Stockholders may act by providing their written consent rather than at a meeting. Taking action by written consent rather than at a formal meeting may be preferrable in corporations, like start-up companies, where the number of stockholders is relatively small and easily identifiable.
Examples of changes that may require stockholder approval include increasing or decreasing the number of authorized shares, changing voting requirements or altering dividend policies.
A form of unanimous or less-than-unanimous written consent for shareholders of a California corporation to act without a meeting.
Code § 7516. Current through the 2023 Legislative Session. Any action required or permitted to be taken by the members may be taken without a meeting, if all members shall individually or collectively consent in writing to the action.
A Written Consent of Stockholders is an approval of corporate actions by the stockholders of a corporation via a written consent.
Stockholders may act by providing their written consent rather than at a meeting. Taking action by written consent rather than at a formal meeting may be preferrable in corporations, like start-up companies, where the number of stockholders is relatively small and easily identifiable.
This means that where an acquiring party owns more than 50%, but less than 90% of the shares of the target corporation prior to the merger, unanimous shareholder approval is required for the transaction to occur.
Shareholder action taken by written consent is universally recognized as a valid approval by shareholders and this is expressly confirmed by California statute. The 10-day waiting period acts to delay the effectiveness of the action, which hinders a corporation's ability to act with speed and efficiency when necessary.