EXHIBIT 10 (k)
ALBERTO-CULVER
COMPANY
MANAGEMENT INCENTIVE
PLAN
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1.
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Establishment.
Alberto-Culver Company and its
subsidiaries hereby establish the Management Incentive Plan
(“MIP”) for key salaried employees of the Company. The
MIP provides for annual awards to be made to Participants based
upon financial performance and achievement of Individual Bonus
Objectives. This MIP is established as an unfunded, non-qualified
incentive compensation plan intended for the benefit of employees
who are among a select group of management and/or highly
compensated participants. Nothing contained in this MIP and no
action taken pursuant to the provisions of this MIP shall create or
be construed to create a trust of any kind, or a fiduciary
relationship between the Company and the Participant, his
designated beneficiary or any other person. Any funds which may be
invested under the provisions of this MIP shall continue for all
purposes to be a part of the general assets of the Company and no
person other than the Company shall by virtue of the provisions of
this MIP have any interest in such funds. To the extent that any
person acquires a right to receive payments from the Company under
this MIP, such right shall be no greater than the right of any
unsecured general creditor of the Company. Solely for purposes of
Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and the
rules and regulations promulgated thereunder (the
“Code”), this MIP shall be deemed a continuation of and
a successor to the Alberto-Culver Company Management Incentive
Plan, as in effect prior to the date that the Delaware corporation
having the name or previously having the name New Sally Holdings,
Inc. (“New Sally”) distributes the then outstanding
Common Stock of the Company to holders of common stock, $.01 par
value per share, of New Sally.
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2.
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Purpose.
The purpose of the MIP is to attract
and retain in the employ of the Company persons possessing
outstanding management skills and competence who will contribute
substantially to the success of the Company. The MIP is intended to
provide incentives to such persons to exert their maximum efforts
on behalf of the Company by rewarding them with additional
compensation when the Company or Profit Center and/or the
Participant have achieved the financial performance and Individual
Business Objectives, respectively, provided for in the
MIP.
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3.
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Effective Date and Performance
Periods. The effective
date of the MIP is November 16, 2006. The Plan Year shall be
the 12 consecutive-month period ending September 30 of each
year. The MIP will continue in effect until and unless terminated
by the Compensation Committee or the Board of Directors.
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4.
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Definitions.
The definition of key terms are as
follows:
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a.
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“Base Salary” means
the base salary, as set by the Company, paid to the Participant
during the Plan Year, exclusive of any amounts payable under bonus
and incentive plans, severance plans, option plans, and any other
benefit or welfare plan of the Company now or hereafter
existing.
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b.
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“Bonus Award
Opportunity” means a maximum of 200% of Base
Salary.
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c.
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“Change in Control”
shall have the meaning set forth in Section 14.d.1.
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d.
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“Committee” means the
Compensation and Leadership Development Committee of the Board of
Directors of the Company or, if any member of the Compensation
Committee is not (i) an “outside director” within
the meaning of Section 162(m) of the Code or (ii) a
“non-employee director” within the meaning of
Section 16 (“Section 16”) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 and the rules and regulations thereunder
(“Exchange Act”), the Committee shall set up a
subcommittee comprised solely of outside directors and non-employee
directors for purposes of all matters arising under this MIP
involving “officers” within the meaning of Rule
16a-1(f) under Section 16 (“Executive Officer”)
and Covered Employees as defined herein.
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e.
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“Company” means
Alberto-Culver Company or a Subsidiary. At the time of approval by
the stockholders of the Company, the name of the Company was New
Aristotle Holdings, Inc. Following the time of approval, the name
of the Company will be changed to Alberto-Culver
Company.
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f.
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“Covered Employee”
means a Participant who is a “covered employee” within
the meaning of Section 162(m) of the Code during the Plan Year
at issue.
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g.
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“Employee” means any
person, including an officer or director, who is employed on a
permanent basis by, and receives a regular salary from, the
Company.
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h.
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“Exempt Person” and
“Exempt Persons” shall have the meaning set forth in
Section 14.d.2.
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i.
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“Incumbent Board”
shall have the meaning set forth in Section 14.d.3.
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j.
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“Individual Business
Objectives” means the objectives as set forth in a letter of
recommendation prepared by the Participant and agreed upon by
(i) the Chairman, (ii) the Chief Executive Officer of the
Company, or (iii) the Committee.
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k.
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“Participant” means
any Employee of the Company who has been selected to participate in
the MIP.
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l.
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“Plan Year” shall be
the Company’s fiscal year for financial reporting purposes (
i.e. , the 12 consecutive-month period ended
September 30).
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m.
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“Profit Center” means
a division or Subsidiary of the Company which is responsible for
preparing and submitting annual sales and pre-tax profit (loss)
objectives.
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n.
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“Subsidiary” means
any corporation in which the Company owns (directly or indirectly)
50% or more of the outstanding stock entitled to vote for
directors.
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5.
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Eligibility.
Participation in the MIP is limited
to key salaried Employees of the Company and its Subsidiaries. Each
Plan Year, the Committee shall designate those eligible Employees
who will participate in the MIP during that Plan Year. In the event
an employee who would be eligible to participate in the MIP is
hired after the beginning of the Plan Year, the Committee may, but
need not, designate such employee as a Participant for such Plan
Year; provided, however, that no employee shall be eligible to
participate in the MIP for any Plan Year in which he or she was
employed with the Company for less than four months. In the event a
new employee is designated as a Participant, the Committee shall
notify the new Participant of his or her financial performance
award opportunities and his or her Individual Business Objectives
on which any cash award will be based. The Committee shall make
such adjustments to the new Participant’s actual cash award
as the Committee deems necessary or appropriate to take into
account the fact that such Participant was not employed for the
entire Plan Year.
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6.
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Award Opportunities
. Actual awards can range from 0% to
100% of the Bonus Award Opportunity (a maximum of 200% of Base
Salary or $4.0 million, whichever is less) based on actual
performance compared to the performance objectives established for
the Plan Year. The total Bonus Award Opportunity will relate to the
financial performance of the Company, one or more Profit Centers,
or Individual Business Objectives or any combination thereof.
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary hereinabove set forth in
this Section 6 or in Section 8 or 9 of the MIP, but
subject in all respects to Sections 7 and 14 of the MIP, any Bonus
Award Opportunity and the amount of any annual award, other than a
Change in Control Award (as such term is defined in
Section 14.b of the MIP), payable to any Participant may be
(i) decreased by up to 35% of such Participant’s Base
Salary as the Committee, in its sole discretion, shall determine
based on such factors and circumstances as the Committee shall deem
appropriate, (ii) decreased by such amount as the Committee,
in its sole discretion, shall determine in the event a Participant
(a) is found to have violated any policy contained in the
applicable Compliance Policy Manual, (b) is placed on
probation at any time during the Plan Year, (c) has engaged in
purposeful diversion, and/or (d) has engaged in activities
intended to enhance current Plan Year awards to the detriment of
future periods (e.g. inadequate marketing expenditures that
artificially increase short-term profits, unnecessary year-end
loading shipments or promotions that build sales for the
short-term, etc.), or (iii) other than for Covered Employees,
increased by up to 35% of such Participant’s Base Salary as
the Committee, in its sole discretion, shall determine based on
such factors and circumstances as the Committee shall deem
appropriate.
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7.
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Maximum Award
Payable. The maximum
award payable under the MIP to a single Participant may not exceed
the lesser of $4.0 million or 200% of such Participant’s Base
Salary per fiscal year of the Company.
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8.
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Financial Performance Award
Opportunities. Each
Participant will be assigned financial performance award
opportunities for the Company and/or the Profit Center for the Plan
Year no later than the 90 th day of the applicable Plan Year.
Each Participant who is hired after December 1
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of a Plan Year will be
assigned financial performance award opportunities for the Company
and/or the Profit Center for that Plan Year no later than the
30 th day following his first day of
employment. If the Committee fails to timely assign financial
performance
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award opportunities, a
Participant shall not be allowed to defer payment of his or her
award pursuant to an election under Section 11.c to the extent
such deferral would result in additional taxes under
Section 409A of the Code. Financial performance award
opportunities will be based, in whole or in part, upon one or more
of the following: targeted levels of sales, operating earnings,
operating margin, pre-tax earnings, pre-tax margin, net earnings,
earnings per share, return on stockholders’ equity and,
except for Covered Employees, any other measurements the Committee
shall deem appropriate. For purposes of the MIP, “operating
earnings” will mean pre-tax earnings before non-recurring and
other unusual items reported separately in the Company’s
income statement.
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Each Participant will be notified in
writing (“Participant Letter”) of his or her Bonus
Award Opportunity, the Participant’s financial performance
opportunities set for the Company and/or his or her Profit Center,
if applicable, and the portion of his or her Bonus Award
Opportunity allocated to the Participant’s Individual
Business Objectives, if any. The Participant Letter will specify
the percentage of the Bonus Award Opportunity that will be earned
based upon the extent to which such objectives are achieved,
subject to adjustment pursuant to Section 6.
At the end of each Plan Year, the
Committee shall certify the awards that have been attained by each
Participant. Except as otherwise provided in Section 14
hereof, no award may be payable to a Participant prior to such
certification.
The Committee shall have the sole
authority to set all financial performance opportunities and to
modify such financial performance opportunities during the Plan
Year as deemed appropriate; provided, however, that the Committee
may not modify the performance objectives during a Plan Year to
increase the award payable to a Covered Employee.
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9.
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Individual Business
Objectives. The
Committee, at its sole discretion, may allocate a portion of a
Participant’s Bonus Award Opportunity for the Plan Year to
the Participant’s Individual Business Objectives. Subject to
Section 7, awards for the achievement of these objectives can
range from 0% to 150% of the Bonus Award Opportunity assigned
thereto. The Committee shall determine the actual level of
performance achieved by Participants for their Individual Business
Objectives. For any Participant determined to be a Covered
Employee, no such bonus will be paid for Individual Business
Objectives for that fiscal year.
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10.
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Administration—Powers
and Duties of the Committee.
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a.
Administration. The Committee shall be responsible for the
administration of the MIP. The Committee, by majority action, is
authorized to interpret the MIP, to prescribe,
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