As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 11, 2020.
Registration No. 333-
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
____________
FORM S-8
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
LSI INDUSTRIES INC.
(Exact name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)
Ohio |
10000 Alliance Road Cincinnati, Ohio 45242 (513) 793-3200 |
31-0888951 |
(State Or Other Jurisdiction Of Incorporation Or Organization) |
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices) |
(IRS Employer Identification Number) |
LSI Industries Inc. Nonstatutory Inducement Stock Option Agreements
(Full Title of the Plan)
Thomas A. Caneris
Senior Vice President – Human Resources and General Counsel
LSI Industries Inc.
10000 Alliance Road
Cincinnati, Ohio 45242
(513) 793-3200
Facsimile (513) 793-3601
(Name, Address, Including Zip Code, and Telephone Number, Including Area Code, of Agent For Service)
With copies to:
F. Mark Reuter, Esq.
Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL
One East Fourth Street, Suite 1400
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
Telephone: (513) 579-6469
Facsimile: (513) 579-6457
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emergency growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer |
☐ |
Accelerated filer |
☒ |
Non-accelerated filer |
☐ |
Smaller reporting company |
☒ |
Emerging growth company |
☐ |
CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
Title of Securities To Be Registered |
Amount To Be Registered (2) |
Proposed Maximum Offering Price Per Share (3) |
Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price |
Amount of Registration Fee (4) |
Common Stock (1) |
180,000 Shares |
$6.31 |
$1,135,800 |
$148 |
(1) |
Pursuant to Rule 416 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), this Registration Statement shall be deemed to cover additional shares of common stock, no par value per share (“Common Stock”), of LSI Industries Inc. (the “Registrant”) to be offered or issued in connection with any stock splits, stock dividends or similar transactions, whether pursuant to the terms of the Inducement Award Agreement (as defined below) or otherwise. |
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(2) |
Represents an aggregate of 180,000 shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of stock options granted as follows: (i) 100,000 to Jeffrey Davis, the President of LSI Lighting; (ii) 50,000 to Brian Vincent, the Chief Support Officer of the Registrant; and (iii) 30,000 to Jonathon Towner, the Vice President – Chief Information Officer of the Registrant |
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(3) |
Estimated solely for purposes of calculating the amount of the registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(c), based upon the average of the high and low prices of the Common Stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market as of September 8, 2020 |
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(4) |
Pursuant to General Instruction E to Form S-8, the registration fee has been calculated solely with respect to the 180,000 shares of Common Stock being registered hereby. |
Proposed sales to take place as soon after the effective date of the registration statement as awards granted under the above-named plan are granted and exercised.
NOTE
This Registration Statement on Form S-8 is filed pursuant to General Instruction E to Form S-8 by LSI Industries Inc. (the “Company” or “Registrant”) for the purpose of registering 180,000 shares of the Company’s common stock, no par value per share (the “Common Stock”), which may be issued pursuant to the exercise of certain stock options as follows: (i) 100,000 to Jeffrey Davis, the President of LSI Lighting; (ii) 50,000 to Brian Vincent, the Chief Support Officer of the Registrant; and (iii) 30,000 to Jonathon Towner, the Vice President – Chief Information Officer of the Registrant. All grants are pursuant to the Registrant’s form of Nonstatutory Inducement Stock Option Agreement (the “Inducement Award Agreement”).
PART I
INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(a) PROSPECTUS
The information called for in Part I of Form S-8 is not being filed with or included in this Form S-8 (by incorporation by reference or otherwise in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC” or “Commission”).
PART II
INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT
Item 3. Incorporation of Documents by Reference
The following documents filed by Registrant with the Commission are incorporated herein by reference and made a part hereof:
1. |
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2020; |
2. |
Current Report(s) on Form 8-K filed on August 20, 2020, and August 25, 2020; and |
3. |
The description of the Common Stock contained in the Registration Statement on Form 8-A on or about April 11, 1985 registering the Registrant's Common Stock under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as supplemented by Exhibit 4.1 filed with the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on September 6, 2019. |
All reports and other documents subsequently filed by the Registrant pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment which indicates that all Common Stock offered has been sold or which deregisters all Common Stock then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement and to be a part hereof from the date of filing such documents, except as to any portion of any future annual or quarterly report to shareholders or document or current report furnished under Items 2.02, 7.01 and 9.01 of Form 8-K that is not deemed filed under such provisions. Any statement contained in a document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this Registration Statement to the extent that a statement contained herein, or in any subsequently filed document which also is or is deemed to be incorporated by reference herein, modifies or supersedes such statement. Any such statement so modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute part of this Registration Statement.
Item 4. Description of Securities
Not Applicable.
Item 5. Interests of Named Experts and Counsel
The legality of the Common Stock offered hereby will be passed upon for the Registrant by Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL, One East Fourth Street, Suite 1400, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202. Attorneys of Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL participating in matters relating to this Form S-8 own no shares of the Registrant’s Common Stock.
Item 6. Indemnification of Directors and Officers
The following discussion is subject to the complete text of Section 1701.13(E) and is qualified in its entirety by reference thereto.
Ohio General Corporation Law Section 1701.13(E), allows indemnification by the Registrant to any person made or threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, other than an action by or in the right of the Registrant, by reason of the fact that he is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the Registrant, against expenses, including, attorney’s fees, judgments, fines, and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by him in connection with such action, suit or proceeding, if he acted in good faith and in a manner reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the Registrant's best interests and, with respect to criminal actions, in which he had no reasonable cause to believe that his conduct was unlawful. Similar provisions apply to actions brought by or in the right of the Registrant, except that no indemnification shall be made in such cases when the person shall have been adjudged to be liable for negligence or misconduct to the Registrant unless deemed otherwise by the court. Indemnifications are to be made by a majority vote of a quorum of disinterested directors or the written opinion of independent counsel or by the shareholders or by the court.
Article V of the Registrant’s Amended and Restated Code of Regulations provides as follows:
INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS
Section 1. Right of Indemnification. Each person who was or is made a party to or is threatened to be made a party to or is otherwise involved (including, without limitation as a witness) in any actual or threatened action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative, or investigative (hereinafter a “proceeding”), by reason of the fact that he or she is or was a Director, officer or member of a committee of the Corporation or that, being or having been such a Director or officer of the Corporation, he or she is or was serving at the request of an executive officer of the Corporation as a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee or agent of another corporation or of a partnership, joint venture, trust, limited liability company or other enterprise, including service with respect to an employee benefit plan as a trustee, fiduciary or otherwise (hereinafter an “Indemnitee”), whenever the basis of such proceeding is alleged action in an official capacity as such a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee, or agent, shall be indemnified and held harmless by the Corporation to the fullest extent permitted by the Ohio Revised Code, as the same exists or may hereafter be amended (but, in the case of any such amendment, only to the extent that such amendment permits the Corporation to provide broader indemnification rights than permitted prior thereto), or by other applicable law as then in effect, against all expense, liability and loss (including, without limitation, the cost of reasonable settlements with or without suit, attorneys’ fees, costs of investigation, judgments, fines, excise taxes or penalties arising under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) or other federal or state acts) actually incurred or suffered by such Indemnitee in connection therewith and such indemnification shall continue as to an Indemnitee who has ceased to be a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee or agent and shall inure to the benefit of the Indemnitee’s heirs, executors, and administrators. Except as provided in ARTICLE V Section 2 with respect to proceedings seeking to enforce rights to indemnification, the Corporation shall indemnify any such Indemnitee in connection with a proceeding (or part thereof) initiated by such Indemnitee only if such proceeding (or part thereof) was authorized or ratified by the Board of Directors of the Corporation. To the extent any of the indemnification provisions set forth above prove to be ineffective for any reason in furnishing the indemnification provided, each of the persons named above shall be indemnified by the Corporation to the fullest extent not prohibited by applicable law.
(a) The right to indemnification conferred in this ARTICLE V Section 1 shall be a contract right and shall include the right to be paid by the Corporation the expenses incurred in defending any such proceeding in advance of its final disposition (hereinafter an “advancement of expenses”). An advancement of expenses shall be made only upon delivery to the Corporation of an undertaking, by or on behalf of such Indemnitee, to repay all amounts so advanced if it is proved by clear and convincing evidence in a court of competent jurisdiction that his omission or failure to act involved an act or omission undertaken with deliberate intent to cause injury to the Corporation or undertaken with reckless disregard for the best interests of the Corporation. An advancement of expenses shall not be made if the Corporation’s Board of Directors makes a good faith determination that such payment would violate applicable law.
Section 2. Right of Indemnitee to Bring Suit. If a claim under ARTICLE V Section 1 is not paid in full by the Corporation within 30 days after a written claim has been received by the Corporation, except in the case of a claim for an advancement of expenses, in which case the applicable period shall be 20 days, the Indemnitee may at any time thereafter bring suit against the Corporation to recover the unpaid amount of the claim. If successful, in whole or in part, in any such suit, or in a suit brought by the Corporation to recover an advancement of expenses pursuant to the terms of an undertaking, the Indemnitee shall also be entitled to be paid the expense of prosecuting or defending such suit. The Indemnitee shall be presumed to be entitled to indemnification under this ARTICLE V upon submission of a written claim (and, in an action brought to enforce a claim for an advancement of expenses, where the required undertaking has been tendered to the Corporation), and thereafter the Corporation shall have the burden of proof to overcome the presumption that the Indemnitee is so entitled.
(a) Neither the failure of the Corporation (including its Board of Directors, independent legal counsel or its Shareholders) to have made a determination prior to the commencement of such suit that indemnification of the Indemnitee is proper in the circumstances, nor an actual determination by the Corporation (including its Board of Directors, independent legal counsel or its Shareholders) that the Indemnitee is not entitled to indemnification shall be a defense to the suit or create a presumption that the Indemnitee is not so entitled.
Section 3. Nonexclusivity and Survival of Rights. The rights to indemnification and to the advancement of expenses conferred in this ARTICLE V shall not be exclusive of any other right which any person may have or hereafter acquire under any statute, provisions of the Articles, these Regulations, agreement, vote of Shareholders or disinterested Directors, or otherwise. Such rights shall also not be exclusive of, and shall be in addition to, any rights to which such person may be entitled by contract with the Corporation, which is expressly permitted hereby.
(a) Notwithstanding any amendment to or repeal of this ARTICLE V, or of any of the procedures established by the Board of Directors pursuant to ARTICLE V Section 6, any Indemnitee shall be entitled to indemnification in accordance with the provisions hereof and thereof with respect to any acts or omissions of such Indemnitee occurring prior to such amendment or repeal.
(b) Without limiting the generality of the foregoing paragraph, the rights to indemnification and to the advancement of expenses conferred in this ARTICLE V shall, notwithstanding any amendment to or repeal of this ARTICLE V, inure to the benefit of any person who otherwise may be entitled to be indemnified pursuant to this ARTICLE V (or the estate or personal representative of such person) for a period of six years after the date such person’s service to or on behalf of the Corporation shall have terminated or for such longer period as may be required in the event of a lengthening in the applicable statute of limitations.
(c) Advancement of expenses may be made by the Corporation against costs, expenses and fees to the extent permitted by, and in accordance with, any terms and conditions of applicable law.
Section 4. Insurance, Contracts and Funding. The Corporation may, to the full extent then permitted by law, purchase and maintain insurance or furnish similar protection, including but not limited to trust funds, letters of credit or self-insurance, on behalf of or for any persons described in this ARTICLE V, against any liability asserted against and incurred by any such person in any such capacity, or arising out of his status as such, whether or not the Corporation would have the power to indemnify such person against such liability, loss and/or expense under the Ohio Revised Code. The Corporation may enter into contracts with any Indemnitee in furtherance of the provisions of this ARTICLE V and may create a trust fund, grant a security interest or use other means (including, without limitation, a letter of credit) to ensure the payment of such amounts as may be necessary to effect indemnification as provided in this ARTICLE V. Insurance may be purchased from or maintained with a person in which the Corporation has a financial interest.
Section 5. Indemnification of Employees and Agents of the Corporation. The Corporation may, by action of its Board of Directors, authorize one or more executive officers to grant rights to advancement of expenses to employees or agents of the Corporation on such terms and conditions no less stringent than provided in ARTICLE V Section 1 hereof as such officer or officers deem appropriate under the circumstances. The Corporation may, by action of its Board of Directors, grant rights to indemnification and advancement of expenses to employees or agents or groups of employees or agents of the Corporation with the same scope and effect as the provisions of this ARTICLE V with respect to the indemnification and advancement of expenses of Directors, officers and members of a committee of the Corporation; provided, however, that an undertaking shall be made by an employee or agent only if required by the Board of Directors.
Section 6. Procedures for the Submission of Claims. The Board of Directors may establish reasonable procedures for the submission of claims for indemnification pursuant to this ARTICLE V, determination of the entitlement of any person thereto, and review of any such determination. Such procedures shall be set forth in an appendix to these Regulations and shall be deemed for all purposes to be a part hereof.
Section 7. Definition of Performance. For the purposes of this Article, a Director, officer or member of a committee shall conclusively be deemed not to have been willfully derelict in the performance of such person’s duty as such Director, officer or member of committee:
(a) Determination by Suit. In a matter which shall have been the subject of a suit or proceeding in which such person was a party which is disposed of by adjudication on the merits, unless such person shall have been finally adjudged in such suit or proceeding to have been willfully derelict in the performance of that person’s duty as such Director, officer or member of a committee; or
(b) Determination by Committee. In a matter not falling within (a) above, a majority of disinterested members of the Board of Directors or a majority of a committee of disinterested Shareholders of the Corporation, selected as hereinafter provided, shall determine that such person was not willfully derelict. Such determination shall be made by the disinterested members of the Board of Directors except where such members shall determine that such matter should be referred to said committee of disinterested Shareholders.
Section 8. Selection of Committee. The selection of a committee of Shareholders provided above may be made by the majority vote of the disinterested Directors or, if there be no disinterested Director or Directors, by the chief executive officer of the Corporation. A Director or Shareholder shall be deemed disinterested in a matter if such person has no interest therein other than as a Director or Shareholder of the Corporation as the case may be. The Corporation shall pay the fees and expenses of the Shareholders or Directors, as the case may be, incurred in connection with making a determination as above provided.
Section 9. Non-Committee Determination. In the event that a Director, officer or member of a committee shall be found by some other method not to have been willfully derelict in the performance of such person’s duty as such Director, officer or member of a committee, then such determination as to dereliction shall not be questioned on the ground that it was made otherwise than as provided above.
The Registrant maintains liability insurance for all of its directors and officers (“D&O Insurance”). The D&O Insurance provides for payment on behalf of the directors and officers, up to the policy limits and after expenditure of a specified deductible, of all Loss (as defined) from claims made against them during the policy period for defined wrongful acts, which include errors, misstatements or misleading statements, acts or omissions and neglect or breach of duty by directors and officers in the discharge of their individual or collective duties as such. The D&O Insurance includes the cost of investigations and defenses, appeals and bonds and settlements and judgments and contains various limits, exclusions and reporting requirements.
Item 7. Exemption from Registration Claimed
Not Applicable.
Item 8. Exhibits*
Exhibit 3.1 |
Certificate of Amended Articles of Incorporation of Registrant |
Exhibit 3.2 |
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Exhibit 5.1 |
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Exhibit 23.1 |
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Exhibit 23.2 |
Consent of Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL (included in Exhibit 5) |
Exhibit 24.1 |
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Exhibit 99.1 |
Form of LSI Industries Inc. Nonstatutory Inducement Stock Option Agreement |
* All Exhibits filed herewith unless otherwise indicated
Item 9. Undertakings
(a) The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes to file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:
(1) |
to include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act; |
(2) |
to reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of the Registration Statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the Registration Statement; |
Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than a 20% change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” table in the effective registration statement;
(3) |
to include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the Registration Statement or any material change to such information in the Registration Statement; |
provided, however, that paragraphs (1) and (2) do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed with or furnished to the Commission by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement.
(b) The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.
(c) The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes to remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.
(d) The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Registrant’s annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that is incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered herein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.
(e) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit, or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in Cincinnati, Ohio, on September 11, 2020.
LSI INDUSTRIES INC. |
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By: /s/James A. Clark |
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James A. Clark |
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Chief Executive Officer and President |
KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below whose name is preceded by an (*) hereby constitutes and appoints James A. Clark and James E. Galeese, and each of them acting individually, his or her true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent, each with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for him or her and in his or her name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments (including post-effective amendments) to this Registration Statement and to sign any and all registration statements relating to the same offering of securities as this Registration Statement that are filed pursuant to Rule 462(b) promulgated under of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission and any other regulatory authority, granting unto said attorney-in-fact and agent, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in connection therewith, as fully to all intents and purposes as such person might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorney-in-fact and agent, his substitute or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
Signature |
Capacity |
Date |
/s/ Wilfred T. O'Gara |
Chairman of the Board |
September 11, 2020 |
*Wilfred T. O’Gara | ||
/s/ James E. Galeese |
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer |
September 11, 2020 |
*James E. Galeese | (Principal Financial Officer) | |
/s/ Jeffery S. Bastian |
Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer |
September 11, 2020 |
*Jeffery S. Bastian | (Principal Accounting Officer) | |
/s/ James A. Clark |
Chief Executive Officer and President, Director |
September 11, 2020 |
*James A. Clark | ||
/s/ Robert P. Beech |
Director |
September 11, 2020 |
*Robert P. Beech | ||
/s/ Ronald D. Brown |
Director |
September 11, 2020 |
*Ronald D. Brown | ||
/s/ Amy L. Hanson |
Director |
September 11, 2020 |
*Amy L. Hanson | ||
/s/ Chantel E. Lenard |
Director |
September 11, 2020 |
*Chantel E. Lenard |
Exhibit 3.1
CERTIFICATE OF AMENDED
ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION
OF
LSI INDUSTRIES INC.
First. The name of the Corporation shall be LSI Industries Inc.
Second. The place in Ohio where its principal office is to be located is 10000 Alliance Road, Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio 45242.
Third. The nature of the business and the purposes to be conducted and promoted by the Corporation is to engage in designing, manufacturing and supplying of electrical lighting systems and graphic products and to do any other lawful act for which corporations may be formed under Sections 1701.01 to 1701.98, inclusive, of the Ohio Revised Code.
Fourth. The maximum number of shares which the Corporation is authorized to have outstanding is:
A. 13,000,000 shares of Common Stock, without par value and
B. 1,000,000 shares of Preferred Stock, without par value.
The holders of the Preferred Stock shall be entitled to receive dividends out of any funds of the Corporation at the time legally available for dividends when and as declared by the Board of Directors at such rate as shall be fixed by the Board of Directors before any sum shall be set apart or applied to the redemption or purchase of or any dividends shall be declared or paid upon or set apart for any class or series of Common Stock. In the event of any liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Corporation, the holders of Preferred Stock shall be entitled to receive out of the assets of the Corporation payment of an amount per share as determined by the Board of Directors as a liquidation price (including accrued dividends, if any) before any distribution of assets shall be made to the holders of any class or series of Common Stock.
The Board of Directors shall have the express authority from time-to-time to adopt amendments to these Articles of Incorporation with respect to any unissued or treasury shares of Preferred Stock and thereby to fix or change the division of such shares into series and the designation and authorized number of shares of each series and to provide for each such series: voting powers, full or limited or no voting powers; dividend rates; dates of payment of dividends; dates from which dividends are cumulative; liquidation prices; redemption rights and prices; sinking fund requirements; conversion rights; restrictions on the issuance of shares of other series of Preferred Stock; and such other designations, preferences and relative participating options or other special rights and qualifications, powers, limitations or restrictions thereon as may be determined by the Board of Directors.
Fifth. No holder of any shares of this Corporation shall have any pre-emptive rights to subscribe for or to purchase any shares of this Corporation of any class whether such shares of such class be now or hereafter authorized or to purchase or subscribe for securities convertible into or exchangeable for shares of any class or to which shall be attached or appertained any warrants or rights entitling the holder thereof to purchase or subscribed for shares of any class.
Sixth. This Corporation, through its Board of Directors, shall have the right and power to purchase any of its outstanding shares of such price and upon such terms as may be agreed upon between the Corporation and any selling shareholder.
Seventh. BUSINESS COMBINATIONS
A. Voting Requirements for Business Combinations
In addition to any affirmative vote required by law or the Articles, no Business Combination may be effected with an Interested Shareholder for a period of five years following the date that such shareholder became an Interested Shareholder, unless approved by the affirmative vote of the holders of outstanding voting securities of the Corporation entitled to exercise two-thirds of the combined voting power of the Corporation and by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the voting securities beneficially owned by Disinterested Shareholders.
B. Fair Price Requirement
Within 25 days after a corporation, person or other entity becomes an Interested Shareholder, such Interested Shareholder shall give written notice to each holder of voting securities or securities convertible into or exchangeable for voting securities, or options, warrants or rights to purchase voting securities or securities convertible into or exchangeable for voting securities of the Corporation stating that it is an Interested Shareholder and that such holder may sell any of the above-mentioned securities to the Interested Shareholder for cash at the price, as determined below. Within 25 days after a holder receives the above notice, the holder may send written demand to the Interested Shareholder stating the number, class and identifying number of the securities to be sold to the Interested Shareholder. Within 10 days after the holder sends written demand, the Interested Shareholder must purchase the securities identified in the written demand. Upon expiration of the 10 day purchase period, any holder of securities entitled to written notice under this section may institute an action or proceeding in any court of law or equity to enforce his or her rights under this section.
1. The price for all securities to be purchased by an Interested Shareholder shall be the higher of (a) the highest price paid per security by the Interested Shareholder for acquisitions of beneficial ownership of voting securities of the Corporations at any time plus an increment representing any value, including, without limitation, any proportion of any value payable for acquisition of control of the Corporation, that may not be reflected in such price or (b) the highest price per security of the voting securities traded on the securities markets in which the Corporation’s securities are traded during the 45 day period commencing 30 days prior to the date such Interested Shareholder became an Interested Shareholder.
2. For purposes of determining the price, all convertible or exchangeable securities shall be deemed to be converted or exchanged and all options, warrants and rights shall be treated as being exercised. That portion of the price equal to the exercise price for options, warrants and rights shall be paid to the Corporation and the balance to the holders thereof.
3. If an Interested Shareholder does not send notice or purchase securities as required by this section, the Corporation, at its option, may assume the obligations of the Interested Shareholders.
4. Regardless of anything contained in this subsection, in the event any court of law or equity declares an Interested Shareholder’s duty to purchase securities under this section unenforceable, the Corporation shall offer to purchase such securities for cash at the price determined by the application of subsection (1) above.
C. Definitions
For the purposes of this Article, certain terms are defined as follows:
1. “Business Combination” means:
1.1 Any merger or consolidation of the Corporation or any direct or indirect subsidiary, partnership, trust or other business entity of the Corporation with or into an Interested Shareholder or subsidiary. Affiliate or Associate of an Interested Shareholder, or any other corporation, person or other entity; or
1.2 Any sale, lease, exchange, mortgage, pledge, transfer or other disposition, whether in one transaction or a series of transactions, to or with an Interested Shareholder or subsidiary, Affiliate or Associate of an Interested Shareholder, of assets of the Corporation or any direct or indirect subsidiary, partnership, trust or other business entity of the Corporation, which assets have an aggregate market value equal to 10% or more of either the aggregate market value of all the assets of the Corporation determined on a consolidated basis or the aggregate market value of all the outstanding stock of the Corporation; or
1.3 Any sale, lease, exchange, mortgage, pledge, transfer or other disposition, whether in one transaction or a series of transactions, to the Corporation or any subsidiary, partnership, trust or other business entity of the Corporation of any assets in exchange for voting securities or securities convertible into or exchangeable for voting securities, or options, warrants or rights to purchase voting securities or securities convertible into or exchangeable for voting securities, of the Corporation or any subsidiaries of the Corporation by an Interested Shareholder or subsidiary, Affiliate or Associate of an Interested Shareholder; or
1.4 Any reclassification of securities of the Corporation, recapitalization or other transaction which has the effect, directly or indirectly, of increasing the voting power of an Interested Shareholder or a subsidiary, Affiliate or Associate of an Interested Shareholder; or
1.5 Any receipt by an Interested Shareholder or a subsidiary, Affiliate or Associate of an Interested Shareholder, except proportionately as a shareholder, of the benefit, directly or indirectly of any loans, advances, guarantees, pledges, or other financial benefits provided by or through the Corporation or any direct or indirect subsidiary, partnership, trust or other business entity of the Corporation, except proportionately as a shareholder; or
1.6 Any merger or other action by an Interested Shareholder which results in the termination of the Corporation’s existence as a corporation formed under the Ohio Revised Code; or
1.7 The adoption of any plan or proposal for the partial or complete liquidation or dissolution of the Corporation proposed by or on behalf of an Interested Shareholder.
2. “Interested Shareholder” means any corporation, person or other entity which is the beneficial owner, directly or indirectly, of outstanding voting securities of the Corporation representing 15% or more of the votes then entitled to be voted in the election of the Directors of the Corporation; provided, however, that the term “Interested Shareholder” shall not include any corporation, person, or entity who (a) was an Interested Shareholder as of the effective date of this Article SEVENTH or (b) acquired said securities from a person described in (a) above by gift, inheritance or in a transaction in which no consideration was exchanged.
Any corporation, person or other entity will be deemed to be the beneficial owner of any voting securities:
(a) Which it owns directly, whether or not of record; or
(b) Which it (i) has the right to acquire, whether such right is exercisable immediately or after the passage of time and whether or not such right is exercisable only after specified conditions are met, pursuant to any agreement or arrangement or understanding or upon exercise of conversion rights, exchange rights, warrants or options or otherwise or (ii) has the right to vote pursuant to any agreement or arrangement or understanding; or
(c) Which are beneficially owned, directly or indirectly, including securities deemed to be owned through application of clause (b) above, by a subsidiary, “Affiliate” or “Associate”; or
(d) Which are beneficially owned, directly or indirectly, including securities deemed owned through application of clause (b) above, by any other corporation, person or other entity with which the Interested Shareholder or any of its Affiliates or Associates, has any agreement or arrangement or understanding for the purpose of acquiring, holding, voting or disposing of voting securities of the Corporation.
3. An “Affiliate” or a corporation, person or other entity “affiliated” with a specified corporation, person or other entity means a corporation, person or other entity that directly or indirectly, through one or more intermediaries, controls, or is controlled by, or is under common control with the corporation, person or other entity specified. The term “Associate”, when used to indicate a relationship with any corporation, person or other entity means (a) any corporation or organization other than the Corporation or subsidiaries of the Corporation, of which such corporation, person or other entity is an officer or partner or is, directly or indirectly, the beneficial owner of Ten Percent (10%) or more of any class of voting securities, (b) any trust or other estate in which such corporation, person or other entity has a substantial beneficial interest or as to which such corporation, person or other entity served as trustee or in similar fiduciary capacity and (c) any relative or spouse of such person, or relative of such spouse, who has the same home of such person or who was a director or officer of the corporation or organization or any of its parents or subsidiaries.
4. “Disinterested Director” means any member of the Board of Directors who is not an Interested Shareholder, Affiliate or Associate of an Interested Shareholder or any of their Affiliates or Associates.
5. “Disinterested Shareholder” means the owner of voting securities other than those beneficially owned by an Interested Shareholder.
D. Director Approval
1. The provisions of Section A of this Article shall not be applicable if the Business Combination shall have been approved by a majority of the Disinterested Directors prior to the consummation of such Business Combination.
2. The provisions of Section B of this Article shall not be applicable if the transaction or series of transactions by which a corporation, person or other entity became an Interested Shareholder shall have been approved by a majority of the Disinterested Directors.
E. Amendments to Article SEVENTH
The affirmative vote of majority of the Disinterested Directors and the affirmative vote of the holders of outstanding voting securities of the Corporation entitled to exercise two-thirds of the voting power of the Corporation and the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the voting securities beneficially owned by Disinterested Shareholders shall be required to amend any provisions of this Article SEVENTH.
Eighth: No shareholder shall have the right to vote cumulatively in the election of Directors.
ATTACHMENT TO
CERTIFICATE OF AMENDMENT BY SHAREHOLDERS OR MEMBERS
Name of Corporation: LSI Industries Inc.
Charter Number: 757713
*********************
The Fourth Article of the Company’s Articles of Incorporation is hereby amended and restated as follows:
“FOURTH. The maximum number of shares which the Corporation is authorized to have outstanding is:
|
A. |
40,000,000 shares of Common Stock, without par value and |
|
B. |
1,000,000 shares of Preferred Stock, without par value. |
The holders of the Preferred Stock shall be entitled to receive dividends out of any funds of the Corporation at the time legally available for dividends when and as declared by the Board of Directors at such rate as shall be fixed by the Board of Directors before any sum shall be set apart or applied to the redemption or purchase of or any dividends shall be declared or paid upon or set apart for any class or series of Common Stock. In the event of any liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Corporation, the holders of Preferred Stock shall be entitled to receive out of the assets of the Corporation payment of an amount per share as determined by the Board of Directors as a liquidation price (including accrued dividends, if any) before any distribution of assets shall be made to the holders of any class or series of Common Stock.
The Board of Directors shall have the express authority from time-to-time to adopt amendments to these Articles of Incorporation with respect to any unissued or treasury shares of Preferred Stock and thereby to fix or change the division of such shares into series and the designation and authorized number of shares of each series and to provide for each such series: voting powers, full or limited or no voting powers; dividend rates; dates of payment of dividends; dates from which dividends are cumulative; liquidation prices; redemption rights and prices; sinking fund requirements; conversion rights; restrictions on the issuance of shares of other series of Preferred Stock; and such other designations, preferences and relative participating options or other special rights and qualifications, powers, limitations or restrictions thereon as may be determined by the Board of Directors.”
Exhibit 3.2
AMENDED AND RESTATED CODE OF REGULATIONS
OF
LSI INDUSTRIES INC.
ARTICLE I
Fiscal Year
Unless otherwise designated by resolution of the Board of Directors, the fiscal year of the Corporation shall commence on the 1st day of July of each year, or be such other period as the Board of Directors may designate by resolution.
ARTICLE II
Shareholders
Section 1. Annual Meetings. The Annual Meeting of the Shareholders of this Corporation, for the election of eligible candidates to the Board of Directors, the consideration of financial statements and other reports, and the transaction of such other business as may properly be brought before such meeting, shall be held at such time as determined by the Board of Directors each year. Upon due notice, there may also be considered and acted upon at an Annual Meeting any matter which could properly be considered and acted upon at a Special Meeting in which case and for which purpose the Annual Meeting shall also be considered as, and shall be a Special Meeting. In the event the Annual Meeting is not held or if Directors are not elected thereat, a Special Meeting may be called and held for that purpose.
Section 2. Special Meetings. Special Meetings of the Shareholders may be held on any business day when called by the Chairman of the Board, the President, a majority of Directors, or persons holding 50% (the “Requisite Percentage”) of all shares outstanding and entitled to vote. The notice for any Special Meeting shall state the purpose or purposes of the Special Meeting, and that only those matters that are specified in the notice thereof may be brought before a Special Meeting.
(a) Requirements for Shareholders Calling Special Meeting or Proposing Business at Special Meetings. Shareholders not the Chairman of the Board, the President or a majority of Directors of the Corporation shall not be permitted to demand a Special Meeting or propose business to be brought before a Special Meeting except in accordance with this ARTICLE II Section 2(a).
1. Record Date. No Shareholder may demand a Special Meeting pursuant to this ARTICLE II Section 2 unless such Shareholder has previously submitted a written request that the Board of Directors fix a record date to determine which Shareholders are entitled to demand a Special Meeting. The demand shall be in proper form and delivered to the Secretary of the Corporation.
2. Proper Form. For the purposes of this ARTICLE II Section 2, a request to set a record date shall set forth:
A. As to each Requesting Shareholder, as defined below, all information required to be included in a written notice of a Shareholder Proposal pursuant to ARTICLE II Section 11(a) of these Regulations, except that for the purposes of this ARTICLE II Section 2(a) the term “Requesting Shareholder” shall be substituted for the term “Proponent” in all places it appears in ARTICLE II Section 11(a).
B. As to the purpose or purposes of requesting the Special Meeting, (i) a reasonably brief description of the purpose or purposes of the Special Meeting and the business proposed; (ii) the reasons for conducting such business and any material interest in such business; and (iii) a reasonably detailed description of all agreements, arrangements and understandings between or among any of the Requesting Shareholders or between or among any Requesting Shareholder and any other person or entity (including their names) in connection with the request for the Special Meeting or the business proposed.
C. For purposes of this ARTICLE II Section 2(a), the term “Requesting Shareholder” shall mean (i) the Shareholder making the request; (ii) the beneficial owner or owners, if different, on whose behalf such request is made; and (iii) any Shareholder Associated Person (as defined in ARTICLE II Section 11(b)).
3. Demand. Only Shareholders beneficially owning the Requisite Percentage on the record date shall be entitled to demand a Special Meeting of the Shareholders pursuant to this ARTICLE II Section 2(a). To be timely, a Shareholder’s demand to call a Special Meeting must be received by the Corporation not later than the 60th day following the record date. To be in proper form for purposes of this ARTICLE II Section 2(a), a demand to call a Special Meeting shall set forth (i) the business proposed; (ii) the text of the proposal or business (including, but not limited to the text of any proposed resolutions); and (iii) with respect to any Shareholder submitting a demand (except for any Shareholder that has provided such demand in response to a solicitation made pursuant to, and in accordance with, Section 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) the information required to be provided pursuant to this ARTICLE II Section 2(a) of a Requesting Shareholder. Notwithstanding anything in these Regulations to the contrary, the Board of Directors may submit its own proposals for consideration at such a Special Meeting. The Board of Directors shall provide written notice of such Special Meeting to the Shareholders in accordance with ARTICLE II Section 4.
4. Improper Submission. A written demand from a Shareholder is improper if (i) it does not comply with this ARTICLE II Section 2(a); (ii) it proposes business that is not a proper subject for Shareholder action under applicable law; (iii) it includes a proposal that did not appear on the written request that resulted in the determination of the record date; or (iv) it includes a proposal that has been presented at the most recent Annual Meeting or at any Special Meeting held within the preceding one year period.
5. Incorrect Information. The Requesting Shareholder or any Shareholder that submits a demand to call a Special Meeting shall further update and supplement the information previously provided to the Corporation in connection with such request or demand, if necessary, so that the information provided or required to be provided in such request or demand pursuant to this ARTICLE II Section 2(a) shall be true and correct as of the record date for the Special Meeting and as of the date that is ten business days prior to the meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof, and such update and supplement shall be received by the Corporation not later than five business days after the record date for the Special Meeting (in the case of the update and supplement required to be made as of the record date), and not later than eight business days prior to the date for the meeting, if practicable (or, if not practicable, the first practicable date prior to) any adjournment or postponement thereof (in the case of the update and supplement required to be made as of ten business days prior to the Special Meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof). Notwithstanding anything in these Regulations to the contrary, no Special Meeting pursuant to this ARTICLE II Section 2(a) may be called except in accordance with this ARTICLE II Section 2(a). If the Board of Directors shall determine that any request to fix a record date or demand a Special Meeting was not properly made in accordance with this ARTICLE II Section 2(a) or shall determine that the Requesting Shareholders or Shareholders submitting a demand for a Special Meeting have not otherwise complied with this ARTICLE II Section 2(a), then the Board of Directors shall not be required to fix a record date or to call and hold the Special Meeting. In addition to the requirements of this ARTICLE II Section 2(a), each Shareholder shall comply with all requirements of applicable law, including all requirements of the Exchange Act, with respect to any request to fix a record date or demand a Special Meeting.
Section 3. Place of Meetings. Any meeting of Shareholders may be held at such place within or without the State of Ohio as may be designated in the notice of said meeting. The Board of Directors may, in its sole discretion, determine that any meeting shall not be held at any place, but may instead be held solely by means of remote communication as authorized by Ohio law.
Section 4. Notice of Meeting and Waiver of Notice.
(a) Notice. Written notice of the time, place and purposes of any meeting of Shareholders shall be given to each Shareholder entitled thereto not less than seven days nor more than 60 days before the date fixed for the meeting and as prescribed by law. Such notice shall be given either by personal delivery, mail, facsimile transmission or, to the extent permitted by law, electronically to each Shareholder entitled to notice of or to vote at such meeting. If such notice is mailed, it shall be directed, postage prepaid, to the Shareholders at their respective addresses as they appear upon the records of the Corporation, and notice shall be deemed to have been given on the day so mailed. If any meeting is adjourned to another time or place, no notice as to such adjourned meeting need be given other than by announcement at the meeting at which such an adjournment is taken. No business shall be transacted at any such adjourned meeting except as might have been lawfully transacted at the meeting at which such adjournment was taken.
(b) Notice to Joint Owners. All notices with respect to any shares to which persons are entitled by joint or common ownership may be given to that one of such persons who is named first upon the books of this Corporation, and notice so given shall be sufficient notice to all the holders of such shares.
(c) Waiver. Notice of any meeting, however, may be waived in writing by any Shareholder either before or after any meeting of Shareholders, or by attendance at such meeting without protest to the commencement thereof.
Section 5. Shareholders Entitled to Notice and to Vote. If a record date shall not be fixed or the books of the Corporation shall not be closed against transfers of shares pursuant to statutory authority, the record date for the determination of Shareholders entitled to notice of or to vote at any meeting of Shareholders shall be the close of business on the 20th day prior to the date of the meeting and only Shareholders of record at such record date shall be entitled to notice of and to vote at such meeting. Such record date shall continue to be the record date for all adjournments of such meeting unless a new record date shall be fixed and notice thereof and of the date of the adjourned meeting be given to all Shareholders entitled to notice in accordance with the new record date so fixed.
Section 6. Quorum. At any meeting of Shareholders, the holders of shares entitling them to exercise a majority of the voting power of the Corporation, present in person or by proxy, shall constitute a quorum for such meeting; provided, however, that no action required by law, the Articles, or these Regulations to be authorized or taken by the holders of a designated proportion of the shares of the Corporation may be authorized or taken by a lesser proportion. The Shareholders present in person or by proxy, whether or not a quorum be present, may adjourn the meeting from time to time without notice other than by announcement at the meeting.
Section 7. Organization of Meetings.
(a) Presiding Officer. The Chairman of the Board, or in his absence, the President, or in the absence of both of them, a Vice President of the Corporation, shall call all meetings of the Shareholders to order and shall act as Chairman thereof; if all are absent, the Shareholders shall elect a Chairman.
(b) Minutes. The Secretary of the Corporation, or, in his absence, an Assistant Secretary, or, in the absence of both, a person appointed by the Chairman of the meeting, shall act as Secretary of the meeting and shall keep and make a record of the proceedings thereat.
Section 8. Order of Business. The order of business at all meetings of the Shareholders, unless waived or otherwise changed by the Chairman of the meeting or the Board of Directors, shall be as follows:
1. Call meeting to order.
2. Selection of Chairman and/or Secretary, if necessary.
3. Proof of notice of meeting and presentment of affidavit thereof.
4. Roll call, including filing of proxies with Secretary.
5. Upon appropriate demand, appointment of inspectors of election.
6. Reading, correction and approval of previously unapproved minutes.
7. Reports of officers and committees.
8. If Annual Meeting, or meeting called for that purpose, election of Directors.
9. Unfinished business, if adjourned meeting.
10. Consideration in sequence of all other matters set forth in the call for and written notice of the meeting.
11. Any new business not including the election of Directors other than that set forth in the notice of the meeting which shall have been submitted to the Corporation in accordance with the terms and conditions of ARTICLE II Section 11 of these Regulations. The provisions of ARTICLE III shall govern the procedures for Shareholder nominations of Directors.
12. Adjournment.
Section 9. Voting. Except as provided by statute or in the Articles, every Shareholder entitled to vote shall be entitled to cast one vote on each proposal submitted to the meeting for each share held of record by him on the record date for the determination of the Shareholders entitled to vote at the meeting. At any meeting at which a quorum is present, all questions and business which may come before the meeting shall be determined by a majority of votes cast, except when a greater proportion is required by law, the Articles, or these Regulations.
Section 10. Proxies. A person who is entitled to attend a Shareholders’ meeting, to vote thereat, or to execute consents, waivers and releases, may be represented at such meeting or vote thereat, and execute consents, waivers, and releases and exercise any of his rights, by proxy or proxies appointed by a writing signed by such person, or by his duly authorized attorney, which may be transmitted physically, by facsimile or by other electronic medium, as provided by the laws of the State of Ohio.
Section 11. Shareholder Proposals.
(a) No proposal for a Shareholder vote shall be submitted by a Shareholder (a “Shareholder Proposal”) to the Corporation’s Shareholders unless the Shareholder submitting such Shareholder Proposal (the “Proponent”) shall have filed with the Secretary of the Corporation at least 90 and no more than 120 days prior to such meeting of Shareholders (or, with respect to a Special Meeting the tenth day following the day on which the public announcement of the date of such meeting is first made by the Corporation) a written notice setting forth with particularity (i) the names and business addresses of the Proponent and any “Shareholder Associated Person,” as defined in subsection 11(b) of this ARTICLE II Section 11, acting in concert with the Proponent; (ii) the names and addresses of the Proponent and of any such Shareholder Associated Person, as they appear on the Corporation’s books (if they so appear); (iii)(A) the class and number of shares of stock of the Corporation which are, directly or indirectly, owned beneficially and of record by each of the Proponent and by any such Shareholder Associated Person; (B) any option, warrant, convertible security, stock appreciation right, or similar right with an exercise or conversion privilege or a settlement payment or mechanism at a price related to any class of shares of stock of the Corporation or with a value derived in whole or in part from the value of any class of shares of stock of the Corporation, whether or not such instrument or right shall be subject to settlement in the underlying class of capital stock of the Corporation or otherwise (a “Derivative Instrument”) directly or indirectly owned beneficially by the Proponent and by any such Shareholder Associated Person and any other direct or indirect opportunity to profit or share in any profit derived from any increase or decrease in the value of shares of the Corporation; (C) any proxy, contract, arrangement, understanding, or relationship pursuant to which the Proponent and any such Shareholder Associated Person has a right to vote any shares of any security of the Corporation; (D) any short interest in any security of the Corporation (for purposes of these Regulations an individual shall be deemed to have a short interest in a security if such individual directly or indirectly, through any contract, arrangement, understanding, relationship or otherwise, has the opportunity to profit or share in any profit derived from any decrease in the value of the subject security); (E) any rights to dividends on the shares of stock of the Corporation owned beneficially by the Proponent and by any such Shareholder Associated Person that are separated or separable from the underlying shares of stock of the Corporation; (F) any proportionate interest in shares of stock of the Corporation or Derivative Instruments held, directly or indirectly, by a general or limited partnership in which the Proponent or any such Shareholder Associated Person is a general partner or, directly or indirectly, beneficially owns an interest in a general partner; and (G) any performance–related fees (other than an asset-based fee) to which the Proponent or any such Shareholder Associated Person is entitled to based on any increase or decrease in the value of shares of stock of the Corporation or Derivative Instruments, if any, as of the date of such notice, including without limitation, any such interests held by members of the immediate family sharing the same household as the Proponent or any such Shareholder Associated Person, if any, or either of them, that would be required to be disclosed in a proxy statement or other filings required to be made in connection with solicitation of proxies for, as applicable, the proposal and/or for the election of directors in a contested election pursuant to Section 14 of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder (which information shall be supplemented, as necessary, by such Shareholder and by any such Shareholder Associated Person and beneficial owner); (iv) a description of the Shareholder Proposal containing all material information relating thereto along with any interest that such Proponent and any such Shareholder Associated Person has in the Shareholder Proposal and any benefits that the Proponent and any such Shareholder Associated Person may derive from the outcome of any vote on the Shareholder Proposal; and (v) such other information as the Board of Directors reasonably determines is necessary or appropriate to enable the Board of Directors and Shareholders of the Corporation to consider the Shareholder Proposal.
(b) Shareholder Associated Person. For the purposes of this ARTICLE II Section 11 and ARTICLE III Section 2 of these Regulations “Shareholder Associated Person” shall mean (i) any person controlling, directly or indirectly, or acting in concert with or having any contracts, plans, understandings or arrangements with respect to the Corporation with, such Shareholder; (ii) any beneficial owner of a Derivative Instrument or shares of stock of the Corporation owned of record or beneficially by such Shareholder; and (iii) any person controlling, controlled by or under common control with such Shareholder Associated Person.
(c) Inaccurate Information. If information submitted pursuant to this ARTICLE II Section 11 by any Shareholder proposing any business other than a nomination for election to the Board of Directors shall be inaccurate or materially misleading, such information may be deemed not to have been provided in accordance with this ARTICLE II Section 11. Any Shareholder proposing any business other than a nomination for election to the Board of Directors shall provide (i) written verification, satisfactory, in the discretion of the Board of Directors or any authorized officer of the Corporation, to demonstrate the accuracy of any information submitted by the Shareholder pursuant to this ARTICLE II Section 11; and (ii) a written update of any information previously submitted by the Shareholder pursuant to this ARTICLE II Section 11 as of an earlier date so that the information provided or required to be provided in such notice pursuant to this ARTICLE II Section 11 shall be true, correct and complete as of the record date for the meeting and as of the date that is ten business days prior to the meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof. If the Shareholder fails to provide such written verification or a written update within such period, the information as to which written verification or a written update was required may be deemed not to have been provided in accordance with this ARTICLE II Section 11. Only such proposals made in accordance with the procedures set forth in this ARTICLE II Section 11 shall be eligible to be brought before the meeting. The presiding officer at any Shareholders’ meeting shall have the power to determine whether a proposal was made in accordance with this ARTICLE II Section 11, and, if any proposal is not in compliance with this ARTICLE II Section 11, to declare at the meeting or otherwise provide notice to the Proponent that such proposal shall be disregarded.
(d) General. Without limitation in any manner of the foregoing provisions of this ARTICLE II Section 11, a Shareholder shall also comply with all applicable requirements of state law and the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder with respect to the matters set forth in this ARTICLE II Section 11. Nothing in this ARTICLE II Section 11 shall be deemed to affect the right of a Shareholder to request inclusion of a proposal in, nor the right of the Corporation to omit a proposal from, the Corporation’s proxy statement pursuant to Rule 14a-8 (or any successor provision) under the Exchange Act.
Section 12. List of Shareholders. At any meeting of Shareholders a list of Shareholders, alphabetically arranged, showing the number and classes of shares held by each on the record date applicable to such meeting, shall be produced on the request of any Shareholder.
ARTICLE III
Directors
Section 1. General Powers. The authority of this Corporation shall be exercised by or under the direction of the Board of Directors, except where the law, the Articles or these Regulations require action to be authorized or taken by the Shareholders.
Section 2. Election, Number and Qualification of Directors.
(a) Election. The Directors shall be elected at the Annual Meeting of the Shareholders, or if not so elected, at a Special Meeting of the Shareholders called for that purpose. The only candidates who shall be eligible for election at such meeting shall be those who have been nominated by or at the direction of the Board of Directors (which nominations shall be either made at such meeting or disclosed in a proxy statement, or supplement thereto, distributed to Shareholders for such meeting at the direction of the Board of Directors) and those who have been nominated at such meeting by a Shareholder who has complied with the procedures set forth in this ARTICLE III Section 2. A Shareholder may make a nomination for the office of Director only if such Shareholder has first delivered or sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the Secretary of the Corporation notice in writing (a “Nomination Notice”) at least ninety (90) and no more than 120 days prior to such meeting of Shareholders (or, with respect to a Special Meeting the tenth day following the day on which the public announcement of the date such meeting is first made by the Corporation), which notice shall set forth or be accompanied by (i) as to each individual proposed to be nominated; (A) the name, date of birth, business address and residence address of such individual; (B) the business experience during the past five years of such nominee, including his or her principal occupations and employment during such period, the name and principal business of any corporation or other organization in which such occupations and employment were carried on, and such other information as to the nature of his or her responsibilities and level of professional competence as may be sufficient to permit assessment of his or her prior business experience; (C) a description of all direct and indirect compensation and other material monetary and non-monetary agreements, arrangements and understandings during the past three years, and any other material relationships, between or among the Shareholder submitting the Nomination Notice and any Shareholder Associated Person acting in concert with such person, on the one hand, and each proposed nominee and any Shareholder Associated Person acting in concert with such nominee, on the other hand, including, without limitation all information that would be required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 promulgated under Regulation S-K if the nominating Shareholder and any beneficial owner on whose behalf the nomination is made, if any, and any Shareholder Associated Person acting in concert therewith, were the “registrant” for purposes of such Item and the nominee were a director or executive officer of such registrant; (D) whether the nominee is or has ever been at any time a director, officer or owner of five percent or more of any class of capital stock, partnership interests or other equity interest of any corporation, partnership or other entity; (E) any directorships held by such nominee in any company with a class of securities registered pursuant to Section 12 of the Exchange Act or subject to the requirements of Section 15(d) of such Exchange Act or any company registered as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended; (F) whether, in the last five years, such nominee has been convicted in a criminal proceeding or has been subject to a judgment, order, finding or decree of any federal, state or other governmental entity, concerning any violation of federal, state or other law, or any proceeding in bankruptcy, which conviction, order, finding, decree or proceeding may be material to an evaluation of the ability or integrity of the nominee; and (G) any other information relating to such individual that would be required to be disclosed in a proxy statement or other filings required to be made in connection with solicitations of proxies for election of directors in a contested election pursuant to Section 14 of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder; and (ii) as to the Shareholder submitting the Nomination Notice and any Shareholder Associated Person acting in concert with such Shareholder; (A) the name and business address of such Shareholder and of such Shareholder Associated Person; (B) the names and addresses of such Shareholder and of such Shareholder Associated Person as they appear on the Corporation’s books (if they so appear); and (C)(1) the class and number of shares of stock of the Corporation which are, directly or indirectly, owned beneficially and of record by each of such Shareholder and by such Shareholder Associated Person; (2) any Derivative Instrument directly or indirectly owned beneficially by such Shareholder and by such Shareholder Associated Person and any other direct or indirect opportunity to profit or share in any profit derived from any increase or decrease in the value of shares of stock of the Corporation; (3) any proxy, contract, arrangement, understanding, or relationship pursuant to which such Shareholder and such Shareholder Associated Person has a right to vote any shares of any security of the Corporation; (4) any short interest in any security of the Corporation (for purposes of these Regulations an individual shall be deemed to have a short interest in a security if such individual directly or indirectly, through any contract, arrangement, understanding, relationship or otherwise, has the opportunity to profit or share in any profit derived from any decrease in the value of the subject security); (5) any rights to dividends on the shares of stock of the Corporation owned beneficially by such Shareholder and by such Shareholder Associated Person that are separated or separable from the underlying shares of stock of the Corporation; (6) any proportionate interest in shares of stock of the Corporation or Derivative Instruments held, directly or indirectly, by a general or limited partnership in which such Shareholder or such Shareholder Associated Person is a general partner or, directly or indirectly, beneficially owns an interest in a general partner; and (7) any performance–related fees (other than an asset-based fee) to which such Shareholder or such Shareholder Associated Person is entitled to based on any increase or decrease in the value of shares of stock of the Corporation or Derivative Instruments, if any, as of the date of such Nomination Notice, including without limitation, any such interests held by members of the immediate family of such Shareholder sharing the same household or such Shareholder Associated Person, if any, or either of them, that would be required to be disclosed in a proxy statement or other filings required to be made in connection with solicitation of proxies for the election of directors in a contested election pursuant to Section 14 of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder (which information shall be supplemented, as necessary, by such Shareholder and by such Shareholder Associated Person and beneficial owner). A written consent to being named in a proxy statement as a nominee, and to serve as a Director if so elected, signed by the nominee, shall be filed with any Nomination Notice.
(b) Shareholder Nominations. If a Nomination Notice submitted pursuant to this ARTICLE III Section 2 by any Shareholder proposing a nominee for election as a Director shall be inaccurate or materially misleading, such Nomination Notice may be deemed not to have been provided in accordance with this ARTICLE III Section 2. Any Shareholder proposing a nominee for election as a Director shall provide (i) written verification, satisfactory, in the discretion of the Board of Directors or any authorized officer of the Corporation, to demonstrate the accuracy of any information submitted by the Shareholder pursuant to this ARTICLE III Section 2; and (ii) a written update of any information previously submitted by the Shareholder pursuant to this ARTICLE III Section 2 as of an earlier date so that the information provided or required to be provided in such notice pursuant to this ARTICLE III Section 2 shall be true and correct as of the record date for the meeting and as of the date that is ten business days prior to the meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof. If the Shareholder fails to provide such written verification or a written update within such period, the information as to which written verification or a written update was required may be deemed not to have been provided in accordance with this ARTICLE III Section 2. Only such individuals who are nominated by Shareholders in accordance with the procedures set forth in this ARTICLE III Section 2 shall be eligible for election as Directors. The presiding officer at any Shareholders’ meeting shall have the power to determine whether a Nomination Notice was made in accordance with this ARTICLE III Section 2, and, if any Nomination Notice is not in compliance with this ARTICLE III Section 2, to declare that such Nomination Notice shall be disregarded.
(c) Number. The number of Directors, which shall not be less than three, may be fixed or changed at a meeting of the Shareholders called for the purpose of electing Directors at which a quorum is present, by a majority of votes cast at the meeting. In addition, the number of Directors may be fixed or changed by action of the Directors at a meeting called for that purpose at which a quorum is present by a majority vote of the Directors present at the meeting. The Directors then in office may fill any Director’s office that is created by an increase in the number of Directors. The number of Directors elected shall be deemed to be the number of Directors fixed unless otherwise fixed by resolution adopted at a meeting at which such Directors are elected. Subject to compliance with the terms and conditions of ARTICLE II Section 11 hereof, Shareholders shall be entitled to propose changing the number of Directors.
(d) Qualifications. Directors need not be Shareholders of the Corporation.
Section 3. Term of Office of Directors.
(a) Term. Each Director shall hold office until the next Annual Meeting of the Shareholders and until his successor has been elected or until his earlier resignation, removal from office, or death. Directors shall be subject to removal as provided by statute or by other lawful procedures and nothing herein shall be construed to prevent the removal of any or all Directors in accordance therewith.
(b) Resignation. A resignation from the Board of Directors shall be deemed to take effect immediately upon its being received by any incumbent corporate officer other than an officer who is also the resigning Director, unless some other time is specified therein.
(c) Vacancy. In the event of any vacancy in the Board of Directors for any cause, the remaining Directors, though less than a majority of the whole Board, may fill any such vacancy for the unexpired term.
Section 4. Meetings of Directors.
(a) Regular Meetings. A regular meeting of the Board of Directors shall be held immediately following the adjournment of the Annual Meeting of the Shareholders or a Special Meeting of the Shareholders at which Directors are elected. The holding of such Shareholders’ meeting shall constitute notice of such Directors’ meeting and such meeting shall be held without further notice. Other regular meetings shall be held at such other times and places as may be fixed by the Directors.
(b) Special Meetings. Special meetings of the Board of Directors may be held at any time upon call of the Chairman of the Board, the President, any Vice President, or any two Directors.
(c) Place of Meeting. Any meeting of Directors may be held at such place within or without the State of Ohio as may be designated in the notice of said meeting.
(d) Notice of Meeting and Waiver of Notice. Notice of the time and place of any regular or special meeting of the Board of Directors (other than the regular meeting of Directors following the adjournment of the Annual Meeting of the Shareholders or following any Special Meeting of the Shareholders at which Directors are elected) shall be given to each Director by personal delivery, telephone, mail, facsimile or other electronic medium at least 48 hours before the meeting, which notice need not specify the purpose of the meeting. Such notice, however, may be waived in writing by any Director either before or after any such meeting, or by attendance at such meeting without protest prior to the commencement thereof.
Section 5. Quorum and Voting. At any meeting of Directors, not less than one-half of the whole authorized number of Directors is necessary to constitute a quorum for such meeting, except that a majority of the remaining Directors in office constitutes a quorum for filling a vacancy in the Board. At any meeting at which a quorum is present, all acts, questions, and business which may come before the meeting shall be determined by a majority of votes cast by the Directors present at such meeting, unless the vote of a greater number is required by the Articles, Regulations or By-Laws.
Section 6. Committees.
(a) Appointment. The Board of Directors may from time to time appoint certain of its members to act as a committee or committees in the intervals between meetings of the Board and may delegate to such committee or committees power to be exercised under the control and direction of the Board. Each such committee and each member thereof shall serve at the pleasure of the Board.
(b) Executive Committee. In particular, the Board of Directors may create from its membership and define the powers and duties of an Executive Committee. During the intervals between meetings of the Board of Directors, the Executive Committee shall possess and may exercise all of the powers of the Board of Directors in the management and control and the business of the Corporation to the extent permitted by law. All action taken by the Executive Committee shall be reported to the Board of Directors at its first meeting thereafter.
(c) Committee Action. Unless otherwise provided by the Board of Directors, a majority of the members of any committee appointed by the Board of Directors pursuant to this Section shall constitute a quorum at any meeting thereof and the act of a majority of the members present at a meeting at which a quorum is present shall be the act of such committee. Action may be taken by any such committee without a meeting by a writing signed by all its members. Any such committee shall prescribe its own rules for calling and holding meetings and its method of procedure, subject to any rules prescribed by the Board of Directors, and shall keep a written record of all action taken by it.
Section 7. Action of Directors Without a Meeting. Any action which may be taken at a meeting of Directors may be taken without a meeting if authorized by a writing or writings signed by all the Directors, which writing or writings shall be filed or entered upon the records of the Corporation.
Section 8. Compensation of Directors. The Board of Directors may allow compensation for attendance at meetings or for any special services, may allow compensation to the member of any committee, and may reimburse any Director for his expenses in connection with attending any Board or committee meeting.
Section 9. Relationship with Corporation. Directors shall not be barred from providing professional or other services to the Corporation. No contract, action or transaction shall be void or voidable with respect to the Corporation for the reason that it is between or affects the Corporation and one or more of its Directors, or between or affects the Corporation and any other person in which one or more of its Directors are directors, trustees or officers or have a financial or personal interest, or for the reason that one or more interested Directors participate in or vote at the meeting of the Directors or committee thereof that authorizes such contract, action or transaction, if in any such case any of the following apply:
(a) the material facts as to the Director’s relationship or interest and as to the contract, action or transaction are disclosed or are known to the Directors or the committee and the Directors or committee, in good faith, reasonably justified by such facts, authorize the contract, action or transaction by the affirmative vote of a majority of the disinterested Directors, even though the disinterested Directors constitute less than a quorum;
(b) the material facts as to the Director’s relationship or interest and as to the contract, action or transaction are disclosed or are known to the shareholders entitled to vote thereon and the contract, action or transaction is specifically approved at a meeting of the shareholders held for such purpose by the affirmative vote of the holders of shares entitling them to exercise a majority of the voting power of the Corporation held by persons not interested in the contract, action or transaction; or
(c) the contract, action or transaction is fair as to the Corporation as of the time it is authorized or approved by the Directors, a committee thereof or the shareholders.
Section 10. Attendance at Meetings of Persons Who Are Not Directors. Unless waived by a majority of Directors in attendance, not less than 24 hours before any regular or special meeting of the Board of Directors any Director who desires the presence at such meeting of not more than one person who is not a Director shall so notify all other Directors, request the presence of such person at the meeting, and state the reason in writing. Such person will not be permitted to attend the Directors’ meeting unless a majority of the Directors in attendance vote to admit such person to the meeting. Such vote shall constitute the first order of business for any such meeting of the Board of Directors. Such right to attend, whether granted by waiver or vote, may be revoked at any time during any such meeting by the vote of a majority of the Directors in attendance.
ARTICLE IV
Officers
Section 1. General Provisions. The Board of Directors shall elect a President, a Secretary and a Treasurer, and may elect a Chairman of the Board, one or more Vice Presidents, and such other officers and assistant officers as the Board may from time-to-time deem necessary. The Chairman of the Board, if any, shall be a Director, but none of the other officers need be a Director. Any two or more offices may be held by the same person, but no officer shall execute, acknowledge or verify any instrument in more than one capacity if such instrument is required to be executed, acknowledged or verified by two or more officers.
Section 2. Powers and Duties. All officers, as between themselves and the Corporation, shall respectively have such authority and perform such duties as are customarily incident to their respective offices, and as may be specified from time to time by the Board of Directors, regardless of whether such authority and duties are customarily incident to such office. In the absence of any officer of the Corporation, or for any other reason the Board of Directors may deem sufficient, the powers or duties of such officer, or any of them may be delegated, to any other officer or to any Director. The Board of Directors may from time to time delegate to any officer authority to appoint and remove subordinate officers and to prescribe their authority and duties.
Section 3. Term of Office and Removal.
(a) Term. Each officer of the Corporation shall hold office at the pleasure of the Board of Directors, and unless sooner removed by the Board of Directors, until the meeting of the Board of Directors following the date of election of Directors and until his successor is elected and qualified.
(b) Removal. The Board of Directors may remove any officer at any time with or without cause by the affirmative vote of a majority of Directors in office.
Section 4. Compensation of Officers. Unless compensation is otherwise determined by a majority of the Directors at a regular or special meeting of the Board of Directors or unless such determination is delegated by the Board of Directors to another officer or officers, the President of the Corporation from time to time shall determine the compensation to be paid to all officers and other employees for services rendered to the Corporation.
ARTICLE V
Indemnification of Directors and Officers
Section 1. Right of Indemnification. Each person who was or is made a party to or is threatened to be made a party to or is otherwise involved (including, without limitation as a witness) in any actual or threatened action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative, or investigative (hereinafter a “proceeding”), by reason of the fact that he or she is or was a Director, officer or member of a committee of the Corporation or that, being or having been such a Director or officer of the Corporation, he or she is or was serving at the request of an executive officer of the Corporation as a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee or agent of another corporation or of a partnership, joint venture, trust, limited liability company or other enterprise, including service with respect to an employee benefit plan as a trustee, fiduciary or otherwise (hereinafter an “Indemnitee”), whenever the basis of such proceeding is alleged action in an official capacity as such a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee, or agent, shall be indemnified and held harmless by the Corporation to the fullest extent permitted by the Ohio Revised Code, as the same exists or may hereafter be amended (but, in the case of any such amendment, only to the extent that such amendment permits the Corporation to provide broader indemnification rights than permitted prior thereto), or by other applicable law as then in effect, against all expense, liability and loss (including, without limitation, the cost of reasonable settlements with or without suit, attorneys’ fees, costs of investigation, judgments, fines, excise taxes or penalties arising under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) or other federal or state acts) actually incurred or suffered by such Indemnitee in connection therewith and such indemnification shall continue as to an Indemnitee who has ceased to be a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee or agent and shall inure to the benefit of the Indemnitee’s heirs, executors, and administrators. Except as provided in ARTICLE V Section 2 with respect to proceedings seeking to enforce rights to indemnification, the Corporation shall indemnify any such Indemnitee in connection with a proceeding (or part thereof) initiated by such Indemnitee only if such proceeding (or part thereof) was authorized or ratified by the Board of Directors of the Corporation. To the extent any of the indemnification provisions set forth above prove to be ineffective for any reason in furnishing the indemnification provided, each of the persons named above shall be indemnified by the Corporation to the fullest extent not prohibited by applicable law.
(a) The right to indemnification conferred in this ARTICLE V Section 1 shall be a contract right and shall include the right to be paid by the Corporation the expenses incurred in defending any such proceeding in advance of its final disposition (hereinafter an “advancement of expenses”). An advancement of expenses shall be made only upon delivery to the Corporation of an undertaking, by or on behalf of such Indemnitee, to repay all amounts so advanced if it is proved by clear and convincing evidence in a court of competent jurisdiction that his omission or failure to act involved an act or omission undertaken with deliberate intent to cause injury to the Corporation or undertaken with reckless disregard for the best interests of the Corporation. An advancement of expenses shall not be made if the Corporation’s Board of Directors makes a good faith determination that such payment would violate applicable law.
Section 2. Right of Indemnitee to Bring Suit. If a claim under ARTICLE V Section 1 is not paid in full by the Corporation within 30 days after a written claim has been received by the Corporation, except in the case of a claim for an advancement of expenses, in which case the applicable period shall be 20 days, the Indemnitee may at any time thereafter bring suit against the Corporation to recover the unpaid amount of the claim. If successful, in whole or in part, in any such suit, or in a suit brought by the Corporation to recover an advancement of expenses pursuant to the terms of an undertaking, the Indemnitee shall also be entitled to be paid the expense of prosecuting or defending such suit. The Indemnitee shall be presumed to be entitled to indemnification under this ARTICLE V upon submission of a written claim (and, in an action brought to enforce a claim for an advancement of expenses, where the required undertaking has been tendered to the Corporation), and thereafter the Corporation shall have the burden of proof to overcome the presumption that the Indemnitee is so entitled.
(a) Neither the failure of the Corporation (including its Board of Directors, independent legal counsel or its Shareholders) to have made a determination prior to the commencement of such suit that indemnification of the Indemnitee is proper in the circumstances, nor an actual determination by the Corporation (including its Board of Directors, independent legal counsel or its Shareholders) that the Indemnitee is not entitled to indemnification shall be a defense to the suit or create a presumption that the Indemnitee is not so entitled.
Section 3. Nonexclusivity and Survival of Rights. The rights to indemnification and to the advancement of expenses conferred in this ARTICLE V shall not be exclusive of any other right which any person may have or hereafter acquire under any statute, provisions of the Articles, these Regulations, agreement, vote of Shareholders or disinterested Directors, or otherwise. Such rights shall also not be exclusive of, and shall be in addition to, any rights to which such person may be entitled by contract with the Corporation, which is expressly permitted hereby.
(a) Notwithstanding any amendment to or repeal of this ARTICLE V, or of any of the procedures established by the Board of Directors pursuant to ARTICLE V Section 6, any Indemnitee shall be entitled to indemnification in accordance with the provisions hereof and thereof with respect to any acts or omissions of such Indemnitee occurring prior to such amendment or repeal.
(b) Without limiting the generality of the foregoing paragraph, the rights to indemnification and to the advancement of expenses conferred in this ARTICLE V shall, notwithstanding any amendment to or repeal of this ARTICLE V, inure to the benefit of any person who otherwise may be entitled to be indemnified pursuant to this ARTICLE V (or the estate or personal representative of such person) for a period of six years after the date such person’s service to or in behalf of the Corporation shall have terminated or for such longer period as may be required in the event of a lengthening in the applicable statute of limitations.
(c) Advancement of expenses may be made by the Corporation against costs, expenses and fees to the extent permitted by, and in accordance with, any terms and conditions of applicable law.
Section 4. Insurance, Contracts and Funding. The Corporation may, to the full extent then permitted by law, purchase and maintain insurance or furnish similar protection, including but not limited to trust funds, letters of credit or self-insurance, on behalf of or for any persons described in this ARTICLE V, against any liability asserted against and incurred by any such person in any such capacity, or arising out of his status as such, whether or not the Corporation would have the power to indemnify such person against such liability, loss and/or expense under the Ohio Revised Code. The Corporation may enter into contracts with any Indemnitee in furtherance of the provisions of this ARTICLE IV and may create a trust fund, grant a security interest or use other means (including, without limitation, a letter of credit) to ensure the payment of such amounts as may be necessary to effect indemnification as provided in this ARTICLE V. Insurance may be purchased from or maintained with a person in which the Corporation has a financial interest.
Section 5. Indemnification of Employees and Agents of the Corporation. The Corporation may, by action of its Board of Directors, authorize one or more executive officers to grant rights to advancement of expenses to employees or agents of the Corporation on such terms and conditions no less stringent than provided in ARTICLE V Section 1 hereof as such officer or officers deem appropriate under the circumstances. The Corporation may, by action of its Board of Directors, grant rights to indemnification and advancement of expenses to employees or agents or groups of employees or agents of the Corporation with the same scope and effect as the provisions of this ARTICLE V with respect to the indemnification and advancement of expenses of Directors, officers and members of a committee of the Corporation; provided, however, that an undertaking shall be made by an employee or agent only if required by the Board of Directors.
Section 6. Procedures for the Submission of Claims. The Board of Directors may establish reasonable procedures for the submission of claims for indemnification pursuant to this ARTICLE V, determination of the entitlement of any person thereto, and review of any such determination. Such procedures shall be set forth in an appendix to these Regulations and shall be deemed for all purposes to be a part hereof.
Section 7. Definition of Performance. For the purposes of this Article, a Director, officer or member of a committee shall conclusively be deemed not to have been willfully derelict in the performance of such person’s duty as such Director, officer or member of committee:
(a) Determination by Suit. In a matter which shall have been the subject of a suit or proceeding in which such person was a party which is disposed of by adjudication on the merits, unless such person shall have been finally adjudged in such suit or proceeding to have been willfully derelict in the performance of that person’s duty as such Director, officer or member of a committee; or
(b) Determination by Committee. In a matter not falling within (a) above, a majority of disinterested members of the Board of Directors or a majority of a committee of disinterested Shareholders of the Corporation, selected as hereinafter provided, shall determine that such person was not willfully derelict. Such determination shall be made by the disinterested members of the Board of Directors except where such members shall determine that such matter should be referred to said committee of disinterested Shareholders.
Section 8. Selection of Committee. The selection of a committee of Shareholders provided above may be made by the majority vote of the disinterested Directors or, if there be no disinterested Director or Directors, by the chief executive officer of the Corporation. A Director or Shareholder shall be deemed disinterested in a matter if such person has no interest therein other than as a Director or Shareholder of the Corporation as the case may be. The Corporation shall pay the fees and expenses of the Shareholders or Directors, as the case may be, incurred in connection with making a determination as above provided.
Section 9. Non-Committee Determination. In the event that a Director, officer or member of a committee shall be found by some other method not to have been willfully derelict in the performance of such person’s duty as such Director, officer or member of a committee, then such determination as to dereliction shall not be questioned on the ground that it was made otherwise than as provided above.
ARTICLE VI
Securities Held by the Corporation
Section 1. Transfer of Securities Owned by the Corporation. All endorsements, assignments, transfers, stock powers, share powers or other instruments of transfer of securities standing in the name of the Corporation shall be executed for and in the name of the Corporation by the President, by a Vice President, by the Secretary or by the Treasurer or by any other person or persons as may be thereunto authorized by the Board of Directors.
Section 2. Voting Securities Held by the Corporation. The Chairman of the Board, President, and Vice President, Secretary or Treasurer, in person or by another person thereunto authorized by the Board of Directors, in person or by proxy or proxies appointed by him, shall have full power and authority on behalf of the Corporation to vote, act and consent with respect to any securities issued by other corporations which the Corporation may own.
ARTICLE VII
Share Certificates
Section 1. Transfer and Registration of Certificates. The Board of Directors shall have authority to make such rules and regulations, not inconsistent with law, the Articles or these Regulations, as it deems expedient concerning the issuance, transfer and registration of certificates for shares and the shares represented thereby and may appoint transfer agents and registrars thereof.
Section 2. Substituted Certificates. Any person claiming that a certificate for shares has been lost, stolen or destroyed, shall make an affidavit or affirmation of that fact and, if required, shall give the Corporation (and its registrar or registrars and its transfer agent or agents, if any) a bond of indemnity, in such form and with one or more sureties satisfactory to the Board, and, if required by the Board of Directors, shall advertise the same in such manner as the Board of Directors may require, whereupon a new certificate may be executed and delivered of the same tenor and for the same number of shares as the one alleged to have been lost, stolen or destroyed.
ARTICLE VIII
Consistency with Articles of Incorporation
If any provisions of these Regulations shall be inconsistent with the Corporation’s Articles of Incorporation (and as they may be amended from time to time), the Articles of Incorporation (as so amended at the time) shall govern.
ARTICLE IX
Section Headings
The headings contained in these Regulations are for reference purposes only and shall not be construed to be part of and/or shall not affect in any way the meaning or interpretation of these Regulations.
ARTICLE X
AMENDMENTS
This Code of Regulations of the Corporation (and as it may be amended from time-to-time) may be amended or added to by the affirmative vote or the written consent of the Shareholders of record entitled to exercise a majority of the voting power on such proposal or by the Directors to the extent permitted by the Ohio Revised Code; provided, however, that if an amendment or addition is adopted by written consent without a meeting of the Shareholders or otherwise by the Directors, it shall be the duty of the Secretary to enter the amendment or addition in the records of the Corporation, and to provide notice to Shareholders to the extent required by applicable law.
Adopted by the Board of Directors effective as of August 19, 2020
EXHIBIT 5.1
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September 11, 2020
LSI Industries Inc.
10000 Alliance Road
Cincinnati, Ohio 45242
Ladies and Gentlemen:
We are familiar with your Articles of Incorporation, Amended and Restated Code of Regulations and corporate proceedings and have served as your counsel in connection with the registration of 180,000 shares of common stock that you intend to issue in connection with the Nonstatutory Inducement Stock Options issued as follows: (i) 100,000 to Jeffrey Davis, the President of LSI Lighting; (ii) 50,000 to Brian Vincent, the Chief Support Officer of the Registrant; and (iii) 30,000 to Jonathon Towner, the Vice President – Chief Information Officer of the Registrant (collectively, the “Inducement Options”). All grants are pursuant to the your form of Nonstatutory Inducement Stock Option Agreement (the “Inducement Award Agreement”).
On the basis of the foregoing, we are of the opinion that you have taken all necessary and required corporate actions in connection with the issuance of 180,000 shares of common stock under the Inducement Options, and when issued under the terms of the respective Inducement Award Agreements, the aforesaid 180,000 shares of common stock will be validly authorized, legally issued, fully paid and nonassessable shares of common stock of the corporation free of any preemptive rights.
This opinion is given as of the date hereof. We assume no obligation to update or supplement this opinion to reflect any facts or circumstances which may hereafter come to our attention or any changes in laws which may hereafter occur. This opinion is strictly limited to the matters stated herein and no other or more extensive opinion is intended, implied or to be inferred beyond the matters expressly stated herein.
We hereby consent to be named in the Registration Statement as the attorneys who have passed upon legal matters in connection with the issuance of the common stock and to the filing of this opinion as an exhibit to the Registration Statement. In giving such consent, we do not thereby admit that we come within the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission thereunder.
Sincerely,
/s/ KEATING MUETHING & KLEKAMP PLL |
EXHIBIT 23.1
CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
We have issued our reports dated September 11, 2020 with respect to the consolidated financial statements and internal control over financial reporting of LSI Industries Inc. included in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2020, which are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement. We consent to the incorporation by reference of the aforementioned reports in this Registration Statement.
/s/ GRANT THORNTON LLP
Cincinnati, Ohio
September 11, 2020
Exhibit 99.1
Inducement Award Pursuant to Nasdaq Rule 5635(c)(4)
________, 2020
LSI INDUSTRIES INC.
NON-QUALIFIED STOCK OPTION GRANT AGREEMENT
LSI INDUSTRIES INC. (the “Company”) hereby irrevocably grants you (the “Participant”), on ________, 2020 (the “Grant Date”) the right and option to purchase _______ shares of the Company’s common stock, no par value per share (“Common Stock”), subject to the restrictions, terms and conditions herein.
WHEREAS, the Compensation Committee (the “Committee”) of the Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board”) has determined that it would be in the best interests of the Company and its stockholders to grant the award of options provided for herein to the Participant, on the terms and conditions described in this Stock Option Grant Agreement (the “Agreement”); and
WHEREAS, the Company intends that the award of options provided for herein shall satisfy the conditions of Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4) as an inducement award such that the award shall not decrease the shares of Common Stock available for issuance under the 2019 Omnibus Award Plan (as may be amended from time to time, the “Plan”) even though the award of options shall be otherwise governed by the terms and conditions of this Agreement and the Plan.
NOW, THEREFORE, for and in consideration of the promises and the covenants of the parties contained in this Agreement, and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged, the parties hereto, for themselves, and their permitted successors and assigns, hereby agree as follows:
1. Terms and Conditions.
(a) Vesting. The option herein granted shall become exercisable in whole or in part as follows:
(i) Exercisable as to 33% of the shares (rounded down to the nearest whole share) on the first anniversary of the Grant Date;
(ii) Exercisable as to an additional 33% of the shares (rounded down to the nearest whole share) on the second anniversary of the Grant Date;
(iii) Exercisable in its entirety on and after the third anniversary of the Grant Date;
(iv) Exercisable in its entirety (x) upon the death of the Participant while the Participant is employed by the Company or (y) in the event of Disability (as defined in the Plan) of the Participant while the Participant is employed by the Company;
(v) If the Participant retires from the Company at any time following the first anniversary of this Agreement and at such time satisfies the Normal Retirement Criteria (defined below), the option herein granted shall continue to become exercisable as set forth in clauses (ii) through (iii) of this Section 1(a). The Normal Retirement Criteria will be satisfied if the Participant shall (x) retire (and satisfy the Company’s criteria for retirement at such time) from the Company, (y) be at least 55 years of age at the time of such retirement, and (z) have at least ten credited years of service with the Company or its subsidiaries at the time of such retirement;
(vi) If at the time of retirement the Participant satisfies the Normal Retirement Criteria and subsequently dies or becomes Disabled before the Participant’s option herein granted becomes exercisable in its entirety as set forth in clause (iii) of this Section 1(a), the option herein granted shall become exercisable as set forth in clause (iv) of this Section 1(a);
(vii) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in Section 1(a)(iv), in the event of a Change in Control (as defined in the Plan), unless the successor company, or a parent of the successor company in the Change in Control agrees to assume, replace, or substitute the option granted hereunder (as of the consummation of such Change in Control) with an option on substantially identical terms, as determined by the Committee, if the Participant’s employment with the Company or its Affiliates (or any successor thereto) is terminated within two years following a Change in Control either (x) by the Company or its Affiliates (or any successor thereto) without Cause (as defined in the Plan) or (y) by the Participant with Good Reason, the option granted hereunder shall become exercisable in its entirety as of the date of such termination. As used herein, “Good Reason” shall mean the occurrence of any of the following: (i) a material breach by the Company or its Affiliates (or any successor thereto) of this Agreement or any employment agreement to which Participant is a party; (ii) a material reduction in the Participant’s authority, duties and responsibilities; or (iii) the Company requires the Participant to permanently relocate by more than 50 miles from the existing LSI Cincinnati location as a condition of his employment. If the Participant does not terminate his employment within 60 days after the first occurrence of the circumstances giving rise to Good Reason, then the Participant will be deemed to have waived such right to terminate for Good Reason with respect to such circumstances.
(b) Forfeiture. The unexercised portion of the option herein granted, to the extent the option is vested, shall automatically and without notice terminate and become null and void at the time of the earliest of the following to occur:
(i) the expiration of ten years from the date on which the option was granted;
(ii) the expiration of 90 days from the date of termination of the Participant’s employment from the Company in the event such termination of employment does not result from the Participant’s death or Disability;
(iii) twelve months after the date of the Participant’s Disability when such Disability occurs while the Participant is employed by the Company;
(iv) twelve months after death of the Participant when the Participant dies while employed by the Company;
(v) Participant’s termination of employment with the Company for Cause.
(c) Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event that any unexercised portion of the option herein granted would terminate and become null and void in accordance with Section 1(b) and the Fair Market Value of the unexercised portion of the option herein granted exceeds the full price for each of the shares purchased pursuant to such option, the then vested portion of the option herein granted shall be deemed to be automatically exercised by the Participant on such last trading day by means of a net exercise without any action by the Participant. Upon such automatic exercise, the Company shall deliver to the Participant the number of shares of Common Stock for which the option was deemed exercised less the number of shares of Common Stock having a Fair Market Value, as of such date, sufficient to (1) pay the full price for each of the shares of Common Stock purchased pursuant to the option herein granted and (2) satisfy all applicable required tax withholding obligations. Any fractional share shall be settled in cash. For the avoidance of doubt, and notwithstanding any provision (or interpretation) of Section 1(b) to the contrary, the unexercised portion of the option herein granted shall automatically and without notice terminate and become null and void upon the expiration of ten years from the date of this Agreement.
(d) The full price for each of the shares purchased pursuant to the option herein granted shall be $____.
(e) Full payment for shares purchased by the Participant shall be made at the time of the exercise of the option in whole or in part. No shares shall be issued until full payment therefore has been made, and the Participant shall have none of the rights of a shareholder with respect to any shares subject to this option until such shares shall have been issued.
(f) No option granted hereunder may be assigned, alienated, pledged, attached, sold, or otherwise transferred or encumbered by the Participant other than by will or by the laws of descent and distribution and any such purported assignment, alienation, pledge, attachment, sale, transfer, or encumbrance shall be void and unenforceable against the Company or any Affiliate.
(g) In the event of one or more stock splits, stock dividends, stock changes, reclassifications, recapitalizations, or combinations of shares prior to complete exercise of the option herein granted which change the character or amount of the shares subject to the option, this option to the extent that it shall not have been exercised, shall entitle the Participant or the Participant’s executors or administrators to receive in substitution such number and kind of shares as he, she or they would have been entitled to receive if the Participant or the Participant’s executors or administrators had actually owned the shares subject to this option at the time of the occurrence of such change; provided, however, that if the change is of such nature that the Participant or the Participant’s executors or administrators, upon exercise of the option, would receive property other than shares of stock, then the Board shall adjust the option so that he, she or they shall acquire only shares of stock upon exercise, making such adjustment in the number and kind of shares to be received as the Board shall, in its sole judgment, deem equitable; provided, further, that the foregoing shall not limit the Company’s ability to otherwise adjust the option in a manner consistent with Section 12 of the Plan.
2. Restrictive Covenant; Clawback; Incorporation by Reference.
(a) Restrictive Covenant. The option granted hereunder is conditioned upon the Participant’s agreement to this Agreement and compliance with the Non-Competition, Non-Solicitation and Non-Disclosure Agreement executed by the Participant.
(b) Clawback. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, the option granted hereunder may be terminated and become null and void without consideration if the Participant, as determined by the Committee in its sole discretion (i) engages in an activity that is in conflict with or adverse to the interests of the Company or any Affiliate, including but not limited to fraud or conduct contributing to any financial restatements or irregularities, or (ii) without the consent of the Company, while employed by or providing services to the Company or any Affiliate or after termination of such employment or service, violates a non-competition, non-solicitation or non-disclosure covenant or agreement (including, as applicable, the Non-Competition, Non-Solicitation and Non-Disclosure Agreement executed by the Participant) between the Participant and the Company or any Affiliate. If the Participant engages in any activity referred to in the preceding sentence, the Participant shall, at the sole discretion of the Committee, forfeit any gain realized in respect of the option granted hereunder (which gain shall be deemed to be an amount equal to the difference between the price for shares set forth in Section 1(d) above and the Fair Market Value (as defined in the Plan), on the applicable exercise date, of the shares of Common Stock for which the option was exercised), and repay such gain to the Company.
(c) Incorporation by Reference. The provisions of the Plan are hereby incorporated herein by reference. Except as otherwise expressly set forth herein, this Agreement shall be construed in accordance with the provisions of the Plan and any capitalized terms not otherwise defined in this Agreement shall have the definitions set forth in the Plan. In the event that any provision of this Agreement is inconsistent with the terms of the Plan, the terms of this Agreement will control.
3. Compliance with Legal Requirements. The granting and delivery of the option granted hereunder, and any other obligations of the Company under this Agreement, shall be subject to all applicable federal, state, local, and foreign laws, rules, and regulations and to such approvals by any regulatory or governmental agency as may be required.
4. Transferability. The option granted hereunder may not be assigned, alienated, pledged, attached, sold, or otherwise transferred or encumbered by the Participant other than by will or by the laws of descent and distribution and any such purported assignment, alienation, pledge, attachment, sale, transfer, or encumbrance shall be void and unenforceable against the Company or any Affiliate.
5. Miscellaneous.
(a) Waiver. Any right of the Company contained in this Agreement may be waived in writing by the Committee. No waiver of any right hereunder by any party shall operate as a waiver of any other right, or as a waiver of the same right with respect to any subsequent occasion for its exercise, or as a waiver of any right to damages. No waiver by any party of any breach of this Agreement shall be held to constitute a waiver of any other breach or a waiver of the continuation of the same breach.
(b) Severability. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this Agreement shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision of this Agreement, and each other provision of this Agreement shall be severable and enforceable to the extent permitted by law.
(c) No Right to Employment. Nothing contained in this Agreement shall be construed as giving the Participant any right to be retained, in any position, as an employee, consultant, or director of the Company or its Affiliates or shall interfere with or restrict in any way the right of the Company or its Affiliates, which are hereby expressly reserved, to remove, terminate or discharge the Participant with or without cause at any time for any reason whatsoever. Although over the course of employment terms and conditions of employment may change, the at-will term of employment of the Participant will not change.
(d) Successors. The terms of this Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the Company, its successors and assigns, the Participant and the beneficiaries, executors, administrators, heirs and successors of the Participant.
(e) Entire Agreement. This Agreement, the Plan and, if applicable, the contain Non-Competition, Non-Solicitation and Non-Disclosure Agreement the entire agreement and understanding of the parties hereto with respect to the subject matter contained herein and supersede all prior communications, representations and negotiations in respect thereto; provided, however, the Participant understands that the Participant may have an existing agreement(s) with the Company, through prior awards, acquisition of a prior employer or otherwise, that may include the same or similar covenants as those in the Non-Competition, Non-Solicitation and Non-Disclosure Agreement referenced above, and acknowledges that the Non-Competition, Non-Solicitation and Non-Disclosure Agreement is meant to supplement any such agreement(s) such that the covenants in the agreements that provide the Company with the greatest protection enforceable under applicable law shall control, and that the parties do not intend to create any ambiguity or conflict through the execution of the Non-Competition, Non-Solicitation and Non-Disclosure Agreement that would release the Participant from the obligations the Participant has assumed under the restrictive covenants in any of these agreements. No change, modification or waiver of any provision of this Agreement shall be valid unless the same be in writing and signed by the parties hereto, except for any changes permitted without consent of the Participant under the Plan.
(f) Governing Law. This Agreement shall be construed and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of Ohio without regard to principles of conflicts of law thereof, or principles of conflicts of laws of any other jurisdiction which could cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of Ohio. Each of the Company and the Participant submits to the exclusive jurisdiction (both personal and subject matter) of (i) the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio sitting in Cincinnati, Ohio and its appellate courts, and (ii) any court of the State of Ohio sitting in Cincinnati, Ohio and its appellate courts, for the purposes of all legal actions and proceedings arising out of or related to this Agreement.
(g) Headings. The headings of the Sections hereof are provided for convenience only and are not to serve as a basis for interpretation or construction and shall not constitute a part of this Agreement.
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By accepting this Agreement through the online acceptance tool on ________________ website, the Participant agrees to all of the terms and conditions in this Agreement and the Plan and consents to the electronic delivery of any documents that the Company elects to deliver in connection with this Agreement.
LSI INDUSTRIES INC. | |||
By: | |||
Name: | |||
Title: | |||
PARTICIPANT | |||
_________________________ | |||
Name: |
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