EXHIBIT 3(a)(ii)
CERTIFICATE OF DESIGNATION, PREFERENCES AND RIGHTS OF SERIES B
JUNIOR PARTICIPATING PREFERRED STOCK
OF
EMERSON ELECTRIC CO.
Pursuant to Section 351.180 of
The General and Business Corporation Law of Missouri
We, W. Wayne Withers, Senior Vice President, Secretary and General
Counsel, and Harley M. Smith, Assistant Secretary, of Emerson Electric Co., a
corporation organized and existing under The General and Business Corporation
Law of the State of Missouri, in accordance with the provisions of Section
351.180 thereof, DO HEREBY CERTIFY:
That pursuant to the authority conferred upon the Board of Directors
by the Restated Articles of Incorporation, as amended, of the Company, the said
Board of Directors on October 6, 1998, adopted the following resolution
creating a series of One Million Two Hundred Thousand (1,200,000) shares of
Preferred Stock designated as Series B Junior Participating Preferred Stock par
value $2.50 per share:
RESOLVED, that pursuant to the authority vested in the Board of
Directors of the Company in accordance with the provisions of its Restated
Articles of Incorporation, as amended, a series of Preferred Stock of the
company be and it hereby is created, and that the designation and amount
thereof and the powers, preferences and relative, participating, optional and
other special rights of the shares of such series, and the qualifications,
limitations or restrictions thereof are as follows:
Section 1. Designation and Amount. The shares of such series
shall be designated as "Series B Junior Participating Preferred Stock" (the
"Series B Preferred Stock") and the number of shares constituting the Series B
Preferred Stock shall be One Million Two Hundred Thousand (1,200,000). Such
number of shares may be increased or decreased by resolution of the Board of
Directors; provided that no decrease shall reduce the number of shares of
Series B Preferred Stock to a number less than the number of shares then
outstanding plus the number of shares reserved for issuance upon the exercise
of outstanding options, rights or warrants or upon the conversion of any
outstanding securities issued by the Company convertible into Series B
Preferred Stock.
Section 2. Dividends and Distributions.
(A) Subject to the rights of the holders of any shares of any series
of preferred stock (or any similar stock) ranking prior and superior to the
Series B Preferred Stock with respect to dividends, the holders of shares of
Series B Preferred Stock, in preference to the holders of shares of Common
Stock, par value $0.50 per share (the "Common Stock"), of the Company, and of
any other junior stock, shall be entitled to receive, when, as and if declared
by the Board of Directors out of funds legally available for the purpose,
quarterly dividends payable in cash on any regular quarterly dividend payment
date as shall be established by the Board of Directors (each such date being
referred to herein as a "Quarterly Dividend Payment Date"), commencing on the
first Quarterly Dividend Payment Date after the first issuance of a share or
fraction of a share of Series B Preferred Stock, in an amount per share
(rounded to the nearest cent) equal to the greater of (a) $1.00 or (b) subject
to the provision for adjustment hereinafter set forth, 1,000 times the
aggregate per share amount of all cash dividends, and 1,000 times the aggregate
per share amount(payable in kind) of all non-cash dividends or other
distributions, other than a dividend payable in shares of Common Stock or a
subdivision of the outstanding shares of Common Stock (by reclassification or
otherwise), declared on the Common Stock since the immediately preceding
Quarterly Dividend Payment Date or, with respect to the first Quarterly
Dividend Payment Date, since the first issuance of any share or fraction of a
share of Series B Preferred Stock. In the event the Company shall at any time
after October 6, 1998 (the "Rights Declaration Date") declare or pay any
dividend on the Common Stock payable in shares of Common Stock, or effect a
subdivision or combination or consolidation of the outstanding shares of Common
Stock (by reclassification or otherwise than by payment of a dividend in shares
of Common Stock) into a greater or lesser number of shares of Common Stock,
then in each such case the amount to which holders of shares of Series B
Preferred Stock were entitled immediately prior to such event under clause (b)
of the preceding sentence shall be adjusted by multiplying such amount by a
fraction, the numerator of which is the number of shares of Common Stock
outstanding immediately after such event and the denominator of which is the
number of shares of Common Stock that were outstanding immediately prior to
such event.
(B) The Company shall declare a dividend or distribution on the
Series B Preferred Stock as provided in paragraph (A) of this Section
immediately after it declares a dividend or distribution on the Common Stock
(other than a dividend payable in shares of Common Stock); provided that, in
the event no dividend or distribution shall have been declared on the Common
Stock during the period between any Quarterly Dividend Payment Date and the
next subsequent Quarterly Dividend Payment Date, a dividend of $1.00 per share
on the Series B Preferred Stock shall nevertheless be payable on such
subsequent Quarterly Dividend Payment Date.
(C) Dividends shall begin to accrue and be cumulative on outstanding
shares of Series B Preferred Stock from the Quarterly Dividend Payment Date
next preceding the date of issue of such shares, unless the date of issue of
such shares is prior to the record date for the first Quarterly Dividend
Payment Date, in which case dividends on such shares shall begin to accrue from
the date of issue of such shares, or unless the date of issue is a Quarterly
Dividend Payment Date or is a date after the record date for the determination
of holders of shares of Series B Preferred Stock entitled to receive a
quarterly dividend and before such Quarterly Dividend Payment Date, in either
of which events such dividends shall begin to accrue and be cumulative from
such Quarterly Dividend Payment Date. Accrued but unpaid dividends shall not
bear interest. Dividends paid on the shares of Series B Preferred Stock in an
amount less than the total amount of such dividends at the time accrued and
payable on such shares shall be allocated pro rata on a share-by-share basis
among all such shares at the time outstanding. The Board of Directors may, in
accordance with applicable law, fix a record date for the determination of
holders of shares of Series B Preferred Stock entitled to receive payment of a
dividend or distribution declared thereon, which record date shall be not more
than such number of days prior to the date fixed for the payment thereof as may
be allowed by applicable law.
Section 3. Voting Rights. The holders of shares of Series B
Preferred Stock shall have the following voting rights:
(A) Each share of Series B Preferred Stock shall entitle the holder
thereof to one vote on all matters submitted to a vote of the stockholders of
the Company.
(B) Except as otherwise provided herein, in the Company's Restated
Articles of Incorporation, or by law, the holders of shares of Series B
Preferred Stock, the holders of shares of Common Stock, and the holders of
shares of any other capital stock of the Company having general voting rights,
shall vote together as one class on all matters submitted to a vote of
stockholders of the Company.
(C) Except as set forth herein or in the Company's Restated Articles
of Incorporation, and except as otherwise provided by law, holders of Series B
Preferred Stock shall have no special voting rights and their consent shall not
be required (except to the extent they are entitled to vote with holders of
Common Stock as set forth herein) for taking any corporate action.
Section 4. Certain Restrictions.
(A) Whenever quarterly dividends or other dividends or distributions
payable on the Series B Preferred Stock as provided in Section 2 are in
arrears, thereafter and until all accrued and unpaid dividends and
distributions, whether or not declared, on shares of Series B Preferred Stock
outstanding shall have been paid in full, the Company shall not:
(i) declare or pay dividends, or make any other distributions,
on any shares of stock ranking junior (either as to dividends or upon
liquidation, dissolution or winding up) to the Series B Preferred Stock;
(ii) declare or pay dividends, or make any other distributions,
on any shares of stock ranking on a parity (either as to dividends or upon
liquidation, dissolution or winding up) with the Series B Preferred Stock,
except dividends paid ratably on the Series B Preferred Stock and all such
parity stock on which dividends are payable or in arrears in proportion to the
total amounts to which the holders of all such shares are then entitled;
(iii) redeem or purchase or otherwise acquire for consideration
shares of any stock ranking junior (either as to dividends or upon liquidation,
dissolution or winding up) to the Series B Preferred Stock, provided that the
Company may at any time redeem, purchase or otherwise acquire shares of any
such junior stock in exchange for shares of any stock of the Company ranking
junior (either as to dividends or upon dissolution, liquidation or winding up)
to the Series B Preferred Stock; or
(iv) redeem or purchase or otherwise acquire for consideration
any shares of Series B Preferred Stock, or any shares of stock ranking on a
parity with the Series B Preferred Stock, except in accordance with a purchase
offer made in writing or by publication (as determined by the Board of
Directors) to all holders of such shares upon such terms as the Board of
Directors, after consideration of the respective annual dividend rates and
other relative rights and preferences of the respective series and classes,
shall determine in good faith will result in fair and equitable treatment among
the respective series or classes.
(B) The Company shall not permit any subsidiary of the Company to
purchase or otherwise acquire for consideration any shares of stock of the
Company unless the Company could, under paragraph (A) of this Section 4,
purchase or otherwise acquire such shares at such time and in such manner.
Section 5. Reacquired Shares. Any shares of Series B Preferred
Stock purchased or otherwise acquired by the Company in any manner whatsoever
shall be retired and canceled promptly after the acquisition thereof. All such
shares shall upon their cancellation become authorized but unissued shares of
Preferred Stock and may be reissued as part of a new series of Preferred Stock
subject to the conditions and restrictions on issuance set forth herein, in the
Restated Articles of Incorporation of the Company, or in any other Certificate
of Designations creating a series of Preferred Stock or any similar stock or as
otherwise required by law.
Section 6. Liquidation, Dissolution or Winding Up. Upon any
liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Company, no distribution shall be
made (1) to the holders of shares of stock ranking junior (either as to
dividends or upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up) to the Series B
Preferred Stock unless, prior thereto, the holders of shares of Series B
Preferred Stock shall have received $1,000.00 per share, plus an amount equal
to accrued and unpaid dividends and distributions thereon, whether or not
declared, to the date of such payment, provided that the holders of shares of
Series B Preferred Stock shall be entitled to receive an aggregate amount per
share, subject to the provision for adjustment hereinafter set forth, equal to
1,000 times the aggregate amount to be distributed per share to holders of
shares of Common Stock, or (2) to the holders of shares of stock ranking on a
parity (either as to dividends or upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up)
with the Series B Preferred Stock, except distributions made ratably on the
Series B Preferred Stock and all such parity stock in proportion to the total
amounts to which the holders of all such shares are entitled upon such
liquidation, dissolution or winding up. In the event the Company shall at any
time after the Rights Declaration Date declare or pay any dividend on the
Common Stock payable in shares of Common Stock, or effect a subdivision or
combination or consolidation of the outstanding shares of Common Stock (by
reclassification or otherwise than by payment of a dividend in shares of Common
Stock) into a greater or lesser number of shares of Common Stock, then in each
such case the aggregate amount to which holders of shares of Series B Preferred
Stock were entitled immediately prior to such event under the proviso in clause
(1) of the preceding sentence shall be adjusted by multiplying such amount by a
fraction the numerator of which is the number of shares of Common Stock
outstanding immediately after such event and the denominator of which is the
number of shares of Common Stock that were outstanding immediately prior to
such event.
Section 7. Consolidation, Merger, etc. In case the Company shall
enter into any consolidation, merger, combination or other transaction in which
the shares of Common Stock are exchanged for or changed into other stock or
securities, cash and/or any other property, then in any such case each share of
Series B Preferred Stock shall at the same time be similarly exchanged or
changed into an amount per share, subject to the provision for adjustment
hereinafter set forth, equal to 1,000 times the aggregate amount of stock,
securities, cash and/or any other property (payable in kind), as the case may
be, into which or for which each share of Common Stock is changed or exchanged.
In the event the Company shall at any time after the Rights Declaration Date
declare or pay any dividend on the Common Stock payable in shares of Common
Stock, or effect a subdivision or combination or consolidation of the
outstanding shares of Common Stock (by reclassification or otherwise than by
payment of a dividend in shares of Common Stock) into a greater or lesser
number of shares of Common Stock, then in each such case the amount set forth
in the preceding sentence with respect to the exchange or change of shares of
Series B Preferred Stock shall be adjusted by multiplying such amount by a
fraction, the numerator of which is the number of shares of Common Stock
outstanding immediately after such event and the denominator of which is the
number of shares of Common Stock that are outstanding immediately prior to such
event.
Section 8. No Redemption. The shares of Series B Preferred Stock
shall not be redeemable.
Section 9. Rank. The Series B Preferred Stock shall rank, with
respect to the payment of dividends and the distribution of assets, junior to
all series of any other class of the Company's Preferred Stock.
Section 10. Amendment. The Restated Articles of Incorporation of
the Company shall not be amended in any manner which would materially alter or
change the powers, preferences or special rights of the Series B Preferred
Stock so as to affect them adversely without the affirmative vote of the
holders of at least two-thirds of the outstanding shares of Series B Preferred
Stock, voting together as a single class.
Section 11. Fractional Shares. Series B Preferred Stock may be
issued in fractions of a share which shall entitle the holder, in proportion to
such holder's fractional shares, to exercise voting rights, receive dividends,
participate in distributions and to have the benefit of all other rights of
holders of Series B Preferred Stock.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, we have executed and subscribed this Certificate
and do affirm the foregoing as true under the penalties of perjury this 1st day
of November, 1998.
By: /s/ W. Wayne Withers
-------------------------------
Name: W. Wayne Withers
Title: Senior Vice President,
Secretary and General Counsel
Attest
By: /s/ Harley M. Smith
-------------------
Name: Harley M. Smith
Title: Assistant Secretary