Archives > 1976 South Carolina Code of Laws - Previous Versions > 2001 Session > Title 33

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MERGER AND SHARE EXCHANGE

SECTION 33-11-101. Merger.

(a) Business corporations may merge into,

(i) another business corporation or

(ii) a nonprofit corporation, to the extent permitted by Section 33-31-1101, if the board of directors of each corporation adopts and its shareholders, of a business corporation, and members, of a nonprofit corporation, if required by Section 33-11-103 for business corporations and Section 33-31-1103 for nonprofit corporations, approve a plan of merger.

(b) The plan of merger must set forth the:

(1) name of each corporation planning to merge and the name of the surviving corporation into which each other corporation plans to merge;

(2) terms and conditions of the merger; and

(3) manner and basis of converting the shares of each business corporation into shares, obligations, other securities, or membership interests of the surviving or any other corporation or into cash or other property in whole or part.

(c) The plan of merger may set forth:

(1) amendments to the articles of incorporation of the surviving corporation; and

(2) other provisions relating to the merger.

(d) For purposes of this Section 33-11-101, the term "corporation" means both business and nonprofit corporations.

SECTION 33-11-102. Share exchange.

(a) A corporation may acquire all of the outstanding shares of one or more classes or series of another corporation if the board of directors of each corporation adopts and its shareholders, if required by Section 33-11-103, approve the exchange.

(b) The plan of exchange must set forth the:

(1) name of the corporation whose shares will be acquired and the name of the acquiring corporation;

(2) terms and conditions of the exchange;

(3) manner and basis of exchanging the shares to be acquired for shares, obligations, or other securities of the acquiring or any other corporation or for cash or other property in whole or part.

(c) The plan of exchange may set forth other provisions relating to the exchange.

(d) This section does not limit the power of a corporation to acquire all or part of the shares of one or more classes or series of another corporation through a voluntary exchange or otherwise.

SECTION 33-11-103. Action on plan.

(a) After adopting a plan of merger or share exchange, the board of directors of each corporation party to the merger, and the board of directors of the corporation whose shares are to be acquired in the share exchange, shall submit the plan of merger (except as provided in subsection (h)) or share exchange for approval by its shareholders.

(b) For a plan of merger or share exchange to be approved:

(1) the board of directors must recommend the plan of merger or share exchange to the shareholders, unless the board of directors determines that because of conflict of interest or other special circumstances it should make no recommendation and communicates the basis for its determination to the shareholders with the plan; and

(2) the shareholders entitled to vote must approve the plan.

(c) The board of directors may condition its submission of the proposed merger or share exchange on any basis.

(d) The corporation shall notify each shareholder, whether or not entitled to vote, of the proposed shareholders' meeting in accordance with Section 33-7-105. The notice also must state that the purpose, or one of the purposes, of the meeting is to consider the plan of merger or share exchange and contain or be accompanied by a copy or summary of the plan. In addition, the notice must be accompanied by balance sheets of each corporation participating in the merger or share exchange showing in reasonable detail the financial condition of the corporation as of the close of the two preceding fiscal years and by income statements of each participating corporation for the three preceding fiscal years.

(e) Unless Chapters 1 thru 20 of this title or the articles of incorporation require a different vote or the board of directors (acting pursuant to subsection (c)) requires a greater vote than that specified by this subsection or the articles of incorporation, the plan of merger or share exchange to be adopted must be approved by: (1) two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast on the plan, regardless of the class or voting group to which the shares belong, and (2) two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast on the plan within each voting group entitled to vote as a separate voting group on the plan.

(f) The articles of incorporation may require a lower or higher vote for approval than that specified in subsection (e), but the required vote must be at least a majority of the votes entitled to be cast on the plan by each voting group entitled to vote separately on the plan.

(g) Separate voting by voting groups is required:

(1) on a plan of merger if the plan contains a provision that, if contained in a proposed amendment to the articles of incorporation, would require action by one or more separate voting groups on the proposed amendment under Section 33-10-104;

(2) on a plan of share exchange by each class or series of shares included in the exchange, with each class or series constituting a separate voting group.

(h) Action by the shareholders of the surviving corporation on a plan of merger is not required if:

(1) the articles of incorporation of the surviving corporation will not differ (except for amendments enumerated in Section 33-10-102) from its articles before the merger;

(2) each shareholder of the surviving corporation whose shares were outstanding immediately before the effective date of the merger will hold the same number of shares, with identical designations, preferences, limitations, and relative rights, immediately after;

(3) the number of voting shares outstanding immediately after the merger, plus the number of voting shares issuable as a result of the merger (either by the conversion of securities issued pursuant to the merger or the exercise of rights and warrants issued pursuant to the merger), will not exceed by more than twenty percent the total number of voting shares of the surviving corporation outstanding immediately before the merger; and

(4) the number of participating shares outstanding immediately after the merger, plus the number of participating shares issuable as a result of the merger (either by the conversion of securities issued pursuant to the merger or the exercise of rights and warrants issued pursuant to the merger), will not exceed by more than twenty percent the total number of participating shares outstanding immediately before the merger.

(i) As used in subsection (h):

(1) "Participating shares" means shares that entitle their holders to participate without limitation in distributions.

(2) "Voting shares" means shares that entitle their holders to vote unconditionally in elections of directors.

(j) After a merger or share exchange is authorized, and at any time before articles of merger or share exchange are filed, the planned merger or share exchange may be abandoned (subject to any contractual rights), without further shareholder action, in accordance with the procedure set forth in the plan of merger or share exchange or, if none is set forth, in the manner determined by the board of directors.

SECTION 33-11-104. Merger of subsidiary.

(a) A parent corporation owning at least ninety percent of the outstanding shares of each class of a subsidiary corporation may merge the subsidiary into itself without approval of the shareholders of the parent or subsidiary.

(b) The board of directors of the parent shall adopt a plan of merger that sets forth the:

(1) names of the parent and subsidiary; and

(2) manner and basis of converting the shares of the subsidiary into shares, obligations, or other securities of the parent or any other corporation or into cash or other property in whole or part.

(c) The parent shall mail a copy or summary of the plan of merger to each shareholder of the subsidiary who does not waive the mailing requirement in writing.

(d) In the case of a corporation which is not a public corporation, the parent may not deliver articles of merger to the Secretary of State for filing until at least thirty days after the date it mailed a copy of the plan of merger to each shareholder of the subsidiary who did not waive the mailing requirement.

(e) Articles of merger under this section may not contain amendments to the articles of incorporation of the parent corporation (except for amendments enumerated in Section 33-10-102).

SECTION 33-11-105. Articles of merger or share exchange.

(a) After a plan of merger or share exchange is approved by the shareholders, or adopted by the board of directors if shareholder approval is not required, the surviving or acquiring corporation shall deliver to the Secretary of State for filing articles of merger or share exchange setting forth:

(1) the plan of merger or share exchange;

(2) if shareholder approval was not required, a statement to that effect;

(3) if approval of the shareholders of one or more corporations party to the merger or share exchange was required:

(i) the designation, number of outstanding shares, and number of votes entitled to be cast by each voting group entitled to vote separately on the plan as to each corporation; and

(ii) either the total number of votes cast for and against the plan by each voting group entitled to vote separately on the plan or the total number of undisputed votes cast for the plan separately by each voting group and a statement that the number cast for the plan by each voting group was sufficient for approval by that voting group.

(b) A merger or share exchange takes effect upon the effective date of the articles of merger or share exchange.

SECTION 33-11-106. Effect of merger or share exchange.

(a) When a merger takes effect:

(1) every other corporation party to the merger merges into the surviving corporation and the separate existence of every corporation except the surviving corporation ceases;

(2) the title to all real estate and other property owned by each corporation party to the merger is vested in the surviving corporation without reversion or impairment;

(3) the surviving corporation has all liabilities of each corporation party to the merge;

(4) a proceeding pending against any corporation party to the merger may be continued as if the merger did not occur or the surviving corporation may be substituted in the proceeding for the corporation whose existence ceased;

(5) the articles of incorporation of the surviving corporation are amended to the extent provided in the plan of merger; and

(6) the shares of each corporation party to the merger that are to be converted into shares, obligations, or other securities of the surviving or any other corporation or into cash or other property are converted, and the former holders of the shares are entitled only to the rights provided in the articles of merger or to their rights under Chapter 13.

(b) When a share exchange takes effect, the shares of each acquired corporation are exchanged as provided in the plan, and the former holders of the shares are entitled only to the exchange rights provided in the articles of share exchange or to their rights under Chapter 13.

SECTION 33-11-107. Merger or share exchange with foreign corporation.

(a) Foreign corporations may merge or enter into a share exchange with domestic corporations if:

(1) in a merger, the merger is permitted by the law of the state or country under whose law each foreign corporation is incorporated and each foreign corporation complies with that law in effecting the merger;

(2) in a share exchange, the corporation whose shares are to be acquired is a domestic corporation, whether or not a share exchange is permitted by the law of the state or country under whose law the acquiring corporation is incorporated;

(3) the foreign corporation complies with Section 33-11-105 if it is the surviving corporation of the merger or acquiring corporation of the share exchange; and

(4) each domestic corporation complies with the applicable provisions of Sections 33-11-101 through 33-11-104 and, if it is the surviving corporation of the merger or acquiring corporation of the share exchange, with Section 33-11-105.

(b) Upon the merger or share exchange taking effect, the surviving foreign corporation of a merger and the acquiring foreign corporation of a share exchange is considered to:

(1) appoint the Secretary of State as its agent for service of process in a proceeding to enforce any obligation or the rights of dissenting shareholders of each domestic corporation party to the merger or share exchange; and

(2) agree that it will pay promptly to the dissenting shareholders of each domestic corporation party to the merger or share exchange the amount, if any, to which they are entitled under Chapter 13.

(c) This section does not limit the power of a foreign corporation to acquire all or part of the shares of one or more classes or series of a domestic corporation through a voluntary exchange or otherwise.

SECTION 33-11-108. Merger of parent into subsidiary.

(a) A parent corporation owning at least ninety percent of the outstanding shares of each class of a subsidiary corporation may merge itself into the subsidiary without approval of the shareholders of the subsidiary if the plan of merger is submitted to and approved by the shareholders of the parent in accordance with Section 33-11-103.

(b) The board of directors of the parent shall adopt a plan of merger that sets forth the:

(1) names of the parent and subsidiary; and

(2) manner and basis of converting the shares of the parent pro rata into shares of the subsidiary.

(c) The subsidiary shall mail a copy or summary of the plan of merger to each of its shareholders who does not waive the mailing requirement in writing.

(d) The subsidiary may not deliver articles of merger to the Secretary of State for filing until at least thirty days after the date it mailed a copy of the plan of merger to each of its shareholders who did not waive the mailing requirement.

(e) Articles of merger under this section may not contain amendments to the articles of incorporation of the subsidiary corporation (except for amendments enumerated in Section 33-10-102).