21-2,172. Right to appraisal.

(MBCA 13.02) (a) A shareholder is entitled to appraisal rights and to obtain payment of the fair value of that shareholder's shares in the event of any of the following corporate actions:

(1) Consummation of a merger to which the corporation is a party (i) if shareholder approval is required for the merger by section 21-2,164, except that appraisal rights shall not be available to any shareholder of the corporation with respect to shares of any class or series that remain outstanding after consummation of the merger or (ii) if the corporation is a subsidiary and the merger is governed by section 21-2,165;

(2) Consummation of a share exchange to which the corporation is a party as the corporation whose shares will be acquired, except that appraisal rights shall not be available to any shareholder of the corporation with respect to any class or series of shares of the corporation that is not exchanged;

(3) Consummation of a disposition of assets pursuant to section 21-2,170 if the shareholder is entitled to vote on the disposition, except that appraisal rights shall not be available to any shareholder of the corporation with respect to shares of any class or series if (i) under the terms of the corporate action approved by the shareholders there is to be distributed to shareholders in cash its net assets, in excess of a reasonable amount reserved to meet claims of the type described in sections 21-2,189 and 21-2,190, (A) within one year after the shareholders' approval of the action and (B) in accordance with their respective interests determined at the time of distribution and (ii) the disposition of assets is not an interested transaction;

(4) An amendment of the articles of incorporation with respect to a class or series of shares that reduces the number of shares of a class or series owned by the shareholder to a fraction of a share if the corporation has the obligation or right to repurchase the fractional share so created;

(5) Any other amendment to the articles of incorporation, merger, share exchange, or disposition of assets to the extent provided by the articles of incorporation, bylaws, or a resolution of the board of directors;

(6) Consummation of a domestication if the shareholder does not receive shares in the foreign corporation resulting from the domestication that have terms as favorable to the shareholder in all material respects and represent at least the same percentage interest of the total voting rights of the outstanding shares of the corporation as the shares held by the shareholder before the domestication;

(7) Consummation of a conversion of the corporation to nonprofit status pursuant to sections 21-2,133 to 21-2,138; or

(8) Consummation of a conversion of the corporation to an unincorporated entity pursuant to sections 21-2,143 to 21-2,149.

(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, the availability of appraisal rights under subdivisions (a)(1), (2), (3), (4), (6), and (8) of this section shall be limited in accordance with the following provisions:

(1) Appraisal rights shall not be available for the holders of shares of any class or series of shares which is:

(i) A covered security under section 18(b)(1)(A) or (B) of the federal Securities Act of 1933, as amended, 15 U.S.C. 77r(b)(1)(A) or (B);

(ii) Traded in an organized market and has at least two thousand shareholders and a market value of at least twenty million dollars, exclusive of the value of such shares held by the corporation's subsidiaries, senior executives, directors, beneficial shareholders, and voting trust beneficial owners owning more than ten percent of such shares; or

(iii) Issued by an open-end management investment company registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the federal Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, 15 U.S.C. 80a-1 et seq., and may be redeemed at the option of the holder at net asset value;

(2) The applicability of subdivision (b)(1) of this section shall be determined as of:

(i) The record date fixed to determine the shareholders entitled to receive notice of the meeting of shareholders to act upon the corporate action requiring appraisal rights; or

(ii) The day before the effective date of such corporate action if there is no meeting of shareholders;

(3) Subdivision (b)(1) of this section shall not be applicable and appraisal rights shall be available pursuant to subsection (a) of this section for the holders of any class or series of shares (i) who are required by the terms of the corporate action requiring appraisal rights to accept for such shares anything other than cash or shares of any class or any series of shares of any corporation or any other proprietary interest of any other entity that satisfies the standards set forth in subdivision (b)(1) of this section at the time the corporate action becomes effective or (ii) in the case of the consummation of a disposition of assets pursuant to section 21-2,170, unless such cash, shares, or proprietary interests are, under the terms of the corporate action approved by the shareholders as part of a distribution to shareholders of the net assets of the corporation in excess of a reasonable amount to meet claims of the type described in sections 21-2,189 and 21-2,190, (A) within one year after the shareholders' approval of the action and (B) in accordance with their respective interests determined at the time of the distribution; and

(4) Subdivision (b)(1) of this section shall not be applicable and appraisal rights shall be available pursuant to subsection (a) of this section for the holders of any class or series of shares where the corporate action is an interested transaction.

(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the articles of incorporation as originally filed or any amendment thereto may limit or eliminate appraisal rights for any class or series of preferred shares, except that (1) no such limitation or elimination shall be effective if the class or series does not have the right to vote separately as a voting group, alone or as part of a group, on the action or if the action is a nonprofit conversion under sections 21-2,133 to 21-2,138, or a conversion to an unincorporated entity under sections 21-2,143 to 21-2,149, or a merger having a similar effect and (2) any such limitation or elimination contained in an amendment to the articles of incorporation that limits or eliminates appraisal rights for any of such shares that are outstanding immediately prior to the effective date of such amendment or that the corporation is or may be required to issue or sell thereafter pursuant to any conversion, exchange, or other right existing immediately before the effective date of such amendment shall not apply to any corporate action that becomes effective within one year after that date if such action would otherwise afford appraisal rights.

(d) The right to dissent and obtain payment under sections 21-2,171 to 21-2,183 shall not apply to shareholders of a bank, trust company, stock-owned savings and loan association, or the holding company of any such bank, trust company, or stock-owned savings and loan association.

Source:Laws 2014, LB749, § 172; Laws 2016, LB794, § 10; Laws 2017, LB35, § 22.