As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 20,1999
Registration No. 333-_____
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
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FORM S-8
Registration Statement
Under
The Securities Act of 1933
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FRANKLIN ELECTRIC CO., INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
INDIANA 35-0827455
(State or other jurisdiction of (I.R.S. Employer
incorporation or organization) Identification No.)
400 East Spring Street
Bluffton, Indiana 46714
(Address of principal executive offices)
FRANKLIN ELECTRIC CO., INC. EMPLOYEE STOCK OWNERSHIP PLAN
(Full title of the plan)
Gregg C. Sengstack
Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
Franklin Electric Co., Inc.
400 East Spring Street
Bluffton, Indiana 46714
(Name and address of agent for service)
(219) 824-2900
(Telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)
With a copy to:
Lauralyn G. Bengel
Schiff Hardin & Waite
6600 Sears Tower
Chicago, Illinois 60606-6473
(312) 258-5670
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<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
Proposed
Maximum Proposed
Amount Offering Maximum Amount of
Title of Securities to be to be Price Per Aggregate Registration
Registered Registered Share(1) Offering Price(1) Fee(1)
------------------------- ---------- --------- ----------------- ------------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Common Stock, par value $.10 per 50,000 $71.25 $3,562,500 $940.50
share, including related Common
Stock Purchase Rights
Interests in the Plan (2) (2) (2) (2)
(1) Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(h) under
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, based on $71.25, the average of the high and low sales prices
of the Common Stock reported on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation
System on December 15, 1999.
(2) In addition, pursuant to Rule 416(c) under the Securities Act of 1933, this Registration Statement
also covers an indeterminate amount of interests to be offered or sold pursuant to the Plan described
herein for which no separate fee is required.
</TABLE>
PART II
INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT
ITEM 3. INCORPORATION OF DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE.
The following documents which have been filed by Franklin Electric
Co., Inc. (the "Registrant") are incorporated herein by reference:
(a) The Registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal
year ended January 2, 1999;
(b) The Registrant's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the
quarters ended April 3, 1999, July 3, 1999 and October 2,
1999;
(c) The Registrant's Current Reports on Form 8-K dated January
6, 1999, September 16, 1999 and October 19, 1999; and
(d) The description of the Registrant's Common Stock, and
related Common Stock Purchase Rights, contained in the
Registrant's Registration Statement on Form 8-A filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission") on
February 26, 1991 under Section 12 of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, and the Registration Statement on Form
S-4 (the Plan of Recapitalization) filed with the Commission
on July 6, 1989.
All documents subsequently filed by the Registrant and/or the
Franklin Electric Co., Inc. Employee Stock Ownership Plan (the "Plan")
pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, prior to the filing of a post-effective
amendment which indicates that all securities offered hereby have been
sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall
be deemed incorporated by reference herein and to be a part hereof
from the date of filing of such documents.
ITEM 4. DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES.
Not applicable.
ITEM 5. INTERESTS OF NAMED EXPERTS AND COUNSEL.
Not applicable.
ITEM 6. INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS.
The Indiana Business Corporation Law permits indemnification of
directors, employees and agents of corporations under certain
conditions and subject to certain limitations. Article VII of the By-
laws of the Registrant ("Article VII") provides that each person who
was or is a party to, or has been threatened to be made a party to any
threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether
civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, by reason of the
fact that he or she is or was a director or officer of the
corporation, or that he or she was serving at the request of the
corporation as a director or officer of another corporation,
partnership, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan or other
enterprise, will be indemnified by the Registrant, to the fullest
extent authorized by the Indiana Business Corporation Law, as
currently in effect, against all expenses (including attorneys' fees),
judgments, fines, and amounts paid in settlement actually and
reasonably incurred by such person in connection with such action,
suit or proceeding provided that the individual's conduct was in good
faith, and the individual reasonably believed that in the case of
conduct in the individual's official capacity with the Registrant,
that such conduct was in its best interest and in all other cases,
that the individual's conduct was at least not opposed to its best
interest, and in the case of any criminal proceeding, the individual
either had reasonable cause to believe the individual's conduct was
lawful or had no reasonable cause to believe the individual's conduct
was unlawful. Article VII provides that the rights conferred thereby
are contract rights between the Registrant and each director or
officer serving in each such capacity, and any repeal or modification
of Article VII shall not affect any rights or obligations thereunder
with respect to any state of facts then or theretofore existing or any
claim, action, suit or proceeding theretofore or thereafter brought or
threatened based in whole or in part upon any such state of facts.
Article VII provides that the Registrant may, by action of the Board
of Directors, provide indemnification to its employees or agents of
the Registrant, to the same extent as the indemnification provided to
a director or officer of the Registrant.
The registrant has insurance which, subject to certain policy
limits, deductible amounts and exclusions, insures directors and
officers of the Registrant for liabilities incurred as a result of
acts committed in their capacity as directors and officers or claims
made against them by reason of their status as directors or officers.
ITEM 7. EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION CLAIMED.
Not applicable.
ITEM 8. EXHIBITS.
The exhibits filed herewith or incorporated by reference herein
are set forth in the Exhibit Index filed as part of this registration
statement. The Registrant has received from the Internal Revenue
Service a determination that the Plan is qualified under Section 401
of the Internal Revenue Code and will make all changes required by the
Internal Revenue Service in order to continue to so qualify the Plan.
4
ITEM 9. UNDERTAKINGS.
The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:
(1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are
being made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement:
(i) To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3)
of the Securities Act of 1933;
(ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events
arising after the effective date of the registration statement
(or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which,
individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change
in the information set forth in the registration statement.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume
of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities
offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any
deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum
offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed
with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate,
the changes in volume and price represent no more than a 20
percent change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth
in the "Calculation of Registration Fee" table in the effective
registration statement; and
(iii) To include any material information with respect to
the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the
registration statement or any material change to such information
in the registration statement;
PROVIDED, HOWEVER, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) do not
apply if the registration statement is on Form S-3 or Form S-8, and
the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment
by those paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed with or
furnished to the Commission by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13
or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are incorporated
by reference in the registration statement.
(2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the
Securities Act of 1933, each such post-effective amendment shall be
deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities
offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time
shall be deemed to be the initial BONA FIDE offering thereof.
(3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective
amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold
at the termination of the offering.
The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes
of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each
filing of the Registrant's annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or
5
Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (and, where
applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan's annual report
pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) that
is incorporated by reference in the registration statement shall be
deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities
offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time
shall be deemed to be the initial BONA FIDE offering thereof.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the
Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and
controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing
provisions, or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that in the
opinion of the Commission such indemnification is against public
policy as expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In
the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities
(other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid
by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the
successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by
such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the
securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in the
opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling
precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question
whether such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in
the Act, and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.
6
SIGNATURES
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Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the
Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it
meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly
caused this registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Bluffton, State
of Indiana on this 17th day of December, 1999.
FRANKLIN ELECTRIC CO., INC.
By: /s/ William H. Lawson
----------------------------------
William H. Lawson
Chairman of the Board and
Chief Executive Officer
Each person whose signature appears below appoints each of
William H. Lawson and Gregg C. Sengstack as such person's true and
lawful attorney to execute in the name of each such person, and to
file, any amendments to this registration statement that such attorney
deems necessary or desirable to enable the Registrant to comply with
the Securities Act of 1933, and any rules, regulations, and
requirements of the Commission with respect thereto, in connection
with the registration of the shares of Common Stock (and the related
Stock Purchase Rights attached thereto) that are subject to this
registration statement, which amendments may make such changes in such
registration statement as the above-named attorneys deem appropriate,
and to comply with the undertakings of the Registrant made in
connection with this registration statement, and each of the
undersigned hereby ratifies all that said attorneys will do or cause
to be done by virtue hereof.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this
registration statement has been signed by the following persons in the
capacities and on the date indicated.
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Signature Title Date
--------- ----- ----
<S> <C> <C>
/s/ William H. Lawson Chairman of the Board and December 17, 1999
---------------------------- Chief Executive Officer
William H. Lawson (Principal Executive Officer)
/s/ Gregg C. Sengstack Vice President and Chief December 13, 1999
____________________________ Financial Officer (Principal
Gregg C. Sengstack Financial and Accounting Officer)
7
Signature Title Date
--------- ----- ----
/s/ Jerome D. Brady Director December 14, 1999
----------------------------
Jerome D. Brady
/s/ John B. Lindsay Director December 14, 1999
----------------------------
John B. Lindsay
---------------------------- Director ______________, 1999
Robert H. Little
/s/ Patricia Schaefer Director December 14, 1999
----------------------------
Patricia Schaefer
---------------------------- Director ______________, 1999
Donald J. Schneider
/s/ R. Scott Trumbull Director December 14, 1999
----------------------------
R. Scott Trumbull
---------------------------- Director ______________, 1999
Juris Vikmanis
/s/ Howard B. Witt Director December 14, 1999
----------------------------
Howard B. Witt
</TABLE>
8
THE PLAN. Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of
1933, the Plan Administrator has duly caused this Registration
Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto
duly authorized, in the City of Bluffton, State of Indiana, on
December 13, 1999.
FRANKLIN ELECTRIC EMPLOYEE STOCK OWNERSHIP PLAN
By: /s/ William H. Lawson
--------------------------------------------
William H. Lawson
Member, Employee Benefits Committee
By: /s/ Gregg C. Sengstack
---------------------------------------------
Gregg C. Sengstack
Member, Employee Benefits Committee
By: /s/ Gary D. Ward
---------------------------------------------
Gary D. Ward
Member, Employee Benefits Committee
9
EXHIBIT INDEX
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Exhibit
Number Exhibit
------- -------
23 Consent of Deloitte & Touche LLP
24 Powers of Attorney (as set forth in the signature
pages hereto)
EXHIBIT 23
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INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' CONSENT
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We consent to the incorporation by reference in this Registration
Statement of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. on Form S-8 of our report
dated January 28, 1999, appearing in the Annual Report on Form 10-K of
Franklin Electric Co., Inc. for the year ended January 2, 1999.
/s/ Deloitte & Touche
----------------------
Deloitte & Touche
Chicago, Illinois
December 20, 1999
