Section 10A-2A-13.01
Definitions.
THIS SECTION WAS AMENDED BY ACT 2021-299 IN THE 2021 REGULAR SESSION, EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2022. TO SEE THE AMENDED VERSION, SEE THE VERSION LABELED PENDING.
Notwithstanding Chapter 1, in this Article 13:
(1) "Affiliate" means a person that directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with another person or is a senior executive of that person. For purposes of Section 10A-2A-13.02(b)(4), a person is deemed to be an affiliate of its senior executives.
(2) "Corporation" means the corporation that is the issuer of the stock held by a stockholder demanding appraisal and, for matters covered in Section 10A-2A-13.22 through Section 10A-2A-13.31, includes the surviving organization of a merger.
(3) "Fair value" means the value of the corporation's stock determined:
(i) immediately before the effectiveness of the corporate action to which the stockholder objects;
(ii) using customary and current valuation concepts and techniques generally employed for similar businesses in the context of the transaction requiring appraisal; and
(iii) without discounting for lack of marketability or minority status.
(4) "Interest" means interest from the date the corporate action becomes effective until the date of payment, and shall be compounded quarterly and shall accrue at five percent over the Federal Reserve discount rate (including any surcharge) as established from time to time during the period between the effective date of the corporate action and the date of payment.
(5) "Interested transaction" means a corporate action described in Section 10A-2A-13.02(a), other than a merger pursuant to Section 10A-2A-11.05, involving an interested person in which any of the stock or assets of the corporation are being acquired or converted. As used in this definition:
(i) "Interested person" means a person, or an affiliate of a person, who at any time during the one-year period immediately preceding approval by the board of directors of the corporate action:
(A) was the beneficial owner of 20 percent or more of the voting power of the corporation, other than as owner of excluded stock;
(B) had the power, contractually or otherwise, other than as owner of excluded stock, to cause the appointment or election of 25 percent or more of the directors to the board of directors of the corporation; or
(C) was a senior executive or director of the corporation or a senior executive of any affiliate of the corporation, and that senior executive or director will receive, as a result of the corporate action, a financial benefit not generally available to other stockholders as such, other than:
(I) employment, consulting, retirement, or similar benefits established separately and not as part of or in contemplation of the corporate action;
(II) employment, consulting, retirement, or similar benefits established in contemplation of, or as part of, the corporate action that are not more favorable than those existing before the corporate action or, if more favorable, that have been approved on behalf of the corporation in the same manner as is provided in Section 10A-2A-8.60; or
(III) in the case of a director of the corporation who will, in the corporate action, become a director or governing person of the acquiror or any of its affiliates, rights and benefits as a director or governing person that are provided on the same basis as those afforded by the acquiror generally to other directors or governing persons of the acquiror or its affiliate.
(ii) "Beneficial owner" means any person who, directly or indirectly, through any contract, arrangement, or understanding, other than a revocable proxy, has or shares the power to vote, or to direct the voting of, stock; except that a member of a national securities exchange is not deemed to be a beneficial owner of securities held directly or indirectly by it on behalf of another person if the member is precluded by the rules of the exchange from voting without instruction on contested matters or matters that may affect substantially the rights or privileges of the holders of the securities to be voted. When two or more persons agree to act together for the purpose of voting their stock of the corporation, each member of the group formed thereby is deemed to have acquired beneficial ownership, as of the date of the agreement, of all stock having voting power of the corporation beneficially owned by any member of the group.
(iii) "Excluded stock" means stock acquired pursuant to an offer for all stock having voting power if the offer was made within one year before the corporate action for consideration of the same kind and of a value equal to or less than that paid in connection with the corporate action.
(6) "Preferred stock" means a class or series of stock whose holders have preference over any other class or series of stock with respect to distributions.
(7) "Senior executive" means the chief executive officer, chief operating officer, chief financial officer, and any individual in charge of a principal business unit or function.
(8) "Stockholder" means a record stockholder, a beneficial stockholder, and a voting trust beneficial owner.
(Act 2019-94, §1.)