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1995 SALARY REPLACEMENT STOCK OPTION PLAN

Option Agreement

1995 SALARY REPLACEMENT

STOCK OPTION PLAN | Document Parties: GENERAL MILLS INC You are currently viewing:
This Option Agreement involves

GENERAL MILLS INC

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Title: 1995 SALARY REPLACEMENT STOCK OPTION PLAN
Date: 7/26/2007

1995 SALARY REPLACEMENT

STOCK OPTION PLAN, Parties: general mills inc
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EXHIBIT 10.10

 

GENERAL MILLS, INC.

 

1995 SALARY REPLACEMENT

 

STOCK OPTION PLAN

 




 

GENERAL MILLS, INC.

 

1995 SALARY REPLACEMENT STOCK OPTION PLAN

 

 

 

1.

PURPOSE OF THE 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.

 

 

 

2.

EFFECTIVE DATE OF PLAN

 

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.

 

 

 

3.

ADMINISTRATION OF THE PLAN

 

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.

 

 

 

4.

COMMON STOCK SUBJECT TO THE PLAN

 

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.

 

 

 

5.

ELIGIBLE PERSONS

 

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.

 

 

 

6.

PURCHASE PRICE OF STOCK OPTIONS

 

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.

 

 

 

7.

OPTION TERM

 

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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8.

OPTION TYPE

 

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.

 

 

 

9.

NON-TRANSFERABILITY OF OPTIONS

 

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.

 

 

 

10.

EXERCISE OF OPTIONS

 

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:

 

 

(i)

in cash (including check, draft, money order or wire transfer made payable to the order of the Company);

 

 

(ii)

through the delivery of shares of Common Stock owned by the Optionee; or

 

 

(iii)

by


 
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