Opinion ID: 1804825
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: shareholder approval

Text: The method through which a corporation may authorize the execution of a mortgage encumbering all or substantially all of its property and assets is set forth in Neb.Rev. Stat. § 21-2077 (Reissue 1991), which provides, in relevant part: The sale, lease, exchange, or other disposition of all, or substantially all, the property and assets of a corporation, in the usual and regular course of its business, and the mortgage or pledge of any or all property and assets of a corporation whether or not in the usual course of business may be made upon such terms and conditions and for such consideration ... as shall be authorized by its board of directors; and in any such case no authorization or consent of the shareholders shall be required. However, DeWitt Farms calls attention to Neb.Rev.Stat. § 21-2078 (Reissue 1991), which reads, so far as is relevant: A sale, lease, exchange, or other disposition of all, or substantially all, the property and assets ... of a corporation, if not made in the usual and regular course of its business, may be made upon such terms and conditions and for such consideration... as may be authorized in the following manner: (1) The board of directors shall adopt a resolution recommending such sale, lease, exchange, mortgage, pledge, or other disposition and directing the submission thereof to a vote at a meeting of shareholders, which may be either an annual or a special meeting; (2) Written or printed notice shall be given to each shareholder of record entitled to vote at such meeting within the time and in the manner provided ... for the giving of notice of meetings of shareholders, and, whether the meeting be an annual or a special meeting, shall state that the purpose, or one of the purposes of such meeting is to consider the proposed sale, lease, exchange, mortgage, pledge, or other disposition; (3) At such meeting the shareholders may authorize such sale, lease, exchange, mortgage, pledge, or other disposition and may fix, or may authorize the board of directors to fix, any or all of the terms and conditions thereof and the consideration to be received by the corporation therefor. Each outstanding share of the corporation shall be entitled to vote thereon, whether or not entitled to vote thereon by the provisions of the articles of incorporation. Such authorization shall require the affirmative vote of the holders of at least two-thirds of the outstanding shares of the corporation.... DeWitt Farms urges, in effect, that the mortgaging of all or substantially all of a corporation's property and assets in other than the usual and ordinary course of business is another disposition contemplated by § 21-2078 and thus requires shareholder approval. However, in settling upon the meaning of a statute, the components of a series or collection of statutes pertaining to a certain subject matter may be conjunctively considered and construed to determine the intent of the Legislature so that different provisions of the act are consistent, harmonious, and sensible. In re Application of City of Lincoln, 243 Neb. 458, 500 N.W.2d 183 (1993). If there is a conflict, the special provisions of a statute prevail over the general provisions in the same or other statutes on the same subject. AMISUB v. Board of Cty. Comrs. of Douglas Cty., 244 Neb. 657, 508 N.W.2d 827 (1993); In re Application of City of Lincoln, supra . Applying those principles, we conclude that the more specific provisions of § 21-2077 exempt the mortgaging of all or substantially all of a corporation's property and assets, whether in the usual course of business or otherwise, and thus, such may be done by a corporation's board without stockholder approval. See Carroll v. Wyo. Production Credit Ass'n, 755 P.2d 869 (Wyo. 1988).