KaKao

- 4,024 shareholders (239,040,573 shares) were present to exercise their votes at the 28th Annual General Meeting, recording a 54.7% participation rate

- Bae Jae-hyun, General of Investment at Kakao Corporation Alignment Council, and Chung Shina, CEO of Kakao Ventures, were respectively appointed as an inside director and other non-executive director

- Approves agenda to retire 1,897,441 treasury shares to raise shareholder value

 

[March 28, 2023] Kakao (CEO, Hong Euntaek) announced on March 28 that Kakao’s 28th Annual General Meeting for Shareholders was held at the Kakao headquarters in Jeju-si, Jeju-do.

 

4,024 shareholders (239,040,573 shares) were present at the 28th Annual General Meeting for Shareholders, with a total participation rate of 54.7%, or 30.5% excluding Kakao’s largest shareholders and affiliated persons. Shareholders with 42,882,453 shares, which is equivalent to 17.9% of shares in attendance, exercised their vote through electronic voting.

 

Along with audit and business reports, a total of nine agenda items, including the approval of financial statements, partial amendment to the Articles of Incorporation, appointment of members of the board of directors, appointment of an outside director who will act as a member of the Audit Committee, appointment of members of the Audit Committee, approval of directors’ total remuneration, retirement of treasury shares, revision of payment regulations for directors' retirement allowance, and approval of granting stock options, were submitted and passed without amendments.

 

With the passing of the director appointment agenda, Bae Jae-hyun, General of Investment at Kakao Corporation Alignment Council, was appointed as the inside director, and Chung Shina, CEO of Kakao Ventures, was appointed as the other non-executive director. Shin Sun-kyung, partner at the LIWU Law Group, was appointed as an outside director, bringing Kakao’s board of directors to a total of seven, which consists of two inside directors, one other non-executive director and four outside directors. Four of the seven directors are women.

 

Meanwhile, following the passing of the agenda to retire treasury shares, 1,897,441 treasury shares will soon be retired. In February 2022, Kakao announced a mid to long-term shareholder return policy, which purpose is to increase shareholder value. As part of this policy, Kakao will allocate 15% to 30% of its non-consolidated free cash flow for shareholder return over the next three years. Out of the allocated percentage, five percent will be used as cash dividend and 10% to 25% is to be used to buyback and retire treasury shares.

 

Kakao will strengthen communication with shareholders and stakeholders by disclosing the ratio of shareholders by country on their website, and continuously look into various ways to improve shareholder value. (End)