UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
_______________
Form 8-K
Washington, D.C. 20549
_______________
Form 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of report (date of earliest event reported):
November 16, 2011
November 16, 2011
ROSS STORES, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| Delaware | 0-14678 | 94-1390387 |
| (State or other jurisdiction of | (Commission File No.) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification |
| incorporation) | No.) |
4440 Rosewood Drive, Pleasanton, California, 94588-3050
(Address of principal executive offices)
(Address of principal executive offices)
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:
(925) 965-4400
(925) 965-4400
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):
[ ] Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
[ ] Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
[ ] Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
[ ] Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))
Item 5.03. Amendments to Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws; Change of Fiscal Year.
On November 16, 2011, the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Ross Stores, Inc. (the “Company”) amended the Company’s Amended and Restated Bylaws (the “Bylaws”). The full text of the amendments is attached hereto as Exhibit 3.4. The amendments take effect immediately.
The principal change to the Bylaws as a result of the amendments is to add provisions that implement a majority voting standard with respect to uncontested elections of directors. The amendments provide that any director nominee in an uncontested election who receives more votes to “withhold approval” or against election than votes in favor of election must tender his or her resignation to the Board within 14 days following the certification of the stockholder vote. The Board then has authority to determine whether or not to accept the director’s resignation. The amendments provide that the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee (or another committee designated by the Board) will generally consider what action should be taken with respect to such offers of resignation, and make a recommendation to the Board within 60 days following the certification of the stockholder vote. The Board is to take action on the recommendation within 90 days following the certification of the stockholder vote. Both the reviewing committee and the Board are authorized to consider all factors they believe to be relevant in determining whether or not to accept any resignation. Within five business days after reaching its decision, the Board is required to publicly disclose the decision, including, if applicable, the reasons for not accepting an offer of resignation. The amendments also authorize the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee to adopt and establish policies, guidelines, factors for consideration, and director qualification requirements as it determines to be appropriate in order to implement the Bylaw amendments.
The foregoing description of the amendments to the Ross Stores, Inc. Amended and Restated Bylaws is only a summary, does not purport to be complete, and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the complete text of the amendments to the Bylaws, which is attached hereto as Exhibit 3.4 and incorporated by reference herein. The Amended and Restated Bylaws as in effect prior to these amendments are attached as Exhibit 3.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on August 23, 2011.
Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(a) Exhibits.
| 3.4 | Amendments adopted November 16, 2011 to the Ross Stores, Inc. Amended and Restated Bylaws, dated August 17, 2011 |
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
Date: November 18, 2011
| ROSS STORES, INC. | |
| Registrant | |
| By: | /s/ M. LeHocky |
| Mark LeHocky | |
| Senior Vice President, General Counsel and | |
| Corporate Secretary | |
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Exhibit Index
| 3.4 | Amendments adopted November 16, 2011 to the Ross Stores, Inc. Amended and Restated Bylaws, dated August 17, 2011 |
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Ross Stores, Inc.
Amendments to Bylaws to Add Majority Voting Provision
(Adopted November 16, 2011)
(Adopted November 16, 2011)
[Added provisions are underlined.]
Article II – Board of Directors
Section 1. Number and Term of Office. The number of directors shall initially be nine and, thereafter, shall be fixed from time to time exclusively by the Board of Directors pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the total number of authorized directors (whether or not there exist any vacancies in previously authorized directorships at the time any such resolution is presented to the Board for adoption). Until the 2014 annual meeting of stockholders, the directors shall be divided into three classes, as nearly equal in number as reasonably possible, with the term of office of the first class to expire at the 2014 annual meeting of stockholders, the term of office of the second class to expire at the 2012 annual meeting of stockholders and the term of office of the third class to expire at the 2013 annual meeting of stockholders. At each annual meeting of stockholders beginning in 2012, directors shall be elected to succeed those directors whose terms expire, for a one-year term of office, to expire at the next annual meeting of stockholders after their election. Beginning with the 2014 annual meeting of stockholders, the entire Board of Directors shall be subject to election at each annual meeting of stockholders, for a one-year term of office, to expire at the next annual meeting of stockholders after their election, and the Board of Directors will no longer be divided into classes. All directors shall hold office until the expiration of the term for which elected and until their successors are elected, except in the case of the death, resignation or removal of any director. Any nominee who stands for election as a director and who does not receive a majority approval vote (as defined in Section 13 below) shall promptly tender an offer of resignation in accordance with Section 13 below.
[New Section 13]
Section 13. Majority Approval Vote in Director Elections; Required Offer of Resignation. Any incumbent director who was a nominee at a stockholder meeting and who did not receive a majority approval vote, shall tender to the Board of Directors his or her offer of resignation for consideration by the Board of Directors. Such offer of resignation shall be tendered within 14 days following the certification of the stockholder vote for the respective election of directors. For purposes of this Section, (i) “majority approval vote” means that the number of votes cast by stockholders “for” a nominee for director exceeds the sum of the number of votes cast “against” or to “withhold approval” for such nominee, in an election that is not contested, and (ii) an election is “not contested” if the number of nominees is not greater than the number of directors to be elected at the particular stockholder meeting.
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Within 60 days following certification of the stockholder vote, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee (or such other committee of the Board of Directors as is otherwise designated by the Board of Directors) shall recommend to the Board of Directors whether to accept or reject the resignation, or whether other action should be taken with respect to such offer of resignation, in regard to any incumbent directors who failed to receive a majority approval vote in an election that was not contested. In determining whether or not to recommend that the Board of Directors accept any offer of resignation, the reviewing committee shall be entitled to consider all factors believed relevant by such committee’s members, including such factors and guidelines, if any, as may be set forth in the Corporation’s Corporate Governance Guidelines or other relevant policies that are then in effect.
The Board of Directors shall act on the recommendation of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee (or other committee) within 90 days following certification of the stockholder vote. In determining whether or not to accept any resignation offer, the Board of Directors shall consider the factors considered by the recommending committee, and any additional information and factors that the Board of Directors believes to be relevant. The Board of Directors shall, within five business days after reaching its decision, publicly disclose the decision, including, if applicable, the reasons for not accepting an offer of resignation.
Any incumbent director who fails to receive the requisite majority approval vote in an election that is not contested will remain an active member of the Board of Directors during the period while their offer of resignation is under consideration. However, any director whose offer of resignation is under consideration for potential acceptance pursuant to this Section shall not participate in the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee (or other committee) discussions and recommendation on that subject, or in the Board of Directors action regarding whether to accept such director’s offer of resignation. If every member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee fails to receive a majority approval vote at the same stockholder meeting, the Board of Directors shall appoint a committee of independent directors who did receive a majority approval vote at that meeting to consider the resignation offers and make recommendations to the Board of Directors. If no independent directors are eligible to serve on such a review committee, then the Board of Directors shall act on the resignation offers in such manner as the Board of Directors determines to be appropriate.
The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee is authorized to adopt and establish such policies, guidelines, factors for consideration, and director qualification requirements as it determines to be appropriate in order to implement this Section, which may be included in the Corporate Governance Guidelines or elsewhere, and may include, if the committee so determines, the submission by all nominees of irrevocable, contingent resignations.
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Article VII - Miscellaneous, Section 6.
Section 6. Resignations. Any director or any officer, whether elected or appointed, may resign at any time by giving written notice of such resignation to the Chairman of the Board, the Chief Executive Officer, or the Secretary, without prejudice to the rights, if any, of the Corporation under any contract to which such officer is a party. No formal action shall be required of the Board of Directors or the stockholders to make any such resignation effective immediately; provided, however, that a resignation may by its terms be made subject to delayed effectiveness or to a formal action to determine whether to accept the resignation, including in the case of any offer of resignation by a director in accordance with Article II, Sections 1 and 13 above.
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