EXHIBIT 10.15
STOCK OPTION AGREEMENT
(Nonstatutory Stock Option - 1998 Restatement of 1996 Stock Option
and Performance Incentive Plan)
This STOCK OPTION AGREEMENT (this "AGREEMENT") is made to be effective as
of ___________, 200__ (the "GRANT DATE"), by and between Abercrombie & Fitch
Co., a Delaware corporation (the "COMPANY"), and ___________________ (the
"OPTIONEE").
WITNESSETH:
WHEREAS, pursuant to the provisions of the 1998 Restatement of the 1996
Stock Option and Performance Incentive Plan of the COMPANY (the "PLAN"), the
Compensation Committee (the "COMMITTEE") of the Board of Directors of the
COMPANY administers the PLAN; and
WHEREAS, the COMMITTEE has determined that an option to purchase___(____)
shares of Class A Common Stock, $0.01 par value (the "SHARES"), of the COMPANY
should be granted to the OPTIONEE upon the terms and conditions set forth in
this AGREEMENT;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises, the parties hereto make
the following agreement, intending to be legally bound thereby:
1. Grant of OPTION. The COMPANY hereby grants to the OPTIONEE an option
(the "OPTION") to purchase ______________ (______) SHARES of the COMPANY
(subject to adjustment as provided in Section 3 of this AGREEMENT). The OPTION
is not intended to qualify as an incentive stock option under Section 422 of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "CODE").
2. Terms and Conditions of the OPTION.
(A) OPTION Price. The purchase price (the "OPTION PRICE") to be paid
by the OPTIONEE to the COMPANY upon the exercise of the OPTION shall be $_____
per share, which is the per share closing price of the SHARES of the COMPANY as
reported on the New York Stock Exchange on the GRANT DATE, subject to adjustment
as provided in Section 3 of this AGREEMENT.
(B) Exercise of the OPTION. Except as provided under Sections 4 and
6 of this AGREEMENT, the OPTION may not be exercised until the first anniversary
of the GRANT DATE, provided that the OPTIONEE is employed by the COMPANY or a
subsidiary of the COMPANY on such date. Thereafter, except as otherwise provided
in this AGREEMENT, the OPTION may be exercised as follows:
(i) at any time after the first anniversary of the GRANT DATE,
as to ______% of the SHARES subject to the OPTION (subject to adjustment as
provided in Section 3 of this AGREEMENT), provided that the OPTIONEE is employed
by the COMPANY or a subsidiary of the COMPANY on such date;
(ii) at any time after the second anniversary of the GRANT
DATE, as to an additional _____% of the SHARES subject to the OPTION (subject to
adjustment as provided in Section 3 of this AGREEMENT), provided that the
OPTIONEE is employed by the COMPANY or a subsidiary of the COMPANY on such date;
(iii) at any time after the third anniversary of the GRANT
DATE, as to an additional _____% of the SHARES subject to the OPTION (subject to
adjustment as provided in Section 3 of this AGREEMENT), provided that the
OPTIONEE is employed by the COMPANY or a subsidiary of the COMPANY on such date;
and
(iv) at any time after the fourth anniversary of the GRANT
DATE, as to an additional _____% of the SHARES subject to the OPTION (subject to
adjustment as provided in Section 3 of this AGREEMENT), provided that the
OPTIONEE is employed by the COMPANY or a subsidiary of the COMPANY on such date.
Subject to the other provisions of this AGREEMENT, if the OPTION becomes
vested and exercisable as to certain SHARES, it shall remain exercisable as to
those SHARES until the date of expiration of the OPTION term. The COMMITTEE may,
but shall not be required to (unless otherwise provided in this AGREEMENT),
accelerate the vesting and exercisability of the OPTION.
The grant of the OPTION shall not confer upon the OPTIONEE any right to
continue in the employment of the COMPANY or any of its subsidiaries or
interfere with or limit in any way the right of the COMPANY or any of its
subsidiaries to modify the terms of or terminate the employment of the OPTIONEE
at any time in accordance with applicable law and the COMPANY's or the
subsidiary's governing corporate documents.
(C) OPTION Term. The OPTION shall in no event be exercisable after
the expiration of ten years from the GRANT DATE.
(D) Method of Exercise. The OPTION may be exercised by giving
written notice of exercise to the COMMITTEE, in care of the Human Resources
Department of the COMPANY, stating the number of SHARES subject to the OPTION in
respect of which the OPTION is being exercised. Payment for all such SHARES
shall be made to the COMPANY at the time the OPTION is exercised in United
States dollars in cash (including certified check). Payment for such SHARES may
also be made (i) by tender of SHARES of the COMPANY already owned by the
OPTIONEE for at least six months (either by actual delivery of the already-owned
SHARES or by attestation) and having a fair market value (based on the closing
sale price of the SHARES as reported on the New York Stock Exchange or, if the
SHARES are not traded on the New York Stock Exchange, "fair market value" as
defined in the PLAN) on the date of tender equal to the OPTION PRICE or (ii) by
a combination of the delivery of cash and the tender of already-owned SHARES.
After payment in full for the SHARES purchased under the OPTION has been made,
the COMPANY shall take all such actions as are necessary to deliver an
appropriate certificate or other evidence of ownership representing the SHARES
purchased upon the exercise of the OPTION as promptly thereafter as is
reasonably practicable.
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(E) Tax Withholding. The COMPANY shall have the right to require the
OPTIONEE to remit to the COMPANY an amount sufficient to satisfy any applicable
federal, state and local tax withholding requirements in respect of the exercise
of the OPTION. These tax withholding requirements may be satisfied in one of
several ways, including:
(i) The OPTIONEE may give the COMPANY cash equal to the amount
required to be withheld or tender SHARES of the COMPANY already owned by the
OPTIONEE for at least six months by actual delivery of the already-owned SHARES
and having a fair market value (based on the closing sale price of the SHARES as
reported on the New York Stock Exchange or, if the SHARES are not traded on the
New York Stock Exchange, "fair market value" as defined in the PLAN) on the
exercise date equal to the amount required to be withheld; or
(ii) The COMPANY may withhold SHARES otherwise issuable upon
exercise of the OPTION having a fair market value (based on the closing sale
price of the SHARES as reported on the New York Stock Exchange or, if the SHARES
are not traded on the New York Stock Exchange, "fair market value" as defined in
the PLAN) on the exercise date equal to the amount required to be withheld (but
only to the extent of the minimum amount that must be withheld to comply with
applicable state, federal and local income, employment and wage tax laws).
3. Adjustments and Changes in the SHARES.
(A) If there is a change in the outstanding SHARES of the COMPANY by
reason of a stock dividend, extraordinary cash dividend, split-up,
recapitalization, merger, consolidation, combination or exchange of shares,
separation, reorganization, liquidation or other similar corporate change, the
COMMITTEE shall appropriately adjust the number of SHARES subject to the OPTION
as well as the OPTION PRICE and any other limitations or terms of the OPTION as
may be necessary to reflect such event. Fractional SHARES resulting from any
adjustment in the OPTION pursuant to this Section 3(A) shall be rounded down to
the nearest whole number of SHARES.
(B) Notice of any adjustment pursuant to this Section 3 shall be
given by the COMPANY to the OPTIONEE.
4. Acceleration of OPTION. Upon the occurrence of a "Change of Control"
(as such term is defined in the PLAN), the unexercised portion of the OPTION
(whether or not then exercisable by its terms) shall become immediately vested
and exercisable in full.
5. Non-Transferability of OPTION. The OPTION may not be transferred,
assigned, pledged or hypothecated (whether by operation or law or otherwise) by
the OPTIONEE, except as provided by will or by the applicable laws of descent
and distribution, and the OPTION shall not be subject to execution, attachment
or similar process.
6. Exercise After Termination of Employment.
(A) Except as the COMMITTEE may at any time provide, if the
employment of the OPTIONEE with the COMPANY and its subsidiaries is terminated
for any reason other than death or total disability, the OPTION may be exercised
(to the extent that the OPTIONEE was
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entitled to do so on the date of the termination of the OPTIONEE's employment)
at any time within three months after such termination of employment, subject to
the provisions of Section 2(C) of this AGREEMENT.
(B) If the OPTIONEE becomes "totally disabled" as defined in the
PLAN, the OPTION shall become immediately vested and exercisable in full, and
the OPTION may be exercised at any time during the first nine months that the
OPTIONEE receives benefits under the Abercrombie & Fitch Co. Long-Term
Disability Program, or any successor program, subject to the provisions of
Section 2(C) of this AGREEMENT.
(C) If the OPTIONEE dies while employed by the COMPANY or one of its
subsidiaries or within three months after the termination of such employment,
the OPTION shall become immediately vested and exercisable in full by the
OPTIONEE's estate or by the person who acquires the right to exercise the OPTION
upon the OPTIONEE's death by bequest or inheritance. The OPTION may be exercised
at any time within one year after the date of the OPTIONEE's death, or such
other period as the COMMITTEE may at any time provide, subject to the provisions
of Section 2(C) of this AGREEMENT.
7. Restrictions on Transfers of SHARES. Anything contained in this
Agreement or elsewhere to the contrary notwithstanding, the COMPANY may postpone
the issuance and delivery of SHARES upon any exercise of the OPTION until
completion of any stock exchange listing or registration or other qualification
of such SHARES under any state or federal law, rule or regulation as the COMPANY
may consider appropriate; and may require the OPTIONEE when exercising the
OPTION to make such representations and furnish such information as the COMPANY
may consider appropriate in connection with the issuance of the SHARES in
compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations. SHARES issued and
delivered upon exercise of the OPTION shall be subject to such restrictions on
trading, including appropriate legending of certificates to that effect, as the
COMPANY, in its discretion, shall determine are necessary to satisfy applicable
laws, rules and regulations.
8. Rights of the OPTIONEE as a Stockholder. The OPTIONEE shall have no
rights as a stockholder of the COMPANY with respect to any SHARES of the COMPANY
covered by the OPTION until the date of issuance to the OPTIONEE of a
certificate or other evidence of ownership representing such SHARES.
9. PLAN as Controlling. All terms and conditions of the PLAN applicable to
the OPTION which are not set forth in this AGREEMENT shall be deemed
incorporated herein by reference. In the event that any term or condition of
this AGREEMENT is inconsistent with the terms and conditions of the PLAN, the
PLAN shall be deemed controlling. The OPTIONEE acknowledges receipt of a copy of
the PLAN and of the Prospectus related to the PLAN.
10. Governing Law. To the extent not preempted by federal law, this
AGREEMENT shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the
State of Delaware.
11. Rights and Remedies Cumulative. All rights and remedies of the COMPANY
and of the OPTIONEE enumerated in this AGREEMENT shall be cumulative and, except
as expressly
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provided otherwise in this AGREEMENT, none shall exclude any other rights or
remedies allowed by law or in equity, and each of said rights or remedies may be
exercised and enforced concurrently.
12. Captions. The captions contained in this AGREEMENT are included only
for convenience of reference and do not define, limit, explain or modify this
AGREEMENT or its interpretation, construction or meaning and are in no way to be
construed as a part of this AGREEMENT.
13. Severability. If any provision of this AGREEMENT or the application of
any provision hereof to any person or any circumstance shall be determined to be
invalid or unenforceable, then such determination shall not affect any other
provision of this AGREEMENT or the application of said provision to any other
person or circumstance, all of which other provisions shall remain in full force
and effect, and it is the intention of each party to this AGREEMENT that if any
provision of this AGREEMENT is susceptible of two or more constructions, one of
which would render the provision enforceable and the other or others of which
would render the provision unenforceable, then the provision shall have the
meaning which renders it enforceable.
14. Number and Gender. When used in this AGREEMENT, the number and gender
of each pronoun shall be construed to be such number and gender as the context,
circumstances or its antecedent may required.
15. Entire Agreement. This AGREEMENT, including the PLAN incorporated
herein by reference, constitutes the entire agreement between the COMPANY and
the OPTIONEE in respect of the subject matter of this AGREEMENT, and this
AGREEMENT supersedes all prior and contemporaneous agreements between the
parties hereto in connection with the subject matter of this AGREEMENT. No
officer, employee or other servant or agent of the COMPANY, and no servant or
agent of the OPTIONEE, is authorized to make any representation, warranty or
other promise not contained in this AGREEMENT. No change, termination or
attempted waiver of any of the provisions of this AGREEMENT shall be binding
upon either party hereto unless contained in a writing signed by the party to be
charged.
16. Successors of the COMPANY. The obligations of the COMPANY under this
AGREEMENT shall be binding upon any successor corporation or organization
resulting from the merger, consolidation or other reorganization of the COMPANY,
or upon any successor corporation or organization succeeding to substantially
all of the assets and businesses of the COMPANY. In the event of any of the
foregoing, the COMMITTEE may, at its discretion prior to the consummation of the
transaction, cancel, offer to purchase, exchange, adjust or modify the OPTION,
at such time and in such manner as the COMMITTEE deems appropriate and in
accordance with applicable laws, rules and regulations.
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the COMPANY has caused this AGREEMENT to be executed
by its duly authorized officer, and the OPTIONEE has executed this AGREEMENT, in
each case effective as of the GRANT DATE.
COMPANY:
ABERCROMBIE & FITCH CO.
By: _________________________________________
Its: ________________________________________
Title: ______________________________________
OPTIONEE:
_____________________________________________
Printed Name: _______________________________
Address:
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
Social Security Number: _____________________
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