Sec. 10.005. CREATION OF HOLDING COMPANY BY MERGER. (a) In this section:

(1) "Direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiary" means, with respect to a domestic entity, another domestic entity, all of the outstanding voting ownership or membership interests of which are owned by the domestic entity or by one or more other domestic entities or non-code organizations, all of the outstanding voting ownership or membership interests of which are owned by the domestic entity or one or more other wholly owned domestic entities or non-code organizations.

(2) "Holding company" means a domestic entity that, from its organization until a merger takes effect, was at all times a direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the merging domestic entity and the ownership or membership interests of which are issued to the members or owners of the merging domestic entity in the merger.

(3) "Merging domestic entity" means the original domestic entity that is a party to a merger that is intended to create a holding company structure under a plan of merger that satisfies the requirements of this section and whose members or owners are not required to approve the plan of merger under Subsection (b).

(4) "Surviving entity subsidiary" means the surviving entity in a merger of a merging domestic entity and a direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the merging domestic entity, which immediately following the merger is a direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the holding company.

(b) A domestic entity may, without owner or member approval and pursuant to a plan of merger, restructure the ownership or membership structure of that entity to create a holding company structure under this chapter and the provisions of this code under which the entity was formed. The approval of the owners or members of a merging domestic entity that is a party to a merger under a plan of merger that creates a holding company is not required if:

(1) the holding company is a domestic entity of the same organizational form as the merging domestic entity;

(2) approval is not otherwise required by the governing documents of the merging domestic entity;

(3) the merging domestic entity merges with a direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiary;

(4) after the merger the merging domestic entity or its successor is a direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiary of a holding company;

(5) the merging domestic entity and the direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiary are the only parties to the merger;

(6) each ownership or membership interest of the merging domestic entity that is outstanding preceding the merger is converted in the merger into an ownership or membership interest of the holding company having the same designations, preferences, limitations, and relative rights and corresponding obligations in respect of the ownership or membership interest as the ownership or membership interest held by the owner or member in the merging domestic entity;

(7) except as provided by Subsection (c), the governing documents of the holding company immediately following the merger contain provisions substantively identical to the governing documents of the merging domestic entity immediately preceding the merger;

(8) except as provided by Subsections (c) and (d), the governing documents of the surviving entity subsidiary immediately following the merger contain provisions substantively identical to the governing documents of the merging domestic entity immediately preceding the merger;

(9) the governing persons of the merging domestic entity become or remain the governing persons of the holding company when the merger takes effect;

(10) the owners or members of the merging domestic entity will not recognize gain or loss for United States federal income tax purposes, the United States federal tax classification of the holding company will be the same as that of the merging domestic entity, and the merger will not result in the loss of any tax benefit or attribute of the merging domestic entity, each as determined by the governing authority of the merging domestic entity; and

(11) the governing authority of the merging domestic entity adopts a resolution approving the plan of merger.

(c) Subsections (b)(7) and (8) do not require identical provisions regarding the organizer or organizers, the entity name, the registered office and agent, the initial governing persons, and the initial subscribers of ownership or membership interests and provisions contained in any amendment to the governing documents as were necessary to effect a change, exchange, reclassification, or cancellation of ownership or membership interests, if the change, exchange, reclassification, or cancellation was in effect preceding the merger.

(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (b)(8):

(1) the governing documents of the surviving entity subsidiary must require that an act or transaction by or involving the surviving entity subsidiary, other than the election or removal of the governing persons of the surviving entity subsidiary, that requires for its approval under this code or the governing documents of the surviving entity subsidiary the approval of the owners or members of the surviving entity subsidiary must, by specific reference to this section, require the approval of the owners or members of the holding company, or any successor by merger, by the same vote as is required by this code and the governing documents of the surviving entity subsidiary;

(2) if the surviving entity subsidiary is not of the same organizational form as the merging domestic entity, the governing documents of the surviving entity subsidiary may differ from the governing documents of the merging domestic entity to the minimum extent necessary to make a change that takes into account the differences between the types of entities, including a change in reference to the types of owners, members, ownership interests, membership interests, governing persons, or governing authority, each as determined by the governing authority of the merging domestic entity;

(3) if the surviving entity subsidiary is not of the same organizational form as the merging domestic entity, the governing documents of the surviving entity subsidiary must require that:

(A) the surviving entity subsidiary obtain the approval of the owners or members of the holding company for any act or transaction by or involving the surviving entity subsidiary, other than the election or removal of the governing persons of the surviving entity subsidiary, that would require the approval of the owners or members of the surviving entity subsidiary if the surviving entity subsidiary were of the same organizational form as the merging domestic entity;

(B) any amendment to the governing documents of the surviving entity subsidiary that would, if adopted by an entity of the same organizational form as the merging domestic entity, be required to be included in the certificate of formation of the entity also require, by specific reference to this section, the approval of the owners or members of the holding company, or any successor by merger, by the same vote as is required by this code or by the governing documents of the surviving entity subsidiary; and

(C) the business affairs of the surviving entity subsidiary be managed by or under the direction of governing persons who are:

(i) subject to the same fiduciary duties applicable to the governing persons of an entity of the same organizational form as the merging domestic entity subject to this code; and

(ii) liable for the breach of any duties to the same extent as governing persons of that form of entity;

(4) the governing documents of the surviving entity subsidiary may change the classes and series of ownership or membership interests and the number of ownership or membership interests that the surviving entity subsidiary is authorized to issue; and

(5) this subsection or a provision of a surviving entity subsidiary's governing documents required by this subsection may not be construed as requiring the approval of the owners or members of the holding company to elect or remove governing persons of the surviving entity subsidiary.

(e) To the extent the provisions contained in Section 21.606 apply to a merging domestic entity and its owners or members when a merger takes effect under this section, those provisions continue to apply to the holding company and its owners or members immediately after the merger takes effect as though the holding company were the merging domestic entity. All ownership or membership interests of the holding company acquired in the merger, for purposes of Section 21.606, are considered to have been acquired at the time the ownership or membership interest of the merging domestic entity converted in the merger was acquired. Any owner or member who, preceding the merger, was not an affiliated owner or member as described by Section 21.606 does not solely by reason of the merger become an affiliated owner or member of the holding company.

(f) If the name of a holding company immediately following the effectiveness of a merger under this section is the same as the name of the merging domestic entity preceding the merger, the ownership or membership interests of the holding company into which the ownership or membership interests of the merging domestic entity are converted pursuant to the merger will be represented by the certificates, if any, that previously represented the ownership or membership interests in the merging domestic entity.

(g) This section shall not apply to a merger of a partnership with or into a domestic entity without the approval of the owners or members of the partnership and domestic entity as provided by this code.

Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 182, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 2006.

Amended by:

Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 64 (H.B. 1319), Sec. 33, eff. January 1, 2006.

Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 688 (H.B. 1737), Sec. 49, eff. September 1, 2007.