§ 13.1-724. Shareholder approval of certain dispositions
A. A sale, lease, exchange or other disposition of the corporation's assets, other than a disposition described in § 13.1-723, requires approval of the corporation's shareholders if the disposition would leave the corporation without a significant continuing business activity. Unless the articles of incorporation or a shareholder-approved bylaw otherwise provide, if a corporation retains a business activity that represented at least 20 percent of total assets at the end of the most recently completed fiscal year, and 20 percent of either (i) income from continuing operations before taxes or (ii) revenues from continuing operations for that fiscal year, in each case of the corporation and any of its subsidiaries that are consolidated for purposes of federal income taxes, the corporation will conclusively be deemed to have retained a significant continuing business activity.
B. A disposition that requires approval of the shareholders under subsection A shall be initiated by adoption of a resolution by the board of directors authorizing the disposition. After adoption of such a resolution, the board of directors shall submit the proposed disposition to the shareholders for their approval. The board of directors shall also submit to the shareholders a recommendation that the shareholders approve the proposed disposition, unless the board of directors makes a determination that because of conflicts of interest or other special circumstances it should not make such a recommendation, in which case the board of directors shall transmit to the shareholders the basis for that determination.
C. The board of directors may condition its submission of the proposed disposition on any basis.
D. If a disposition is required to be approved by shareholders and if the approval is to be given at a meeting, the corporation shall notify each shareholder, whether or not entitled to vote, of the proposed shareholders' meeting in accordance with § 13.1-658. The notice shall also state that the purpose, or one of the purposes, of the meeting is to consider the disposition and shall contain or be accompanied by a copy or summary of the agreement pursuant to which the disposition will be effected. If only a summary of the agreement is sent to shareholders, the corporation also shall send a copy of the agreement to any shareholder who requests it.
E. Unless the board of directors, acting pursuant to subsection C, requires a greater vote, the disposition to be authorized shall be approved by the holders of more than two-thirds of all the votes entitled to be cast on the disposition. The articles of incorporation may provide for a greater or lesser vote than that provided for in this subsection or a vote by separate voting groups so long as the vote provided for is not less than a majority of all the votes cast on the disposition by each voting group entitled to vote on the disposition at a meeting at which a quorum of the voting group exists.
F. Unless the parties to the disposition have agreed otherwise, after a disposition has been approved by shareholders, and at any time before the disposition has been consummated, it may be abandoned, subject to any contractual rights, without further shareholder action in accordance with the procedure set forth in the resolution proposing the disposition or, if none is set forth, by the board of directors.
G. A disposition of assets in the course of dissolution under Article 16 (§ 13.1-742 et seq.) is not governed by this section.
H. The assets of a consolidated subsidiary shall be deemed the assets of the parent corporation for the purposes of this section.
I. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, no corporation organized to conduct the business of a railroad or other public service or a banking business, or a savings institution, an industrial loan association or a credit union may sell, lease or exchange its properties for the conduct of such business in the Commonwealth except to a corporation of the Commonwealth organized for the same purpose or in the case of a bank to a savings and loan association or a corporation of the United States, and in the case of a savings and loan association to a bank or a corporation of the United States.
(Code 1950, §§ 13-83, 13-84, 13.1-77; 1954, c. 499; 1956, c. 428; 1968, c. 109; 1971, Ex. Sess., c. 117; 1975, c. 500; 1985, c. 522; 1987, c. 181; 1996, c. 77; 2005, c. 765.)
Sections: Previous 13.1-722.9 13.1-722.10 13.1-722.11 13.1-722.12 13.1-722.13 13.1-722.14 13.1-723 13.1-724 13.1-725 13.1-725.1 13.1-726 13.1-726.1 13.1-727 13.1-727.1 13.1-728 NextLast modified: April 16, 2009