MURRAY INTERNATIONAL TRUST PLC (the "Company")
Legal Entity Identifier (LEI): 549300BP77JO5Y8LM553
3 April 2020
Posting of Notice of Annual General Meeting ("AGM Notice")
A Copy of the AGM Notice has been submitted to the National Storage Mechanism ("NSM") and the document will shortly be available for inspection at: www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/NSM.
*Neither the NSM website nor the Company's website nor the content of any website accessible from hyperlinks on those websites (or any other website) is (or is deemed to be) incorporated into, or forms (or is deemed to form) part of this announcement
Annual General Meeting
Further to the posting of the Annual Report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2019 on 27 March 2020, the Board has now determined to hold the Company's 2020 annual general meeting ("2020 AGM") at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, 27 April 2020 at the offices of Dickson Minto W.S., 17 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh EH2 4DF. The Board wrote to shareholders on 27 March 2020 regarding the decision to postpone the Company's scheduled annual general meeting in the light of the compulsory "Stay at Home" measures that have been implemented by the UK Government to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. These measures provide, among other things, that public gatherings of more than two people are currently not permitted in the UK and that leaving one's home should only be for essential purposes. This made it practically impossible for the Company to hold the AGM at the original time and place of its choosing, the Mermaid Conference Centre in London.
Your Board believes that it is in Shareholders' best interests to proceed with holding an AGM as close as possible to the originally scheduled date, in particular, to renew the Company's share issuance and buy back authorities. The Board has, therefore, continued to consider alternative options acknowledging that Government measures and the timescales during which they will apply are constantly evolving in response to the spread of the virus. As the Company's usual venue in central London is not available on 27 April 2020 and given the more stringent Stay at Home Measures implemented by the Government, your Board has resolved to move the location of the AGM to Edinburgh. This will simplify the practical arrangements for holding the AGM. As a result, the AGM will follow the minimum legal requirements for an AGM. There will be no investor presentation in person by Aberdeen Standard Investments and there will be no refreshments. In line with the Stay at Home measures, Shareholders are strongly discouraged from attending the meeting and indeed entry may be refused if Government guidance so requires. Arrangements will be made by the Company to ensure that the minimum number of Shareholders required to form a quorum will attend the meeting in order that the meeting may proceed and the business concluded.
However, the Board is keen to ensure Shareholders have an opportunity to meet with the Board and the investment management team later in the year when the Stay at Home measures have been relaxed. Therefore, the Company will be writing to Shareholders later in the year with details of an opportunity for Shareholders to attend an investor forum at which the Board and investment manager will be in attendance to present and answer questions.
Given the current environment, it is possible that these arrangements may need to change and the Company will keep Shareholders updated of any such changes on its website www.murray-intl.co.uk and through announcements to the London Stock Exchange.
As the Company does not expect shareholders to attend the 2020 AGM in person, Shareholders are encouraged to submit their proxy appointment (preferably appointing the meeting Chair) as soon as possible. The proposed resolutions are explained fully in the 2019 Annual Report. Submitting a proxy means that Shareholders know that their vote will be counted. For this purpose, a form of proxy is enclosed with the AGM Notice for use by registered Shareholders together with a reply paid envelope. Proxy instructions must be received by the Company's Registrar, Link Asset Services, no later than 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, 23 April 2020. Alternatively, Shareholders may submit their proxy electronically using The Share Portal service at signalshares.com (this only applies to Shareholders with Shares registered in their own name). The same voting deadlines apply.
Aberdeen Asset Management PLC
Company Secretary
