North Carolina General Statutes 55-12-02. Disposition of assets requiring shareholder approval
(a) A corporation may sell, lease, exchange, or otherwise dispose of all, or substantially all, of its property, otherwise than in the usual and regular course of business, on the terms and conditions and for the consideration determined by the corporation’s board of directors, if the board of directors proposes and its shareholders approve the proposed transaction.
(b) The following requirements shall be met for a transaction to be authorized:
(1) The board of directors shall recommend to the shareholders that the proposed transaction be approved unless one of the following circumstances exist, in which event the board of directors shall communicate the basis for not recommending approval of the proposed transaction to the shareholders at the time it submits the proposed transaction to the shareholders:
a. The board of directors determines that, because of conflict of interest or other special circumstances, it should not make a recommendation that the shareholders approve the proposed transaction.
b. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 55-8-26 applies.
Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 55-12-02
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
- property: shall include all property, both real and personal. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
(2) The shareholders entitled to vote must approve the proposed transaction.
(c) The board of directors may condition its submission of the proposed transaction on any basis.
(d) The corporation shall notify each shareholder, whether or not entitled to vote, of the proposed shareholders’ meeting in accordance with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 55-7-05. The notice must also state that the purpose, or one of the purposes, of the meeting is to consider the sale, lease, exchange, or other disposition of all, or substantially all, the property of the corporation and contain or be accompanied by a description of the transaction.
(e) Unless the articles of incorporation, a bylaw adopted by the shareholders, Article 9 or the board of directors (acting pursuant to subsection (c)) require a greater vote or a vote by voting groups, the transaction to be authorized must be approved by a majority of all the votes entitled to be cast on the transaction.
(f) After a sale, lease, exchange, or other disposition of property is authorized, the transaction may be abandoned (subject to any contractual rights) without further shareholder action.
(g) A transaction that constitutes a distribution is governed by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 55-6-40 and not by this section. (1925, c. 235; 1929, c. 269; 1939, c. 279; G.S., s. 55-26; 1955, c. 1371, s. 1; 1989, c. 265, s. 1; 2013-153, s. 13.)