers of the Board as described in Article 34, the Board shall represent and bind the Company vis-à-vis third parties and may:
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Towards third parties, the Company is in all circumstances committed either by the joint signatures of any two (2) Directors or by the sole signature of the delegate of the Board acting within the limits of his powers.
MEETINGS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
A Director may, and the Secretary on the requisition of a Director shall, at any time convene a Board meeting. Notice of a Board meeting shall be deemed to be duly given to a Director if it is given to such Director verbally (including in person or by telephone) or otherwise communicated or sent to such Director by mail or
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facsimile or electronic mail (with customary proof of confirmation that such notice has been transmitted) at such Director's last known address or in accordance with any other instructions given by such Director to the Company for this purpose.
Directors may participate in any meeting by video conference or by such telephonic or other communication facilities or means as permit all persons participating in the meeting to communicate with each other simultaneously, and participation in such a meeting shall constitute presence in person at such meeting.
The quorum necessary for the transaction of business at a Board meeting shall be two (2) Directors present in person.
The Board may act notwithstanding any vacancy in its number, provided that, if the number of Directors is less than the number fixed by the Act as the minimum number of directors, the continuing Director(s) shall, on behalf of the Board, summon a general meeting for the purpose of appointing new Directors to fill the vacancies or for the purpose of adopting any measures within the competence of the general meeting.
A resolution signed by all the Directors, which may be in counterparts, shall be as valid as if it had been passed at a Board meeting duly called and constituted, such resolution to be effective on the date on which the resolution is signed by the last Director.
All actions taken at any meeting of the Board or by any Director, notwithstanding that it is subsequently discovered that there was a defect in the appointment of a Director or that a Director was disqualified from holding office or had vacated office, shall be as valid as if such Director had been duly appointed, was qualified or had continued to be a Director and had been entitled to take any such action.
CORPORATE RECORDS
The minutes of any meeting of the Board, or extracts thereof, shall be signed by the Chairman or the member of the Board who presided at such meeting.
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Minutes prepared in accordance with the Act and these Articles shall be kept by the Secretary at the registered office of the Company.
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FINANCIAL YEAR
The financial year of the Company shall begin on 1 January and shall end on 31 December in each year.
AUDITOR
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VOLUNTARY WINDING-UP AND DISSOLUTION
CHANGES TO CONSTITUTION
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