Canada Pension Plan Investment Board will vote its Google Inc. shares to oppose the re-election as a director of Sergey Brin, co-founder of the company, and a shareholder proposal calling for the adoption and disclosure of a set of principles to address the impact of Google's tax strategies on society.
The C$201.5 billion ($184.9 billion) Toronto-based CPPIB is withholding its vote on Mr. Brin, while voting in favor of the election of the other nominees for director.
The $1 billion AFSCME Pension Plan, Washington, will vote its Google shares to oppose the re-election of Mr. Brin and two other co-founders, Larry Page, CEO, and Eric E. Schmidt, executive chairman, as directors the company.
In addition, the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees plan will vote to oppose the re-election as independent directors of L. John Doerr, Ann Mather and K. Ram Shriram.
The AFSCME plan is voting in favor of the taxation proposal.
Domini Social Investments' Domini Social Equity Fund is the lead sponsor of the taxation proposal, which states, “Google's complex tax arrangements may result in misallocations of capital and mask the true sources of long-term value.”
Google opposes the proposal, quoting Mr. Schmidt in its proxy statement saying, “Today's (tax) rules are fiendishly complicated, and everyone would benefit from a simpler, more transparent system.”
Linda Sims, CPPIB director-media relations, said officials wouldn't comment on the reasons for the votes. John Keegan, AFSCME corporate governance spokesman, couldn't be reached for comment.
CPPIB held 408,798 Google Class A shares, as of Dec. 31. They are valued at $211 million.
The number of AFSCME plan shares wasn't available.
The voting is according to the pension funds' proxy-voting disclosures.
Google's annual meeting is May 14
