Wintergreen Asks Coca-Cola To Immediately Claw Back Any Secret Bonus Shares

(RTTNews) - Wintergreen Advisers LLC said that the Board of Directors of the Coca-Cola Company (KO) failed to protect shareholders' interests by introducing secret "bonus shares" for top management as part of Coca-Cola's 2014 Equity Compensation Plan.

In a letter to the Coca-Cola Board released today, Wintergreen said it believes Coca-Cola's 2014 Proxy Statement did not adequately identify and explain the concept of secret bonus shares, and as a result, it believes the disclosure in the 2014 Proxy Statement regarding the secret bonus shares fell far short of both the spirit and the letter of the federal securities laws governing proxy disclosure.

Wintergreen called on Coca-Cola to immediately claw back any secret bonus shares that have been granted and to pledge that none will be issued in the future. Wintergreen also requested the resignation of all board members, management and consultants or advisers who assisted in the 2014 Equity Plan debacle.