to our corporate secretary, together with certain specified information, not earlier than the close of business on the 150th day nor later than the close of business on the 120th day before the anniversary of the immediately preceding annual meeting of shareholders, subject to other timing requirements as specified in our Bylaws, including in the case of a change in the date of the annual meeting of shareholders.
Director nominations and shareholder business that are given late or that do not include all required information may be rejected. This could prevent shareholders from bringing certain matters before an annual or special meeting, including making nominations for directors.
Proxy Access. Our Bylaws permit a shareholder, or a group of up to 20 shareholders, owning 3% or more of our outstanding common stock continuously for at least three years, to nominate and include in our annual meeting proxy materials director candidates to occupy up to two or 20% of the number of directors in office (whichever is greater), provided that such shareholder or group of shareholders satisfies the requirements set forth in our Bylaws.
Authorized but Unissued Capital Stock. Our Articles of Incorporation currently authorize more capital stock than we have issued. The listing requirements of the NYSE, which will apply so long as our common stock remains listed on the NYSE, require shareholder approval of certain issuances equal to or exceeding 20% of then-outstanding voting power or then-outstanding number of shares of common stock. These additional shares may be used for a variety of corporate purposes, including future public offerings, to raise additional capital or to facilitate acquisitions.
One of the effects of the existence of unissued and unreserved common stock or preferred stock may be to enable our board of directors to issue shares to persons friendly to current management, which issuance could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of our company by means of a merger, tender offer, proxy contest or otherwise, and thereby protect the continuity of our management and possibly deprive shareholders of opportunities to sell their shares of common stock at prices higher than prevailing market prices.
Certain Provisions of Virginia Law
Directors’ Duties. Under Section 13.1-690 of the VSCA, directors of Virginia corporations must discharge their duties in accordance with their good faith business judgment of the best interests of the corporation. In discharging their duties, directors may rely on the advice or acts of others, including officers, employees, attorneys, accountants and board committees if they have a good faith belief in their competence. Directors’ actions are not subject to a reasonableness or prudent person standard. Virginia’s federal and state courts have focused on the process involved with directors’ decision-making and are generally supportive of directors if they have based their decision on an informed process. These elements of Virginia law could make it more difficult to take over a Virginia corporation than corporations in other states.
Control Share Acquisitions Statute. Virginia law contains provisions relating to “control share acquisitions,” which are transactions causing the voting power of any person acquiring beneficial ownership of shares of a Virginia public corporation to meet or exceed certain threshold percentages (20%, 33 1/3% or 50%) of the total votes entitled to be cast for the election of directors. Under Virginia law, shares acquired in a control share acquisition have no voting rights unless granted by a majority vote of all outstanding shares entitled to vote in the election of directors other than those held by the acquiring person or held by any officer or employee director of the corporation, unless at the time of any control share acquisition, the articles of incorporation or bylaws of the corporation provide that this statute does not apply to acquisitions of its shares. An acquiring person that owns 5% or more of the corporation’s voting stock may require that a special meeting of the shareholders be held, within 50 days of the acquiring person’s request, to consider the grant of voting rights to the shares acquired or to be acquired in the control share acquisition. If voting rights are not granted and the corporation’s articles of incorporation or bylaws permit, the acquiring person’s shares may be redeemed by the corporation, at the corporation’s option, at a price per share equal to the acquiring person’s cost. Unless otherwise provided in the corporation’s articles of incorporation or bylaws, Virginia law grants appraisal rights to any shareholder who objects to a control share acquisition that is approved by a vote of disinterested shareholders and that gives the acquiring person control of a majority of the corporation’s voting shares. As permitted by Virginia law, we have opted out of the Virginia anti-takeover law regulating control share acquisitions.
Affiliated Transactions Statute. Virginia law also contains provisions governing “affiliated transactions.” An affiliated transaction is generally defined as a merger, a share exchange, a material disposition of corporate assets not in the ordinary course of business, any dissolution of the corporation proposed by or on behalf of a holder of more than 10% of any class of the corporation’s outstanding voting shares (a “10% holder”) or any reclassification, including reverse stock splits, recapitalization or merger of the corporation with its subsidiaries, that increases the percentage of voting shares owned beneficially by a 10% holder by more than 5%. In general, these provisions prohibit a Virginia corporation from engaging in affiliated transactions with any 10% holder for a period of three years following the date that such person became a 10% holder unless (1) a majority of disinterested directors of the corporation and the holders of two-thirds of the voting shares, other than the shares beneficially owned by the 10% holder, approve the affiliated transaction or (2) before the date the person became a 10% holder, the board of directors approved the transaction that resulted in the shareholder becoming a 10% holder. A disinterested director is a director who was a director on the date on which a 10% holder became a 10% holder or was recommended for election or elected by a majority of the disinterested directors then on the board. After