EX-3.1 6 dex31.htm CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION OF THE COMPANY Certificate of Incorporation of the Company

Exhibit 3.1

 

CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION

OF

hhgregg, Inc.

 

Incorporated pursuant to a Certificate of Incorporation filed

with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware on April 10, 2007

Under the Name hhgregg, Inc.

 

hhgregg, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Corporation”), hereby certifies that this Certificate of Incorporation has been duly adopted in accordance with the provisions of Sections 101 and 103 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”):

 

Article I

 

The name of the Corporation is hhgregg, Inc.

 

Article II

 

The address of the Corporation’s registered office in the State of Delaware is c/o Corporation Trust Center, 1209 Orange Street, Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware 19801. The registered agent in charge thereof is The Corporation Trust Company.

 

Article III

 

The nature of the business and purposes to be conducted or promoted by the Corporation is to engage in any lawful act or activity for which corporations may be organized under the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware.

 

Article IV

 

The total number of shares of all classes of stock which the Corporation shall have authority to issue is 160,000,000 shares, consisting solely of:

 

150,000,000

  shares of common stock, par value $.0001 per share (“Common Stock”); and

10,000,000

  shares of preferred stock, par value $.0001 per share (“Preferred Stock”).

 

The following is a statement of the powers, designations, preferences, privileges, and relative rights in respect of each class of capital stock of the Corporation.


A. COMMON STOCK.

 

1. General. The voting, dividend and liquidation rights of the holders of Common Stock are subject to and qualified by the rights of the holders of Preferred Stock.

 

2. Voting. The holders of Common Stock are entitled to one vote for each share held at all meetings of stockholders. There shall be no cumulative voting for the election of directors.

 

3. Dividends. Dividends may be declared and paid on the Common Stock from funds lawfully available therefor if, as and when determined by the board of directors of the Corporation (the “Board of Directors”) and subject to any preferential dividend rights of any then outstanding shares of Preferred Stock.

 

4. Liquidation. Upon the dissolution or liquidation of the Corporation, whether voluntary or involuntary, holders of Common Stock will be entitled to receive all assets of the Corporation available for distribution to its stockholders, subject to the rights of creditors and any preferential rights of any then outstanding shares of Preferred Stock.

 

B. PREFERRED STOCK.

 

Shares of Preferred Stock may be issued from time to time in one or more series, each of such series to have such powers, designations, preferences, and relative, participating, optional, or other special rights, if any, and such qualifications and restrictions, if any, of such preferences and rights, as are stated or expressed in the resolution or resolutions of the Board of Directors providing for such series of Preferred Stock. Different series of Preferred Stock shall not be construed to constitute different classes of shares for the purposes of voting by classes unless expressly so provided in such resolution or resolutions.

 

Authority is hereby granted to the Board of Directors from time to time to issue the Preferred Stock in one or more series, and in connection with the creation of any such series, by resolution or resolutions to determine and fix the powers, designations, preferences, and relative, participating, optional, or other special rights, if any, and the qualifications and restrictions, if any, of such preferences and rights, including without limitation dividend rights, conversion rights, voting rights (if any), redemption privileges, and liquidation preferences, of such series of Preferred Stock (which need not be uniform among series), all to the fullest extent now or hereafter permitted by the DGCL. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the resolution or resolutions providing for the creation or issuance of any series of Preferred Stock may provide that such series shall be superior to, rank equally with, or be junior to the Preferred Stock of any other series, all to the fullest extent permitted by law. No resolution, vote, or consent of the holders of the capital stock of the Corporation shall be required in connection with the creation or issuance of any shares of any series of Preferred Stock authorized by and complying with the conditions of this Certificate of Incorporation, the right to any such resolution, vote, or consent being expressly waived by all present and future holders of the capital stock of the Corporation.

 

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Any resolution or resolutions adopted by the Board of Directors pursuant to the authority vested in them by this Article Fourth shall be set forth in a certificate of designation along with the number of shares of stock of such series as to which the resolution or resolutions shall apply and such certificate shall be executed, acknowledged, filed, recorded, and shall become effective, in accordance with §103 of the DGCL. Unless otherwise provided in any such resolution or resolutions, the number of shares of stock of any such series to which such resolution or resolutions apply may be increased (but not above the total number of authorized shares of the class) or decreased (but not below the number of shares thereof then outstanding) by a certificate likewise executed, acknowledged, filed and recorded, setting forth a statement that a specified increase or decrease therein has been authorized and directed by a resolution or resolutions likewise adopted by the Board of Directors. In case the number of such shares shall be decreased, the number of shares so specified in the certificate shall resume the status which they had prior to the adoption of the first resolution or resolutions. When no shares of any such class or series are outstanding, either because none were issued or because none remain outstanding, a certificate setting forth a resolution or resolutions adopted by the Board of Directors that none of the authorized shares of such class or series are outstanding, and that none will be issued subject to the certificate of designations previously filed with respect to such class or series, may be executed, acknowledged, filed and recorded in the same manner as previously described and it shall have the effect of eliminating from the certificate of incorporation all matters set forth in the certificate of designations with respect to such class or series of stock. If no shares of any such class or series established by a resolution or resolutions adopted by the Board of Directors have been issued, the voting powers, designations, preferences and relative, participating, optional or other rights, if any, with the qualifications, limitations or restrictions thereof, may be amended by a resolution or resolutions adopted by the Board of Directors. In the even of any such amendment, a certificate which (i) states that no shares of such class or series have been issued, (ii) sets forth the copy of the amending resolution or resolutions and (iii) if the designation of such class or series is being changed, indicates the original designation and the new designation, shall be executed, acknowledged, filed, recorded, and shall become effective, in accordance with §103 of the DGCL.

 

Article V

 

The name and mailing address of the incorporator is as follows:

 

Name

   Address
James F. Collins Jr.    Bingham McCutchen LLP
     399 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10022

 

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Article VI

 

No director of the Corporation shall be personally liable to the Corporation or to any of its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, notwithstanding any provision of law imposing such liability; provided, however, that to the extent required from time to time by applicable law, this Article VI shall not eliminate or limit the liability of a director, to the extent such liability is provided by applicable law, (i) for any breach of the director’s duty of loyalty to the corporation or its stockholders, (ii) for acts or omissions not in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law, (iii) under Section 174 of Title 8 of the Delaware Code, or (iv) for any transactions from which the director derived an improper personal benefit. If the DGCL hereafter is amended to authorize the further elimination or limitation of the liability of directors, then the liability of a director of the Corporation, in addition to the limitation on personal liability provided herein, shall be limited to the fullest extent permitted by the amended DGCL. No amendment to or repeal of this Article VI shall apply to or have any effect on the liability or alleged liability of any director for or with respect to any acts or omissions of such director occurring prior to the effective date of such amendment or repeal.

 

Article VII

 

The Corporation shall, to the fullest extent permitted by Section 145 of the DGCL, as amended from time to time, indemnify each person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, by reason of the fact that he is or was, or has agreed to become, a director or officer of the Corporation, or is or was serving, or has agreed to serve, at the request of the Corporation, as a director, officer or trustee of, or in a similar capacity with, another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise (including any employee benefit plan), or by reason of any action alleged to have been taken or omitted in such capacity, against all expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgements, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by him or on his behalf in connection with such action, suit or proceeding and any appeal therefrom.

 

Indemnification shall include payment by the Corporation of expenses in defending an action or proceeding in advance of the final disposition of such action or proceeding upon (i) receipt of an undertaking by the person indemnified to repay such payment if it is ultimately determined that such person is not entitled to indemnification under this Article Seventh, which undertaking may be accepted without reference to the financial ability of such person to make such repayment, (ii) receipt of a written affirmation of the director’s of officer’s good faith belief that the director or officer has met the standard of conduct prescribed by Delaware law and (iii) a determination that the facts then known to those making the determination would not preclude indemnification under the DGCL.

 

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The Corporation shall not indemnify any such person seeking indemnification in connection with a proceeding (or part thereof) initiated by such person unless the initiation thereof was approved by the Board of Directors.

 

The indemnification rights provided in this Article VII (i) shall not be deemed exclusive of any other rights to which those indemnified may be entitled under any law, agreement or vote of stockholders or disinterested directors or otherwise, and (ii) shall inure to the benefit of the heirs, executors and administrators of such persons. The Corporation may, to the extent authorized from time to time by its Board of Directors, grant indemnification rights to other employees or agents of the Corporation or other persons serving the Corporation and such rights may be equivalent to, or greater or less than, those set forth in this Article VII.

 

Article VIII

 

Whenever a compromise or arrangement is proposed between the Corporation and its creditors or any class of them and/or between the Corporation and its stockholders or any Class of them, any court of equitable jurisdiction within the State of Delaware may, on the application in a summary way of the Corporation or of any creditor or stockholder thereof or on the application of any receiver or receivers appointed for the Corporation under the provisions of §391 of Title 8 of the Delaware Code or on the application of trustees in dissolution or of any receiver or receivers appointed for the Corporation under the provisions of §279 of Title 8 of the Delaware Code, order a meeting of the creditors or class of creditors, and/or of the stockholders or class of stockholders of the Corporation, as the case may be, to be summoned in such a manner as the said court directs. If a majority of the number representing three-fourths (3/4ths) in value of the creditors or class of creditors, and/or of the stockholders or class of stockholders of the Corporation, as the case may be, agree to any compromise or arrangement and to any reorganization of the Corporation as a consequence of such compromise or arrangement, the compromise or arrangement and the said reorganization shall, if sanctioned by the court to which the said application has been made, be binding on all creditors or class of creditors, and/or stockholders or class of stockholders of the Corporation, as the case may be, and also on the Corporation.

 

Article IX

 

The Board of Directors, when considering a tender offer or merger or acquisition proposal, may take into account factors in addition to potential economic benefits to stockholders, including without limitation (i) comparison of the proposed consideration to be received by stockholders in relation to the then current market price of the Corporation’s capital stock, the estimated current value of the Corporation in a freely negotiated transaction, and the estimated future value of the Corporation as an independent entity and (ii) the impact of such a transaction on the employees, suppliers, and customers of the Corporation and its effect on the communities in which the Corporation operates.

 

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Article X

 

Any action required or permitted to be taken by the stockholders of the Corporation may be taken only at a duly called annual or special meeting of the stockholders or by the written consent of the stockholders. Special meetings of stockholders may be called only by the Chairman of the Board of Directors, a majority of the Board of Directors or the Chief Executive Officer.

 

Article XI

 

The affirmative vote of the holders of at least 66 2/3% of the outstanding voting stock of the Corporation (in addition to any separate class vote that may in the future be required pursuant to the terms of any outstanding Preferred Stock) shall be required to amend or repeal the provisions of Articles IV (only to the extent it relates to the authority of the Board of Directors to issue shares of Preferred Stock in one or more series, the terms of which may be determined by the Board of Directors), VI, VII, IX, X, XI of this Certificate of Incorporation or to reduce the numbers of authorized shares of Common Stock or Preferred Stock.

 

Article XII

 

The Corporation reserves the right to amend this Certificate of Incorporation in any manner permitted by the DGCL.

 

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Executed on April 10, 2007

 

hhgregg, Inc.

By:  

/s/ James F. Collins Jr.


Name:   James F. Collins Jr.
Title:   Incorporator