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Fir Tree Announces Support for Esso Shareholder Resolution to Allocate 2023 Profit to an Exceptional Dividend

Highlights Need for Greater Transparency on the Economic Relationship Between Esso and Exxon

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fir Tree Partners (“Fir Tree” or “we”), an investor in ExxonMobil’s French affiliate Esso SAF (“Esso” or the “Company”), today issued the following statement in support of the draft resolution submitted by a shareholder in advance of Esso’s Annual General Meeting of Shareholders scheduled to be held on June 20, 2024. The shareholder resolution was published by Esso on June 5, 2024 in the Bulletin des Annonces légales obligatoires.1

The resolution proposes to allocate the Company’s profit for the financial year 2023 to a €41.80 per share exceptional net dividend to be paid to all shareholders, including ExxonMobil, on top of the regular net dividend of €3 per share for a total net dividend of €44.80.

“Esso currently obscures its true financial situation from its shareholders because of the simple fact that it is majority-owned by ExxonMobil. We believe that Esso’s current financial reporting structure makes it impossible for shareholders to have a complete, accurate picture of the economic relationship between the two companies, including the transfer prices for the raw materials that Esso purchases from Exxon for use in its refineries.

Esso’s lack of transparency enables it to seemingly maximize profits for Exxon at the expense of other shareholders. In order to address this imbalance, we support the shareholder resolution to allocate the Company’s available 2023 profit to pay an exceptional dividend to shareholders. Fir Tree is committed to taking all available actions to ensure that both Esso and Exxon act in the best interests of all shareholders moving forward.”

About Fir Tree Partners

Fir Tree was founded in 1994 and is a New York based private investment firm that invests worldwide in public and private companies, real estate and sovereign debt. Fir Tree manages assets on behalf of leading endowments, foundations, pension funds and sovereign wealth funds. Where shareholder engagement could be value-accretive for its investors, Fir Tree follows a Positive Activism® approach in creating, not just identifying, value.

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1 Bulletin BALO n°68 du 05/06/2024, affaire n°2402335. Bulletin des Annonces légales obligatoires. https://www.journal-officiel.gouv.fr/pages/balo-annonce-unitaire/?q.id=id_annonce%3A20240605240233568

Contacts

Media
Longacre Square Partners
Kate Sylvester
ksylvester@longacresquare.com

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Contacts

Media
Longacre Square Partners
Kate Sylvester
ksylvester@longacresquare.com

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