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COMMON STOCK | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2011
COMMON STOCK DISCLOSURE [Abstract] |
COMMON STOCK |
14. | COMMON STOCK
During 2000, the Board of Directors of the Company authorized the purchase of up to ten percent of the Company's outstanding common shares. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had purchased and retired 23,600 Class B common shares at a cost of approximately $0.8 million and had purchased and retired 527,817 Class A common shares at a cost of approximately $16.8 million. No shares of Class A or Class B common stock were repurchased during the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 or 2009. As of December 31, 2011, to the Company's knowledge, there were two shareholders of the Company's common stock (other than shareholders subject to specific exceptions) with ownership in excess of 10% of Class A outstanding shares with no ownership of the Company's Class B common stock. In accordance with the Company's certificate of incorporation, the Class B Protection clause is triggered if a shareholder owns 10% or more of the outstanding Class A common stock and does not own an equal or greater percentage of all then outstanding shares of both Class A and Class B common stock (all of which common stock must have been acquired after the date of the 1998 recapitalization). In such a circumstance, such shareholder must, within 90 days of the trigger date, purchase Class B common shares, in an amount and at a price determined in accordance with a formula described in the Company's certificate of incorporation, or forfeit its right to vote its Class A common shares. As of December 31, 2011, to the Company's knowledge, these shareholders had not purchased any Class B shares to comply with these requirements. In order to vote their shares at Bel's next shareholders' meeting, these shareholders must either purchase the required number of Class B common shares or sell or otherwise transfer Class A common shares until their Class A holdings are under 10%. As of December 31, 2011, to the Company's knowledge, these shareholders owned 31.6% and 14.5%, respectively, of the Company's Class A common stock in the aggregate and had not taken steps to either purchase the required number of Class B common shares or sell or otherwise transfer Class A common shares until their Class A holdings fall below 10%. Unless and until this situation is satisfied in a manner permitted by the Company's Restated Certificate of Incorporation, the subject shareholders will not be permitted to vote their shares of common stock. Throughout 2009, 2010 and 2011, the Company declared dividends on a quarterly basis at a rate of $0.06 per Class A share of common stock and $0.07 per Class B share of common stock. During the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, the Company declared dividends totaling $3.2 million, $3.2 million and $3.1 million, respectively. There are no contractual restrictions on the Company's ability to pay dividends provided the Company is not in default under its credit agreements immediately before such payment and after giving effect to such payment.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for an entity's common stock. + References No definition available. + Details
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