EX-3 2 medtronic012520_ex3-1.txt EXHIBIT 3.1 ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION EXHIBIT 3.1 RESTATED ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION OF MEDTRONIC, INC. (AS AMENDED THROUGH FEBRUARY 27, 2001) ARTICLE 1 - NAME 1.1 The name of the corporation shall be Medtronic, Inc. ARTICLE 2 - REGISTERED OFFICE 2.1 The registered office of the corporation shall be located at 710 Medtronic Parkway, Minneapolis, Minnesota. ARTICLE 3 - STOCK 3.1 Authorized Shares; Establishment of Classes and Series. The aggregate number of shares the corporation has authority to issue shall be 1,602,500,000 shares, which shall consist of 1,600,000,000 shares of Common Stock with a par value of $.10 per share, and 2,500,000 shares of Preferred Stock with a par value of $1.00 per share. The Board of Directors is authorized to establish from the shares of Preferred Stock, by resolution adopted and filed in the manner provided by law, one or more classes or series of Preferred Stock, and to set forth the designation of each such class or series and fix the relative rights and preferences of each such class or series of Preferred Stock, including, but not limited to, fixing the relative voting rights, if any, of each class or series of Preferred Stock to the full extent permitted by law. Holders of Common Stock shall be entitled to one vote for each share of Common Stock held of record. 3.2 Issuance of Shares to Holders of Another Class or Series. The Board of Directors is authorized to issue shares of the corporation of one class or series to holders of that class or series or to holders of another class or series to effectuate share dividends or splits. ARTICLE 4 - RIGHTS OF SHAREHOLDERS 4.1 No Preemptive Rights. No holder of any class of stock of the corporation shall be entitled to subscribe for or purchase such holder's proportionate share of stock of any class of the corporation, now or hereafter authorized or issued. 4.2 No Cumulative Voting Rights. No shareholder shall be entitled to cumulate votes for the election of directors and there shall be no cumulative voting for any purpose whatsoever. ARTICLE 5 - DIRECTORS 5.1 Written Action by Directors. Any action required or permitted to be taken at a Board meeting may be taken by written action signed by all of the directors or, in cases where the action need not be approved by the shareholders, by written action signed by the number of directors that would be required to take the same action at a meeting of the Board at which all directors were present. 5.2 Elimination of Director Liability in Certain Circumstances. No director of the corporation shall be personally liable to the corporation or its shareholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, provided, however that this Article 5, Section 5.2 shall not eliminate or limit the liability of a director to the extent provided by applicable law (i) for any breach of the director's duty of loyalty to the corporation or its shareholders, (ii) for acts or omissions not in good faith or that involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law, (iii) under section 302A.559 or 80A.23 of the Minnesota Statutes, (iv) for any transaction from which the director derived an improper personal benefit, or (v) for any act or omission occurring prior to the effective date of this Article 5, Section 5.2. No limiting amendment to or repeal of this Article 5, Section 5.2 shall apply to or have any effect on the liability or alleged liability of any director of the corporation for or with respect to any acts or omissions of such director occurring prior to such amendment or repeal. 5.3 Classification of the Board of Directors. The business and affairs of the corporation shall be managed by or under the direction of a Board of Directors consisting of not less than three nor more than fifteen persons, who need not be shareholders. The number of directors may be increased by the shareholders or Board of Directors or decreased by the shareholders from the number of directors on the Board of Directors immediately prior to the effective date of this Section 5.3 provided, however, that any change in the number of directors on the Board of Directors (including, without limitation, changes at annual meetings of shareholders) shall be approved by the affirmative vote of not less than seventy-five percent (75%) of the votes entitled to be cast by the holders of all then outstanding voting shares (as defined in Section 6.2 of Article 6), voting together as a single class, unless such change shall have been approved by a majority of the entire Board of Directors. If such change shall not have been so approved, the number of directors shall remain the same. The directors shall be divided into three classes, designated Class I, Class II and Class III. Each class shall consist, as nearly as may be possible, of one-third of the total number of directors constituting the entire Board of Directors. At the 1989 annual meeting of shareholders, Class I directors shall be elected for a one-year term, Class II directors for a two-year term and Class III directors for a three-year term. At each succeeding annual meeting of shareholders beginning in 1990, successors to the class of directors whose term expires at that annual meeting shall be elected for a three-year term. If the number of directors is changed, any increase or decrease shall be apportioned among the classes so as to maintain the 2 number of directors in each class as nearly equal as possible, and any additional director of any class elected to fill a vacancy resulting from an increase in such class shall hold office for a term that shall coincide with the remaining term of that class. In no case will a decrease in the number of directors shorten the term of any incumbent director. A director shall hold office until the annual meeting for the year in which the director's term expires and until a successor shall be elected and qualify, subject, however, to prior death, resignation, retirement, disqualification or removal from office. Removal of a director from office (including a director named by the Board of Directors to fill a vacancy or newly created directorship), with or without cause, shall require the affirmative vote of not less than seventy-five percent (75%) of the votes entitled to be cast by the holders of all then outstanding voting shares, voting together as a single class. Any vacancy on the Board of Directors that results from an increase in the number of directors shall be filled by a majority of the Board of Directors then in office, and any other vacancy occurring in the Board of Directors shall be filled by a majority of the directors then in office, although less than a quorum, or by a sole remaining director. Any director elected to fill a vacancy not resulting from an increase in the number of directors shall have the same remaining term as that of such director's predecessor. Notwithstanding the foregoing, whenever the holders of any one or more classes of preferred or preference stock issued by the corporation shall have the right, voting separately by class or series, to elect directors at an annual or special meeting of shareholders, the election, term of office, filling of vacancies and other features of such directorships shall be governed by or pursuant to the applicable terms of the certificate of designation or other instrument creating such class or series of preferred stock, and such directors so elected shall not be divided into classes pursuant to this Section 5.3 unless expressly provided by such terms. Only persons who are nominated in accordance with the procedures set forth in this Section 5.3 shall be eligible for election as directors. Nominations of persons for election to the Board of Directors of the corporation may be made at a meeting of shareholders (a) by or at the direction of the Board of Directors or (b) by any shareholder of the corporation entitled to vote for the election of directors at the meeting who complies with the notice procedures set forth in this Section 5.3. Nominations by shareholders shall be made pursuant to timely notice in writing to the Secretary of the corporation. To be timely, a shareholder's notice shall be delivered to or mailed and received at the principal executive offices of the corporation not less than 50 days nor more than 90 days prior to the meeting, provided, however, that in the event that less than 60 days' notice or prior public disclosure of the date of the meeting is given or made to shareholders, notice by the shareholder to be timely must be so received not later than the close of business on the 10th day following the day on which such notice of the date of the meeting was mailed or such public disclosure was made. Such shareholder's notice shall set forth (a) as to each person whom the shareholder proposes to nominate for election or re-election as a director, all information relating to such person that is required to be disclosed in solicitations of proxies for election of directors, or is otherwise 3 required, in each case pursuant to Regulation 14A under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (including such person's written consent to being named in the proxy statement as a nominee and to serving as a director if elected); and (b) as to the shareholder giving the notice (i) the name and address, as they appear on the corporation's books, of such shareholder and (ii) the class and number of shares of the corporation which are beneficially owned by such shareholder. At the request of the Board of Directors any person nominated by the Board of Directors for election as a director shall furnish to the Secretary of the corporation that information required to be set forth in a shareholder's notice of nomination which pertains to the nominee. No person shall be eligible for election as a Director of the corporation unless nominated in accordance with the procedures set forth in this Section 5.3. The Chairman of the meeting shall, if the facts warrant, determine and declare to the meeting that a nomination was not made in accordance with the procedures prescribed in this Section 5.3 and, if he should so determine, he shall so declare to the meeting and the defective nomination shall be disregarded. At any regular or special meeting of the shareholders, only such business shall be conducted as shall have been brought before the meeting (a) by or at the direction of the Board of Directors or (b) by any shareholder of the corporation who complies with the notice procedures set forth in this Section 5.3. For business to be properly brought before any regular or special meeting by a shareholder, the shareholder must have given timely notice thereof in writing to the Secretary of the corporation. To be timely, a shareholder's notice must be delivered to or mailed and received at the principal executive offices of the corporation not less than 50 days nor (except for shareholder proposals subject to Rule 14a-8(a)(3)(i) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) more than 90 days prior to the meeting, provided, however, that in the event that less than 60 days' notice or prior public disclosure of the date of the meeting is given or made to the shareholders, notice by the shareholder to be timely must be received not later than the close of business on the 10th day following the day on which such notice of the date of the regular or special meeting was mailed or such public disclosure was made. A shareholder's notice to the Secretary shall set forth as to each matter the shareholder proposes to bring before the regular or special meeting (a) a brief description of the business desired to be brought before the meeting and the reasons for conducting such business at the meeting, (b) the name and address, as they appear on the corporation's books, of the shareholder proposing such business, (c) the class and number of shares of the corporation which are beneficially owned by the shareholder and (d) any material interest of the shareholder in such business. Notwithstanding anything in the corporation's Bylaws to the contrary, no business shall be conducted at any regular or special meeting except in accordance with the procedures set forth in this Section 5.3. The Chairman of the meeting shall, if the facts warrant, determine and declare to the meeting that business was not properly brought before the meeting and in accordance with the provisions of this Section 5.3 and, if he should so determine, he shall so declare to the meeting and any such business not properly brought before the meeting shall not be transacted. 4 Notwithstanding any other provisions of these Articles of Incorporation (and notwithstanding the fact that a lesser percentage or separate class vote may be specified by law or these Articles of Incorporation), the affirmative vote of the holders of not less than seventy-five percent (75%) of the votes entitled to be cast by the holders of all then outstanding voting shares, voting together as a single class, shall be required to amend or repeal, or adopt any provisions inconsistent with, this Section 5.3. ARTICLE 6 - RELATED PERSON BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS 6.1 Whether or not a vote of shareholders is otherwise required, the affirmative vote of the holders of not less than two-thirds of the voting power of the outstanding "voting shares" (as hereinafter defined) of the corporation shall be required for the approval or authorization of any "Related Person Business Transaction" (as hereinafter defined) involving the corporation or the approval or authorization by the corporation in its capacity as a shareholder of any Related Person Business Transaction involving a "Subsidiary" (as hereinafter defined) which requires the approval or authorization of the shareholders of the Subsidiary, provided, however, that such two-thirds voting requirement shall not be applicable if: (a) The "Continuing Directors" (as hereinafter defined) by a majority vote have expressly approved the Related Person Business Transaction; or (b) The Related Person Business Transaction is a merger, consolidation, exchange of shares or sale of all or substantially all of the assets of the corporation, and the cash or fair market value of the property, securities or other consideration to be received per share by holders of Common Stock of the corporation other than the "Related Person" (as hereinafter defined) in the Related Person Business Transaction is an amount at least equal to the "Highest Purchase Price" (as hereinafter defined). 6.2 For the purposes of this Article 6: (a) The term "Related Person Business Transaction" shall mean (i) any merger or consolidation of the corporation or a Subsidiary with or into a Related Person, (ii) any exchange of shares of the corporation or a Subsidiary for shares of a Related Person which, in the absence of this Article, would have required the affirmative vote of at least a majority of the voting power of the outstanding shares of the corporation entitled to vote or the affirmative vote of the corporation, in its capacity as a shareholder of the Subsidiary, (iii) any sale, lease, exchange, transfer or other disposition (in one transaction or a series of transactions), including without limitation a mortgage or any other security device, of all or any "Substantial Part" (as hereinafter defined) of the assets either of the corporation or of a Subsidiary to or with a Related Person, (iv) any sale, lease, transfer or other disposition (in one transaction or a series of transactions) of all or any Substantial Part of the assets of a 5 Related Person to or with the corporation or a Subsidiary, (v) the issuance, sale, transfer or other disposition to a Related Person of any securities of the corporation (except pursuant to stock dividends, stock splits, or similar transactions which would not have the effect of increasing the proportionate voting power of a Related Person) or of a Subsidiary (except pursuant to a pro rata distribution to all holders of Common Stock of the corporation), (vi) any recapitalization or reclassification that would have the effect of increasing the proportionate voting power of a Related Person, and (vii) any agreement, contract, arrangement or understanding providing for any of the transactions described in this definition of Related Person Business Transaction. (b) The term "Related Person" shall mean and include (i) any person or entity which, together with its "Affiliates" and "Associates" (both as hereinafter defined), "beneficially owns" (as hereinafter defined) in the aggregate 15 percent or more of the outstanding voting shares of the corporation, and (ii) any Affiliate or Associate (other than the corporation or a wholly-owned Subsidiary of the corporation) of any such person or entity. Two or more persons or entities acting as a syndicate or group, or otherwise, for the purpose of acquiring, holding or disposing of voting shares of the corporation shall be deemed to be a "person" or "entity," as the case may be. (c) The term "Affiliate," used to indicate a relationship with a specified person or entity, shall mean a person or entity that directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls or is controlled by, or is under common control with, the person or entity specified. (d) The term "Associate," used to indicate a relationship with a specified person or entity, shall mean (i) any entity of which such specified person or entity is an officer or partner or is, directly or indirectly, the beneficial owner of 10 percent or more of any class of equity securities, (ii) any trust or other estate in which such specified person or entity has a substantial beneficial interest or as to which such specified person or entity serves as trustee or in a similar fiduciary capacity, (iii) any relative or spouse of such specified person, or any relative of such spouse, who has the same home as such specified person or who is a director or officer of the corporation or any Subsidiary, and (iv) any person who is a director or officer of such specified entity or any of its parents or subsidiaries (other than the corporation or a wholly-owned Subsidiary of the corporation). (e) The term "Substantial Part" shall mean 30 percent or more of the fair market value of the total assets of the person or entity in question, as reflected on the most recent balance sheet of such person or entity existing at the time the shareholders of the corporation would be required to approve or authorize the Related Person Business Transaction involving the assets constituting any such Substantial Part. 6 (f) The term "Subsidiary" shall mean any corporation, a majority of the equity securities of any class of which are owned by the corporation, by another Subsidiary, or in the aggregate by the corporation and one or more of its Subsidiaries. (g) The term "Continuing Director" shall mean (i) a director who was a member of the Board of Directors of the corporation either on June 22, 1983 or immediately prior to the time that any Related Person involved in the Related Person Business Transaction in question became a Related Person and (ii) any person becoming a director whose election, or nomination for election by the corporation's shareholders, was approved by a vote of a majority of the Continuing Directors, provided, however, that in no event shall a Related Person involved in the Related Person Business Transaction in question be deemed to be a Continuing Director. (h) The term "voting shares" shall mean shares of capital stock of a corporation entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, considered for the purposes of this Article as one class. (i) The term "Highest Purchase Price" shall mean the highest amount of cash or the fair market value of the property, securities or other consideration paid by the Related Person for a share of Common Stock of the corporation at any time while such person or entity was a Related Person or in the transaction which resulted in such person or entity becoming a Related Person, provided, however, that the Highest Purchase Price shall be appropriately adjusted to reflect the occurrence of any reclassification, recapitalization, stock split, reverse stock split or other readjustment in the number of outstanding shares of Common Stock of the corporation, or the declaration of a stock dividend thereon, between the last date upon which the Related Person paid the Highest Purchase Price and the effective date of the merger, consolidation or exchange of shares or the date of distribution to shareholders of the corporation of the proceeds from the sale of all or substantially all of the assets of the corporation. (j) (i) A person or entity "beneficially owns" voting shares of the corporation if such person or entity, directly or indirectly, through any contract, arrangement, understanding, relationship or otherwise has or shares (A) voting power which includes the power to vote, or to direct the voting of, such voting shares or (B) investment power which includes the power to dispose, or to direct the disposition of, such voting shares. Any person or entity which, directly or indirectly, creates or uses a trust, proxy, power of attorney, pooling arrangement or any other contract, arrangement, or device with the purpose or effect of divesting such person or entity of beneficial ownership of voting shares of the corporation or preventing the vesting of such beneficial ownership as part of a plan or scheme to avoid becoming a Related 7 Person shall be deemed for purposes of this Article 6 to be the beneficial owner of such voting shares. All voting shares of the corporation beneficially owned by a person or entity, regardless of the form which such beneficial ownership takes, shall be aggregated in calculating the number of voting shares of the corporation beneficially owned by such person or entity. Any voting shares of the corporation that any person or entity has the right to acquire pursuant to any agreement, contract, arrangement or understanding, or upon exercise of any conversion right, warrant, or option, or pursuant to the automatic termination of a trust, discretionary account or similar arrangement, or otherwise shall be deemed beneficially owned by such person or entity. Any voting shares of the corporation not outstanding which any person or entity has a right to acquire shall be deemed to be outstanding for the purpose of computing the percentage of outstanding voting shares of the corporation beneficially owned by such person or entity but shall not be deemed to be outstanding for the purpose of computing the percentage of outstanding voting shares of the corporation beneficially owned by any other person or entity. (ii) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of subparagraph 6.2(j)(i) hereof: (A) A member of a national securities exchange shall not be deemed to be a beneficial owner of voting shares of the corporation held directly or indirectly by it on behalf of another person or entity solely because such member is the record holder of such voting shares and, pursuant to the rules of such exchange, may direct the vote of such voting shares, without instruction, on other than contested matters or matters that may affect substantially the rights or privileges of the holders of the voting shares of the corporation to be voted, but is otherwise precluded by the rules of such exchange from voting without instruction; (B) A commercial bank, broker or dealer or insurance company which in the ordinary course of business is a pledgee of voting shares of the corporation under a written pledge agreement shall not be deemed to be the beneficial owner of such pledged voting shares until the pledgee has taken all formal steps necessary to declare a default and determines that the power to vote or to direct the vote or to dispose or to direct the disposition of such pledged securities will be exercised, provided that the pledge agreement is bona fide and was not entered into with the purpose nor with the effect of changing or influencing the control of the corporation nor in connection with 8 any transaction having such purpose or effect and, prior to default, does not grant to the pledgee the power to vote or to direct the vote of the pledged voting shares of the corporation; and (C) A person or entity engaged in business as an underwriter of securities who acquires voting shares of the corporation through its participation in good faith in a firm commitment underwriting registered under the Securities Act of 1933, or comparable successor law, rule or regulation, shall not be deemed to be the beneficial owner of such voting shares until the expiration of forty days after the date of such acquisition. 6.3 For the purposes of this Article 6, the Continuing Directors by a majority vote shall have the power to make a good faith determination, on the basis of information known to them, of: (a) the number of voting shares of the corporation that any person or entity "beneficially owns," (b) whether a person or entity is an Affiliate or Associate of another, (c) whether the assets subject to any Related Person Business Transaction constitute a Substantial Part, (d) whether any business transaction is one in which a Related Person has an interest, (e) whether the cash or fair market value of the property, securities or other consideration to be received per share by holders of Common Stock of the corporation other than the Related Person in a Related Person Business Transaction is an amount at least equal to the Highest Purchase Price, and (f) such other matters with respect to which a determination is required under this Article 6. 6.4 The provisions set forth in this Article 6, including this Section 6.4, may not be repealed or amended in any respect unless such action is approved by the affirmative vote of the holders of not less than two-thirds of the voting power of the outstanding voting shares of the corporation. 9