Each share confers the right proportionate to such share to a part of the corporate assets and benefits. The shareholders may be held liable, even with regards to third party, only up to the value of the shares that they hold. Each time that it is necessary to hold several shares to exercise any right, shareholders must be personally responsible for gathering the number of shares required.
The Extraordinary General Shareholders’ Meeting may authorize the Management Board to purchase a specified number of Company shares in order to cancel them by way of a share capital reduction in accordance with article L. 225-206 of the French Commercial Code.
In addition, the Company may acquire its own shares in accordance with the provisions of article L. 22-10-62 of the French Commercial Code.
General Shareholders’ Meetings are open to all shareholders regardless of the number of shares held. The procedures for providing notice of meetings and holding meetings are prescribed by French law. Meetings take place at the Company’s registered office or at any other location specified in the above-mentioned notice and set by the notifier. If so decided by the Management Board when calling the meeting, the meeting may be publicly broadcasted by videoconferencing or any other means of telecommunication, including over the Internet.
Any shareholder may participate, personally or through an authorized representative, in Shareholders’ Meetings, justifying his/her identity and his/her ownership of the securities, under the conditions provided for by the law.
Any shareholder may, if so permitted by the Management Board when calling the General Shareholders’ Meeting, participate in the meeting by videoconferencing or any other means of telecommunication including over the Internet, subject to applicable laws and regulations. Any such shareholder is deemed present for the purposes of calculating the quorum and majority.
Each member of the Meeting shall have as many votes as he or she owns or represents shares, without restriction. However, in accordance with a resolution approved at the Extraordinary General Shareholders’ Meeting on September 14, 1968, shares registered with the same shareholder for at least two years or which have only been transferred during that period from one registered owner to another within the framework of an intestate estate, of testamentary succession, of division of community of property between spouses, of donation inter vivos for the benefit of a spouse or a relative entitled to inherit, are entitled to double voting rights. The Extraordinary General Shareholders’ Meeting has the possibility to purely and simply cancel the double voting right. However this cancellation will only become effective after the approval of a special meeting of shareholders who hold double voting right shares.
In the event of the division of ownership of Company shares, the limited owners and bare owners of shares can freely distribute voting rights at Extraordinary or Ordinary General Shareholders’ Meetings provided they notify the Company beforehand, by providing a certified copy of their agreement at least 20 calendar days before the first General Shareholders’ Meeting is held following the above-mentioned ownership division by registered mail. Failing notification within this period, the distribution will be implemented ipso jure in accordance with article L. 225-110, paragraph 1, of the French Commercial Code.
Any shareholder may vote by post in accordance with and in the manner provided for in prevailing laws and regulations. When so decided by the Management Board, and indicated in the meeting notice published in the BALO (Bulletin des annonces légales obligatoires), shareholders may vote by any means of telecommunication including over the Internet, subject to the laws and regulations prevailing as of the moment of its use.
An Extraordinary General Shareholders’ Meeting may make any change to any provision of the bylaws that is permissible under the law. Such changes to the share capital include, but are not limited to: increasing or reducing the share capital, consolidating shares or splitting shares into shares with a lower par value.
