Kroger 2014 Annual Report Download - page 10

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8
PR O X Y S T A T E M E N T
May฀13,฀2015
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฀25,฀2015,฀at฀11:00฀a.m.,฀eastern฀time,฀at฀the฀Music฀Hall฀Ballroom,฀
Music฀Hall,฀1241฀Elm฀Street,฀Cincinnati,฀Ohio฀45202฀and฀at฀any฀adjournments฀thereof.
Our฀ principal฀ executive฀ offices฀ 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฀
card฀were฀first฀furnished฀to฀shareholders฀on฀May฀13,฀2015.
Your฀proxy฀is฀being฀solicited฀by฀the฀Board฀of฀Directors฀of฀The฀Kroger฀Co.,฀and฀the฀cost฀of฀solicitation฀
will฀be฀borne฀by฀Kroger.฀Kroger฀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฀for฀the฀2015฀Annual฀Meeting.
As฀of฀the฀close฀of฀business฀on฀April฀30,฀2015,฀the฀record฀date,฀our฀outstanding฀voting฀securities฀consisted฀
of฀490,201,501฀ 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฀in฀the฀manner฀specified฀unless฀the฀proxy฀is฀
revoked฀ before฀ it฀ is฀ exercised.฀ You฀ may฀ change฀ or฀ revoke฀ your฀ proxy฀ by฀ giving฀ us฀ notice฀ in฀ writing฀ sent฀
to฀ Kroger’s฀ Secretary,฀ or฀ in฀ person฀ at฀ the฀ meeting,฀ or฀ by฀ executing฀ and฀ sending฀ us฀ a฀ subsequent฀ proxy.฀
Shareholders฀may฀not฀cumulate฀votes฀in฀the฀election฀of฀directors.
If฀ you฀ are฀ a฀ registered฀ shareholder฀ and฀ return฀ your฀ proxy฀ card฀ without฀ instructions,฀ the฀ Proxy฀
Committee฀will฀vote฀in฀accordance฀with฀the฀recommendations฀of฀the฀Board฀of฀Directors.฀If฀you฀hold฀shares฀
in฀street฀name฀and฀do฀not฀provide฀your฀broker฀with฀specific฀voting฀instructions฀on฀proposals฀1,฀2,฀4,฀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฀3฀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, Advisory Vote to Approve Executive Compensation฀–฀Advisor y฀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, Ratification of Independent 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, and 6, Shareholder Proposals –฀ The฀ affirmative฀ vote฀ of฀ the฀ majority฀ of฀ shares฀
participating฀in฀the฀voting฀on฀a฀shareholder฀proposal฀is฀required฀for฀its฀adoption.฀Accordingly,฀broker฀non-votes฀
and฀abstentions฀will฀have฀no฀effect฀on฀these฀proposals.฀Proxies฀will฀be฀voted฀AGAINST฀these฀proposals฀unless฀
the฀Proxy฀Committee฀is฀otherwise฀instructed฀on฀a฀proxy฀properly฀executed฀and฀returned.