§414-332 Sale of assets other than in regular course of business. (a) A corporation may sell, lease, exchange, or otherwise dispose of all, or substantially all, of its property (with or without the goodwill), otherwise than in the usual and regular course of business, on the terms and conditions and for the consideration determined by the corporation's board of directors, if the board of directors proposes and its shareholders approve the proposed transaction.

(b) For a transaction to be authorized:

(1) The board of directors must recommend the proposed transaction 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 submission of the proposed transaction; and

(2) The shareholders entitled to vote must approve the transaction.

(d) The corporation shall notify each shareholder, whether or not entitled to vote, of the proposed shareholders' meeting in accordance with section 414-125. The notice must also state that the purpose, or one of the purposes, of the meeting is to consider the sale, lease, exchange, or other disposition of all, or substantially all, the property of the corporation and contain or be accompanied by a description of the transaction.

(e) With respect to corporations incorporated on or after July 1, 1987, at the meeting the shareholders may authorize the sale, lease, exchange, 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. The authorization shall require the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the shares of the corporation entitled to vote thereon, unless any class of shares is entitled to vote thereon as a class, in which event the authorization shall require the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the shares of each class of shares entitled to vote as a class thereon and of the total shares entitled to vote thereon.

(f) With respect to corporations incorporated before July 1, 1987, at the meeting the shareholders may authorize the sale, lease, exchange, or other disposition and may fix, or may authorize the board of directors to fix, any or all of the terms and conditions therefor. The authorization shall require the affirmative vote of the holders of three-fourths of the shares of the corporation entitled to vote as a class thereon and of the total shares entitled to vote thereon. The articles of incorporation may be amended by the vote set forth in the preceding sentence to provide for a lesser proportion of shares, or of any class or series thereof, than is provided in the preceding sentence, in which case the articles of incorporation shall control; provided that the lesser proportion shall not be less than the proportion set forth in subsection (e).

(g) After a sale, lease, exchange, or other disposition of property is authorized, the transaction may be abandoned (subject to any contractual rights) without further shareholder action.

(h) A transaction that constitutes a distribution is governed by section 414-111 and not by this section.

(i) A sale, lease, exchange, or other disposition of the property of a corporation shall not be deemed to be the sale, lease, exchange, or other disposition of all or substantially all the property of the corporation if the corporation is retaining sufficient property to continue one or more significant business segments or lines of the corporation after the sale, lease, exchange, or other disposition. Furthermore, the business segments or lines retained must not be only temporary operations or merely a pretext to avoid shareholders' rights which might otherwise arise under this chapter. [L 2000, c 244, pt of §1; am L 2001, c 129, §37]