PROPOSAL TWO — ADOPTION AND APPROVAL OF AMENDMENT TO
ARTICLE IV OF THE ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION
General
On February 27, 2018, the Board of Directors adopted resolutions declaring it advisable and in the best interests of Farmers and its shareholders to amend Article IV of the Company’s Articles in order to increase the authorized number of our Common Shares from 35,000,000 to 50,000,000, and the Board is now unanimously proposing and recommending that our shareholders adopt and approve the proposed amendment to Article IV.
Description of the Shares Amendment
Article IV of the Company’s Articles currently authorizes 35,000,000 Common Shares. Of these authorized shares, as of March 5, 2018, 27,640,922 were issued and outstanding and 538,677 were held by the Company as treasury shares. Under our Articles, the Board of Directors is authorized without action of the shareholders tore-purchase shares of any class. An additional 500,000 Common Shares are reserved for issuance under the Farmers National Banc Corp. Share Ownership Plan (an employee stock purchase plan pursuant to which 92,470 shares have been issued), 500,000 Common Shares were reserved for issuance under our 2012 Equity Incentive Plan (pursuant to which awards representing 465,228 have been granted and remain outstanding), and 800,000 Common Shares are reserved for issuance under our 2017 Equity Incentive Plan (pursuant to which awards representing 124,618 shares have been granted and remain outstanding).
The Board of Directors is recommending that shareholders vote“FOR”the adoption of Proposal Two because the Board believes that the increase in the number of authorized Common Shares from 35,000,000 to 50,000,000 will provide us with the necessary ability to issue additional Common Shares in order to meet future business and financial needs and is, therefore, in the best interests of our shareholders. It is contemplated that the additional Common Shares could be used for appropriate corporate purposes as approved by the Board of Directors, including but not limited to the following:
| • | | Share distributions and dividends; |
| • | | Acquisitions and mergers; and |
| • | | Public offerings and other capital raising transactions. |
At our 2013 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, shareholders approved a proposed amendment to our Articles which increased the number of our authorized Common Shares from 25,000,000 to the 35,000,000 currently authorized. Since that time, Farmers has successfully completed five acquisitions which have utilized a significant number of Common Shares, as one of the uses contemplated by such last proposed amendment to authorize additional Common Shares.
On July 1, 2013, we completed the acquisition of retirement planning consultancy National Associates, Inc. of Cleveland, Ohio, which included consideration comprised of cash and a total of over 225,000 Common Shares. On June 19, 2015, we completed the acquisition of all outstanding stock of National Bancshares Corporation, the parent company of First National Bank of Orrville. The transaction involved both cash and 7,262,955 Common Shares, totaling approximately $74.8 million. On October 1, 2015, Farmers completed the acquisition ofTri-State 1st Banc, Inc., the parent company of 1st National Community Bank. Total consideration paid was $3.6 million in cash and 1,296,517 Common Shares,
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