Company: FRME
Filing Date: 2025-04-01
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0000712534-25-000077
Chunk: 42

Company: FIRST MERCHANTS CORP
Filing Date: 2025-04-01
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 42
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) three years after the date of the award. The LTEIP requires a one-year minimum vesting period. However, in all cases, the restricted stock will vest if the grantee dies or becomes disabled, or there is a change of control of FMC, before the shares would otherwise vest. In general, a change of control will not automatically trigger vesting of awards unless participants also experience a termination of employment without cause or resign on account of constructive termination within two years following a change in control (i.e., a "double-trigger" requirement). The Compensation and Human Resources Committee may also partially waive the forfeiture of a restricted stock award if a grantee’s employment is terminated before the stock vests and the Committee determines that the termination was involuntary and without cause. In that event, the part of the award that vests is a fraction of the shares, with a numerator equal to the number of full years that have elapsed between the date of the award and the date of termination and a denominator equal to the number of years between the date of the award and the date the award vests. A grantee of restricted stock under the LTEIP is entitled to vote the shares of stock and receive the dividends on the stock, notwithstanding the restrictions.

As the Grants of Plan-Based Awards for 2024 Table on page 39 shows, the Committee made the following awards of restricted stock to the NEOs under the LTEIP:

| On August 8, 2024 |     |               |
|:------------------|:----|:--------------|
| Mr. Hardwick      |     | 21,000 shares |
| Mr. Stewart       |     | 16,000 shares |
| Ms. Kawiecki      |     | 13,000 shares |
| Mr. Martin        |     | 8,000 shares  |
| Mr. Peterson      |     | 8,000 shares  |

The value of the restricted stock on August 8, 2024, was $36.14/share. The restricted stock awarded on August 8, 2024, will vest on August 8, 2027, or, if earlier, on the date the grantee dies or becomes disabled.

To ensure that executive officers who benefit from equity awards under the LTEIP have a long-term financial interest in growing the value of the Company's stock, the Company has guidelines stating that executive officers participating in the LTEIP should acquire and hold shares of the Company’s common stock equal in value to certain percentages of their current annual salary. These