Opinion ID: 2087386
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: stockholders

Text: 11. Action by Written Consent. Any action which is required to be or may be taken at any annual or special meeting of stockholders of the corporation may be taken without a meeting, without prior notice to stockholders and without a vote if consents in writing, setting forth the action so taken, shall have been signed by the holders of outstanding stock having not less than the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to authorize or to take such action at a meeting at which all shares entitled to vote thereon were present and voted. 12. Duration and Revocation of Consents. In order that the corporation's stockholders shall have an opportunity to receive and consider the information germane to an informed judgment as to whether to give a written consent and in accordance with the procedures contained in the New York Stock Exchange policies and rules, any corporate action to be taken by written consent shall not be effective until, and the stockholders of the corporation shall be able to give or revoke written consents for, at least twenty (20) days from the date of the commencement of a solicitation (as such term is defined in Rule 14a-1(k) promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) of consents, other than corporate action by written consent taken pursuant to solicitations of not more than ten (10) persons. For purposes of this Section and Section 13 of this Article I, a consent solicitation shall be deemed to have commenced when a proxy statement or information statement containing the information required by law is first furnished to the corporation's stockholders. Consents to corporate action shall be valid for a maximum of sixty (60) days after the date of the earliest dated consent delivered to the corporation in the manner provided in Section 228(c) of the Delaware General Corporation Law. Consents may be revoked by written notice (i) to the corporation, (ii) to the stockholder or stockholders soliciting consents or soliciting revocations in opposition to action by consent proposed by the corporation (the Soliciting Stockholders), or (iii) to a proxy solicitor or other agent designated by the corporation or the Soliciting Stockholders. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if independent counsel to the corporation delivers to the corporation a written opinion stating, or a court of competent jurisdiction determines, that this Section or Section 13 of this Article I, or any portion thereof, is illegal with respect to any corporate action to be taken by written consent for which a consent has theretofore been delivered to the corporation, in the manner provided in Section 228(c) of the Delaware General Corporation Law, whether prior or subsequent to the date of the adoption of this Section and Section 13 of this Article I, then this Section or Section 13 of this Article I, or such portion thereof, as the case may be, shall after the date of such delivery of such opinion or such determination be null and void and of no effect with respect to any other corporate action to be taken by written consent. 13. Inspectors of Election; Procedures for Counting Consents. Within three (3) business days after receipt of the earliest dated consent delivered to the corporation in the manner provided in Section 228(c) of the Delaware General Corporation Law or the determination by the Board of Directors of the corporation that the corporation should seek corporate action by written consent, as the case may be, the Secretary shall engage nationally recognized independent inspectors of elections for the purpose of performing a ministerial review of the validity of the consents and revocations. The cost of retaining inspectors of election shall be borne by the corporation. Consents and revocations shall be delivered to the inspectors upon receipt by the corporation, the Soliciting Stockholders or their proxy solicitors or other designated agents. As soon as consents and revocations are received, the inspectors shall review the consents and revocations and shall maintain a count of the number of valid and unrevoked consents. The inspectors shall keep such count confidential and shall not reveal the count to the corporation, the Soliciting Stockholder or their representatives or any other entity. As soon as practicable after the earlier of (i) sixty (60) days after the date of the earliest dated consent delivered to the corporation in the manner provided in Section 228(c) of the Delaware General Corporation Law or (ii) a written request therefor by the corporation or the Soliciting Stockholders (whichever is soliciting consents) (which request may be made no earlier than twenty (20) days after the commencement of the applicable solicitation of consents, except in the case of corporate action by written consent taken pursuant to solicitations of not more than ten (10) persons), notice of which request shall be given to the party opposing the solicitation of consents, if any, which request shall state that the corporation or Soliciting Stockholders, as the case may be, have a good faith belief that the requisite number of valid and unrevoked consents to authorize or take the action specified in the consents has been received in accordance with these By-Laws, the inspectors shall issue a preliminary report to the corporation and the Soliciting Stockholders stating: (i) the number of valid consents; (ii) the number of valid revocations; (iii) the number of valid and unrevoked consents; (iv) the number of invalid consents; (v) the number of invalid revocations; (vi) whether, based on their preliminary count, the requisite number of valid and unrevoked consents has been obtained to authorize or take the action specified in the consents. Unless the corporation and the Soliciting Stockholders shall agree to a shorter or longer period, the corporation and the Soliciting Stockholders shall have 48 hours to review the consents and revocations and to advise the inspectors and the opposing party in writing as to whether they intend to challenge the preliminary report of the inspectors. If no written notice of an intention to challenge the preliminary report is received within 48 hours after the inspectors' issuance of the preliminary report, the inspectors shall issue to the corporation and the Soliciting Stockholders their final report containing the information from the inspectors' determination with respect to whether the requisite number of valid and unrevoked consents was obtained to authorize and take the action specified in the consents. If the corporation or the Soliciting Stockholders issue written notice of an intention to challenge the inspectors' preliminary report within 48 hours after the issuance of that report, a challenge session shall be scheduled by the inspectors as promptly as practicable. A transcript of the challenge session shall be recorded by a certified court reporter. Following completion of the challenge session, the inspectors shall as promptly as practicable issue their final report to the Soliciting Stockholders and the corporation, which report shall contain the information included in the preliminary report, plus all changes in the vote totals as a result of the challenge and a certification of whether the requisite number of valid and unrevoked consents was obtained to authorize or take the action specified in the consents. A copy of the final report of the inspectors shall be included in the book in which the proceedings of meetings of stockholders are recorded. The corporation shall give prompt notice to the stockholders of the results of any consent solicitation or the taking of the corporate action without a meeting and by less than unanimous written consent.