ILJIN SNT Co., Ltd. Announces Its Intention to Vote Against Aurinia Pharmaceuticals's Revised Equity Incentive Plan Proposal
ILJIN SNT Co., Ltd. Announces Its Intention to Vote Against Aurinia Pharmaceuticals's Revised Equity Incentive Plan Proposal
SEOUL, South Korea, June 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ --
2024年6月7日，韓國首爾/PRNewswire/--
Dear Fellow Shareholders,
親愛的股東朋友們：
ILJIN SNT Co., Ltd. ("ILJIN") is a long-standing investor of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. ("Aurinia" or the "Company"), and, together with its affiliates, currently holds more than 5% of Aurinia's common stock.
ILJIN SNT有限公司("ILJIN")是Aurinia Pharmaceuticals股份有限公司("Aurinia")的長期投資者，與其關聯公司持有Aurinia普通股的5%以上。ILJIN作爲公司最大和歷史最久的股東之一，ILJIN想分享其對公司發行過多的RSU給其高管和董事會成員的看法。毫無疑問，這違反了許多關心公司未來的Aurinia股東的意願。Aurinia"或"公司與其關聯公司一起，作爲公司最大和歷史最久的股東之一，ILJIN目前持有Aurinia普通股的5%以上。
As one of the Company's largest and longest-standing shareholders, ILJIN would like to share its views regarding the Company's issuance of excessive amounts of RSUs to its executives and Board members. No doubt this is against the wishes of many Aurinia shareholders concerned about the Company's future.
正如您所知，公司管理層最近修訂了Proxy Statement/Circular的第4項"股權激勵計劃"，現在新增的"計劃股份"數量從之前的1137.5萬股減少到850萬股。正如我們在先前致公司股東的信函中所指出的，ILJIN對公司的股權激勵計劃存在嚴重擔憂。簡而言之，對於ILJIN來說，股票獎勵計劃似乎並沒有有效地作爲激勵計劃發揮作用，反而充當了一種贈送股份的計劃，使現有Aurinia股東的持股比例受到嚴重稀釋，而董事會成員和公司高管則從中獲利。
As you know, Company management recently revised its proposed amendment to the "Equity Incentive Plan" in Proposal 4 of the Proxy Statement/Circular, so now the number of new "Plan Shares" is reduced to 8,500,000 shares from the previous 11,375,000 shares. As we indicated in our previous letters to fellow shareholders, ILJIN has grave concerns about the Company's Equity Incentive Plan. In short, to ILJIN, the stock award plan does not appear to function effectively as an incentive plan -- but rather operates as a share give-away plan that enriches Board members and Company executives at the expense of substantial share dilution on the part of existing Aurinia shareholders.
公司在過去幾年中授予了大量的RSU（與期權不同，這是股票發放而不需要收受者付出代價），並向其董事會成員和高管授予了大量的獎勵。例如，公司在2022年至2024年期間向Peter Greenleaf先生總共授予了155萬股RSU，RSU將於2023年至2027年期間完全歸屬。一旦RSU完全歸屬，Greenleaf先生將獲得155萬股Aurinia股票，而不需要達成任何其他業績里程碑條件。考慮到免費股份數量的巨大，以及它們的歸屬期限一直持續到2027年，我們懷疑Greenleaf先生是否真的有真正的動力在2023年至2024年期間成功完成公司的戰略審查。
The Company has been awarding a massive number of RSUs (which, unlike stock options, are stock grants with zero cost to the recipients) to its Board members and executives during the past several years. For example, the Company awarded Mr. Peter Greenleaf a total of 1,550,000 RSUs between 2022 and 2024, and the RSUs will be vesting fully during the period of 2023-2027. Once the RSUs are fully vested, Mr. Greenleaf will acquire 1.55 million Aurinia shares without the requirement that any additional performance milestones be met. Given the significant number of free shares involved, and vesting period running through 2027 we doubt whether Mr. Greenleaf had a genuine motivation to successfully conclude the Company's Strategic Review in 2023-2024.
此外，除了155萬股的RSU授予，Greenleaf先生還將在績效獎項的歸屬中獲得額外的35萬股。因此，Greenleaf先生在2023年至2027年期間可以獲得高達1.9 million股的獎勵。與此同時，雖然Greenleaf先生獲得了大量的股權補償，但公司股東在過去3年中目睹了超過50%的股東價值破壞。對於ILJIN來說，這些董事會成員和公司高管似乎是在利用公司的"股權激勵計劃"獲得大量和過分的股權獎勵，而不需要達到任何有效的績效里程碑。零不用說，ILJIN認爲"股權激勵計劃"的無效管理是由於董事會缺乏積極行使對管理層績效的監督能力和意願所致。ILJIN認爲，這些董事會成員未能正確執行管理層的責任，同時也未能審慎地審批所有這些過高的股權激勵計劃，從而導致了實質性的股份稀釋。董事會成員本應確保Peter Greenleaf和其他管理人員和董事會成員"賺取"這些股份，而不是"送給"他們。
On top of the aggregate 1.55 million RSU grant, Mr. Greenleaf is also set to receive an additional 350,000 shares upon the vesting of Performance Awards. As a result, Mr. Greenleaf may acquire up to a total of 1.9 million shares during the period of 2023-2027. Meanwhile, while Mr. Greenleaf receives substantial equity compensation, the Company's shareholders have witnessed a shareholder value destruction by more than 50% during the past 3 years. To ILJIN, these Board members and Company executives appear to have been using the Company's "Equity Incentive Plan" –to gain substantial and excessive equity awards without being required to meet any effective performance milestones.
因此，ILJIN將投反對票反對Proxy Statement/Circular中提議的或修正的公司補償計劃，並將撤回對Peter Greenleaf和某些其他董事會成員的支持。Greenleaf先生是贈予股權獎勵最多的人之一。
Needless to say, ILJIN believes the ineffective administration of the "Equity Incentive Plan" is a result of the Board's lack of the ability and willingness to aggressively exercise oversight of management performance. ILJIN believes these Board members have failed to properly enforce management accountability while also they have been also rubber stamping all these exorbitant stock incentive plans to the detriment of significant share dilution. The Board members should have instead ensured that Peter Greenleaf and others in management and on the Board "earn" these shares.
ILJIN認爲，必須向公司的管理層和董事會發出明確的信息，指出他們都必須改變，要對公司的管理表現以及擔任高管和董事會成員的身份承擔責任。否則，ILJIN認爲，股票獎勵在董事會沒有任何有意義的監督下繼續發放，股東價值的破壞可能繼續。ILJIN打算通過投票傳遞這個信息。
For these reasons, ILJIN will vote against the Company's compensation plan as proposed or amended in the Proxy Statement/Circular, and will withhold support for Peter Greenleaf and certain other Board members.
因此，ILJIN將投反對票反對Proxy Statement/Circular中提議的或修正的公司補償計劃，並將撤回對Peter Greenleaf和某些其他董事會成員的支持。
ILJIN believes it is time to send an unequivocal message that the Company's management and Board must be changed, and that from now on, they all should be held accountable for their performance as the Company's executives and Board members. Otherwise, ILJIN believes the destruction of shareholder value may continue while stock awards continue to be granted without any meaningful oversight by the Board. ILJIN intends to send this message with its vote at the upcoming AGM.
ILJIN認爲現在是向公司的管理層和董事會發出明確信息的時候了，這都必須改變。從現在開始，他們都應該對公司的管理表現以及擔任高管和董事會成員的身份承擔責任。否則，ILJIN認爲，股東價值的破壞可能會繼續下去，而董事會則繼續批准所有這些股權激勵計劃，而這將嚴重稀釋股權。ILJIN打算通過投票發出這個信息。
Sincerely,
KH Sung
CEO of ILJIN SNT Co., Ltd.
此致敬禮，
KH Sung
ILJIN SNT有限公司CEO
CONTACT: Yoonhwa Lee, [email protected]
聯繫人：Yoonhwa Lee，[email protected]
SOURCE ILJIN SNT Co., Ltd.
ILJIN SNT有限公司來源