COLE NATIONAL CORP /DE/
8-A12B/A, 1997-08-22
RETAIL STORES, NEC
Previous: CONVERTIBLE HOLDINGS INC, N-30D, 1997-08-22
Next: COLE NATIONAL CORP /DE/, 8-K, 1997-08-22



<PAGE>   1
                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

                             WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

                             _____________________


                                   FORM 8-A/A

               FOR REGISTRATION OF CERTAIN CLASSES OF SECURITIES
                     PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OR 12(g) OF
                      THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

                       Cole National Corporation
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

                  Delaware                                  34-1453189
  ----------------------------------------               ----------------
  (State of incorporation or organization)               (I.R.S. employer
                                                        identification no.)

  5915 Landerbrook Drive, Mayfield Hts., Ohio                  44124
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    (Address of principal executive offices)                 (zip code)

Securities to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

        Title of each class                 Name of each exchange on which
        to be so registered                 each class is to be registered
        -------------------                 ------------------------------

Rights to Purchase
Preferred Shares                               New York Stock Exchange
- --------------------------------            ----------------------------------

- --------------------------------            -----------------------------------

Securities to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

                                 Not Applicable
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                (Title of class)

                        Exhibit Index Appears on Page 4

                                      -1-




<PAGE>   2




ITEM 1.          DESCRIPTION OF REGISTRANT'S SECURITIES TO BE REGISTERED

        On August 21, 1997, the Board of Directors of Cole National Corporation
(the "Company") approved Amendment No. 1 (the "Amendment") to the Rights
Agreement, dated as of August 22, 1995 (the "Rights Agreement"), between the
Company and National City Bank, as Rights Agent (the "Rights Agent"). The
Company amended the Rights Agreement to make certain technical changes and to
increase the exercise price of the Rights to $180.00 per one one-hundredth of a
Preferred Share, subject to adjustment.

        The foregoing description of the Amendment is qualified in its entirety
by reference to the full text of the Amendment, which is attached as an exhibit
hereto and incorporated herein by reference. Copies of the Rights Agreement,
and the related Summary of Rights which is attached as Exhibit C to the Rights
Agreement, are available free of charge from the Company.

ITEM 2.   EXHIBITS.

Number                      Description
- ------                      -----------

4.1       Amendment No. 1, dated as of August 21, 1997, to the Rights
          Agreement, dated as of August 22, 1995, between the Company and
          National City Bank, as Rights Agent.



                                      -2-




<PAGE>   3



                                   SIGNATURE
                                   ---------

          Pursuant to the requirements of Section 12 of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this registration statement to be
signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereto duly authorized.

                                           COLE NATIONAL CORPORATION

                                           By:  /s/ Wayne Mosley
                                              --------------------------------
                                               Wayne Mosley
                                               Vice President


Date:  August 22, 1997



                                      -3-




<PAGE>   4


                                 EXHIBIT INDEX
                                 -------------

Exhibit Number                   Description
- --------------                   -----------

4.1           Amendment No. 1, dated as of August 21, 1997, to the Rights
              Agreement, dated as of August 22, 1995, between the Company and
              National City Bank, as Rights Agent.




                                      -4-







<PAGE>   1
                                                                     Exhibit 4.1

                           COLE NATIONAL CORPORATION
                            59151 Landerbrook Drive
                          Mayfield Heights, Ohio 44124

                                August 21, 1997


National City Bank
Corporate Trust Department
1900 East Ninth Street
Cleveland, Ohio  44114
Attention:  Corporate Trust Department

              Re:   Amendment No. 1 to Rights Agreement
                    -----------------------------------

Ladies and Gentlemen:

           Pursuant to Section 27 of the Rights Agreement, dated as of August
22, 1995 (the "Rights Agreement"), by and between Cole National Corporation
(the "Company") and National City Bank, as rights agent, the Company, by
resolution adopted by its Board of Directors, hereby amends the Rights
Agreement as follows:

           1.  Section 1(j) of the Rights Agreement is hereby amended to read in
its entirety as follows:

           "(j)  "Exercise Price" shall mean initially $180.00 per one
           one-hundredth of a Preferred Share and shall be subject to
           adjustment from time to time as provided in this Agreement."

           2.  Section 13(a) of the Rights Agreement is hereby amended to read
in its entirety as follows:

           "Section 13.  CONSOLIDATION, MERGER OR SALE OR TRANSFER OF ASSETS OR
           EARNING POWER. (a) In the event that, at any time after a Person has
           become an Acquiring Person, directly or indirectly (i) the Company
           shall consolidate with, or merge with or into, any other Person and
           the Company shall not be the continuing or surviving corporation of
           such consolidation or merger; (ii) any Person shall consolidate with
           the Company, or merge with or into the Company and the Company shall
           be the continuing or surviving corporation of such merger or
           consolidation and, in connection with such merger or consolidation,
           all or part of the Common Shares shall be changed into or exchanged
           for stock or other



<PAGE>   2


National City Bank
August 21, 1997
Page 2

           securities of any other Person or cash or any other property; or
           (iii) the Company shall sell or otherwise transfer (or one or more
           of its Subsidiaries shall sell or otherwise transfer), in one or
           more transactions, assets or earning power (including, without
           limitation, securities creating any obligation on the part of the
           Company and/or any of its Subsidiaries) representing in the
           aggregate more than 50% of the assets or earning power of the
           Company and its Subsidiaries (taken as a whole) to any Person or
           Persons, then, and in each such case, proper provision shall be made
           so that (A) each holder of a Right (except as otherwise provided
           herein) shall thereafter have the right to receive, upon the
           exercise thereof at an exercise price per Right equal to the product
           of the then-current Exercise Price multiplied by the number of one
           one-hundredths of a Preferred Share for which a Right was
           exercisable immediately prior to the first occurrence of a Flip-In
           Event, and in lieu of Preferred Shares, such number of Common Shares
           of such other Person (including the Company as successor thereto or
           as the surviving corporation) as shall equal the result obtained by
           (1) multiplying the then-current Exercise Price by the number of one
           one-hundredths of a Preferred Share for which a Right was
           exercisable immediately prior to the first occurrence of a Flip-In
           Event, and dividing that product by (2) 50% of the current per share
           market price of the Common Shares of such other Person (determined
           pursuant to Section ) on the date of consummation of such
           consolidation, merger, sale or transfer; (B) the issuer of such
           Common Shares shall thereafter be liable for, and shall assume, by
           virtue of the consummation of such consolidation, merger, sale or
           transfer, all the obligations and duties of the Company pursuant to
           this Agreement; (C) the term "Company" shall thereafter be deemed to
           refer to such issuer; and (D) such issuer shall take such steps
           (including, without limitation, the reservation of a sufficient
           number of Common Shares to permit the exercise of all outstanding
           Rights) in connection with such consummation as may be necessary to
           assure that the provisions hereof shall thereafter be applicable, as
           nearly as reasonably may be possible, in relation to the Common
           Shares thereafter deliverable upon the exercise of the Rights."

           3.  The Rights Agreement shall not otherwise be supplemented or
amended by virtue of this Amendment, but shall remain in full force and effect.




<PAGE>   3


National City Bank
August 21, 1997
Page 3

           4.  Capitalized terms used without other definition in this Amendment
No. 1 to the Rights Agreement shall be used as defined in the Rights Agreement.

           5.  This Amendment No. 1 to the Rights Agreement shall be deemed to
be a contract made under the laws of the State of Delaware and for all purposes
shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of
Delaware applicable to contracts to be made and performed entirely within the
State of Delaware.

           6.  This Amendment No. 1 to the Rights Agreement may be executed in
any number of counterparts and each of such counterparts shall for all purposes
be deemed to be an original, and all such counterparts shall together
constitute but one and the same instrument.

           7.  This Amendment No. 1 to the Rights Agreement shall be effective
as of the Close of Business on August 21, 1997, as if executed on such date,
and all references to the Rights Agreement shall, from and after such time, be
deemed to be references to the Rights Agreement as amended hereby.

           8.  Exhibits B and C to the Rights Agreement shall be amended in a
manner consistent with this Amendment No. 1 to the Rights Agreement.

                                       Sincerely,

                                       COLE NATIONAL CORPORATION

                                 By:    /s/ Wayne Mosley
                                       ---------------------------
                                       Wayne Mosley
                                       Vice President

Accepted and agreed to as of the 
effective time specified above:

NATIONAL CITY BANK

By: /s/ J. Dean Presson
   -----------------------------
   Name:  J. Dean Presson
   Title: Vice President









© 2022 IncJournal is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission