Amendment No. 14 to Schedule 13D

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

SCHEDULE 13D

Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

(Amendment No. 14)*

 

 

AGCO CORPORATION

(Name of Issuer)

Common Stock

(Title of Class of Securities)

001084102

(CUSIP Number)

Scott F. Smith, Esq.

Covington & Burling LLP

The New York Times Building

620 Eighth Avenue

New York, New York 10018

(212) 841-1056

(Name, Address and Telephone Number of Person Authorized to Receive Notices and Communications)

December 3, 2020

(Date of Event which Requires Filing of this Statement)

 

 

If the filing person has previously filed a statement on Schedule 13G to report the acquisition that is the subject of this Schedule 13D, and is filing this schedule because of Sections 240.13d-1(e), 240.13d-1(f) or 240.13d-1(g), check the following box  ☐.

 

 

NOTE: Schedules filed in paper format shall include a signed original and five copies of the schedule, including all exhibits. See Section 240.13d-7 for other parties to whom copies are to be sent.

 

 

 

*

The remainder of this cover page shall be filled out for a reporting person’s initial filing on this form with respect to the subject class of securities, and for any subsequent amendment containing information which would alter disclosures provided in a prior cover page.

The information required on the remainder of this cover page shall not be deemed to be “filed” for the purpose of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Act”) or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section of the Act but shall be subject to all other provisions of the Act (however, see the Notes).

 

 

 


CUSIP No. 001084102

 

  1    

  NAMES OF REPORTING PERSONS

  I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NOS. OF ABOVE PERSONS (ENTITIES ONLY)

 

  Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited

  2  

  CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP

  (a)  ☒        (b)  ☐

 

  3  

  SEC USE ONLY

 

  4  

  SOURCE OF FUNDS (SEE INSTRUCTIONS)

 

  WC

  5  

  CHECK BOX IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO ITEM 2(D) OR 2(E)

 

  ☐

  6  

  CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION

 

  Republic of India

NUMBER OF

SHARES

BENEFICIALLY

OWNED BY

EACH

REPORTING

PERSON

WITH

 

     7     

  SOLE VOTING POWER

 

  0

     8   

  SHARED VOTING POWER

 

  12,150,152

     9   

  SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER

 

  0

   10   

  SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER

 

  12,150,152

11    

  AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON

 

  12,150,152

12  

  CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (11) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES (SEE INSTRUCTIONS)

 

  ☒

13  

  PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (11)

 

  16.2%

14  

  TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON (SEE INSTRUCTIONS)

 

  CO


CUSIP No. 001084102

 

  1    

  NAMES OF REPORTING PERSONS

  I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NOS. OF ABOVE PERSONS (ENTITIES ONLY)

 

  TAFE Motors and Tractors Limited

  2  

  CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP

  (a)  ☒        (b)  ☐

 

  3  

  SEC USE ONLY

 

  4  

  SOURCE OF FUNDS (SEE INSTRUCTIONS)

 

  WC

  5  

  CHECK BOX IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO ITEM 2(D) OR 2(E)

 

  ☐

  6  

  CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION

 

  Republic of India

NUMBER OF

SHARES

BENEFICIALLY

OWNED BY

EACH

REPORTING

PERSON

WITH

 

     7     

  SOLE VOTING POWER

 

  0

     8   

  SHARED VOTING POWER

 

  3,263,321

     9   

  SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER

 

  0

   10   

  SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER

 

  3,263,321

11    

  AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON

 

  3,263,321

12  

  CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (11) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES (SEE INSTRUCTIONS)

 

  ☒

13  

  PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (11)

 

  4.4%

14  

  TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON (SEE INSTRUCTIONS)

 

  CO


CUSIP No. 001084102

 

  1    

  NAMES OF REPORTING PERSONS

  I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NOS. OF ABOVE PERSONS (ENTITIES ONLY)

 

  Mallika Srinivasan

  2  

  CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP

  (a)  ☐        (b)  ☒

 

  3  

  SEC USE ONLY

 

  4  

  SOURCE OF FUNDS (SEE INSTRUCTIONS)

 

  OO

  5  

  CHECK BOX IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO ITEM 2(D) OR 2(E)

 

  ☐

  6  

  CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION

 

  Republic of India

NUMBER OF

SHARES

BENEFICIALLY

OWNED BY

EACH

REPORTING

PERSON

WITH

 

     7     

  SOLE VOTING POWER

 

  20,059

     8   

  SHARED VOTING POWER

 

  12,150,152

     9   

  SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER

 

  20,059

   10   

  SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER

 

  12,150,152

11    

  AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON

 

  12,170,211

12  

  CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (11) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES (SEE INSTRUCTIONS)

 

  ☐

13  

  PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (11)

 

  16.2%

14  

  TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON (SEE INSTRUCTIONS)

 

  IN


The Schedule 13D originally filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) with respect to the Issuer on April 9, 2013, as amended by Amendment Nos. 1 through 13 (the “Schedule 13D”), is hereby further amended and supplemented to include the information set forth herein. This amended Statement on Schedule 13D/A constitutes Amendment No. 14 to the Schedule 13D. Capitalized terms used but not defined herein have the meanings given to such terms in the Schedule 13D.

Item 1. Security and Issuer

This Schedule 13D relates to shares of the common stock (the “Common Stock”) of AGCO Corporation (the “Issuer”), the principal executive offices of which are located at 4205 River Green Parkway, Duluth, Georgia 30096.

Item 3. Source and Amount of Funds or Other Consideration

Except for the 20,059 shares that Ms. Srinivasan (together with the Companies (as defined below), the “Reporting Persons”) holds directly and that were awarded to her under the AGCO Corporation Long-Term Incentive Plan for her services as a director of the Issuer, the source of the funds used by the Reporting Persons to purchase the reported shares, pursuant to the Purchase Plans, was the working capital of Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited (“TAFE”) or of TAFE Motors and Tractors Limited (“TAFE Motors and Tractors” and, together with TAFE, the “Companies”). The Reporting Persons paid a total of $585,802,249.73 (exclusive of brokers’ commissions and other administrative costs) to purchase the reported shares. Ms. Srinivasan did not pay for the shares that were awarded to her under the AGCO Corporation Long-Term Incentive Plan.

Item 4. Purpose of Transaction

The Reporting Persons acquired the Common Stock for investment purposes. The Reporting Persons will routinely monitor a wide variety of investment considerations, including, without limitation, current and anticipated future trading prices for the Common Stock, the Issuer’s operations, assets, prospects, and business development, the Issuer’s management, Issuer-related competitive and strategic matters and general economic, financial market and industry conditions, as well as other investment considerations. The Reporting Persons may acquire additional Common Stock in the future in the public markets, in privately negotiated transactions or otherwise and may determine to sell, trade or otherwise dispose of all or some holdings in the Issuer in the public markets, in privately negotiated transactions or otherwise, or take any other lawful action they deem to be in their best interests.

TAFE believes that implementation of sound governance policies is an important factor in enabling the Board to effectively fulfil its role and in the creation of shareholder value. TAFE has advocated for the separation of the role of Chair of the Board and Chief Executive Officer to better fulfill the Board’s duty of oversight of the Issuer. TAFE believes that appointing a separate Chair provides the opportunity to improve governance practices and enhances the oversight of management, and notes that such separation is being increasingly adopted by public companies. A recent Spencer Stuart report noted that over 90 percent of companies in 2019 electing new CEOs split the role of CEO and Chair. While TAFE strongly supports the incoming CEO in his role as CEO, TAFE encourages the Board to follow best governance practices, and also notes that the incoming CEO does not have prior public company board experience.

TAFE believes that separating the Chair and CEO roles would foster better governance, which appears not to have been reviewed at the Issuer for several years. Key improvements in the Issuer’s corporate governance would include:

 

   

Better alignment of compensation programs for senior management with long term company performance.

 

   

Increased focus by the Issuer on long term strategy, including portfolio allocation,

 

   

Rotation of committee chairs and other members of the committees to avoid embedded views and bring fresh perspectives to important matters,

 

   

Refreshment of the Board on a more regular basis to increase independence and add directors with diverse views of opportunities and risks, and

 

   

Regular engagement with shareholders on governance, strategy and performance matters.

TAFE has also advocated its support for allowing shareholders proxy access, and granting shareholders the right to take action between annual meetings. Shareholder rights have been limited at the Issuer and TAFE believes that improving them would provide shareholders more opportunities to provide input to the directors and management on key governance and strategic matters.


TAFE is considering the submission of a stockholder proposal to determine if the Issuer stockholders broadly support the separation of the roles of Chair and CEO. A statement related to such proposed stockholder proposal is attached as Exhibit G to this Schedule 13D.

TAFE has engaged with a limited number of the Issuer’s stockholders on these matters and intends to continue to engage, as appropriate, on matters of common interest to long-term stockholders of the Issuer.

Except as discussed above, the Reporting Persons have no present plans or proposals which relate to or would result in any of the matters referred to in Items 4(a) through 4(j) of Schedule 13D; however, the Reporting Persons reserve the right to change their plans at any time, as they deem appropriate, in light of the foregoing considerations, discussions and other factors.

Item 5. Interest in Securities of the Issuer

(a) The aggregate percentage of shares reported owned on this Schedule 13D is based on 74,899,512 shares of Common Stock outstanding as of November 2, 2020, which is the total number of shares of Common Stock outstanding as reported in the Issuer’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2020, filed with the SEC on November 9, 2020. As of the close of business on December 3, 2020, (i) TAFE beneficially owned 12,150,152 shares of Common Stock, which constituted approximately 16.2% of the Common Stock outstanding; (ii) TAFE Motors and Tractors beneficially owned 3,263,321 shares of Common Stock, which constituted approximately 4.4% of the Common Stock outstanding; and (iii) Ms. Srinivasan beneficially owned 12,170,211 shares of Common Stock, which constituted approximately 16.2% of the Common Stock outstanding, including the 20,059 shares she holds in her individual capacity. Ms. Srinivasan disclaims beneficial ownership of the Common Stock beneficially owned by each of the Companies, and this report shall not be deemed an admission that Ms. Srinivasan is a beneficial owner of such shares for the purposes of Section 13(d) or 13(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or for any other purpose. Each of the Companies disclaims beneficial ownership of the 20,059 shares of Common Stock owned directly by Ms. Srinivasan in her individual capacity, and this report shall not be deemed an admission that either of the Companies is a beneficial owner of such shares for the purposes of Section 13(d) or 13(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or for any other purpose. TAFE Motors and Tractors disclaims beneficial ownership of the 8,886,831 shares of Common Stock purchased on behalf of TAFE under the Purchase Plans, and this report shall not be deemed an admission that TAFE Motors and Tractors is a beneficial owner of such shares for the purposes of Section 13(d) or 13(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or for any other purpose.

(b) For each person listed, the following table indicates the number of shares of Common Stock as to which there is sole power to vote or to direct the vote, shared power to vote or to direct the vote, sole power to dispose or to direct the disposition and shared power to dispose or to direct the disposition:

 

Reporting Person

   Sole Voting
Power
     Shared
Voting Power
     Sole
Dispositive

Power
     Shared
Dispositive
Power
 

TAFE

     0        12,150,152        0        12,150,152  

TAFE Motors and Tractors

     0        3,263,321        0        3,263,321  

Mallika Srinivasan

     20,059        12,170,211        20,059        12,170,211  

(c) See Annex A hereto.

(d) Not applicable.

(e) Not applicable.


Item 7. Material to Be Filed as Exhibits

 

Exhibit A*    Persons through whom Amalgamations Private Limited (“Amalgamations”) may be deemed to control the Companies
Exhibit B†    Directors and Executive Officers of the Companies
Exhibit C*    Directors and Executive Officers of Amalgamations
Exhibit D**    Amended and Restated Letter Agreement, dated April 24, 2019, between Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited and AGCO Corporation
Exhibit E**    Limited Power of Attorney, dated as of April 24, 2019
Exhibit F*    Joint Filing Agreement, dated as of April 3, 2013
Exhibit G    Statement

 

*

Included by reference to the initial filing of this Schedule 13D, filed with the SEC on April 9, 2013.

**

Included by reference to Amendment No. 10 to this Schedule 13D, filed with the SEC on April 26, 2019.

Amends previous filing.


SIGNATURE

After reasonable inquiry and to the best of my knowledge and belief, I certify that the information set forth in this statement is true, complete and correct.

Date: December 4, 2020

 

TRACTORS AND FARM EQUIPMENT LIMITED,
By:  

/s/ Scott F. Smith

  Name: Scott F. Smith,
  attorney-in-fact*

 

TAFE MOTORS AND TRACTORS LIMITED,
By:  

/s/ Scott F. Smith

  Name: Scott F. Smith,
  attorney-in-fact*
      

/s/ Scott F. Smith

  Scott F. Smith, attorney-in-fact for
  Mallika Srinivasan*

 

*

This Amendment No. 14 to Statement on Schedule 13D was executed by Scott F. Smith as Attorney-In-Fact for Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited, TAFE Motors and Tractors Limited and Mallika Srinivasan, pursuant to the Limited Power of Attorney granted by them.


Annex A

Transactions by TAFE during the last 60 days: None.

Transactions by TAFE Motors and Tractors during the last 60 days: None.

Transactions by Ms. Srinivasan in her individual capacity during the last 60 days: None.

Exhibit B

Exhibit B

Directors and Executive Officers of TAFE

Set forth below are the (i) name, (ii) title, (iii) country of citizenship, (iv) principal occupation, (v) principal business address, (vi) ownership of Common Stock and (vii) transactions in Common Stock during the past 60 days (if any) of each of the directors and executive officers of TAFE.

 

Name

  

Title

  

Country of

Citizenship

  

Principal

Occupation

  

Principal Business
Address

  

Ownership
of Common

Stock

  

Transactions in

Common Stock

during the past
60 days

Mallika Srinivasan    Chairman and Managing Director    India    Chief Executive    35/77 Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai 600034    20,059 (1)    None.
R. C. Banka    Director    India    Operations    35/77 Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai 600034    None.    None.
P. B. Sampath    Director    India    Chartered Accountant    35/77 Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai 600034    None.    None.
Sandeep Sinha    CEO    India    Operations    35/77 Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai 600034    None.    None.
S. Chandramohan    Group President    India    Finance    35/77 Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai 600034    None.    None.
V. P. Ahuja    Director    India    European Operations    35/77 Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai 600034    None.    None.
Sankar Datta    Director    India    Chartered Accountant    8/1, Vaidya Rama Iyer Street, T Nagar, Chennai 600017    None.    None.
Chittranjan Dua    Director    India    Lawyer    88, Sundar Nagar, New Delhi 110 003    None.    None.
Gary L. Collar    Director    US    Senior Vice President, General Manager, Asia/Pacific and Africa of AGCO    4177 Tami Lane, Central Point, Oregon 97052    77,123 (2)    None.
P. Ganesh    CFO    India    Chartered Accountant    35/77 Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai 600034    None.    None.
T. R. Kesavan    Group President    India    Corporate Relations    35/77 Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai 600034    None.    None.


C. P. Sounderarajan    Company Secretary    India    Corporate Affairs    35/77 Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai 600034    None.    None.
John Edwin    President    India    Quality -
Operations
   35/77 Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai 600034    None.    None.

 

(1)

Does not include holdings of Common Stock of TAFE and TAFE Motors and Tractors, as disclosed in Item 5.

(2)

Based on report on Form 4 filed on behalf of Mr. Collar with the SEC on August 24, 2020.


Directors and Executive Officers of TAFE Motors and Tractors

Set forth below are the (i) name, (ii) title, (iii) country of citizenship, (iv) principal occupation, (v) principal business address, (vi) ownership of Common Stock and (vii) transactions in Common Stock during the past 60 days (if any) of each of the directors and executive officers of TAFE Motors and Tractors.

 

Name

  

Title

  

Country of

Citizenship

  

Principal

Occupation

  

Principal Business
Address

  

Ownership

of Common
Stock

  

Transactions in
Common Stock

during the past
60 days

Mallika Srinivasan   

Chairman and

Managing

Director

   India    Chief Executive    35/77 Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai 600034    20,059 (1)    None.
Dr. Lakshmi Venu   

Deputy

Managing

Director

   India    Strategy & Operations    35/77 Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai 600034    None.    None.
R. C. Banka    Director    India    Operations    35/77 Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai 600034    None.    None.
P. B. Sampath    Director    India    Chartered Accountant    35/77 Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai 600034    None.    None.
Sandeep Sinha    Director    India    Operations    35/77 Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai 600034    None.    None.
S. Chandramohan    Director    India    Finance    35/77 Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai 600034    None.    None.
Sankar Datta    Director    India    Chartered Accountant    8/1, Vaidya Rama Iyer Street, T Nagar, Chennai 600017    None.    None.
N. S. Swaminathan    Director    India    International Business    35/77 Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai 600034    None.    None.
T. R. Kesavan    Director    India    Corporate Relations    35/77 Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai 600034    None.    None.
P. Ganesh    CFO    India    Chartered Accountant    35/77 Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai 600034    None.    None.


C. P. Sounderarajan   

Company

Secretary

   India    Corporate Affairs   

35/77 Nungambakkam High Road,

Chennai 600034

   None.    None.
Alok Mam   

Sr. Vice

President

   India    Manufacturing    Plot No. 1, Sector D Industrial Area, Mandideep 462046    None.    None.
V. P. Arya   

Sr. Vice

President

   India    Finance    Plot No. 1, Sector D Industrial Area, Mandideep 462046    None.    None.
N. Subramanian   

Sr. Vice

President

   India    Marketing    Plot No. 1, Sector D Industrial Area, Mandideep 462046    None.    None.

 

(1)

Does not include holdings of Common Stock of TAFE and TAFE Motors and Tractors, as disclosed in Item 5.

Exhibit G

Exhibit G

Statement from TAFE on AGCO

December 3, 2020

TAFE reinforces call for Independent Chair and additional Governance reforms at AGCO

For several months now TAFE, AGCO’s largest shareholder with a 16.2 % holding, has been advocating for the implementation of sound governance practices at ACGO. These changes are necessary to achieve improved performance and value creation for shareholders. From TAFE’s recent engagement with other shareholders, TAFE believes other shareholders agree. In response to TAFE’s many proposals for a complete governance reset, some changes have been announced by AGCO today. This is a step in the right direction, however, they do not go far enough to correct the past history of governance lapses and ensure the independence of the Board.

Specifically, TAFE continues to believe that separating the role of Chair and CEO is needed to reset the governance standards at AGCO and ensure independence of the Board at the time of CEO succession. Poor governance has affected performance. Separation of Chair and CEO roles will lead to more comprehensive oversight of strategy and increased management accountability. TAFE also believes that candidates for Chair should have significant prior public company board experience and a track record in governance leadership.

The candidate proposed for Lead Independent Director does not have the requisite Board leadership and governance experience for this critical role and has limited public company Board experience. The same candidate has been proposed as the Governance Committee Chair. For true independence, in TAFE’s view, no lead director should simultaneously chair the governance, audit or compensation committees. The recent prolonged adverse experience on Say on Pay was a result of the Lead Independent Director combining the role of Chair of the Compensation Committee. Furthermore, given AGCO’s historically poor governance track record, TAFE believes that no current member of the Governance Committee should be made Chair of that Committee.

TAFE intends to press forward on advocating for important governance reforms, not yet adopted by AGCO, in advance of the 2021 Annual Meeting including the separation of Chair to ensure the independence of the Board. TAFE believes that this would be in the best interest of the Company and all the shareholders.

TAFE has had a constructive, 60-year relationship with AGCO, which while not commercially material, has been valuable to both companies. TAFE has an investment valued at over $1 billion in AGCO common stock and its views on governance are solely as a shareholder and ensuring that the Board acts in the best interests of all shareholders.