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8-K - FORM 8-K - Childrens Place, Inc.v432054_8k.htm
EX-99.1 - EXHIBIT 99.1 - Childrens Place, Inc.v432054_ex99-1.htm

Exhibit 99.2

 

7.PROXY ACCESS

 

Whenever the Board of Directors solicits proxies with respect to the election of directors at an annual meeting of stockholders, subject to the provisions of this Section 7, the Corporation shall include in its proxy statement for such annual meeting of stockholders, in addition to any persons nominated for election by the Board of Directors or any committee thereof, the name, together with the Required Information (defined below), of any person nominated for election (the “Stockholder Nominee”) to the Board of Directors by a stockholder or group of no more than twenty (20) stockholders that satisfies the requirements of this Section 7 (the “Eligible Stockholder”) and that expressly elects at the time of providing the notice required by this Section 7 (the “Notice of Proxy Access Nomination”) to have such nominee included in the Corporation’s proxy materials. For purposes of determining the number of stockholders comprising a group of stockholders under the immediately-preceding sentence, any two (2) or more funds under common management or sharing a common investment adviser shall be counted as one (1) stockholder. For purposes of this Section 7, the “Required Information” that the Corporation will include in its proxy statement is the information provided to the Secretary of the Corporation concerning the Stockholder Nominee and the Eligible Stockholder that is required to be disclosed in the Corporation’s proxy statement by the regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act and, if the Eligible Stockholder so elects, a written statement, not to exceed 500 words, in support of the Stockholder Nominee(s)’ candidacy (the “Statement”). Subject to the provisions of this Section 7, the name of any Stockholder Nominee included in the Corporation’s proxy materials for such annual meeting of stockholders shall also be set forth on the form of proxy distributed by the Corporation in connection with such annual meeting of stockholders. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Section 7, the Corporation may omit from its proxy materials any information or Statement (or portion thereof) that it, in good faith, believes would violate any applicable law or regulation.

 

To be timely, the Notice of Proxy Access Nomination must be delivered to, or mailed to and received by, the Secretary of the Corporation no earlier than one hundred fifty (150) days and no later than one hundred twenty (120) days before the anniversary of the date that the Corporation issued its proxy statement for the previous year’s annual meeting of stockholders.

 

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The maximum number of Stockholder Nominees nominated by all Eligible Stockholders that will be included in the Corporation’s proxy materials with respect to an annual meeting of stockholders shall not exceed the greater of (x) two or (y) twenty percent (20%) of the number of directors in office (rounded down to the nearest whole number) as of the last day on which a Notice of Proxy Access Nomination may be delivered pursuant to and in accordance with this Section 7 (the “Final Proxy Access Nomination Date”). In the event that one or more vacancies for any reason occurs on the Board of Directors after the Final Proxy Access Nomination Date but before the date of the annual meeting of stockholders and the Board of Directors resolves to reduce the size of the Board of Directors in connection therewith, the maximum number of Stockholder Nominees included in the Corporation’s proxy materials shall be calculated based on the number of directors in office as so reduced. For purposes of determining when the maximum number of Stockholder Nominees provided for in this Section 7 has been reached, each of the following persons shall be counted as one of the Stockholder Nominees: (i) any individual nominated by an Eligible Stockholder for inclusion in the Corporation’s proxy materials pursuant to this Section 7 whom the Board of Directors decides to nominate for election to the Board of Directors and (ii) any director in office as of the Final Proxy Access Nomination Date who was included in the Corporation’s proxy materials as a Stockholder Nominee for either of the two (2) most recent preceding annual meetings of stockholders (including any individual counted as a Stockholder Nominee pursuant to the preceding clause (i)) and whom the Board of Directors decides to nominate for re-election to the Board of Directors. Any Eligible Stockholder submitting more than one (1) Stockholder Nominee for inclusion in the Corporation’s proxy materials pursuant to this Section 7 shall rank such Stockholder Nominees based on the order in which the Eligible Stockholder desires such Stockholder Nominees to be selected for inclusion in the Corporation’s proxy statement in the event that the total number of Stockholder Nominees submitted by Eligible Stockholders pursuant to this Section 7 exceeds the maximum number of Stockholder Nominees permitted. In the event that the number of Stockholder Nominees submitted by Eligible Stockholders exceeds the maximum number of Stockholder Nominees permitted by this Section 7, the highest ranking Stockholder Nominee who meets the requirements of this Section 7 from each Eligible Stockholder will be selected for inclusion in the Corporation’s proxy materials until the maximum number is reached, going in order of the Eligible Stockholder holding the greatest number of shares to that holding the lowest number of shares of common stock of the Corporation each Eligible Stockholder disclosed as owned in its respective Notice of Proxy Access Nomination submitted to the Corporation. If the maximum number is not reached after the highest ranking Stockholder Nominee who meets the requirements of this Section 7 from each Eligible Stockholder has been selected, then the next highest ranking Stockholder Nominee who meets the requirements of this Section 7 from each Eligible Stockholder will be selected for inclusion in the Corporation’s proxy materials, and this process will continue as many times as necessary, following the same order each time, until the maximum number is reached.

 

For purposes of this Section 7, an Eligible Stockholder shall be deemed to “own” only those outstanding shares of common stock of the Corporation as to which the stockholder possesses both (i) the full voting and investment rights pertaining to the shares and (ii) the full economic interest in (including the opportunity for profit from and risk of loss on) such shares; provided, that the number of shares calculated in accordance with clauses (i) and (ii) shall not include any shares (x) sold by such stockholder or any of its affiliates in any transaction that has not been settled or closed, (y) borrowed by such stockholder or any of its affiliates for any purposes or purchased by such stockholder or any of its affiliates pursuant to an agreement to resell or (z) subject to any option, warrant, forward contract, swap, contract of sale, other derivative or similar agreement entered into by such stockholder or any of its affiliates, whether any such instrument or agreement is to be settled with shares or with cash based on the notional amount or value of shares of outstanding common stock of the Corporation, in any such case which instrument or agreement has, or is intended to have, the purpose or effect of (1) reducing in any manner, to any extent or at any time in the future, such stockholder’s or its affiliates’ full right to vote or direct the voting of any such shares, and/or (2) hedging, offsetting or altering to any degree any gain or loss realized or realizable from maintaining the full economic ownership of such shares by such stockholder or affiliate, other than hedging across a broad multi-industry investment portfolio solely with respect to currency risk, interest rate risk or, using a broad index-based hedge, equity risk. A stockholder shall “own” shares held in the name of a nominee or other intermediary so long as the stockholder retains the right to instruct how the shares are voted with respect to the election of directors and possesses the full economic interest in the shares. A stockholder’s ownership of shares shall be deemed to continue during any period in which (i) the stockholder has delegated any voting power by means of a proxy, power of attorney or other instrument or arrangement which is revocable at any time by the stockholder or (ii) the stockholder has loaned such shares; provided, that the stockholder has the power to recall such loaned shares on five (5) business days’ notice. The terms “owned,” “owning” and other variations of the word “own” shall have correlative meanings. Whether outstanding shares of the common stock of the Corporation are “owned” for these purposes shall be determined by the Board of Directors or any committee thereof. For purposes of this Section 7, the term “affiliate” or “affiliates” shall have the meaning ascribed thereto under the General Rules and Regulations under the Exchange Act.

 

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In order to make a nomination pursuant to this Section 7, an Eligible Stockholder must have owned at least the Required Ownership Percentage (as defined below) of the Corporation’s outstanding common stock (the “Required Shares”) continuously for at least the Minimum Holding Period (as defined below) as of both the date the Notice of Proxy Access Nomination is delivered to, or mailed to and received by, the Secretary of the Corporation in accordance with this Section 7 and the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to vote at the annual meeting of stockholders and must continue to own the Required Shares through the meeting date. For purposes of this Section 7, the “Required Ownership Percentage” is three percent (3)%, and the “Minimum Holding Period” is three (3) consecutive years. Within the time period specified in this Section 7 for delivering the Notice of Proxy Access Nomination, an Eligible Stockholder must provide the following information in writing to the Secretary of the Corporation: (i) a written statement by the Eligible Stockholder certifying as to the number of shares it owns and has owned (as defined in this Section 7) continuously during the Minimum Holding Period; (ii) one or more written statements from the record holder of the shares (and from each intermediary through which the shares are or have been held during the Minimum Holding Period) verifying that, as of a date within seven (7) calendar days prior to the date the Notice of Proxy Access Nomination is delivered to, or mailed to and received by, the Secretary of the Corporation, the Eligible Stockholder owns, and has owned continuously for the Minimum Holding Period, the Required Shares, and the Eligible Stockholder’s agreement to provide, within five (5) business days after the record date for the annual meeting of stockholders, written statements from the record holder and intermediaries verifying the Eligible Stockholder’s continuous ownership of the Required Shares through the record date; (iii) a copy of the Schedule 14N that has been filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) as required by Rule 14a-18 under the Exchange Act; (iv) the information required by Article I, Section 6(j) of these Bylaws; (v) the consent of each Stockholder Nominee to being named in the proxy statement as a nominee and to serving as a director if elected; (vi) a representation that the Eligible Stockholder (including each member of any group of stockholders that together is an Eligible Stockholder hereunder) (A) acquired the Required Shares in the ordinary course of business and not with the intent to change or influence control at the Corporation, and does not presently have such intent, (B) presently intends to maintain qualifying ownership of the Required Shares through the date the annual meeting of stockholders, (C) has not nominated and will not nominate for election to the Board of Directors at the annual meeting of stockholders any person other than the Stockholder Nominee(s) it is nominating pursuant to this Section 7, (D) has not engaged and will not engage in, and has not and will not be a “participant” in another person’s, “solicitation” within the meaning of Rule 14a-1(l) under the Exchange Act in support of the election of any individual as a director at the annual meeting of stockholders other than its Stockholder Nominee(s) or a nominee of the Board of Directors, (E) has not distributed and will not distribute to any stockholder of the Corporation any form of proxy for the annual meeting of stockholders other than the form distributed by the Corporation, (F) agrees to comply with all applicable laws and regulations applicable to solicitations and the use, if any, of soliciting material, and (G) has provided and will provide facts, statements and other information in all communications with the Corporation and its stockholders that are or will be true and correct in all material respects and do not and will not omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make such information, in light of the circumstances under which it was or will be made or provided, not misleading; (vii) a representation as to the Eligible Stockholder’s (including each member of any group of stockholders that together is an Eligible Stockholder hereunder) intentions with respect to maintaining qualifying ownership of the Required Shares through the date of the annual meeting of stockholders; (viii) an undertaking that the Eligible Stockholder agrees to (A) assume all liability stemming from any legal or regulatory violation arising out of the Eligible Stockholder’s communications with the stockholders of the Corporation or out of the information that the Eligible Stockholder provided to the Corporation and (B) indemnify and hold harmless the Corporation and each of its directors, officers and employees individually against any liability, loss or damages in connection with any threatened or pending action, suit or proceeding, whether legal, administrative or investigative, against the Corporation or any of its directors, officers or employees arising out of any nomination submitted by the Eligible Stockholder pursuant to this Section 7; and (ix) in the case of a nomination by a group of stockholders together constituting an Eligible Stockholder in which two or more funds under common management or sharing a common investment adviser are counted as one stockholder for purposes of qualifying as an Eligible Stockholder, documentation reasonably satisfactory to the Corporation that demonstrates that the funds are under common management or share a common investment adviser.

 

In the event that any information or communication provided by the Eligible Stockholder or the Stockholder Nominee to the Corporation or its stockholders ceases to be true and correct or omits a material fact necessary to make such information or communication, each Eligible Stockholder or Stockholder Nominee, as the case may be, shall promptly notify the Secretary of the Corporation of any defect in such previously provided information or communication and of the information that is required to correct any such defect. In addition, any person providing any information pursuant to this Section 7 shall further update and supplement such information, if necessary, so that all such information shall be true and correct as of the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to receive notice of the annual meeting of stockholders, and such update and supplement (or a written certification that no such updates or supplements are necessary and that the information previously provided remains true and correct as of the applicable date) shall be delivered to or be mailed and received by the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the Corporation not later than five (5) business days after the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to receive notice of such annual meeting of stockholders.

 

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The Corporation shall not be required to include, pursuant to this Section 7, a Stockholder Nominee in its proxy materials (i) for any meeting of stockholders for which the Secretary of the Corporation receives notice that the Eligible Stockholder or any other stockholder has nominated one or more persons for election to the Board of Directors pursuant to the advance notice requirements for stockholder nominees for director set forth in Article I, Section 6(j) of these Bylaws, (ii) if the Eligible Stockholder (or any member of any group of stockholders that together is such Eligible Stockholder) who has nominated such Stockholder Nominee has engaged in or is currently engaged in, or has been or is a “participant” in another person’s, “solicitation” within the meaning of Rule 14a-1(l) under the Exchange Act in support of the election of any individual as a director at the annual meeting of stockholders other than its Stockholder Nominee(s) or a nominee of the Board of Directors, (iii) who is not independent under the listing standards of the NASDAQ, any applicable rules of the SEC, Rule 16(B) under the Exchange Act, Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and any publicly disclosed standards used by the Board of Directors in determining and disclosing the independence of the Corporation’s directors, (iv) whose election as a member of the Board of Directors would cause the Corporation to be in violation of these Bylaws, the Certificate of Incorporation, the rules and listing standards of the NASDAQ, or any applicable state or federal law, rule or regulation, (v) who is or has been, within the past three (3) years, an officer or director of a competitor, as defined in Section 8 of the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914, (vi) who is a named subject of a pending criminal proceeding (excluding traffic violations and other minor offenses) or has been convicted in such a criminal proceeding within the past ten (10) years, (vii) if such Stockholder Nominee or the applicable Eligible Stockholder (or any member of any group of stockholders that together is such Eligible Stockholder) shall have provided information to the Corporation in respect to such nomination that was untrue in any material respect (or omits to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statement made in light of the circumstances under which they are made, not misleading) or (viii) if the Eligible Stockholder (or any member of any group of stockholders that together is such Eligible Stockholder) or applicable Stockholder Nominee fails to comply with its obligations pursuant to this Section 7.

 

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth herein, the Board of Directors or the chairman of the annual meeting of stockholders shall declare a nomination by an Eligible Stockholder to be invalid, and such nomination shall be disregarded notwithstanding that proxies in respect of such vote may have been received by the Corporation, if (i) (A) the Stockholder Nominee and/or the applicable Eligible Stockholder shall have breached any of its or their obligations, agreements or representations under this Section 7 or (B) the Stockholder Nominee shall have otherwise become ineligible for inclusion in the Corporation’s proxy materials pursuant to this Section 7, in each case as determined by the Board of Directors or the chairman of the annual meeting of stockholders (in either of which cases, (x) the Corporation may omit or, to the extent feasible, remove the information concerning such Stockholder Nominee and the related Supporting Statement from its proxy materials and/or otherwise communicate to its stockholders that such Stockholder Nominee will not be eligible for election at the annual meeting of stockholders and (y) the Corporation shall not be required to include in its proxy materials any successor or replacement nominee proposed by the applicable Eligible Stockholder or any other Eligible Stockholder) or (ii) the Eligible Stockholder (or a qualified representative thereof) does not appear at the annual meeting of stockholders to present any nomination pursuant to this Section 7.

 

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Whenever the Eligible Stockholder consists of a group of stockholders, (i) each provision in this Section 7 that requires the Eligible Stockholder to provide any written statements, representations, undertakings, agreements or other instruments or to meet any other conditions shall be deemed to require each stockholder that is a member of such group to provide such statements, representations, undertakings, agreements or other instruments and to meet such other conditions (except that the members of such group may aggregate their shareholdings in order to meet the Required Ownership), (ii) a breach of any obligation, agreement or representation under this Section 7 by any member of such group shall be deemed a breach by the Eligible Stockholder and (iii) the Notice of Proxy Access Nomination must designate one member of the group for purposes of receiving communications, notices and inquiries from the Corporation and otherwise authorize such member to act on behalf of all members of the group with respect to all matters relating to the nomination under this Section 7 (including withdrawal of the nomination). No person may be a member of more than one group of stockholders constituting an Eligible Stockholder with respect to any annual meeting of stockholders.

 

Any Stockholder Nominee who is included in the Corporation’s proxy materials for a particular annual meeting of stockholders but either (i) withdraws from or becomes ineligible or unavailable for election at the annual meeting of stockholders, or (ii) does not receive at least 25% of the votes cast in favor of such Stockholder Nominee’s election, will be ineligible to be a Stockholder Nominee pursuant to this Section 7 for the next two (2) annual meetings of stockholders. For the avoidance of doubt, the immediately preceding sentence shall not prevent any stockholder from nominating any person to the Board of Directors pursuant to and in accordance with Article I, Section 6(j) of these Bylaws.

 

Any Stockholder Nominee who is included in the Corporation’s proxy materials for any particular meeting shall tender an irrevocable resignation (resigning his or her candidacy for director election and, if applicable at the time of the determination made in the next sentence, resigning from his or her position as a director), in a form satisfactory to the Corporation, in advance of such meeting, provided that such resignation shall expire upon the certification of the voting results of that annual meeting of stockholders. Such resignation shall become effective upon a determination by the Board of Directors or any committee thereof that (i) the information provided pursuant to this Section 7 to the Corporation by such individual or by the Eligible Stockholder (or any member of any group of persons that together is such Eligible Stockholder) who nominated such individual was untrue in any material respect or omitted to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading or (ii) such individual, or the Eligible Stockholder (or any member of any group of persons that together is such Eligible Stockholder) who nominated such individual, shall have breached or failed to comply with its agreements, representations undertakings and/or obligations pursuant to these By-laws, including, without limitation, this Section 7.

 

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