(a)        Action required or permitted by this Chapter to be taken at a shareholders’ meeting may be taken without a meeting and without prior notice except as required by subsection (d) of this section, if the action is taken by all the shareholders entitled to vote on the action or, subject to subsection (a1) of this section, if so provided in the articles of incorporation of a corporation that is not a public corporation at the time the action is taken, by shareholders having not less than the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to take the action at a meeting at which all shareholders entitled to vote were present and voted. The action must be evidenced by one or more unrevoked written consents bearing the date of signature and signed by shareholders sufficient to take the action without a meeting, before or after such action, describing the action taken and delivered to the corporation for inclusion in the minutes or filing with the corporate records. To the extent the corporation has agreed pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 55-1-50, a shareholder’s consent to action taken without meeting or revocation thereof may be in electronic form and delivered by electronic means.

(a1)      Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, the following actions may be taken without a meeting only by all the shareholders entitled to vote on the action:

(1)        If cumulative voting is not authorized, the election of directors at the annual meeting; or

(2)        If cumulative voting is authorized, the election of directors and the removal of a director unless the entire board of directors is to be removed, and if N.C. Gen. Stat. § 55-7-28(e) applies to the corporation, an amendment to the articles of incorporation to deny or limit the right of shareholders to vote cumulatively and an amendment to the articles of incorporation or bylaws to decrease the number of directors.

(b)        A shareholder’s written consent to action to be taken without a meeting shall cease to be effective on the sixty-first day after the date of signature appearing on the consent unless prior to the sixty-first day the corporation has received unrevoked written consents sufficient under subsection (a) of this section to take the action without meeting. If not otherwise fixed under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 55-7-03 or N.C. Gen. Stat. § 55-7-07, the record date for determining shareholders entitled to take action without a meeting is the earliest date of signature appearing on any consent that is to be counted in satisfying the requirements of subsection (a) of this section. A shareholder may only revoke a written consent if such shareholder delivers to the corporation a written revocation prior to the corporation’s receipt of unrevoked written consents sufficient under subsection (a) of this section to take the action.

(c)        A consent signed under this section has the effect of a meeting vote and may be described as such in any document.

(d)       Unless the articles of incorporation otherwise provide, if shareholder approval is required by this Chapter for (i) an amendment to the articles of incorporation pursuant to Article 10 of this Chapter, (ii) a plan of merger or share exchange pursuant to Article 11 of this Chapter, (iii) a plan of conversion pursuant to Part 2 of Article 11A of this Chapter, (iv) the sale, lease, exchange, or other disposition of all, or substantially all, of the corporation’s property pursuant to Article 12 of this Chapter, or (v) a proposal for dissolution pursuant to Article 14 of this Chapter, and the approval is to be obtained through action without meeting, the corporation must give its shareholders, other than shareholders who consent to the action, written notice of the proposed action at least 10 days before the action is taken. The notice shall contain or be accompanied by the same material that, under this Chapter, would have been required to be sent to shareholders not entitled to vote on the action in a notice of meeting at which the proposed action would have been submitted to shareholders for action.

(e)        If action is taken without a meeting by fewer than all shareholders entitled to vote on the action, the corporation shall give written notice to all shareholders who have not consented to the action and who, if the action had been taken at a meeting, would have been entitled to notice of the meeting with the same record date as the action taken without a meeting, within 10 days after the action is taken. The notice shall describe the action and indicate that the action has been taken without a meeting of shareholders. Failure to comply with the requirements of this subsection shall not invalidate any action taken that otherwise complies with this section. (1955, c. 1371, s. 1; 1969, c. 751, s. 33; 1989, c. 265, s. 1; 2001-387, s. 11; 2001-487, ss. 62(b), 62(c); 2005-268, ss. 2, 3.)

Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 55-7-04

  • Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
  • Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
  • property: shall include all property, both real and personal. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3