July 8 (Reuters) - The board of Britain's Marks & Spencer
Here is a timeline of events leading to Wednesday's AGM:
May 2004 - Tycoon Philip Green launches an 8 billion pound ($14.6 billion) bid for Marks & Spencer Group.
-- Stuart Rose is appointed Chief Executive to fend off a bid from Green. Before re-joining M&S as CEO he was Chief Executive of Arcadia Group plc from 2000 until 2002. Rose began his career in retail at M&S in 1972, before going on to the Burton Group in 1989. Stuart replaced Roger Holmes as CEO.
June 2004 - FSA grills Rose on the timing of his share purchase of M&S shares. Financial Times had earlier reported that Rose bought 100,000 shares five days before being told of Philip Green's plans to bid for the company. The purchase came two weeks before Rose was named as CEO.
July 2004 - Rose unveils a turnaround plan as he fights off a 9.1 billion pound bid ($17 billion) from Philip Green which includes a 2.3 billion pound tender offer and cost savings of 250 million pounds for 2005/6, rising to 320 million pounds for 2006/7.
-- Shares fall as much as 9 percent after Green abandons his planned bid.
May 2007 - M&S underlines its resurgence with nearly 1 billion pounds in annual profit, its highest in almost a decade, and says it will create 10,000 jobs. Adjusted profit before tax rises 28.5 percent to 965.2 million pounds ($1.9 billion).
-- Rose, credited with bringing M&S back from the brink, says total sales hit a record 8.6 billion pounds thanks to gains across all its ranges, from Per Una lingerie to chocolate cakes.
March 2008 - M&S says Stuart Rose will stay with the company until July 2011 and will replace Chairman Terry Burns on June 1, 2008. It faces increased opposition from investors over this decision.
June 2008 - Stuart Rose is knighted for services to retailing and to corporate social responsibility.
July 2008 - Rose survives one of the biggest shareholder rebellions of recent years as 22 percent of investors abstain or vote against his election as executive chairman.
June 2009 - Three shareholder advisory groups -- Glass Lewis, Pirc and RiskMetrics -- ask M&S investors to support a resolution calling on the board to split the two roles and appoint an independent chairman by July 2010.
-- Stuart Rose waives right to around 395,000 shares awarded to him under the British retailer's performance share plan in an attempt to appease shareholders. (Writing by Carl Bagh, Editorial Reference Unit, Bangalore; Additional writing and editing by David Cutler and Will Waterman)