Owning a business comes with certain rights and obligations. The shareholders of a corporation are, in effect, the owners of that business. As such, they are entitled to vote on major changes that will impact the corporation’s success.

Eastern Light Capital, Incorporated came under new leadership in 2007. The corporation recently announced that they will hold a Special Shareholder’s meeting in order to give shareholders the opportunity to vote on an important change. The meeting is to be held at the company’s California headquarters.

The Purpose of the Special Shareholder Meeting

The by-laws of most corporations specify annual shareholder meetings. The proposed special meeting is in addition to Eastern Light Capital’s annual meeting, and it has a specific purpose. The goal of the Special Shareholder meeting is to modify the types of stock offered by the corporation.

Currently, many stockholders have Series A Preferred Stock in the company. Eastern Light Capital’s leadership is proposing to exchange those stocks into common shares. Preferred shareholders would receive one and a quarter common shares for each preferred share. If they hold partial shares after the conversion, the company proposes to cash out the partial shares. In order to succeed, the company needs put the change to a vote.

Individuals who hold preferred or common stock in the corporation as of October 14, 2010 will be given the opportunity to vote on the measure. In order to enact the change and modify the corporation’s charter, two thirds of the preferred shares and at least fifty-one percent of the common shares must approve the modification.

Source: The Wall Street Journal Market Watch, “Eastern Light Capital Announces Special Shareholder’s Meeting,” Press Release, 17 Sept 2010