BROWN-FORMAN CORPORATION
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
Current Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of
The Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported):
November 16, 2007 (November 15, 2007)
Brown-Forman Corporation
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
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Delaware
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002-26821
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61-0143150 |
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(State or other jurisdiction
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(Commission File Number)
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(I.R.S. Employer |
of incorporation)
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Identification No.) |
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850 Dixie Highway, Louisville, Kentucky
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40210 |
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(Address of principal executive offices)
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(Zip Code) |
Registrants telephone number, including area code: (502) 585-1100
Not Applicable
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report.)
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the
filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:
o Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
o Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240.14d-2(b))
o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240.13e-4(c))
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Item 5.03 Amendments to Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws; Change in Fiscal Year.
On November 15, 2007, the Board of Directors of Brown-Forman Corporation (the Company) adopted
certain resolutions that will enable the Company to participate in a direct registration system
(DRS) on or before January 1, 2008, as required by New York Stock Exchange Rule 501.00(B). In
connection therewith, the Board amended the Companys Bylaws to permit the issuance and transfer of
shares of the Companys capital stock in an uncertificated form.
Specifically, the Board amended and replaced in its entirety Article V of the Companys Bylaws as
follows:
ARTICLE V.
CAPITAL STOCK.
SECTION 5.1 Certificates. Shares of the capital stock of the
corporation may be certificated or uncertificated, as provided under
the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware. Each
stockholder, upon written request to the transfer agent or the
registrar of the corporation, shall be entitled to a certificate or
certificates for shares of stock in such form as the Board of
Directors may from time to time prescribe. Except as otherwise
expressly provided by law, the rights and obligations of the holders
of uncertificated stock and the rights and obligations of the
holders of certificates representing stock of the same class and
series shall be identical. Upon a holders request, the corporation
shall provide evidence of ownership of such holders uncertificated shares.
SECTION 5.2 Transfer of Stock. Upon the surrender of any
certificate for transfer of stock, such certificate shall be
conspicuously marked on its face Cancelled and filed with the
permanent stock records of the corporation. In order to surrender
any certificate for transfer of stock, such certificate must include
an assignment and power of transfer endorsed thereon or attached
thereto, duly executed and with such proof of authenticity of the
signature as the corporation or its agents may reasonably require.
Upon the receipt of proper transfer instructions from the registered
owner of uncertificated shares, such uncertificated shares shall be
cancelled, issuance of new equivalent uncertificated shares or
certificated shares shall be made to the shareholder entitled
thereto and the transaction shall be recorded upon the books of the
corporation. The Board of Directors may appoint a transfer agent
and one or more co-transfer agents and registrar and one or more
co-registrars and may make or authorize such agent to make all such
rules and regulations deemed expedient concerning the issue,
transfer and registration of shares of stock.
SECTION 5.3 Notice of Issuance or Transfer. As required under
Delaware law, within a reasonable time after the issuance or
transfer of uncertificated stock, the corporation shall send or
cause to be sent to the registered owner thereof a written notice
containing the information required to be set forth or stated on
certificates pursuant to Delaware state law or a statement that the
corporation will furnish without charge to each stockholder who so
requests, the powers, designations, preferences and relative
participating, optional or other special rights of each class of
stock or series thereof and the qualifications, limitations or
restrictions of such preferences and/or rights.
SECTION 5.4 Signatures. The certificates of stock shall be
signed by the Chairman of the Board or the President or a Vice
President and by the
Secretary or the Treasurer or an Assistant Secretary or an
Assistant Treasurer (except that where any such certificate is
signed by a transfer agent and by a registrar, the signatures of any
such Chairman of the Board, President, Vice President, Secretary,
Treasurer, Assistant Secretary or Assistant Treasurer may be
facsimile, engraved or printed), and shall be countersigned and
registered in such manner, if any, as the Board of Directors may by
resolution prescribe. In case any officer or officers who shall
have signed, or whose facsimile signature or signatures shall have
been used on, any such certificate or certificates shall cease to be
such officer or officers of the corporation, whether because of
death, resignation or otherwise, before such certificate or
certificates have been delivered by the corporation, such
certificate or certificates may nevertheless be issued and delivered
as though the person or persons who signed such certificate or
certificates or whose facsimile signature or signatures have been
used thereon had not ceased to be such officer or officers of the
corporation.
SECTION 5.5 Lost, Stolen or Destroyed Certificates. No shares
of stock in the corporation (whether certificated or uncertificated)
shall be issued in place of any certificate alleged to have been
lost, stolen or destroyed, except upon production of such evidence
of such loss, theft or destruction and upon delivery to the
corporation of a bond of indemnity in such amount, upon such terms
and secured by such surety, as the Board in its discretion may
require.
SECTION 5.6 Stock Records. A record shall be kept of the
respective names of the persons, firms or corporations owning the
corporations stock whether or not represented by certificates, the
number and class of shares owned thereby, respectively, and the
respective dates thereof, and in case of cancellation, the
respective dates of cancellation.
The Companys Bylaws, as so amended through November 15, 2007, are attached as Exhibit 3 (ii) to
this report and are incorporated by reference into this Item 5.03.
Item 7.01
Regulation FD Disclosure
On November 15, 2007, the Company issued a press release announcing that its Board approved a 12.4%
increase in the quarterly cash dividend on the Companys Class A and Class B Common Stock, from
$0.3025 cents to $0.34 cents per share. As a result, the indicated annual cash dividend will rise
from $1.21 per share to $1.36 per share. Stockholders of record on December 5, 2007 will receive
the cash dividend on January 1, 2008. A copy of the press release is attached as Exhibit 99.1 to
this current report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference.
This information furnished pursuant to this Item 7.01 (and the related information in
Exhibit 99.1) shall not be deemed filed for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), and shall not be deemed to be incorporated by
reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act,
except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference in such filing.
Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits
Exhibit 3 (ii) Bylaws of Brown-Forman Corporation, as amended through November 15, 2007
Exhibit
99.1 Press released, dated November 15, 2007
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused
this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
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Brown-Forman Corporation
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(Registrant)
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November 16, 2007 |
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/s/ Nelea A. Absher
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(Date) |
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Nelea A. Absher |
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Vice President and Assistant Corporate Secretary |
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Exhibit Index
3 (ii) Bylaws of Brown-Forman Corporation, as amended through November 15, 2007
99.1 Press
release, dated November 15, 2007