* Quebec's Caisse backs call for more transparency at
Bombardier
* Bombardier board nominees all elected to company board
* Share consolidation plan wins overwhelming approval
(Adds details on Caisse stance, background)
By Allison Lampert
MIRABEL, Quebec, April 29 (Reuters) - Bombardier Inc 's
BBDb.TO dual-class share structure is vital to protect the
long-term interests of the Quebec-based aerospace and
transportation company, and the Bombardier-Beaudoin family has
no plans to relinquish its majority control, Executive Chairman
Pierre Beaudoin said on Friday.
"For the family, the success of this company has always been
important. The family was there in good and bad times," Beaudoin
said in response to a question at Bombardier's annual meeting.
"The multiple voting right shares enable us to invest in the
long term and allow us to protect the company against its
dismantling, and we do not want to change anything."
The share structure has long faced criticism, especially
given the company's missteps around its long-delayed and
over-budget CSeries passenger planes that won a reprieve with a
big order from Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) DAL.N on Thursday.
Several major investors, including the Quebec pension fund,
have pressed the Bombardier-Beaudoin family to reduce its voting
control of the company, according to sources.
The family has resisted ceding control of Bombardier,
founded in 1942 by snowmobile inventor Joseph-Armand Bombardier.
It moved into train and plane building via acquisitions made by
his son-in-law, Laurent Beaudoin.
The company's founding family has a 53.23 percent voting
stake, largely via the 79.5 percent stake of Bombardier's Class
A multiple voting shares the family controls. Those shares carry
10 votes per share, while Class B shares carry 1 vote per share.
Bombardier has conceded that the dual-class structure is a
factor in negotiations for a $1 billion cash infusion from the
Canadian government.
Beaudoin on Friday declined to comment on the funding talks,
saying only that he urged Canada to match Quebec's pledge to put
$1 billion into the CSeries passenger jet program.
Some influential minority shareholders, including at least
three major Canadian pension funds, had called for greater
transparency within Bombardier and opposed changes to its stock
option plan and other proposals.
British Columbia's main public sector pension fund has said
it planned to withhold support from all five of the
Bombardier-Beaudoin family members on the company's board.
But Bombardier, as expected, easily passed all resolutions
put forward by the company on Friday and won backing for all its
board nominees despite the opposition from some shareholders.
The company's stock consolidation plan, aimed at boosting
its sagging share price, passed with 98.5 percent backing.
A shareholder proposal seeking greater transparency was
defeated. It would have forced Bombardier to separately disclose
voting results on all resolutions by class of shares.
The proposal, though, did win backing from Bombardier's
third-largest shareholder and ally in its rail business,
Quebec-based institutional investor La Caisse de dépôt et
placement du Québec.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Bombardier, Boeing (NYSE:BA) & Airbus share price performance: http://link.reuters.com/ryt75w
Bombardier's board of directors: http://reut.rs/1K6xa49
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>