Smith & Nephew had a shareholder revolt on Wednesday when nearly half of voting investors rejected the medical device manufacturer’s plans to raise its chief executive’s pay packet to $11.8m (£9.5m). But the company’s pay policy, which will increase the maximum payout for Deepak Nath – who is based in Texas – by nearly a third, was narrowly approved, despite 43% of votes cast against the proposals at its annual general meeting in Watford. The firm is among a growing number of companies that have been arguing for an increase in executive pay to match US peers. Smith & Nephew’s chair, Rupert Soames, who is also chair of the business lobby group the CBI, has said that the proportion of revenues a company makes overseas should be taken into consideration, meaning it should not be benchmarked against UK-listed rivals. Smith & Nephew is now promising to hold discussions with aggrieved shareholders in the coming months in hopes of easing tensions over pay demands. “The board is grateful for the engagement of shareholders and proxy agencies in our extensive consultation exercise ahead of the AGM and is pleased that all resolutions were passed at today’s annual general meeting,” the company said...