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FOURTH AMENDED AND RESTATED
BYLAWS
OF
AEROVIRONMENT, INC.
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particular question shall decide such question brought before such meeting, unless the question is one upon which by express provision of the statutes, the Certificate of Incorporation, these Bylaws or the rules and regulations of any stock exchange or other regulatory body applicable to the corporation or any of its securities, a different vote is required in which case such express voting threshold shall govern and control the decision of such question. Directors shall be elected in accordance with Article III, Section 2 hereof.
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record date shall not precede the date upon which the resolution fixing the record date is adopted by the Board, and which record date shall not be more than 60 nor less than 10 days before the date of such meeting. If the Board so fixes a date, such date shall also be the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to vote at such meeting unless the Board determines, at the time it fixes such record date, that a later date on or before the date of the meeting shall be the date for making such determination. If no record date is fixed by the Board, the record date for determining stockholders entitled to notice of and to vote at a meeting of stockholders shall be at the close of business on the day next preceding the day on which notice is given, or, if notice is waived, at the close of business on the day next preceding the day on which the meeting is held. A determination of stockholders of record entitled to notice of, or to vote at, a meeting of stockholders shall apply to any adjournment of the meeting; provided, however, that the Board may fix a new record date for the adjourned meeting.
In order that the corporation may determine the stockholders entitled to receive payment of any dividend or other distribution or allotment of any rights or the stockholders entitled to exercise any rights in respect of any change, conversion or exchange of stock, or for the purpose of any other lawful action, the Board may fix a record date, which record date shall not precede the date upon which the resolution fixing the record date is adopted, and which record date shall be not more than 60 days prior to such action. If no record date is fixed, the record date for determining stockholders for any such purpose shall be at the close of business on the day on which the Board adopts the resolution relating thereto.
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For purposes of this Section 9, the term “Proposing Person” shall mean (i) the stockholder providing the notice of business proposed to be brought before an annual meeting, (ii) the beneficial owner or beneficial owners, if different, on whose behalf the notice of the business proposed to be brought before the annual meeting is made, and (iii) any affiliate or associate (each within the meaning of Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act for purposes of these Bylaws) of such stockholder or beneficial owner.
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For purposes of this Section 9, the term “Nominating Person” shall mean (i) the stockholder providing the notice of the nomination proposed to be made at the meeting, (ii) the beneficial owner or beneficial owners, if different, on whose behalf the notice of the nomination proposed to be made at the meeting is made and (iii) any affiliate or associate of such stockholder or beneficial owner.
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provided, further, that in the event the Board resolves to reduce the size of the Board effective on or prior to the date of the annual meeting, the Permitted Number shall be calculated based on the number of directors in office as so reduced. An Eligible Stockholder submitting more than one Stockholder Nominee for inclusion in the corporation’s proxy statement pursuant to this Section 10 shall rank such Stockholder Nominees based on the order that the Eligible Stockholder desires such Stockholder Nominees to be selected for inclusion in the corporation’s proxy statement and include such specified rank in its Proxy Access Notice. If the number of Stockholder Nominees pursuant to this Section 10 for an annual meeting of stockholders exceeds the Permitted Number, then the highest ranking qualifying Stockholder Nominee from each Eligible Stockholder will be selected by the corporation for inclusion in the proxy statement until the Permitted Number is reached, going in order of the amount (largest to smallest) of the ownership position as disclosed in each Eligible Stockholder’s Proxy Access Notice. If the Permitted Number is not reached after the highest ranking Stockholder Nominee from each Eligible Stockholder has been selected, this selection process will continue as many times as necessary, following the same order each time, until the Permitted Number is reached.
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For purposes of this Section 10, a stockholder shall be deemed to “own” only those shares as to which the stockholder itself possesses: (i) the full voting rights pertaining to the shares; (ii) the full economic interest in (including the opportunity for profit and risk of loss on) such shares; and (iii) the full power to dispose of or direct the disposition of such shares. The number of shares calculated in accordance with the foregoing clauses (i), (ii) and (iii) shall be deemed not to include (and to the extent any of the following arrangements have been entered into by affiliates of the stockholder (or of any Constituent Holder), shall be reduced by) any shares (x) sold by such stockholder or Constituent Holder (or any of either’s affiliates) in any transaction that has not been settled or closed, including any short sale, (y) borrowed by such stockholder or Constituent Holder (or any of either’s affiliates) for any purposes or purchased by such stockholder or Constituent Holder (or any of either’s affiliates) pursuant to an agreement to resell, or (z) subject to any option, warrant, forward contract, swap, contract of sale, other derivative or similar instrument, agreement or understanding entered into by such stockholder or Constituent Holder (or any of either’s affiliates), whether any such instrument, agreement or understanding is to be settled with shares or with cash based on the notional amount or value of
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voting stock, in any such case which instrument, or agreement or understanding has, or is intended to have, or if exercised by either party thereto would have, the purpose or effect of: (i) reducing in any manner, to any extent or at any time in the future, such stockholder’s or Constituent Holder’s (or either’s affiliate’s) full right to vote or direct the voting of any such shares; and/or (ii) hedging, offsetting or altering to any degree gain or loss arising from the full economic ownership of such shares by such stockholder or Constituent Holder (or either’s affiliate), other than any such arrangements solely involving a national or multi-national market index. A stockholder (including any Constituent Holder) shall “own” shares held in the name of a nominee or other intermediary so long as the stockholder itself (or such Constituent Holder itself) retains the right to instruct how the shares are voted with respect to the election of directors and the right to direct the disposition thereof and possesses the full economic interest in the shares. A stockholder’s (including any Constituent Holder’s) ownership of shares shall be deemed to continue during any period in which such person has (A) loaned such shares provided that such person has the power to recall such loaned shares on not more than five (5) business days’ notice or (B) delegated any voting power over such shares by means of a proxy, power of attorney or other instrument or arrangement which in all such cases is revocable at any time by the stockholder without any condition. The terms “owned,” “owning” and other variations of the word “own” shall have correlative meanings.
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In addition, no later than the final date when a nomination pursuant to this Section 10 may be delivered to the corporation, a Qualifying Fund whose stock ownership is counted for purposes of qualifying as an Eligible Stockholder must provide to the Secretary documentation reasonably satisfactory to the Board that demonstrates that the funds included within the Qualifying Fund satisfy the definition thereof. In order to be considered timely, any information required by this Section 10 to be provided to the corporation must be supplemented (by delivery to the Secretary): (1) no later than ten (10) days following the record date for the applicable annual meeting, to disclose the foregoing information as of such record date; and (2) no later than eight (8) days before the annual meeting, to disclose the foregoing information as of the date that is no earlier than ten (10) days prior to such annual meeting. For the avoidance of doubt, the requirement to update and supplement such information shall not permit any Eligible Stockholder or other person to change or add any proposed Stockholder Nominee or be deemed to cure any defects or limit the remedies (including, without limitation, under these Bylaws) available to the corporation relating to any defect.
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In the event that any information or communications provided by the Eligible Stockholder (or any Constituent Holder) or the Stockholder Nominee to the corporation or its stockholders ceases to be true and correct in all material respects or omits a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, each Eligible Stockholder or Stockholder Nominee, as the case may be, shall promptly notify the Secretary of any defect in such previously provided information and of the information that is required to correct any such defect; it being understood for the avoidance of doubt that providing any such notification shall not be deemed to cure any such defect or limit the remedies (including, without limitation, under these Bylaws) available to the corporation relating to any such defect.
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Clauses (1), (2) and (3) and, to the extent related to a breach or failure by the Stockholder Nominee, clause (4), will result in the exclusion from the proxy materials pursuant to this Section 10 of the specific Stockholder Nominee to whom the ineligibility applies, or, if the proxy statement already has been filed, the ineligibility of such Stockholder Nominee to be nominated; provided, however, that clause (5) and, to the extent related to a breach or failure by an Eligible Stockholder (or any Constituent Holder), clause (4) will result in the voting stock owned by such Eligible Stockholder (or Constituent Holder) being excluded from the Proxy Access Request Required Shares (and, if as a result the Proxy Access Notice shall no longer have been filed by an Eligible Stockholder, the exclusion from the proxy materials pursuant to this Section 10 of all of the applicable stockholder’s Stockholder Nominees from the applicable annual meeting of stockholders or, if the proxy statement has already been filed, the ineligibility of all of such stockholder’s Stockholder Nominees to be nominated).
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information required to gain access to such list is provided with the notice of the meeting, or (ii) during ordinary business hours, at the principal place of business of the corporation.
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(a)Chairman of the Board. The Board shall annually elect one of its members to serve as Chairman of the Board and shall fill any vacancy in the position at such time and in such manner as the Board shall determine. The Chairman of the Board shall preside, when present, over all meetings of the stockholders and of the Board, other than meetings of the independent directors, which shall be presided over by the Lead Independent Director. The Chairman of the Board shall have such other duties and powers as set forth in these Bylaws or as may from time to time be assigned or required by the Board.
(b)Lead Independent Director. The Board shall annually designate an independent director to serve as the Lead Independent Director on the Board and shall fill any vacancy in the position of Lead Independent Director, when applicable, at such time and in such manner as the independent directors of the Board shall determine, provided that the Lead Independent Director may only be selected from among the independent directors. The Lead Independent Director shall serve at the pleasure of the Board and may be removed by the Board at any time with or without cause. The Lead Independent Director shall preside, when present, at all meetings of the stockholders and of the Board at which the Chairman of the Board is not present and at all meetings of the independent directors of the Board. The Lead Independent Director shall have such other powers and perform such other duties as the Board may from time to time delegate.
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The corporation may indemnify every person who is or was a party or is or was threatened to be made a party to any action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, by reason of the fact that he or she is or was an employee or
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agent of the corporation or, while an employee or agent of the corporation, is or was serving at the request of the corporation as an employee or agent or trustee of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan or other enterprise, against expenses (including counsel fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by him or her in connection with such action, suit or proceeding, to the extent permitted by applicable law.
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fact by the person claiming the certificate of stock to be lost, stolen or destroyed. When authorizing such issue of a new certificate or certificates, the Board may, in its discretion and as a condition precedent to the issuance thereof, require the owner of such lost, stolen or destroyed certificate or certificates, or his legal representative, to advertise the same in such manner as it shall require and/or to give the corporation a bond in such sum as it may direct as indemnity against any claim that may be made against the corporation with respect to the certificate alleged to have been lost, stolen or destroyed.
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meeting for the express purpose of objecting, at the beginning of the meeting, to the transaction of any business because the meeting is not lawfully called or convened. Neither the business to be transacted at nor the purpose of any regular or special meeting of the stockholders, directors or members of a committee of directors need be specified in any waiver of notice.
These Bylaws may be altered, amended or repealed or new Bylaws may be adopted by the stockholders or by the Board in accordance with the terms of the Certificate of Incorporation. If the power to adopt, amend or repeal Bylaws is conferred upon the Board by the Certificate of Incorporation, it shall not divest or limit the power of the stockholders to adopt, amend or repeal Bylaws.
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