August 10, 2021
Reverse Stock Splits: GE Provides a Primer
General Electric recently completed a reverse stock split. That’s a pretty unusual transaction for an S&P 500 company – as this Barron’s article notes, GE’s only the 5th S&P 500 company to engage in a reverse split since 2012. For most people, that’s an interesting piece of corporate trivia, but for securities lawyers, it means we’ve got a fresh template for a reverse split that’s likely been vetted by some pretty high-powered lawyers. That’s gold!
Anyway, here’s the relevant language from GE’s proxy statement, the Form 8-K it filed in connection with the reverse split, the Certificate of Amendment to its charter, and the press release announcing the reverse split. If you’re looking for more information on reverse stock splits, check out our article, “Unpacking Stock Splits,” that appears on p. 4 of the July-Aug. 2019 issue of The Corporate Counsel.
– John Jenkins