Exhibit 10.1
PENN VIRGINIA
CORPORATION
SIXTH AMENDED AND RESTATED
1999 EMPLOYEE STOCK INCENTIVE PLAN
The purpose of the Plan is to foster
and promote the long-term success of the Company and increase
shareholder value by: (a) motivating superior performance by
providing to the Company’s employees long-term incentives and
rewards for making major contributions to the Company’s
success; (b) strengthening the Company’s ability to
retain key employees and to attract and retain outside talent by
providing incentive compensation opportunities competitive with
other companies similar to the Company; and (c) enabling
employees to participate in the long-term growth and financial
success of the Company.
(a) “Beneficiary” means
the beneficiary chosen by the Optionee who is eligible to receive
benefits under Section 8(b).
(b) “Board” means the
board of directors of the Parent Company.
(c) “Cashless Exercise”
means the manner of exercise of an Option described in
Section 8(h).
(d) “Cause” means
(i) with respect to an Optionee or Participant who has an
employment or change of control severance agreement with the
Company, “cause” as defined in such agreement or
(ii) with respect to an Optionee or Participant who does not
have an employment or change of control agreement with the Company,
conduct on the part of an Optionee or Participant that involves
(A) willful failure to perform the Participant’s or
Optionee’s duties or (B) engaging in serious misconduct
injurious to the Company.
(e) “Change of Control”
means the occurrence of any of the events described in
Section 15.
(f) “Code” means the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and the regulations
promulgated thereunder.
(g) “Committee” means
the committee described in Section 5.
(h) “Company” means Penn
Virginia Corporation and each of its Subsidiary Companies and any
successor corporation.
(i) “Date of Grant”
means the date on which an Option or a Restricted Stock Award or a
Restricted Stock Unit Award is granted.
(j) “Deferred Shares
Account” means the account described in
Section 8(d).
(k) “Disability” means,
unless otherwise determined by the Committee and set forth in an
option agreement, restricted stock award agreement or restricted
stock unit award agreement, (i) with respect to an Option or a
Restricted Stock Award, an Optionee or a Participant becoming
disabled as determined by the Committee in its discretion, and
(ii) with respect to a Restricted Stock Unit Award, a
Participant becoming disabled within the meaning of such term under
section 409A(a)(2)(C) of the Code.
(l) “Dividend
Equivalents” means a contingent right, granted in tandem with
a specific Stock Unit, to receive an amount in cash equal to the
per-Share cash dividends paid by the Company on its outstanding
Shares during the period such Stock Unit is outstanding.
(m) “Exchange Act” means
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
(n) “Option” means any
stock option granted under the Plan and described in
Section 3(a).
(o) “Optionee” means a
person to whom an Option has been granted under the Plan, which
Option has not been exercised and has not expired, terminated or
been forfeited.
(p) “Parent Company”
means Penn Virginia Corporation, a Virginia corporation.
(q) “Participant” means
a person to whom a Restricted Stock Award or a Restricted Stock
Unit Award has been granted under the Plan the Restriction Period
of which has not expired.
(r) “Plan” means this
Penn Virginia Corporation Sixth Amended and Restated 1999 Employee
Stock Incentive Plan, as set forth herein and as amended from time
to time.
(s) “Restricted Stock”
means Shares granted pursuant to a Restricted Stock
Award.
(t) “Restricted Stock
Award” means any award of Shares granted under the Plan and
described in Section 3(b).
(u) “Restricted Stock Unit
Award” means Stock Units granted under the Plan and described
in Section 3(c).
(v) “Restricted Stock
Unit” means Stock Units granted pursuant to a Restricted
Stock Unit Award.
(w) “Restriction Period”
means the period of time commencing with the Date of Grant during
which restrictions shall apply to the Shares subject to a
Restricted Stock Award or a Restricted Stock Unit subject to a
Restricted Stock Unit Award.
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(x) “Retirement” means
the voluntary termination by an Optionee or a Participant of his
employment with the Company after such Optionee or Participant has
become Retirement Eligible.
(y) “Retirement
Eligible” means an Optionee or a Participant has attained age
62 and completed at least ten consecutive Years of Service, or such
younger age or lesser number of consecutive Years of Service as
determined by the Committee.
(z) “Shares” means
shares of common stock of the Parent Company.
(aa) “Stock Unit” means
a bookkeeping entry representing a single Share.
(bb) “Stock Unit
Account” means the bookkeeping account described in
Section 10(a).
(cc) “Subsidiary
Companies” means all corporations that at any relevant time
are subsidiary corporations of the Parent Company within the
meaning of section 424(f) of the Code.
(dd) “Tax Date” has the
meaning specified in Section 8(g).
(ee) “Value” on any date
means the closing stock price for a Share on the principal national
securities exchange on which the Shares are listed on such date (or
if such securities exchange shall not be open for the trading of
securities on such date, the last previous day on which such
exchange was so open) or, if there is no closing price on such
date, the closing stock price on the date nearest preceding such
date.
(ff) “Vesting Period”
means the period of time commencing with the Date of Grant during
which an Option is not yet exercisable.
(gg) “Year of Service”
means any calendar year in which an employee of the Company is paid
or entitled to be paid for 1,000 hours of service.
The following rights may be granted
under the Plan:
(a) Options, which give the Optionee
the right for a specified time period, to purchase a specified
number of Shares for a price equal to the Value of such Shares on
the Date of Grant subject to forfeiture under certain circumstances
upon termination of employment during a Vesting Period applicable
to the Options;
(b) Restricted Stock Awards, which
give the Participant, without payment, a specified number of Shares
subject to forfeiture under certain circumstances upon termination
of employment during a Restriction Period applicable to the Shares;
and
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(c) Restricted Stock Unit Awards,
which give the Participant, without payment, a specified number of
Stock Units subject to forfeiture under certain circumstances upon
termination of employment during a Restriction Period applicable to
the Stock Units.
Subject to Section 13, not more
than 8,000,000 Shares in the aggregate may be issued pursuant to
the Plan and of the foregoing 8,000,000 Shares, no more than
500,000 Shares in the aggregate may be issued as Restricted Stock
Awards or pursuant to Restricted Stock Unit Awards. For purposes of
determining the number of Shares issued under the Plan, no Shares
shall be deemed issued until they are actually delivered to a
Participant, Optionee or any other person in accordance with
Section 8(b). Shares covered by Options, Restricted Stock
Awards or Restricted Stock Unit Awards that either wholly or in
part expire or are forfeited or terminated shall be available for
future issuance under the Plan. Any Shares tendered to or withheld
by the Company in connection with the exercise of Options, or the
payment of tax withholding on any Option, Restricted Stock Award or
Restricted Stock Unit Award shall not be available for future
issuance under the Plan.
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5.
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Administration of Plan
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(a) The Plan shall be administered
by the Committee, which shall be composed of not less than three
directors of the Parent Company appointed by the Board who are
“non-employee directors” as defined under rules
promulgated under Section 16(b) of the Exchange Act. Except as
the Committee may otherwise determine, all decisions and
determinations by the Committee shall be final and binding upon all
Optionees and Participants and their respective designated
beneficiaries.
(b) The Committee may delegate, to a
person designated from time to time by the Committee as the Plan
Administrator, the right to approve or exercise any discretion
given to the Committee pursuant to Sections 8(c), 8(g), 9(e) and
10(h).
Subject to Section 7, the
Committee or the Board may grant Options, Restricted Stock Awards
and Restricted Stock Unit Awards to eligible employees of the
Company as described in Section 7.
(a) Options may be granted to any
employee of the Company.
(b) Restricted Stock Awards and
Restricted Stock Unit Awards may be granted only to key employees
of the Company, who are designated as such by the Committee or the
Board.
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8.
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Option
Agreements and Terms
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All Options shall be granted prior
to January 1, 2014 and be evidenced by option agreements
executed on behalf of the Parent Company and by the respective
Optionees. The terms of each such agreement shall be determined
from time to time by the Committee, consistent, however, with the
following:
(a) Option Price . The option
price per Share of any Option granted to an Optionee shall be equal
to the Value of the Share on the Date of Grant.
(b) Restrictions on
Transferability . An Option shall not be transferable prior to
the termination of the Vesting Period with respect thereto unless
otherwise determined by the Committee and specified in the option
agreement. Thereafter, unless otherwise determined by the Committee
and specified in the option agreement, an Option shall not be
transferable otherwise than (i) by will or the laws of descent
and distribution or (ii) to the spouse, children or
grandchildren of the Optionee or a trust for the exclusive benefit
of any such family member, provided, however, that no such family
member shall be permitted to make any subsequent transfer of any
such Options except back to the original Optionee and all Options
transferred to any such family member shall remain subject to all
terms and conditions set forth herein. During the lifetime of the
Optionee, an Option shall be exercisable only by him or by any
transferee to whom an Option was transferred in accordance with
subsection (b)(ii). Upon the death of an Optionee or the transfer
in accordance with subsection (b)(ii), the person to whom the
rights shall have been transferred or passed by will or by the laws
of descent and distribution may exercise any Options only in
accordance with the provisions of Section 8(f); provided,
that, notwithstanding the foregoing, an Optionee may designate in
writing on a form provided by the Company a Beneficiary who may
exercise any Options in accordance with
Section 8(f).
(c) Payment . Full payment
for Shares purchased upon the exercise of an Option shall be made
in cash or, at the election of the person exercising the Option and
subject to the approval of the Committee at the time of exercise,
by surrendering, or by the Parent Company’s withholding from
Shares purchased, Shares with an aggregate Value, on the date
immediately preceding such exercise date, equal to all or any
portion of the option price not paid in cash. With the consent of
the Committee, payment for Shares purchased upon the exercise of an
Option may be made in whole or in part by Restricted Stock (based
on the fair market value of the Restricted Stock on the date the
Option is exercised as determined by the Committee). In such case,
the Shares to which the Option relates shall be subject to the same
forfeiture restrictions existing on the Restricted Stock exchanged
thereof. Payment for Shares purchased upon the exercise of an
Option may also be made pursuant to a Cashless Exercise.
(d) Issuance of Certificates;
Evidence of Uncertificated Shares; Payment of Cash . Only whole
Shares shall be issuable upon exercise of Options. Any right to a
fractional Share shall be satisfied in cash. Upon receipt of
payment of the option price and any withholding taxes payable
pursuant to subsection (g), the Parent Company shall deliver to the
exercising Optionee a certificate for the number of whole Shares,
or evidence of the ownership of the number of whole Shares, and a
check for the Value on the date of exercise of the fractional Share
to which the person exercising the Option is
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entitled or, if such Optionee has made a
deferral election pursuant to Section 13, Shares subject to
such election shall be delivered to the Deferred Shares Account,
which shall be maintained for such purpose by the Parent Company or
an administrator appointed by the Parent Company. The Parent
Company shall not be obligated to deliver any certificates for
Shares, or any evidence of the ownership of uncertificated Shares,
until such Shares have been listed (or authorized for listing upon
official notice of issuance) upon each stock exchange upon which
outstanding Shares of such class at the time are listed nor until
there has been compliance with such laws or regulations as the
Parent Company may deem applicable. The Parent Company shall use
its best efforts to effect such listing and compliance.
(e) Periods of Exercise of
Options . An Option shall be exercisable in whole or in part at
such time as may be determined by the Committee and stated in the
option agreement; provided that no Option shall be exercisable
before one year from the Date of Grant except as otherwise
determined by the Committee or as provided in clauses
(iii) and (iv) below and Section 15 and that no
Option shall be exercisable after ten years from the Date of
Grant:
(i) In the event an Optionee ceases
to be an employee of the Company for any reason other than death,
Disability, Retirement or termination for Cause (A) any Option
held by such Optionee the Vesting Period with respect to which has
not terminated shall expire and (B) any Option held by such
Optionee the Vesting Period with respect to which has terminated
shall be exercisable until the earlier of that date which is
(A) 90 days after the date on which the Optionee’s
employment ceased or (B) the ten year anniversary of the Date
of Grant. An Option exercisable on the date of such cessation shall
be exercisable for the r