Company: FRME
Filing Date: 2025-04-01
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0000712534-25-000077
Chunk: 72

Company: FIRST MERCHANTS CORP
Filing Date: 2025-04-01
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 72
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 Rule 14a-8 under the Exchange Act intended to be presented at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the shareholders must be received by the Secretary of the Company at its principal office by December 2, 2025, for inclusion in FMC’s 2026 proxy statement and form of proxy relating to that meeting. If notice of any other shareholder proposal intended to be presented at the 2026 Annual Meeting is not received by the Company on or before February 15, 2026, the proxy solicited by the Board for use in connection with that meeting may confer authority on the proxies to vote in their discretion on such proposal, without any discussion in the Company's proxy statement for that meeting of either the proposal or how such proxies intend to exercise their voting discretion. The submission of a shareholder proposal does not guarantee that it will be included in the Company’s proxy statement.

The process by which a shareholder may suggest a candidate for consideration by the Nominating and Governance Committee as a director-nominee is set forth in Article IV of FMC’s Bylaws. See the description of the process on page 20 under “Nominating and Governance Committee - Policy and Process for Considering Director Candidates Recommended by Shareholders.”

Article IV, Section 10, of FMC’s Bylaws includes separate advance notice provisions applicable to shareholders who intend to solicit proxies in support of director nominees for election at an annual meeting of shareholders, other than the Company's nominees, or to bring proposals before an annual meeting of shareholders other than pursuant to Rule 14a-8. These advance notice provisions require that, among other things, shareholders give timely written notice to the Secretary of the Company regarding such nominations or proposals and provide the information and satisfy the other requirements set forth in FMC’s Bylaws. To be timely, a shareholder must provide the information set forth in Article IV, Section 10, of FMC’s Bylaws (which includes information required under Rule 14a-19 under the Exchange Act) to the Secretary of the Company no earlier than January 16, 2026, and no later than February 15, 2026. However, if we hold the 2026 Annual Meeting more than 30 days before, or more than 60 days after, the anniversary of the 2025 Annual Meeting date, then the information must be received no earlier than the 120th day prior to the 2026 Annual Meeting date, and not later than (i) the 90th day prior to the 2026