(a) If a domestic corporation owns all the outstanding shares, or owns less than all the outstanding shares but at least 90 percent of the outstanding shares of each class, of a corporation or corporations, domestic or foreign, the merger of the subsidiary corporation or corporations into the parent corporation or the merger into the subsidiary corporation of the parent corporation and any other subsidiary corporation or corporations, may be effected by a resolution or plan of merger adopted and approved by the board of the parent corporation and the filing of a certificate of ownership as provided in subdivision (e). The resolution or plan of merger shall provide for the merger and shall provide that the surviving corporation assumes all the liabilities of each disappearing corporation and shall include any other provisions required by this section.
(b) If the parent corporation owns less than all the outstanding shares but at least 90 percent of the outstanding shares of each class of the subsidiary corporation that is a party to the merger, the resolution or plan of merger also shall set forth the securities, cash, property, or rights to be issued, paid, delivered, or granted upon surrender of each outstanding share of the subsidiary corporation not owned by the parent corporation and the entire resolution or plan of merger as well as the consideration to be received for each share of the subsidiary corporation not owned by the parent corporation, shall be approved by the board of that subsidiary corporation.
(c) If the parent corporation is to be merged into one of its subsidiary corporations, the resolution or plan of merger also shall provide for the pro rata conversion of the outstanding shares of the parent corporation into shares of the surviving subsidiary corporation. In this case, the entire resolution or plan of merger shall be approved by the board of the surviving subsidiary corporation and, if the merger, but for the operation of this section, would be a merger reorganization (Section 181) the principal terms of which would be required to be approved by the outstanding shares (Section 152) of any class of the parent corporation pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 1201, the principal terms of the resolution or plan of merger shall be approved by the outstanding shares (Section 152) of that same class of the parent corporation.
(d) In any merger pursuant to this section, the resolution or plan of merger may provide for the amendment of the articles of the surviving corporation to change its name, subject to Section 201, regardless of whether the name so adopted is the same as or similar to that of one of the disappearing corporations. The provision shall establish the wording of the amendment pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 907 and the resolution or plan of merger shall not provide for the amendment of the articles of the surviving corporation other than to change its name.
(e) After the required approval or approvals of the resolution or plan of merger, a certificate of ownership consisting of an officers’ certificate of the parent corporation shall be filed, and a copy thereof for each domestic subsidiary corporation and qualified foreign disappearing subsidiary corporation which is a party to the merger shall also be filed. The certificate of ownership shall:
(1) Identify the parent and subsidiary corporation or corporations.
(2) Set forth the share ownership by the parent corporation of each subsidiary corporation as 100 percent of the outstanding shares or as at least 90 percent of the outstanding shares of each class, as the case may be.
(3) Set forth the resolution or plan of merger.
(4) Set forth approval of the resolution or plan of merger by the board of the parent corporation.
(5) Set forth other approvals of the resolution or plan of merger as required under subdivision (b) or (c), if applicable.
(f) Upon the filing of the certificate of ownership, the merger shall be effective and any amendment of the articles of the surviving corporation set forth in the certificate shall be effective.
(g) A merger pursuant to this section may be effected if the parent corporation is a foreign corporation and if at least one subsidiary corporation is a domestic corporation but in such a case the certificate of ownership prepared as in subdivision (e) or the document required by subdivision (d) of Section 1108 shall be filed as to each domestic and qualified foreign subsidiary corporation, but no filing shall be made as to the foreign parent corporation. No merger into or with a foreign corporation may be effected as provided by this section unless the laws of the state or place of its incorporation permit that action.
(h) In the event all of the outstanding shares of a subsidiary domestic corporation party to a merger effected under this section are not owned by the parent corporation immediately prior to the merger, the parent corporation shall, at least 20 days before the effective date of the merger, give notice to each shareholder of such subsidiary corporation that the merger will become effective on or after a specified date. The notice shall contain a copy of the resolution or plan of merger and the information required by subdivision (a) of Section 1301. The notice shall be sent by mail addressed to the shareholder at the address of the shareholder as it appears on the records of the corporation. The shareholder shall have the right to demand payment of cash for the shares of the shareholder pursuant to Chapter 13 (commencing with Section 1300).
(i) If an agreement of merger is entered into between a parent corporation and one or more of its subsidiary corporations and the share ownership requirements of subdivision (a) are met, the agreement of merger may be filed as a plan of merger with a certificate of ownership in accordance with the requirements of this section, in which case Sections 1101, 1102, 1103, 1200, 1201, and 1202 shall not apply; or the agreement of merger may be filed pursuant to Section 1103, in which case this section shall not apply.
(Amended by Stats. 2006, Ch. 773, Sec. 4. Effective September 29, 2006.)