Wintergreen Advisers responds to Coca-Cola’s statement regarding new Equity Stewardship Guidelines

Wintergreen Advisers today released the following statement by David Winters:

“Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) has finally conceded that the equity compensation plan it put to a vote of shareholders in April was outrageously excessive and inconsistent with past plans. This has been Wintergreen Advisers’ publicly expressed view since we first read Coca-Cola’s proxy statement in March of this year. No amount of backtracking by the Coca-Cola board of directors can hide the fact that we believe it tried to sneak one by shareholders in Coca-Cola’s proxy materials and statements at the April shareholder meeting. Today's statement by Coca-Cola only calls into question the competence and leadership of the board of directors and management. Much more work has to be done to revitalize Coca-Cola and restore trust in the company.”