Article 101 General provisions

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7-101-503. Public benefit corporation - definitions - contents of articles of incorporation.

(1) A public benefit corporation is a for-profit corporation organized under and subject to the requirements of the “Colorado Business Corporation Act”, articles 101 to 117 of this title 7, or a domestic cooperative organized under article 55, 56, or 58 of this title 7 that is subject to the “Colorado Business Corporation Act”, that is intended to produce a public benefit or public benefits and to operate in a responsible and sustainable manner. To that end, a public benefit corporation shall be managed in a manner that balances the shareholders’ pecuniary interests, the best interest of those materially affected by the corporation’s conduct, and the public benefit identified in its articles of incorporation. In its articles of incorporation, a public benefit corporation shall:

(a) Identify within its statement of business or purpose pursuant to section 7-103-101 (1) one or more specific public benefits to be promoted by the public benefit corporation; and

(b) State at the beginning of the articles of incorporation that it is a public benefit corporation.

(2) “Public benefit” means one or more positive effects or reduction of negative effects on one or more categories of persons, entities, communities, or interests other than shareholders in their capacities as shareholders, including effects of an artistic, charitable, cultural, economic, educational, environmental, literary, medical, religious, scientific, or technological nature.

(3) “Public benefit provisions” means the provisions of articles of incorporation contemplated by this part 5.

(4) The domestic entity name of a public benefit corporation may contain the words “public benefit corporation”, the abbreviation “P.B.C.” or “Pub. Ben. Corp.”, or the designation “PBC”, which shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements of section 7-90-601 (3)(a), and must otherwise satisfy the requirements of section 7-102-102 (1)(a). If the name does not contain the language specified in this subsection (4), the public benefit corporation shall, before issuing unissued shares of stock or disposing of treasury shares, provide notice to any person to whom the stock is issued or who acquires the treasury shares that it is a public benefit corporation; except that the notice need not be provided if the issuance or disposal is pursuant to an offering registered under the federal “Securities Act of 1933”, 15 U.S.C. sec. 77a et seq., as amended, or if, at the time of issuance or disposal, the public benefit corporation has a class of securities that is registered under the federal “Securities Exchange Act of 1934”, 15 U.S.C. sec. 78b et seq., as amended.

This is not an official copy of the statutes. Please visit LexisNexis Legal Resources for the most current version.