As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 30, 2024
Registration No. 333-
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, DC 20549
FORM S-8
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
AVERY DENNISON CORPORATION
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| Delaware | 95-1492269 | |||||||
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (IRS Employer Identification Number) | |||||||
8080 Norton Parkway
Mentor, Ohio 44060
Mentor, Ohio 44060
(440) 534-6000
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)
AVERY DENNISON CORPORATION
2005 EXECUTIVE VARIABLE DEFERRED RETIREMENT PLAN, AS AMENDED AND RESTATED
2005 EXECUTIVE VARIABLE DEFERRED RETIREMENT PLAN, AS AMENDED AND RESTATED
(Full title of the plan)
Ignacio J. Walker, Esq.
Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer
Avery Dennison Corporation
8080 Norton Parkway
Mentor, Ohio 44060
(440) 534-6000
(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)
With copies to:
Joshua A. Dean, Esq.
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP
650 Town Center Drive, Tenth Floor
Costa Mesa, California 92626
(714) 513-5100
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):
Large accelerated filer | x | Accelerated filer | o | ||||||||
Non-accelerated filer | o | Smaller reporting company | o | ||||||||
| Emerging growth company | o | ||||||||||
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. o
Explanatory Note
Avery Dennison Corporation (the “Company”) is filing this Registration Statement on Form S-8 (the “Registration Statement”) pursuant to General Instruction E to Form S-8 for the purposes of registering an additional $30,000,000 of deferred compensation obligations (the “Obligations”) to be issued pursuant to the Avery Dennison Corporation 2005 Executive Variable Deferred Retirement Plan, as amended and restated (the “Plan”). The Company previously registered $30,000,000 of its Obligations on a Registration Statement on Form S-8 (File No. 333-166832), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) on May 14, 2010, and subsequently registered an additional $30,000,000 of its Obligations on a Registration Statement on Form S-8 (File No. 333-226484), filed with the Commission on August 1, 2018.
As permitted by General Instruction E to Form S-8, this Registration Statement incorporates by reference the contents of the Registration Statements on Form S-8 (File Nos. 333-166832 and 333-226484), including all exhibits filed therewith or incorporated therein by reference, to the extent not otherwise amended or superseded by the contents hereof.
PART II
INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT
Item 3. Incorporation of Documents by Reference.
The following documents filed by the Company with the Commission are hereby incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement:
•The Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 30, 2023 (filed with the Commission on February 21, 2024), including information specifically incorporated by reference therein from the Company’s Definitive Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A relating to the Company’s 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (filed with the Commission on March 11, 2024);
•The Company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarters ended March 30, 2024 (filed with the Commission on April 30, 2024) and June 29, 2024 (filed with the Commission on July 30, 2024);
•The Company’s Current Reports on Form 8-K filed on February 26, 2024, April 26, 2024, June 3, 2024 and June 27, 2024; and
•The description of the Company’s common stock, par value $1.00 per share, set forth in Exhibit 4.15 to the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 2, 2021 (filed with the Commission on February 25, 2021), and any amendments or reports filed for the purpose of updating such description.
All documents filed by the Company pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), or the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment that indicates that all securities offered have been sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement and are a part hereof from the date of filing such documents.
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Any statement contained in any document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this Registration Statement to the extent that a statement contained herein or in any other subsequently filed document which also is or is deemed to be incorporated by reference herein modifies or supersedes such statement. Any such statement so modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this Registration Statement.
Item 4. Description of Securities.
The 2005 Executive Variable Deferred Retirement Plan, as amended and restated (the “Plan”), provides eligible management employees (the “Participants”) with an opportunity to defer a portion of their pre-tax compensation (including salary and Annual Incentive Plan awards) and accumulate tax-deferred earnings (or losses) thereon. Each Participant is an unsecured general creditor of the Company with respect to his or her Plan benefits. Benefits are payable solely from the Company’s general assets, and are subject to the risk of corporate insolvency. Each Participant’s deferred compensation will be commingled with the general funds of the Company and may therefore be subject to a lien or security interest of other creditors.
The amount of compensation deferred by each Participant is based on the elections by the Participant in accordance with the terms of the Plan, and the obligations of the Company to pay such deferred compensation obligations (the “Obligations”), become due on retirement, death or other termination of employment in the form and on the date or dates determined in accordance with the Plan. The Obligations will be indexed to one or more investment alternatives selected by the Participant from a range of alternatives offered, and the amount of the Obligations payable to the Participant increases or decreases based on the returns of the Participant’s selected investment alternatives. However, no Participant deferrals are actually invested in any investment alternative; as a result, the Participants have no ownership interest in any of the investment alternatives.
The Obligations cannot be assigned, transferred, pledged or otherwise encumbered by the Participants, except that each Participant may designate one or more beneficiaries to receive his or her benefits upon the Participant’s death.
The total amount of Obligations being registered pursuant to this Registration Statement is $30,000,000.
The Company may not terminate the Plan. However, the Company reserves the right to amend the Plan, provided that such amendment does not result in any reduction of a Participant’s account balance, including previous earnings or losses, as of the date of such amendment. Furthermore, the Company may, in its discretion, but is not obligated to, allow additional deferrals into the Plan.
Item 5. Interests of Named Experts and Counsel.
Not Applicable.
Item 6. Indemnification of Directors and Officers.
Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, or the DGCL, permits the Company to indemnify its directors and officers against expenses, including attorneys’ fees, judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlements actually and reasonably incurred by them in connection with any action, suit or proceeding brought by third parties. The directors or officers must have acted in good faith and in a manner they reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the Company and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reason to believe their conduct was unlawful. In a derivative action, an action only by or in the right of the Company, indemnification may be made only for expenses actually and reasonably incurred by directors and officers in connection with the defense or settlement of an action or suit, and only with respect to a matter as to which they shall have acted in good faith and in a manner they reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the Company. No indemnification shall be made if such person shall have been adjudged liable to the Company, unless and only to the extent that the court in which the action or suit was brought shall determine upon application that the defendant officers or directors are fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnity for such expenses despite such adjudication of liability.
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Article VI of the Company’s bylaws generally provides that the Company will indemnify, to the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL, any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, including any action or suit by the Company or in its right, by reason of the fact that such person is or was the Company’s director, officer, employee, or, while such person is or was a director, officer or employee of the Company, is or was serving at the Company’s request as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, including service with respect to employee benefit plans maintained or sponsored by the Company, against expenses, liability and loss (including attorneys’ fees, judgments, fines, excise taxes or penalties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, and amounts paid or to be paid in settlement) reasonably incurred or suffered by such person in connection with such action, suit or proceeding.
The Company’s bylaws further provide that this indemnification shall not be deemed exclusive of any other rights to which the indemnified person may be entitled, and shall continue as to a person who has ceased to be a director, officer, employee or agent and shall inure to the benefit of the heirs and personal representatives of that person.
Item 7. Exemption from Registration Claimed.
Not Applicable.
Item 8. Exhibits.
A list of exhibits filed with this Registration Statement on Form S-8 is set forth on the Exhibit Index and is incorporated herein by reference.
Item 9. Undertakings.
(a) 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;
(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% 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 information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the Commission by the registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in the registration statement;
(2) that, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, 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; and
(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.
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(b) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the registrant’s annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in this 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.
(h) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act 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 Securities 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 by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.
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EXHIBIT INDEX
| Exhibit Number | Description | ||||||||||
| 4.1 | |||||||||||
| 4.2 | |||||||||||
4.3 | |||||||||||
4.4* | |||||||||||
| 5.1* | |||||||||||
| 23.1* | |||||||||||
| 23.2* | |||||||||||
| 24.1* | Power of Attorney | ||||||||||
| 107* | |||||||||||
| * Filed herewith | |||||||||||
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SIGNATURES
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 Mentor, Ohio, on July 30, 2024.
| AVERY DENNISON CORPORATION | ||||||||
| By: | /s/ GREGORY S. LOVINS | |||||||
Gregory S. Lovins Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer | ||||||||
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POWER OF ATTORNEY
KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below does hereby constitute and appoint Gregory S. Lovins and Ignacio J. Walker, and each of them, with full power of substitution, his or her true and lawful attorney-in-fact to act for him or her in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments (including post-effective amendments) to this registration statement, and to file each of the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact, and each of them, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in order to effectuate the same as fully, to all intents and purposes, as he or she could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact or substitutes, or any of them, may lawfully 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 each of the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
| Signature | Title | Date | ||||||
/s/ DEON M. STANDER Deon M. Stander | President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director (Principal Executive Officer) | July 30, 2024 | ||||||
/s/ GREGORY S. LOVINS Gregory S. Lovins | Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer) | July 30, 2024 | ||||||
/s/ DIVINA F. SANTIAGO Divina F. Santiago | Vice President, Controller (Principal Accounting Officer) | July 30, 2024 | ||||||
/s/ MITCHELL R. BUTIER Mitchell R. Butier | Executive Chairman | July 30, 2024 | ||||||
/s/ BRADLEY A. ALFORD Bradley A. Alford | Director | July 30, 2024 | ||||||
/s/ WARD H. DICKSON Ward H. Dickson | Director | July 30, 2024 | ||||||
/s/ KEN C. HICKS Ken C. Hicks | Director | July 30, 2024 | ||||||
/s/ ANDRES A. LOPEZ Andres A. Lopez | Director | July 30, 2024 | ||||||
/s/ MARIA FERNANDA MEJIA Maria Fernanda Mejia | Director | July 30, 2024 | ||||||
/s/ FRANCESCA REVERBERI Francesca Reverberi | Director | July 30, 2024 | ||||||
/s/ PATRICK T. SIEWERT Patrick T. Siewert | Director | July 30, 2024 | ||||||
/s/ MARTHA N. SULLIVAN Martha N. Sullivan | Director | July 30, 2024 | ||||||
/s/ WILLIAM R. WAGNER William R. Wagner | Director | July 30, 2024 | ||||||
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