(1) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

(a) “Holding company” means the corporation that is or becomes the direct parent of the surviving corporation of a merger accomplished under this section and whose capital stock is issued in that merger.

(b) “Parent constituent corporation” means the parent corporation that merges with or into the subsidiary constituent corporation in the merger.

(c) “Subsidiary constituent corporation” means the subsidiary corporation with or into which the parent constituent corporation merges in the merger.

(2) Unless the articles of incorporation provide otherwise, a parent constituent corporation may merge with or into a single indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the parent constituent corporation without the approval of the plan of merger by the shareholders of the parent constituent corporation if:

(a) The plan expressly permits or requires the merger to be effected under this subsection;

(b) The holding company and the constituent corporations to the merger are each organized under this title;

(c) At all times from its incorporation until consummation of a merger under this section, the holding company was a direct wholly owned subsidiary of the parent constituent corporation;

(d) Immediately before consummation of a merger under this section, the subsidiary constituent corporation is a direct wholly owned subsidiary of the holding company and an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the parent constituent corporation;

(e) The parent constituent corporation and the subsidiary constituent corporation are the only constituent entities to the merger;

(f) Immediately after the merger becomes effective, the surviving corporation of the merger becomes or remains a direct wholly owned subsidiary of the holding company;

(g) Each share or fraction of a share of the parent constituent corporation outstanding immediately before the merger becomes effective is converted in the merger into a share or equal fraction of a share of the holding company having the same designations and relative preferences, rights, and limitations as the share or fraction of a share of the parent constituent corporation being converted in the merger;

(h) The articles of incorporation and bylaws of the holding company immediately after the merger becomes effective contain provisions identical to the articles of incorporation and bylaws of the parent constituent corporation immediately before the merger becomes effective, other than any provisions regarding the incorporator or incorporators, the corporate name, the registered office and agent, the initial board of directors and the initial subscribers for shares, and the provisions contained in any amendment to the articles of incorporation of the parent constituent corporation that were necessary to effect an exchange, reclassification, or cancellation of shares if the exchange, reclassification, or cancellation has become effective;

(i) The articles of incorporation and bylaws of the surviving corporation immediately after the merger becomes effective contain provisions by specific reference to this subsection requiring that any corporate action by or involving the surviving corporation, other than the election or removal of directors of the surviving corporation, must be approved by the shareholders of the holding company, or any successor by merger, by the same vote as is required by this title or under the articles of incorporation or bylaws of the parent constituent corporation immediately before the merger becomes effective, if that corporate action would have required the approval of the shareholders of the parent constituent corporation under this title or under the articles of incorporation or bylaws of the parent constituent corporation immediately before the merger becomes effective;

(j) The directors of the parent constituent corporation immediately before the merger becomes effective become or remain the directors of the holding company immediately after the merger becomes effective; and

(k) The shareholders of the parent constituent corporation will not recognize gain or loss for United States federal income tax purposes as a result of the merger, as determined by the board of directors of the parent constituent corporation.

(3) The holding company must, promptly after the effective date of a merger effected under subsection (2) of this section, notify each person who was a shareholder of the parent constituent corporation as of the date the board of directors approves the merger that the merger has become effective. The notice must contain or be accompanied by a copy of the plan of merger or a summary of the material terms and conditions of the merger and the consideration to be received by those shareholders.

(4) To the extent restrictions under chapter 23B.19 RCW applied to the parent constituent corporation or any of its shareholders at the effective time of the merger, those restrictions apply to the holding company and its shareholders immediately after the merger becomes effective as though the holding company were the parent constituent corporation, and all shares of stock of the holding company acquired in the merger will, for the purposes of chapter 23B.19 RCW, be deemed to have been acquired at the time that the corresponding shares of stock of the parent constituent corporation were acquired. No shareholder who, immediately before the merger becomes effective, was not an acquiring person of the parent constituent corporation under chapter 23B.19 RCW will, solely by reason of the merger, become an acquiring person of the holding company under chapter 23B.19 RCW.

(5) To the extent a shareholder of the parent constituent corporation immediately before the merger was eligible to commence a proceeding in the right of the parent constituent corporation in accordance with RCW 23B.07.400, nothing in this section is deemed to limit or extinguish that eligibility.

(6) Except as provided in subsections (2), (3), (4), and (5) of this section, a merger between a parent constituent corporation and a subsidiary constituent corporation is governed by the provisions of this chapter applicable to mergers generally.