LINK: NO to spending NOK 5m on board members as “AI consultants”

LINK Mobility will hold an extraordinary general meeting on October 19th. The Nomination Committee proposes to grant options to the board members in a new “strategy group”, which is to work on an agenda related to AI, products and technology. The chair of the group would receive 150,000 options and each member 75,000.

Hvaler Invest will vote against. Our reasons are as follows:

  1. Options measure the wrong thing. The share price is affected by the market, by the results management delivers and by many other factors that the strategy group does not control. We believe LINK is currently priced below its underlying value. That means the options have significant upside before the group has done anything at all. The result is payment for share price appreciation, not for work performed. If our target price is reached, the company and we as shareholders will have given away approximately NOK 5m to this group through the options. In our view, this is a rather idiotic way of compensating ordinary board work.
     

  2. We do not see the need. We have confidence in Thomas Berge and the management team, and they are delivering. In Q2, organic gross profit returned to growth, and things are moving in the right direction after a couple of rough quarters. AI is an important topic, but it does not turn every industry upside down. For LINK, it is by no means obvious that major changes are needed beyond efficiency improvements, and management has already started that work.
     

  3. Strategy is management’s responsibility. The board is of course responsible for the company’s strategy, but we believe the CEO and management should drive the strategy work. Thomas has 20+ years of industry experience and has served as both CEO and CFO of LINK for a long time. The board should challenge, decide on and anchor the strategy. Reversing that order risks a strategy that is detached from operations. This could lead to a plan that is put in a drawer and never used (best case), or to a strategy that does not work in practice and an attempt to implement it that takes time and focus away from key resources in the company (worst case). In addition, this board of seven is entirely new to the company. That increases the risk of a poor process and a poor outcome.

 

Our alternative: If additional capacity is needed from the board, a strategy committee with a fixed fee should be established, in line with the audit and remuneration committees. Board members who want “skin in the game” should buy shares. We recommend our own analysis of the company if you are wondering whether there is more upside 😊

 

Hvaler Invest owns approximately 6 million shares in LINK and is a long-term shareholder. We encourage other shareholders to vote against the proposal before the deadline.

Best regards,
David and Sverre

Hvaler Invest AS
Lillestrøm, Norway
13.10.26


Disclaimer:
Hvaler Invest is a significant shareholder so you cannot trust us (or perhaps you can?)