Kroger 2013 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,฀2014
This฀Combined฀Notice,฀Proxy฀Statement฀and฀Annual฀Report฀is฀being฀furnished฀to฀the฀shareholders฀of฀
The฀Kroger฀Co.฀in฀connection฀with฀the฀solicitation฀of฀proxies฀by฀the฀Board฀of฀Directors฀for฀use฀at฀the฀Annual฀
Meeting฀of฀Shareholders฀to฀be฀held฀on฀June฀26,฀2014,฀at฀11฀a.m.,฀eastern฀time,฀at฀the฀MUSIC฀HALL฀BALLROOM,฀
MUSIC฀HALL,฀1241฀Elm฀Street,฀Cincinnati,฀Ohio฀45202฀and฀at฀any฀adjournments฀thereof.฀
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,฀2014.
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.
Robert฀D.฀Beyer,฀W.฀Rodney฀McMullen,฀and฀Ronald฀L.฀Sargent,฀all฀of฀whom฀are฀Kroger฀directors,฀have฀
been฀named฀members฀of฀the฀Proxy฀Committee.
As฀of฀the฀close฀of฀business฀on฀April฀29,฀2014,฀the฀record฀date,฀our฀outstanding฀voting฀securities฀consisted฀
of 509,553,233฀ 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.
If฀you฀hold฀shares฀in฀street฀name฀and฀do฀not฀provide฀your฀broker฀with฀specific฀voting฀instructions฀on฀
proposals฀1,฀2,฀3,฀5฀and฀6,฀your฀broker฀does฀not฀have฀the฀authority฀to฀vote฀on฀those฀proposals.฀This฀is฀generally฀
referred฀to฀as฀a฀“broker฀non-vote.”฀Proposal฀4฀is฀considered฀a฀routine฀matter฀and,฀therefore,฀your฀broker฀may฀
vote฀ your฀ shares฀ according฀ to฀ your฀ broker’s฀ discretion.฀ The฀ vote฀ required,฀ including฀ the฀ effect฀ of฀ broker฀
non-votes฀and฀abstentions฀for฀each฀of฀the฀matters฀presented฀for฀shareholder฀vote,฀is฀set฀forth฀below.
Item No. 1, Election of Directors฀–฀An฀affirmative฀vote฀of฀the฀majority฀of฀the฀total฀number฀of฀votes฀
cast฀“for”฀or฀“against”฀a฀director฀nominee฀is฀required฀for฀the฀election฀of฀a฀director฀in฀an฀uncontested฀election.฀
Accordingly,฀broker฀non-votes฀and฀abstentions฀will฀have฀no฀effect฀on฀this฀proposal. A฀majority฀of฀votes฀cast฀
means฀that฀the฀number฀of฀shares฀voted฀“for”฀a฀director฀nominee฀must฀exceed฀the฀number฀of฀votes฀“against”฀
such director.
Item No. 2, Approval of 2014 Long-Term Incentive and Cash Bonus Plan – Approval฀by฀shareholders฀
of฀the฀Plan฀requires฀the฀affirmative฀vote฀of฀the฀majority฀of฀shares฀entitled฀to฀vote฀on฀the฀matter.฀Accordingly,฀
broker฀non-votes฀and฀abstentions฀will฀have฀no฀effect฀on฀this฀proposal.
Item No. 3, Advisory Vote to Approve Executive Compensation฀ –฀ Approval฀ by฀ shareholders฀ of฀
executive฀compensation฀requires฀the฀affirmative฀vote฀of฀the฀majority฀of฀shares฀entitled฀to฀vote฀on฀the฀matter.฀
Accordingly,฀broker฀non-votes฀and฀abstentions฀will฀have฀no฀effect฀on฀this฀proposal.
Item No. 4, Selection of Auditors฀–฀Ratification฀by฀shareholders฀of฀the฀selection฀of฀independent฀public฀
accountants฀requires฀the฀affirmative฀vote฀of฀the฀majority฀of฀shares฀entitled฀to฀vote฀on฀the฀matter.฀Accordingly,฀
abstentions฀will฀have฀no฀effect฀on฀this฀proposal.
Item Nos. 5 and 6, 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.