The Board has determined the
terms of shares of Class A Preferred Stock issued as Series A ESOP Convertible
Class A Preferred Stock, which can only be held by a trustee or trustees of an
employee stock ownership plan or other benefit plan of the
Company. Upon transfer of Series A ESOP Convertible Class A Preferred
Stock to any other person, such transferred shares shall be automatically
converted into shares of Common Stock. Each share of Series A ESOP
Convertible Class A Preferred Stock has a cumulative dividend of $.5036075 per
year and a liquidation price of $6.82 per share (as adjusted for the stock
splits on October 20, 1989, May 15, 1992, August 22, 1997 and May 21, 2004, and
the Smucker transaction effective June 1, 2002), is redeemable by the Company or
the holder, is convertible at the option of the holder into one share of Common
Stock and has certain anti-dilution protections associated with the conversion
rights. Appropriate
adjustments to dividends and liquidation price will be made to give effect to
any future stock splits, stock dividends or similar changes to the Series A ESOP
Convertible Class A Preferred Stock.
The Board
has also determined the terms of shares of Class A Preferred Stock issued as
Series B ESOP Convertible Class A Preferred Stock. Each share of
Series B ESOP Convertible Class A Preferred Stock has a cumulative dividend of
$1.022 per year and a liquidation price of $12.96 per share, (as adjusted for
the stock splits on August 22, 1997 and May 21, 2004, and the Smucker
transaction effective June 1, 2002) is redeemable by the Company or the holder
under certain circumstances, is convertible at the option of the holder into one
share of Common Stock and has certain anti-dilution protections associated with
the conversion rights. Appropriate adjustments to dividends and
liquidation price will be made to give effect to any future stock splits, stock
dividends or similar changes to the Series B ESOP Convertible Class A Preferred
Stock.
No shares
of Class B Preferred Stock are currently issued.
All of
the issued shares of Common Stock of the Company are fully paid and
non-assessable. Common Stock does not have any conversion rights and is not
subject to any redemption provisions. No holder of shares of any
class of the Company’s capital stock has or shall have any right, pre-emptive or
other, to subscribe for or to purchase from the Company any of the shares of any
class of the Company hereafter issued or sold. No shares of any class
of the Company’s capital stock are subject to any sinking fund provisions or to
calls, assessments by, or liabilities of the Company.
| Item 5. |
INTERESTS OF NAMED EXPERTS AND
COUNSEL |
The
legality of the shares of Common Stock offered hereby is being passed upon for
the Registrant by Jason P. Muncy, Esq., Senior Counsel, The Procter & Gamble
Company, One Procter & Gamble Plaza, Cincinnati, Ohio,
45202. Mr. Muncy is the owner of shares of Common Stock of the
Registrant and holds stock options granted under one or more Company
plans.
| Item
6. |
INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS
AND OFFICERS |
Section 1701.13(E) of the
Ohio Revised Code (the "Revised Code") provides as
follows:
(E)(1) A
corporation may indemnify or agree to indemnify any person who was or is a
party, or is threatened to be made a party, to any threatened, pending, or
completed action, suit, or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative,
or investigative, other than an action by or in the right of the corporation, by
reason of the fact that he is or was a director, officer, employee, or agent of
the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a
director, trustee, officer, employee, member, manager, or agent of another
corporation, domestic or foreign, nonprofit or for profit, a limited liability
company, or a partnership, joint venture, trust, or other enterprise, against
expenses, including attorney's fees, judgments, fines, and amounts paid in
settlement actually and reasonably incurred by him in connection with such
action, suit, or proceeding, if he acted in good faith and in a manner he
reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the
corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, if he had
no reasonable cause to believe his conduct was unlawful. The
termination of any action, suit, or proceeding by judgment, order, settlement,
or conviction, or upon a plea of nolo contendere or its equivalent, shall not,
of itself, create a presumption that the person did not act in good faith and in
a manner he reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of
the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, he had
reasonable cause to believe that his conduct was unlawful.
(2) A
corporation may indemnify or agree to indemnify any person who was or is a
party, or is threatened to be made a party, to any threatened, pending, or
completed action or suit by or in the right of the corporation to procure a
judgment in its favor, by reason of the fact that he is or was a director,
officer, employee, or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the
request of the corporation as a director, trustee, officer, employee, member,
manager, or agent of another corporation, domestic or foreign, nonprofit or for
profit, a limited liability company, or a partnership, joint venture, trust, or
other enterprise, against expenses, including attorney's fees, actually and
reasonably incurred by him in connection with the defense or settlement of such
action or suit, if he acted in good faith and in a manner he reasonably believed
to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, except that
no indemnification shall be made in respect of any of the
following:
(a) Any
claim, issue, or matter as to which such person is adjudged to be liable for
negligence or misconduct in the performance of his duty to the corporation
unless, and only to the extent that, the court of common pleas or the court in
which such action or suit was brought determines, upon application, that,
despite the adjudication of liability, but in view of all the circumstances of
the case, such person is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnity for such
expenses as the court of common pleas or such other court shall deem
proper;
(b) Any
action or suit in which the only liability asserted against a director is
pursuant to section 1701.95 of the Revised Code.`
(3) To
the extent that a director, trustee, officer, employee, member, manager, or
agent has been successful on the merits or otherwise in defense of any action,
suit, or proceeding referred to in division (E)(1) or (2) of this section, or in
defense of any claim, issue, or matter therein, he shall be indemnified against
expenses, including attorney's fees, actually and reasonably incurred by him in
connection with the action, suit, or proceeding.
(4) Any
indemnification under division (E)(1) or (2) of this section, unless ordered by
a court, shall be made by the corporation only as authorized in the specific
case, upon a determination that indemnification of the director, trustee,
officer, employee, member, manager, or agent is proper in the circumstances
because he has met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in division
(E)(1) or (2) of this section. Such determination shall be made as
follows:
(a) By
a majority vote of a quorum consisting of directors of the indemnifying
corporation who were not and are not parties to or threatened with the action,
suit, or proceeding referred to in division (E)(1) or (2) of this
section;
(b) If
the quorum described in division (E)(4)(a) of this section is not obtainable or
if a majority vote of a quorum of disinterested directors so directs, in a
written opinion by independent legal counsel other than an attorney, or a firm
having associated with it an attorney, who has been retained by or who has
performed services for the corporation or any person to be indemnified within
the past five years;
(c) By
the shareholders;
(d) By
the court of common pleas or the court in which the action, suit, or proceeding
referred to in division (E)(1) or (2) of this section was brought.
Any determination made by the
disinterested directors under division (E)(4)(a) or by independent legal counsel
under division (E)(4)(b) of this section shall be promptly communicated to the
person who threatened or brought the action or suit by or in the right of the
corporation under division (E)(2) of this section, and, within ten days after
receipt of such notification, such person shall have the right to petition the
court of common pleas or the court in which such action or suit was brought to
review the reasonableness of such determination.
(5) (a) Unless
at the time of a director's act or omission that is the subject of an action,
suit, or proceeding referred to in division (E)(1) or (2) of this section, the
articles or the regulations of a corporation state, by specific reference to
this division, that the provisions of this division do not apply to the
corporation and unless the only liability asserted against a director in an
action, suit, or proceeding referred to in division (E)(1) or (2) of this
section is pursuant to section 1701.95 of the Revised Code, expenses, including
attorney's fees, incurred by a director in defending the action, suit, or
proceeding shall be paid by the corporation as they are incurred, in advance of
the final disposition of the action, suit, or proceeding, upon receipt of an
undertaking by or on behalf of the director in which he agrees to do both of the
following:
(i) Repay
such amount if it is proved by clear and convincing evidence in a court of
competent jurisdiction that his action or failure to act involved an act or
omission undertaken with deliberate intent to cause injury to the corporation or
undertaken with reckless disregard for the best interests of the
corporation;
(ii) Reasonably
cooperate with the corporation concerning the action, suit, or
proceeding.
(b) Expenses,
including attorney's fees, incurred by a director, trustee, officer, employee,
member, manager, or agent in defending any action, suit, or proceeding referred
to in division (E)(1) or (2) of this section, may be paid by the corporation as
they are incurred, in advance of the final disposition of the action, suit, or
proceeding, as authorized by the directors in the specific case, upon receipt of
an undertaking by or on behalf of the director, trustee, officer, employee,
member, manager, or agent to repay such amount, if it ultimately is
determined that he is not entitled to be indemnified by the
corporation.
(6) The
indemnification authorized by this section shall not be exclusive of, and shall
be in addition to, any other rights granted to those seeking indemnification
under the articles, the regulations, any agreement, a vote of shareholders or
disinterested directors, or otherwise, both as to action in their official
capacities and as to action in another capacity while holding their offices or
positions, and shall continue as to a person who has ceased to be a director,
trustee, officer, employee, member, manager, or agent and shall inure to the
benefit of the heirs, executors, and administrators of such a
person.
(7) A
corporation may purchase and maintain insurance or furnish similar protection,
including, but not limited to, trust funds, letters of credit, or
self-insurance, on behalf of or for any person who is or was a director,
officer, employee, or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the
request of the corporation as a director, trustee, officer, employee, member,
manager, or agent of another corporation, domestic or foreign, nonprofit or for
profit, a limited liability company, or a partnership, joint venture,
trust, or other enterprise, against any liability asserted against him and
incurred by him in any such capacity, or arising out of his status as such,
whether or not the corporation would have the power to indemnify him against
such liability under this section. Insurance may be purchased from or
maintained with a person in which the corporation has a financial
interest.
(8) The
authority of a corporation to indemnify persons pursuant to division (E)(1) or
(2) of this section does not limit the payment of expenses as they are incurred,
indemnification, insurance, or other protection that may be provided pursuant to
divisions (E)(5), (6), and (7) of this section. Divisions (E)(1) and
(2) of this section do not create any obligation to repay or return payments
made by the corporation pursuant to division (E)(5), (6), or (7).
(9) As
used in division (E) of this section, "corporation" includes all constituent
entities in a consolidation or merger and the new or surviving corporation, so
that any person who is or was a director, officer, employee, trustee, member,
manager, or agent of such a constituent entity, or is or was serving at the
request of such constituent entity as a director, trustee, officer, employee,
member, manager, or agent of another corporation, domestic or foreign, nonprofit
or for profit, a limited liability company, or a partnership, joint venture,
trust, or other enterprise, shall stand in the same position under this section
with respect to the new or surviving corporation as he would if he
had served the new or surviving corporation in the same
capacity.
Section 1701.13 (F)(7) of
the Revised Code provides as follows:
(F) In
carrying out the purposes stated in its articles and subject to limitations
prescribed by law or in its articles, a corporation may:
(7) Resist
a change or potential change in control of the corporation if the directors by a
majority vote of a quorum determine that the change or potential change is
opposed to or not in the best interests of the corporation:
(a) Upon
consideration of the interests of the corporation's shareholders and any of the
matters set forth in division (E) of section 1701.59 of the Revised Code;
or
(b) Because
the amount or nature of the indebtedness and other obligations to which the
corporation or any successor or the property of either may become subject in
connection with the change or potential change in control provides reasonable
grounds to believe that, within a reasonable period of time, any of the
following would apply:
(i) The
assets of the corporation or any successor would be or become less than its
liabilities plus its stated capital, if any;
(ii) The
corporation or any successor would be or become insolvent;
(iii) Any
voluntary or involuntary proceeding under the federal bankruptcy laws concerning
the corporation or any successor would be commenced by any person.
(8) Do
all things permitted by law and exercise all authority within the purposes
stated in its articles or incidental to its articles.
Section 1701.59 of the
Revised Code
provides as follows:
(A) Except
where the law, the articles, or the regulations require action to be authorized
or taken by shareholders, all of the authority of a corporation shall be
exercised by or under the direction of its directors. For their own
government, the directors may adopt bylaws that are not inconsistent with the
articles or the regulations. The selection of a time frame for the
achievement of corporate goals shall be the responsibility of the
directors.
(B) A
director shall perform the director's duties as a director, including the duties
as a member of any committee of the directors upon which the director may serve,
in good faith, in a manner the director reasonably believes to be in or not
opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and with the care that an
ordinarily prudent person in a like position would use under similar
circumstances. In performing a director's duties, a director is
entitled to rely on information, opinions, reports, or statements, including
financial statements and other financial data, that are prepared or presented by
any of the following:
(1) One
or more directors, officers, or employees of the corporation who the director
reasonably believes are reliable and competent in the matters prepared or
presented;
(2) Counsel,
public accountants, or other persons as to matters that the director reasonably
believes are within the person's professional or expert competence;
(3) A
committee of the directors upon which the director does not serve, duly
established in accordance with a provision of the articles or the regulations,
as to matters within its designated authority, which committee the director
reasonably believes to merit confidence.
(C) For
purposes of division (B) of this section, the following apply:
(1) A
director shall not be found to have violated the director's duties under
division (B) of this section unless it is proved by clear and convincing
evidence that the director has not acted in good faith, in a manner the director
reasonably believes to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the
corporation, or with the care that an ordinarily prudent person in a like
position would use under similar circumstances, in any action brought against a
director, including actions involving or affecting any of the
following:
(a) A
change or potential change in control of the corporation, including a
determination to resist a change or potential change in control made pursuant to
division (F)(7) of section 1701.13 of the Revised Code;
(b) A
termination or potential termination of the director's service to the
corporation as a director;
(c) The
director's service in any other position or relationship with the
corporation.
(2) A
director shall not be considered to be acting in good faith if the director has
knowledge concerning the matter in question that would cause reliance on
information, opinions, reports, or statements that are prepared or presented by
the persons described in divisions (B)(1) to (3) of this section to be
unwarranted.
(3) Nothing
contained in this division limits relief available under section 1701.60 of the
Revised Code.
(D) A
director shall be liable in damages for any action that the director takes or
fails to take as a director only if it is proved by clear and convincing
evidence in a court of competent jurisdiction that the director's action or
failure to act involved an act or omission undertaken with deliberate intent to
cause injury to the corporation or undertaken with reckless disregard for the
best interests of the corporation. Nothing contained in this division
affects the liability of directors under section 1701.95 of the Revised Code or
limits relief available under section 1701.60 of the Revised
Code. This division does not apply if, and only to the extent that,
at the time of a director's act or omission that is the subject of complaint,
the articles or the regulations of the corporation state by specific reference
to this division that the provisions of this division do not apply to the
corporation.
(E) For
purposes of this section, a director, in determining what the director
reasonably believes to be in the best interests of the corporation, shall
consider the interests of the corporation's shareholders and, in the director's
discretion, may consider any of the following:
(1) The
interests of the corporation's employees, suppliers, creditors, and
customers;
(2) The
economy of the state and nation;
(3) Community
and societal considerations;
(4) The
long-term as well as short-term interests of the corporation and its
shareholders, including the possibility that these interests may be best served
by the continued independence of the corporation.
(F) Nothing
contained in division (C) or (D) of this section affects the duties of either of
the following:
(1) A
director who acts in any capacity other than the director's capacity as a
director;
(2) A
director of a corporation that does not have issued and outstanding shares that
are listed on a national securities exchange or are regularly quoted in an
over-the-counter market by one or more members of a national or affiliated
securities association, who votes for or assents to any action taken by the
directors of the corporation that, in connection with a change in control of the
corporation, directly results in the holder or holders of a majority of the
outstanding shares of the corporation receiving a greater consideration for
their shares than other shareholders.
Section 1701.95 of the
Revised Code provides as follows:
(A) (1) In
addition to any other liabilities imposed by law upon directors of a corporation
and except as provided in division (B) of this section, directors shall be
jointly and severally liable to the corporation as provided in division (A)(2)
of this section if they vote for or assent to any of the following:
(a) The payment of a dividend or
distribution, the making of a distribution of assets to shareholders, or the
purchase or redemption of the corporation's own shares, contrary in any such
case to law or the articles;
(b) A
distribution of assets to shareholders during the winding up of the affairs of
the corporation, on dissolution or otherwise, without the payment of all known
obligations of the corporation or without making adequate provision for their
payment;
(c) The making of a loan, other than in
the usual course of business, to an officer, director, or shareholder of the
corporation, other than in either of the following cases:
(i) In
the case of a savings and loan association or of a corporation engaged in
banking or in the making of loans generally;
(ii) At
the time of the making of the loan, a majority of the disinterested directors of
the corporation voted for the loan and, taking into account the terms and
provisions of the loan and other relevant factors, determined that the making of
the loan could reasonably be expected to benefit the corporation.
(2) (a) In
cases under division (A)(1)(a) of this section, directors shall be jointly and
severally liable up to the amount of the dividend, distribution, or other
payment, in excess of the amount that could have been paid or distributed
without violation of law or the articles but not in excess of the amount that
would inure to the benefit of the creditors of the corporation if it was
insolvent at the time of the payment or distribution or there was reasonable
ground to believe that by that action it would be rendered insolvent, plus the
amount that was paid or distributed to holders of shares of any class in
violation of the rights of holders of shares of any other class.
(b) In
cases under division (A)(1)(b) of this section, directors shall be jointly and
severally liable to the extent that the obligations of the corporation that are
not otherwise barred by statute are not paid or for the payment of which
adequate provision has not been made.
(c) In
cases under division (A)(1)(c) of this section, directors shall be jointly and
severally liable for the amount of the loan with interest on it at the rate
specified in section 1343.03 of the Revised Code until the amount has been
paid.
(B) (1)
A director is not liable under division (A)(1)(a) or (b) of this section if, in
determining the amount available for any dividend, purchase, redemption, or
distribution to shareholders, the director in good faith relied on a financial
statement of the corporation prepared by an officer or employee of the
corporation in charge of its accounts or certified by a public accountant or
firm of public accountants, the director in good faith considered the assets to
be of their book value, or the director followed what the director believed to
be sound accounting and business practice.
(2) A director is not liable under division (A)(1)(c) of this
section for making any loan to, or guaranteeing any loan to or other obligation
of, an employee stock ownership plan, as defined in section 4975(e)(7) of the
Internal Revenue Code.
(C) A
director who is present at a meeting of the directors or a committee of the
directors at which action on any matter is authorized or taken and who has not
voted for or against the action shall be presumed to have voted for the action
unless that director's written dissent from the action is filed, either during
the meeting or within a reasonable time after the adjournment of the meeting,
with the person acting as secretary of the meeting or with the secretary of the
corporation.
(D) A
shareholder who knowingly receives any dividend, distribution, or payment made
contrary to law or the articles shall be liable to the corporation for the
amount received by that shareholder that is in excess of the amount that could
have been paid or distributed without violation of law or the
articles.
(E) A
director against whom a claim is asserted under or pursuant to this section and
who is held liable on the claim shall be entitled to contribution, on equitable
principles, from other directors who also are liable. In addition,
any director against whom a claim is asserted under or pursuant to this section
or who is held liable shall have a right of contribution from the shareholders
who knowingly received any dividend, distribution, or payment made contrary to
law or the articles, and those shareholders as among themselves also shall be
entitled to contribution in proportion to the amounts received by them
respectively.
(F) No
action shall be brought by or on behalf of a corporation upon any cause of
action arising under division (A)(1)(a) or (b) of this section at any time after
two years from the day on which the violation occurs.
(G) Nothing
contained in this section shall preclude a creditor whose claim is unpaid from
exercising the rights that that creditor otherwise would have by law to enforce
that creditor's claim against assets of the corporation paid or distributed to
shareholders.
(H) The
failure of a corporation to observe corporate formalities relating to meetings
of directors or shareholders in connection with the management of the
corporation's affairs shall not be considered a factor tending to establish that
the shareholders have personal liability for corporate
obligations.
Section 8 of Article III of
the Company's Regulations provides as follows:
SECTION
8. Indemnification of Directors and
Officers. The Company shall indemnify each present and future
Director and officer, his heirs, executors and administrators against all costs,
expenses (including attorneys' fees), judgments, and liabilities, reasonably
incurred by or imposed on him in connection with or arising out of any claim or
any action, suit or proceeding, civil or criminal, in which he may be or become
involved by reason of his being or having been a Director or officer of the
Company, or of any of its subsidiary companies, or of any other company in which
he served or serves as a Director or officer at the request of the Company,
irrespective of whether or not he continues to be a Director or an officer at
the time he incurs or becomes subjected to such costs, expenses (including
attorneys' fees), judgments, and liabilities; but such indemnification shall not
be operative with respect to any matter as to which in any such action,
suit or proceeding he shall have been finally adjudged to have been derelict in
the performance of his duties as such Director or officer. Such
indemnification shall apply when the adjudication in such action, suit or
proceeding is otherwise than on the merits and also shall apply when a
settlement or compromise is effected, but in such cases indemnification shall be
made only if the Board of Directors of the Company, acting at a meeting at which
a majority of the quorum of the Board is unaffected by self interest, shall find
that such Director or officer has not been derelict in the performance of his
duty as such Director or officer with respect to the matter involved, and shall
adopt a resolution to that effect and in cases of settlement or compromise shall
also approve the same; in cases of settlement or compromise such indemnification
shall not include reimbursement of any amounts which by the terms of the
settlement or compromise are paid or payable to the Company itself by the
Director or officer (or in the case of a Director or officer of a subsidiary or
another company in which such Director or officer is serving at the request of
the Company any amounts paid or payable by such Director or officer to such
company). If the Board of Directors as herein provided refuses or
fails to act or is unable to act due to the self interest of some or all of its
members, the Company at its expense shall obtain the opinion of counsel and
indemnification shall be had only if it is the opinion of such counsel that the
Director or officer has not been derelict in the performance of his duties as
such Director or officer with respect to the matter involved.
The right of indemnification provided
for in this section shall not be exclusive of other rights to which any Director
or officer may be entitled as a matter of law and such rights, if any, shall
also inure to the benefit of the heirs, executors or administrators of any such
Director or officer.
Insurance Policies
The
Company's Directors, officers and certain other key employees of the Company are
insured by directors and officers liability insurance policies. The
Company pays the premiums for this insurance.
| Item
7. |
Exemption from Registration
Claimed |
Not
applicable.
EXHIBIT
NO. DESCRIPTION
|
23-1
|
Consent
of Deloitte & Touche LLP
|
|
23-2
|
Consent
of Manabat Delgado Amper & Co.
|
|
23-3
|
Consent
of Jason P. Muncy, Esq., is contained in his opinion filed as Exhibit
5
|
The
registrant will submit or
has submitted the Plan and any amendments thereto to the Internal Revenue
Service (the “IRS”) in a timely manner, and has made or will make all changes
required by the IRS in order to qualify the Plan.
(a) The
undersigned registrant hereby undertakes:
(1) To
file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a
post-effective amendment to this registration statement:
(i) To
include any prospectus required by section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act of
1933;
(ii) To
reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date
of the registration statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment
thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change
in the information set forth in the registration
statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in
volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered
would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or
high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of
prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the
aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than a 20% change
in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the "Calculation of
Registration Fee" table in the effective registration statement;
(iii) To
include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not
previously disclosed in the registration statement or any material change to
such information in the registration statement;
provided,
however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) do not apply if the
information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those
paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed with or furnished to the
Commission by the registrant pursuant to section 13 or section 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are incorporated by reference in the
registration statement.
(2) That,
for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933,
each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration
statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such
securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering
thereof;
(3) To
remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the
securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the
offering;
(b) The
undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any
liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each filing of the registrant's
annual report pursuant to section 13(a) or section 15(d) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit
plan’s annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934) that is incorporated by reference in the registration statement shall be
deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered
therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be
the initial bona fide offering thereof.
(c) Insofar
as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may
be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant
pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been
advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such
indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is,
therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for
indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the
registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling
person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or
proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in
connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in
the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent,
submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such
indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will
be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.