Good afternoon, I'm Paul Graves, President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director of Livent Corporation. Welcome to Livent's 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. I would like to remind everyone that today's discussion will include forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those identified in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Information presented represents our best judgment based on today's information. Actual results may vary based upon risks and uncertainties. Before we begin the formal portion of this meeting, I'd like to provide a few remarks on the global coronavirus pandemic. First, I'd like to thank all of the healthcare professionals around the world who've continued to fight to contain the virus, as well as all of the first responders and other essential workers. In addition, I'd like to recognize the efforts of Livent's own employees. For over a year now, our people have stepped up and adapted their routines and practices, both personally and professionally. They've worked tirelessly to take the necessary precautions to prioritize health, safety, and well-being, not just for themselves, but for their colleagues, their loved ones, and their communities. They never lost focus on operating safely and continuing to meet the needs of our customers. The pandemic also provided opportunities for us as a company to further engage with and support our communities. From donating personal protective equipment in the U.K. to providing medical personnel, ambulance services, and essential air transportation in Argentina, we are grateful to have been in a position to help our neighbors. On behalf of the Livent executive team, I want to take this opportunity to give a special thank you to all of our employees around the world, and especially our on-site essential employees who have continued to keep our production facilities up and running. Onto our meeting. This is the second year we are holding our annual meeting in an all-virtual format. We strive to make the meeting as inclusive as possible by offering our stockholders the same opportunities to participate as would be provided in person. We appreciate your participation today. Let's begin by attending to a few formalities. If you are a stockholder and wish to ask a question, you can submit your question at any time on the virtual meeting website. We will try to address any relevant questions that you have during the question-and-answer session at the end of our meeting. We will also post any questions and answers, if relevant, on our investor relations website following the meeting. The polls are open and will close after the presentation of our business matters. We've adopted an agenda that will govern the order of business and the rules of order for the meeting. Copies of the agenda and the rules are available on the virtual meeting site. We ask that participants abide by these rules. I'm pleased to welcome our other board members to our virtual meeting. Pierre Brondeau, Michael Barry, Peter D'Aloia, Christina Lampe-Önnerud, Pablo Marcet, Steven Merkt, Robert Pallash, and Andrea Utecht. In addition, I'm pleased to welcome Robert Capriotti and Mike Lacaze, our auditors from KPMG, to our virtual meeting. Prior to officially calling the annual meeting to order, I will briefly touch on 2020 market conditions and our longer-term outlook. 2020 was a challenging year for Livent and the lithium industry as a whole. While COVID-19 was not the sole cause of the challenges, it amplified near-term pressure by disrupting global supply chains and temporarily delaying the strong rebound in demand that was expected throughout 2020. Many lithium producers and resource developers responded to pricing and logistical challenges related to the pandemic by reducing output and delaying or canceling capacity expansion projects. In early 2020, Livent elected to temporarily suspend its global capacity expansion program to preserve financial flexibility while awaiting improved market visibility and further commitments from customers. Following the reopening of automotive production plants, which were largely shut down in the first half of 2020, the resiliency of electric vehicle sales became increasingly clear. Supported by renewed focus and commitment from governments and leading OEMs, EV sales climbed into year-end. This growth was not limited to China, which was earlier in its COVID-19 recovery, but in fact was led by Europe, which ultimately surpassed China in total EV sales for the first time in 2020. However, the pro-electrification policies being implemented by major governments around the world go beyond near-term subsidies and incentives. They will fundamentally transform the way future economies are powered. As electric vehicles and energy storage are further ingrained with the global consumer, the escalating demand is becoming more certain. As more OEMs start to better understand the lithium market as active purchasers of material, we expect they will further align themselves with the most credible existing producers like Livent under longer term arrangements. We continue to see evidence that demand for lithium compounds will accelerate in 2021 and beyond, with growing support for electrification from OEMs, governments, and consumers, and we remain excited about the future opportunities for Livent and know that we must stay focused on executing on our priorities for growth, operational excellence, and customer focus. With Livent's long-standing track record and differentiated position, highlighted by our low-cost profile, strong sustainability footprint, and global capabilities, we believe we will continue to be a partner of choice for our customers and are well-positioned to take advantage of this opportunity for years to come. On the topic of sustainability, I want to highlight a few important achievements for Livent since our last annual meeting. First, we recorded zero recordable injuries worldwide and zero recordable spills or releases worldwide in 2020. This would be a great accomplishment in any year, but it's even more so now given all the potential distractions from the pandemic. Second, we completed our first green bond issuance in 2020 under the principles of the International Capital Market Association. The green bond framework we established allowed us to showcase our unique sustainability profile and role as an enabler of green transportation and electrification growth. We intend to build upon this moving forward. Lastly, earlier this year, we announced our new sustainability goals, reflecting the priorities of our customers, communities, investors, employees, and other stakeholders based on extensive and ongoing dialogue we have with all of these groups. We would encourage you to review these goals, which are available on our corporate website and will be outlined in more detail in our latest sustainability report to be released in the coming months. I'll now call our 2021 annual meeting of stockholders officially to order. The Inspector of Elections, Ron Stark, Chief Accounting Officer of the company, has signed an oath of office. I have been informed by the inspector that proxies representing 83.7% of Livent's total issued and outstanding common shares have been received, and that a quorum is present at this meeting authorizing the conduct of business. The polls will continue to be open at this meeting while all eligible matters for stockholders are introduced. Each of the director candidates has been duly nominated, and each of the other matters to be voted on at this meeting, as listed in the order of business, are considered to have already been moved and seconded and open to a stockholder vote. Our first item of business is the election of three directors to serve as Class III directors. Pierre Brondeau, Peter D'Aloia, and Robert Pallash, each nominated for election for a three-year term to expire at the 2024 annual meeting of stockholders. We have not received any notice of intent by any stockholder to nominate any alternative director candidates. The nominations are closed. The second item on our agenda is the ratification of the selection of our independent registered public accountant. The firm of KPMG has been selected by the audit committee to be the independent registered public accountant for Livent Corporation for 2021. The third item on our agenda is the non-binding advisory note on named executive officer compensation. The fourth item on our agenda is the approval of proposed amendments to the company's amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws to eliminate, over a period of three years, the classification of the company's board of directors without affecting the unexpired terms of directors. The fifth item on our agenda is the approval of a proposed amendment to the company's amended and restated certificate of incorporation to replace supermajority voting requirements with a simple majority of outstanding shares requirement. We have not received notice of any other business to be presented at this meeting. The discussion of the matters for stockholder consideration is now closed, and the polls are now also closed. I will now share with you the preliminary voting tabulation. Any votes that were cast at the meeting have not yet been included in this preliminary voting tabulation, but they will be included in the final report of the Inspector of Elections and in our published voting results. Each of the nominees for director has received at least 91,595,935 votes, constituting 90.7% of the votes cast with respect to the election of directors at the meeting. Accordingly, the three nominees for directors have been duly elected. With regard to the ratification of the selection of KPMG as independent registered public accountant for 2021, 121,885,161 shares, constituting 99.3% of the shares represented at the meeting, were voted in favor of ratification. Accordingly, the appointment of KPMG to serve as independent registered public accountant for 2021 has duly been ratified. With regard to the non-binding advisory vote on named executive officer compensation, 95,892,361 shares, constituting 94.8% of the shares represented at the meeting, were voted in favor of the named executive officer compensation. With regard to the proposed amendments to the company's amended and restated certificate of incorporation, amended and restated bylaws to eliminate, over a period of three years, the classification of the company's board of directors without affecting the unexpired term of directors, 99,294,967 shares, constituting 67.7% of the outstanding shares of common stock, were voted in favor of the proposal. Because this proposal required the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 80% of all outstanding shares of common stock entitled to vote at this meeting, this proposal was not approved. With regard to the proposed amendment to the company's amended and restated certificate of incorporation to replace super majority voting requirements with a simple majority of outstanding shares requirement, 100,380,003 shares, constituting 68.5% of the outstanding shares of common stock, were voted in favor of the proposal. Because this proposal required the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 80% of all outstanding shares of common stock entitled to vote at this meeting, this proposal was not approved. We will post the details of all of these matters on our investor relations website and file a Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission to report these results. The final report of the Inspector of Elections will be added to the minutes of this meeting. We have now concluded the formal business portion of the annual meeting, and the meeting is now adjourned. We will now start the Q&A portion of the meeting. We will take a brief moment now to compile any questions. It looks like there are no relevant questions that have been submitted at this time. Thank you, Dan. As there are no relevant questions, I would like to thank everyone for joining us today at Livent's 2021 annual meeting of stockholders. Enjoy the rest of your day, t hank you.
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