501A.1104  Conversion — amendment of organizational documents to be governed by this chapter.
  1.  Authority.
  a.  A traditional cooperative may convert to a cooperative and become subject to this chapter by amending its organizational documents to conform to the requirements of this chapter.
  b.  A traditional cooperative becoming a converted cooperative must provide its members with a disclosure statement of the rights and obligations of the members and the capital structure of the cooperative before becoming subject to this chapter. A traditional cooperative, upon distribution of the disclosure required in this subsection and approval of its members as necessary for amending its articles under the respective chapter of its organization, may amend its articles to comply with this chapter.
  c.  A traditional cooperative becoming a converted cooperative must prepare a certificate stating all of the following:
  (1)  The date on which the traditional cooperative was first organized.
  (2)  The name of the traditional cooperative and, if the name is changed, the name of the cooperative becoming converted.
  (3)  The future effective date and time, which must be a date and time certain, that the traditional cooperative will be governed by this chapter, if the effective date and time is not to be the date and time of filing.
  d.  Upon filing with the secretary of the articles for compliance with this chapter and the certificate required under paragraph “c”, a traditional cooperative is converted and governed by this chapter unless a later date and time is specified in the certificate under paragraph “c”.
  e.  In connection with a conversion under which a traditional cooperative becomes governed by this chapter, the rights, securities, or interests of the traditional cooperative as provided in chapter 497, 498, 499, or 501 may be exchanged or converted into rights, property, securities, or interests in the converted cooperative.
  2.  Effect of being governed by this chapter.  The conversion of a traditional cooperative to a cooperative governed by this chapter does not affect any obligations or liabilities of the cooperative before the conversion or the personal liability of any person incurred before the conversion.
  a.  When the conversion is effective, the rights, privileges, and powers of the cooperative, real and personal property of the cooperative, debts due to the cooperative, and causes of action belonging to the traditional cooperative remain vested in the converted cooperative and are the property of the converted cooperative and governed by this chapter. Title to real property vested by deed or otherwise in the traditional cooperative does not revert and is not impaired by reason of the cooperative being converted and governed by this chapter.
  b.  Rights of creditors and liens upon property of the traditional cooperative are preserved unimpaired, and debts, liabilities, and duties of the traditional cooperative remain attached to the converted cooperative and may be enforced against the converted cooperative to the same extent as if the debts, liabilities, and duties had originally been incurred or contracted by the cooperative as organized under this chapter.
  c.  The rights, privileges, powers, and interests in property of the traditional cooperative as well as the debts, liabilities, and duties of the traditional cooperative are not deemed, as a consequence of the conversion, to have been transferred for any purpose by the laws of this state.
2005 Acts, ch 135, §84; 2006 Acts, ch 1010, §133
Referred to in §9.11