CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) plans to reduce its corporate board of directors to 13 members by eliminating three members that came from its acquisition of Qwest Communications International Inc., a recent regulatory filing indicates.
Charles L. Biggs and James A. Unruh, both former Qwest directors, won't run for re-election when their terms run out. Last week, it was revealed that Ed Mueller, the former chief executive officer and chairman of Qwest, is resigning from the board a year before his term was set to expire.
According to proxy statements filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, CenturyLink will officially announce the board member changes during its annual shareholders’ meeting May 23 in Monroe, La.
In addition to the proposed board-member changes, shareholders will vote also on a proposal to elect directors annually. As it sits, the CenturyLink board is divided into three classes, which face election every three years.
The board-election proposal was initially recommended the board's Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee earlier this year.
"The Committee considered the view of some shareholders who believe that classified boards have the effect of reducing the accountability of directors to shareholders because classified boards limit the ability of shareholders to evaluate and elect all directors on an annual basis," CenturyLink revealed in the regulatory filing. "The Committee in its evaluation gave considerable weight to the approval at the 2011 annual meeting of a shareholder proposal urging the Board to take the necessary steps to elect directors annually."
For more:
- Billing World has this article
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