(The Center Square) — ExxonMobil is pushing back against New York City Comptroller Mark Levine after he called on shareholders to reject the company’s proposed relocation of its headquarters from New Jersey to Texas.
In a new filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company blasted Levine’s “politically motivated” letter to federal regulators last week, in which called on shareholders to reject the company’s proposed move. The company accused the Democrat of a “misrepresentation” of its proposal to relocate to another state.
“We encourage our shareholders to recognize this baseless attempt for what it is,” Exxon wrote in Tuesday’s SEC filing. “Re-domiciling to Texas, where we have a long-term, substantial presence, aligns our corporate governance and operating domains and improves the company’s ability to create long-term shareholder value, while fully preserving shareholder rights.”
Last week, Levine urged Exxon’s shareholders to reject the company’s proposal to move its corporate offices to the Lone Star State in an SEC filing. He claimed Texas is a jurisdiction with “less robust” shareholder rights. He also claimed the company’s proposed retail voting program is “not in the long-term interests of shareholders and will only serve to entrench company leadership.”
The letter was widely criticized by legal reform groups who called it a sign of New Jersey’s eroding legacy of innovation and job creation that has companies voting with their feet. They pointed to recent lawsuits filed by New Jersey and New York targeting the fossil fuel industry.
But ExxonMobil’s SEC filing said there is “no connection” between ExxonMobil’s proposal to redomicile to Texas and its retail voting program, calling the comptroller’s claims “blatant scaremongering” in an effort “to conjure support for their shareholder proposal.”
“More importantly, there is no fact pattern to indicate a coordinated effort to limit shareholder rights or discourage their active participation in governance processes,” it wrote “In fact, the opposite is true. In both cases, the Company can point to material assertions and structural changes that secure the same – if not more – shareholder rights.
Exxon said it wants to relocate to Texas “in an effort to clean up the vestiges of corporate governance established in the 19th century and relocate our legal home to a state that understands our business and derives direct benefits from it.”
The company said it also wants to make retail proxy voting “less cumbersome but cannot, legally, assist shareholders in voting against Board recommendations because to do so would violate long-established solicitation rules and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors.”
ExxonMobil is one of several major corporations that have announced plans to move to Texas in recent years, with business groups noting that the state offers lower taxes and operating costs, a large workforce, expansive industry ecosystem and government incentives.
