Kroger 2012 Annual Report Download - page 9

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7
PR O X Y S T A T E M E N T
Cincinnati,฀Ohio,฀May฀14,฀2013
Your proxy is solicited by the Board of Directors of The Kroger Co., and the cost of solicitation will
be฀ borne฀ by฀ Kroger.฀ We฀ will฀ reimburse฀ banks,฀ brokers,฀ nominees,฀ and฀ other฀ fiduciaries฀ for฀ postage฀ and฀
reasonable expenses incurred by them in forwarding the proxy material to their principals. Kroger has
retained฀D.F.฀King฀&฀Co.,฀Inc.,฀48฀Wall฀Street,฀New฀York,฀New฀York,฀to฀assist฀in฀the฀solicitation฀of฀proxies฀and฀
will pay that firm a fee estimated at present not to exceed $15,000. Proxies may be solicited personally, by
telephone, electronically via the Internet, or by mail.
David฀B.฀Dillon,฀John฀T.฀LaMacchia,฀and฀Bobby฀S.฀Shackouls,฀all฀of฀whom฀are฀Kroger฀directors,฀have฀been฀
named members of the Proxy Committee.
The principal executive offices of The Kroger Co. are located at 1014 Vine Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-
1100. Our telephone number is 513-762-4000. This Proxy Statement and Annual Report, and the accompanying
proxy,฀were฀first฀furnished฀to฀shareholders฀on฀May฀14,฀2013.
As of the close of business on April 30, 2013, our outstanding voting securities consisted of 520,063,320
common shares, the holders of which will be entitled to one vote per share at the annual meeting. The shares
represented฀by฀each฀proxy฀will฀be฀voted฀unless฀the฀proxy฀is฀revoked฀before฀it฀is฀exercised.฀Revocation฀may฀
be in writing to Kroger’s Secretary, or in person at the meeting, or by appointment of a subsequent proxy.
Shareholders may not cumulate votes in the election of directors.
The฀effect฀of฀broker฀non-votes฀and฀abstentions฀on฀matters฀presented฀for฀shareholder฀vote฀is฀as฀follows:
Item No. 1, Election of Directors – An affirmative majority of the total number of votes cast “for” or
“against”฀a฀director฀nominee฀is฀required฀for฀election.฀Accordingly,฀broker฀non-votes฀and฀abstentions฀will฀have฀
no effect on this proposal.
Item No. 2, Advisory Vote to Approve Executive Compensation – Approval by shareholders of
executive compensation requires the affirmative vote of the majority of shares participating in the voting.
Accordingly,฀broker฀non-votes฀and฀abstentions฀will฀have฀no฀effect฀on฀this฀proposal.
Item No. 3, Selection of Auditors – Ratification by shareholders of the selection of independent public
accountants requires the affirmative vote of the majority of shares participating in the voting. Accordingly,
abstentions will have no effect on this proposal.
Item Nos. 4, 5, 6 and 7, Shareholder Proposals – The affirmative vote of a majority of shares
participating in the voting on a shareholder proposal is required for its adoption. Proxies will be voted
AGAINST฀these฀proposals฀unless฀the฀Proxy฀Committee฀is฀otherwise฀instructed฀on฀a฀proxy฀properly฀executed฀
and฀returned.฀Broker฀non-votes฀and฀abstentions฀will฀have฀no฀effect฀on฀these฀proposals.