EXHIBIT 10.10
GENERAL MILLS, INC.
1995 SALARY REPLACEMENT
STOCK OPTION PLAN
GENERAL MILLS, INC.
1995 SALARY REPLACEMENT STOCK OPTION PLAN
The purpose of the General Mills, Inc. 1995 Salary
Replacement Stock Option Plan (the “Plan”) is to give
management employees of General Mills, Inc. (the
“Company”) and its subsidiaries the opportunity to
receive stock option grants in lieu of salary increases and certain
other compensation and benefits thereby encouraging focus on the
growth and profitability of the Company and its Common Stock.
Restricted stock is not permitted to be issued under the terms of
this Plan.
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2.
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EFFECTIVE DATE OF PLAN
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This Plan shall become effective as of September 18,
1995, subject to the approval of the stockholders of the Company at
the Annual Meeting on September 18, 1995.
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3.
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ADMINISTRATION OF THE PLAN
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The Plan shall be administered by the Compensation
Committee (the “Committee”). The Committee shall be
made up of non-management members of the Board of Directors (the
“Board”) appointed in accordance with the
Company’s Certificate of Incorporation. The Committee shall
have authority to adopt rules and regulations for carrying out the
purpose of the Plan, select the employees to whom grants will be
made (“Optionees”), the number of shares to be optioned
and interpret, construe and implement the provisions of the Plan;
provided that if at any time Rule 16b-3 or any successor rule
(“Rule 16b-3”) under the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, as amended (the “1934 Act”), so permits without
adversely affecting the ability of the Plan to comply with the
conditions for exemption from Section 16 of the 1934 Act (or any
successor provisions) provided by Rule 16b-3, the Committee may
delegate the administration of the Plan in whole or in part, on
such terms and conditions, and to such person or persons as it may
determine in its discretion. Decisions of the Committee (or its
delegate as permitted herein) shall be final, conclusive and
binding upon all parties, including the Company, stockholders and
Optionees.
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4.
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COMMON STOCK SUBJECT TO THE PLAN
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The shares of “Common Stock” of the
Company ($.10 par value) to be issued upon the exercise of a
non-qualified option to purchase Common Stock granted hereunder (an
“Option”) may be made available from the authorized but
unissued Common Stock, shares of Common Stock held in the treasury,
or Common Stock purchased on the open market or
otherwise.
Approval of the Plan by the stockholders of the
Company shall constitute authorization to use such shares for the
Plan, subject to the discretion of the Board or as such discretion
may be delegated to the Committee.
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Subject to the provisions of the next succeeding
paragraph, the maximum aggregate number of shares authorized under
the Plan for which Options may be granted under the Plan shall be
7,000,000 shares. If an Option granted under the Plan is terminated
without having been exercised in full, the unpurchased or forfeited
shares or rights to receive shares shall become available for grant
to other employees. The number of shares of Common Stock subject to
Options granted under this Plan to any Optionee shall not exceed 5%
of the total number of shares of Common Stock which may be issued
under this Plan.
If a corporate transaction has occurred affecting
the Common Stock such that an adjustment to outstanding awards is
required to preserve (or prevent enlargement of) the benefits or
potential benefits intended at the time of grant, then in such
manner as the Committee deems equitable, an appropriate adjustment
shall be made to (i) the number and kind of shares which may be
awarded under the Plan; (ii) the number and kind of shares subject
to outstanding awards; (iii) the number of shares credited to an
account; and, if applicable, (iv) the exercise price of outstanding
Options; provided that the number of shares of Common Stock subject
to any Option denominated in Common Stock shall always be a whole
number. For this purpose a corporate transaction includes, but is
not limited to, any dividend or other distribution (whether in the
form of cash, Common Stock, securities of a subsidiary of the
Company, other securities or other property), recapitalization,
stock split, reverse stock split, reorganization, merger,
consolidation, split-up, spin-off, combination, repurchase or
exchange of Common Stock or other securities of the Company,
issuance of warrants or other rights to purchase Common Stock or
other securities of the Company, or other similar corporate
transactions. Notwithstanding anything in this paragraph to the
contrary, an adjustment to an Option under this paragraph shall be
made in a manner that will not result in a new grant of an Option
under Code Section 409A.
Only persons who are officers or management
employees of the Company or a subsidiary shall be eligible to
receive grants under the Plan. No grant shall be made to any member
of the Committee or any other non-employee director.
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6.
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PURCHASE PRICE OF STOCK OPTIONS
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The purchase price for each share of Common Stock
issuable under an Option shall not be less than 100 percent of the
Fair Market Value of the Shares of Common Stock of the Company
subject to such option on the date of grant. . “Fair Market
Value” as used in the Plan shall equal the closing price of
the Common Stock on the New York Stock Exchange on the applicable
date.
The term of each Option grant as determined by the
Committee shall not exceed ten (10) years and one (1) month from
the date of that grant and shall expire as of the last day of the
designated term, unless terminated earlier under the provisions of
the Plan.
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Option grants will be non-qualified stock options
governed by Section 83 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,
as amended (the “Code”) or any successor
provision.
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9.
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NON-TRANSFERABILITY OF OPTIONS
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Except as provided by rule adopted by the Committee,
no Option granted under this Plan shall be transferable by the
Optionee otherwise than by the Optionee’s last will and
testament or by the applicable laws of descent and distribution and
an Option may be exercised during the Optionee’s lifetime
only by the Optionee or his or her guardian or legal
representative. An Optionee shall forfeit any Option assigned or
transferred, voluntarily or involuntarily, other than as permitted
under this Section.
Except as provided in Sections 12, 13 and 14, each
Option shall be vested and may be exercised in accordance with such
terms and conditions as may be determined by the Committee for
grants to officers or executives and by the Chief Executive Officer
of the Company for grants to other management
participants.
Subject to the provision of this Section 10, each
Option may be exercised in whole or, from time to time, in part
with respect to the number of then exercisable shares in any
sequence desired by the Optionee without regard to the date of
grant of stock options under other plans of the Company.
An Optionee exercising an Option shall give notice
to the Company of such exercise and of the number of shares elected
to be purchased prior to 4:30 P.M. CST/CDT on the day of exercise,
which must be a business day at the executive offices of the
Company. At the time of purchase, the Optionee shall tender the
full purchase price of the shares purchased. Until such payment has
been made and either a certificate or certificates for the shares
purchased has been issued in the Optionee’s name or the
ownership of such shares by the Optionee has been entered by the
Company’s transfer agent on the master stockholder records of
the Company, the Optionee shall possess no stockholder rights with
respect to any such shares. Payment of such purchase price shall be
made to the Company, subject to any applicable rule or regulation
adopted by the Committee:
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(i)
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in cash (including check, draft, money order or wire
transfer made payable to the order of the Company);
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(ii)
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through the delivery of shares of Common Stock owned
by the Optionee; or
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