March 8, 2010

 

Dear Stockholder:

 

We are pleased to invite you to attend the 2010 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Teledyne Technologies Incorporated. The meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 21, 2010, beginning at 9:00 a.m. (Pacific Time), at the Company’s offices at 1049 Camino Dos Rios, Thousand Oaks, California 91360.

 

This booklet includes the notice of meeting as well as the Company’s Proxy Statement.

 

Enclosed with this booklet are the following:

 

 

A copy of the Company’s 2009 Annual Report (which contains our Form 10-K) is also included.

 

Please read the Proxy Statement and vote your shares as soon as possible. We encourage you to take advantage of voting by telephone or Internet as explained on the enclosed proxy or voting instruction card. Or, you may vote by completing, signing and returning your proxy or voting instruction card in the enclosed postage-paid envelope. It is important that you vote, whether you own a few or many shares and whether or not you plan to attend the meeting.

 

If you are a stockholder of record and plan to attend the meeting, please mark the “WILL ATTEND” box on your proxy card so that you will be included on our admittance list for the meeting.

 

Thank you for your investment in our Company. We look forward to seeing you at the 2010 Annual Meeting.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Robert Mehrabian

Chairman, President and

Chief Executive Officer

 

 

 

TELEDYNE TECHNOLOGIES INCORPORATED

 

 

PROXY STATEMENT
TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

 

PROXY STATEMENT
FOR 2010 ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS

 

This Proxy Statement, the accompanying proxy card and the Annual Report to Stockholders of Teledyne are being mailed on or about March 19, 2010. The Board of Directors of Teledyne is soliciting your proxy to vote your shares at the 2010 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. The Board is soliciting your proxy to give all stockholders of record the opportunity to vote on matters that will be presented at the Annual Meeting. This Proxy Statement provides you with information on these matters to assist you in voting your shares.

 

Who May Vote

 

If you were a stockholder at the close of business on March 1, 2010, you may vote at the Annual Meeting. On that day, there were 36,209,133 shares of our common stock outstanding.

 

Each share is entitled to one vote. In order to vote, you must either designate a proxy to vote on your behalf or attend the meeting and vote your shares in person. Our Board of Directors requests your proxy so that your shares will count toward determination of the presence of a quorum and your shares can be voted at the meeting.

 

Methods of Voting

 

All stockholders of record may vote by transmitting their proxy cards by mail. Stockholders of record can also vote by telephone or Internet. Stockholders who hold their shares through a bank or broker can vote by telephone or Internet if their bank or broker offers those options.

 

 

Revoking Your Proxy

 

You may change your mind and revoke your proxy at any time before it is voted at the meeting by:

 

 

Voting By Employee Benefit Plan Participants

 

Participants who hold common stock in the Teledyne Technologies Incorporated 401(k) Plan may instruct the plan trustee how to vote the shares of common stock allocated to their accounts. You may either (1) sign and return the voting instruction card provided by the plan or (2) transmit your instructions by telephone or Internet. If you do not transmit instructions by 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Time), on April 16, 2010, your shares will not be voted by the plan trustee, except as otherwise required by law.

Voting Shares Held By Brokers, Banks and Other Nominees

 

Votes will be counted by the inspector of election appointed for the meeting, who will separately count “For” and “Withhold” and, with respect to any proposals other than the election of directors, “Against” votes, abstentions and broker non-votes. A “broker non-vote” occurs when a nominee holding shares for a beneficial owner does not vote on a particular proposal because the nominee does not have discretionary voting power with respect to that proposal and has not received instructions with respect to that proposal from the beneficial owner, despite voting on at least one other proposal for which it does have discretionary authority or for which it has received instructions. Abstentions will be counted towards the vote total for each proposal, and will have the same effect as “Against” vote for proposals other than the election of directors. For the election of directors abstentions will have no effect. Broker non-votes have no effect and will not be counted towards the vote total for any proposal, including the election of directors. Abstentions and broker non-votes will be included in determining the presence of a quorum.

 

If your shares are held by your broker, bank or other agent as your nominee (that is, in “street name”), you will need to obtain a proxy form from the institution that holds your shares and follow the instructions included on that form regarding how to instruct your broker, bank or other agent to vote your shares. If you do not give instructions to your broker, bank or other agent, they can vote your shares with respect to “discretionary” items, but not with respect to “non-discretionary” items. Discretionary items are proposals considered routine under the rules of the New York Stock Exchange on which your broker, bank or other agent may vote shares held in street name in the absence of your voting instructions, and include the ratification of the selection of our independent auditors (Item 2). On non-discretionary items for which you do not give instructions to your broker, bank or other agent, the shares will be treated as broker non-votes.

 

Confidential Voting Policy

 

We maintain a policy of keeping stockholder votes confidential.

 

Information and Meetings

 

The Board of Directors directs the management of the business and affairs of the Company as provided in our Amended and Restated Bylaws and pursuant to the laws of the State of Delaware. Except for Dr. Robert Mehrabian, our Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, the Board is not involved in day-to-day operations. Members of the Board keep informed about our business through discussions with the senior management and other officers and managers of the Company and its subsidiaries, by reviewing information provided to them, and by participating in Board and committee meetings.

 

We encourage, but do not require, that all our directors attend all meetings of the Board of Directors, all committee meetings on which the directors serve and the annual stockholders meeting. In 2009, the Board of Directors held seven meetings. During 2009, all directors attended at least 75% of the aggregate number of meetings of the Board that were held when they were members and at least 75% of the aggregate number of meetings of the Board committees of which they were members. All of the current directors attended the 2009 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, except for Ms. Austin and Mr. Crocker due to prior commitments.

 

Number of Directors

 

The Board of Directors determines the number of directors, which under our Amended and Restated By-laws must consist of not less than four members and not more than 10 members. The Board has currently fixed the number at nine members.

Director Terms

 

The directors are divided into three classes and the directors in each class serve for a three-year term. The term of one class of directors expires each year at the Annual Meeting of Stockholders. The Board may fill a vacancy by electing a new director to the same class as the director being replaced. The Board may also create a new director position in any class and elect a director to hold the newly created position until the term of the class expires.

 

Directors’ Retirement Policy

 

On June 1, 2000, we adopted a retirement policy for directors. This policy, as amended, generally requires directors to retire at the Annual Meeting following their 75th birthday. Mr. Cahouet, age 77, is currently serving through the 2011 Annual Meeting under a waiver granted by the Board. This policy also requires a director to offer to tender his or her resignation if such director has a change in professional status. In 2009 three directors notified the Company and the Nominating and Governance Committee of changes in their business affiliations: Mr. Dahlberg stepped down from his position as Chief Executive Officer at Science Applications International Corporation, Ms. Austin was named President and Chief Executive Officer of Move Networks, Inc. and Dr. von Schack retired as President, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Energy East Corporation. The Nominating and Governance Committee and the Board of Directors determined not to request resignations from any of these directors as a result of changes in their professional status.

 

Board Structure

 

The Board of Directors currently consists of nine directors, eight of which are considered independent under existing rules of the New York Stock Exchange and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Chairman of the Board, who is also our President and Chief Executive Officer and is not considered an independent director, presides at meetings of stockholders and Board meetings. The Board has formally designated Frank V. Cahouet, one of our independent directors, to serve as the lead director under circumstances when the Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer is unable to perform the duties of that office. In addition, the Board’s three standing committees consist solely of independent directors.

 

The Board believes that its current independent Board structure is best for our Company and provides good corporate governance and accountability. The Board does not have a fixed policy regarding the separation of the roles of the Chairman of the Board and the Chief Executive Officer because it believes the Board should be able to freely select the Chairman of the Board based on criteria that it deems to be in the best interests of the Company and its stockholders. The Board does not believe its independence is compromised by having a single person serve as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. The functions of the Board are carried out by the full Board, and when delegated, by the Board committees. Each director is a full and equal participant in the major strategic and policy decisions of our Company and the Chairman has no greater or lesser vote on matters considered by the Board. Our non-management directors meet in executive session without management (including the Chief Executive Officer) on a regularly scheduled basis. Committee chairs rotate as presiding director in such sessions.

 

The Board believes that currently it is in the best interests of the Company and its stockholders to have a single person serve as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer to provide unified leadership and direction and an independent lead director to serve when the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer is unable to perform the duties of that office. However, consistent with good corporate governance principles, the Nominating and Governance Committee will continue to review periodically this issue to determine whether, based on the relevant facts and circumstances at such future times, separation of these offices would serve the best interests of the Company and its stockholders.

 

Director Independence

 

In April 2009, our Nominating and Governance Committee assessed, and our Board of Directors determined, the independence of each director in accordance with the then existing rules of the New York Stock Exchange and the Securities and Exchange Commission. In order to comply with such items, our Nominating and Governance Committee considered various relationship categories including: whether the director is an employee, amount of stock ownership and commercial, industrial, banking, consulting, legal, accounting or auditing, charitable and familial relationships, as well as a range of individual circumstances. See “Certain Transactions” at page 54. The Board did consider that certain directors consider themselves to be social friends. As a result, the Nominating and Governance Committee, followed by the Board, determined that each member of our Board of Directors did not have any material relationships with us and was thus independent, with the exception of Dr. Mehrabian, our Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. Our management, after reviewing director questionnaires, reported to our Board in February 2010 that information on which the board based its independence assessment in April 2009 has not materially changed. The independent directors by name are: Roxanne S. Austin, Frank V. Cahouet, Charles Crocker, Kenneth C. Dahlberg, Simon M. Lorne, Paul D. Miller, Michael T. Smith and Wesley W. von Schack. Robert P. Bozzone was an independent director prior to his retirement at our 2009 Annual Meeting.

 

The Nominating and Governance Committee, followed by the Board, also determined that each member of our Personnel and Compensation Committee is an “outside director” within the meaning of Rule 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code and are “non-management directors” within the meaning of Rule 16b-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

 

All of the Board’s standing committees consist only of independent directors.

 

Corporate Governance and Ethics Guidelines

 

At the time we became a public company in 1999, our Board of Directors adopted many “best practices” in the area of corporate governance, including separate standing committees of the Board for each of audit, nominating and governance and personnel and compensation matters, charters for each of the committees, and corporate ethics and compliance guidelines.

 

Our ethics and compliance guidelines for employees are contained in the Corporate Objectives and Guidelines for Employee Conduct. These guidelines apply to all our employees, including our principal executive, financial and accounting officers. Our employees receive annual ethics training and questionnaires are distributed annually to various personnel in an effort to confirm compliance with these guidelines. It is our policy not to waive compliance with these guidelines. We also have a specialized code of ethics for financial executives that supplements the employee guidelines. In addition, we have ethics and compliance guidelines for our service providers.

 

In July 2007, our Board of Directors adopted a code of business conduct and ethics for directors. This code is intended to provide guidance to directors to help them recognize and deal with ethical issues, including conflicts of interest, corporate opportunities, fair dealing, compliance with law and proper use of the company’s assets. It also provides mechanisms to report possible unethical conduct.

 

Our Board of Directors has adopted Corporate Governance Guidelines. These Corporate Governance Guidelines were initially developed by our Nominating and Governance Committee and are reviewed at least annually by such Committee. These Corporate Governance Guidelines incorporate practices and policies under which our Board has operated since its inception, in addition to many of the requirements of the Sarbanes-

Oxley Act of 2002 and the New York Stock Exchange. Some of the principal subjects covered by the Corporate Governance Guidelines include:

 

 

Copies of our Corporate Governance Guidelines, our Corporate Objectives and Guidelines for Employee Conduct, our codes of ethics for directors, financial executives and service providers and our committee charters are available on our website at www.teledyne.com. We intend to post any amendments to these policies, and any waivers of the provisions thereof related to directors or executive officers, on our website. If at any time you would like to receive a paper copy, free-of-charge, please write to John T. Kuelbs, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Teledyne Technologies Incorporated, 1049 Camino Dos Rios, Thousand Oaks, California 91360.

 

Risk Management Oversight

 

The risk oversight function of the Board is carried out by both the Board and the Audit Committee. As provided in its charter, the Audit Committee meets periodically with management to discuss the Company’s major financial and operating risk exposures and the steps, guidelines and policies taken or implemented relating to risk assessment and risk management. Matters of strategic risk are considered by the Board as a whole. Each quarter, our Chief Business Risk Assurance Officer reports directly to the Audit Committee on the activities of the Company’s internal audit function. Management also reports to the Audit Committee on legal, tax, finance, accounting and pension matters at least quarterly. The Board is provided with reports on legal matters at periodic scheduled meetings and on other matters related to risk oversight on an as needed basis. In addition, the Audit Committee reviews with management the “risk factors” that appear in our Annual Report on Form 10-K prior to its filing.

 

In 2009 an Enterprise Risk Management Committee, consisting of executive officers and other employees, was created to implement a program designed to identify significant company risks and determine whether we have appropriate risk management policies, practices, and procedures in place. Our Vice President and Treasurer periodically reports to the Audit Committee on the progress and results of this program.

 

Risks Related to Compensation Policies and Practices

 

The Personnel and Compensation Committee has considered whether the Company’s overall compensation program for employees in 2010 creates incentives for employees to take excessive or unreasonable risks that could materially harm the Company. We believe that several features of our compensation policies for management employees appropriately mitigate such risks, including a mix of long- and short-term compensation incentives that we believe is properly weighted, the uniformity of compensation policies across the Company, our stock ownership requirements for key officers and the use of our 2010 business plan, which the Personnel and Compensation Committee regards as setting an appropriate level of risk taking for the Company, as a baseline for our Annual Incentive Plan targets. We also believe the Company’s internal legal and financial controls appropriately mitigate the probability and potential impact of an individual employee committing the Company to a harmful long-term business transaction in exchange for short-term compensation benefits.

Sarbanes-Oxley Disclosure Committee

 

In September 2002, we formally constituted the Sarbanes-Oxley Disclosure Committee. Current members include: John T. Kuelbs, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary; Dale A. Schnittjer, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; Susan L. Main, Vice President and Controller; Stephen F. Blackwood, Vice President and Treasurer; Ivars R. Blukis, Chief Business Risk Assurance Officer; Robyn E. McGowan, Vice President, Administration and Human Resources and Assistant Secretary; Melanie S. Cibik, Vice President, Associate General Counsel and Assistant Secretary; Brian A. Levan, Director of External Financial Reporting and Assistant Controller; S. Paul Sassalos, Senior Corporate Counsel and Assistant Secretary; and Jason VanWees, Vice President, Corporate Development and Investor Relations. Among its tasks, the Disclosure Committee discusses and reviews disclosure issues to help us fulfill our disclosure obligations on a timely basis in accordance with SEC rules and regulations and is intended to be used as an additional resource for employees to raise questions regarding accounting, auditing, internal controls and disclosure matters.

 

Since we became a public company in 1999, we have had a confidential Ethics/Help Line, where questions or concerns about us can be raised confidentially and anonymously. The Ethics/Help line is available to all of our employees, as well as concerned individuals outside the company. The toll-free help line number is 1-877-666-6968.

 

The receipt of concerns about our accounting, internal controls and auditing matters will be reported to the Audit Committee.

 

Communications with the Board

 

Our Corporate Governance Guidelines provide that any interested parties desiring to communicate with our non-management directors, including our lead director, may contact them through our Secretary, John T. Kuelbs, whose address is: Teledyne Technologies Incorporated, 1049 Camino Dos Rios, Thousand Oaks, California 91360.

ITEM 1 ON PROXY CARD — ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

 

The Board of Directors has nominated for election this year the class of three incumbent directors whose terms expire at the 2010 Annual Meeting. The three-year term of the class of directors nominated and elected this year will expire at the 2013 Annual Meeting. The three individuals who receive the highest number of votes cast will be elected. Broker non-votes, if any, are included in determining the presence of a quorum at the Annual Meeting, but are not counted as votes cast.

 

If you sign and return your proxy card, the individuals named as proxies in the card will vote your shares for the election of the three named nominees, unless you provide other instructions. You may withhold authority for the proxies to vote your shares on any or all of the nominees by following the instructions on your proxy card. If a nominee becomes unable to serve, the proxies will vote for a Board-designated substitute or the Board may reduce the number of directors. The Board has no reason to believe that any nominee will be unable to serve.

 

Background information about the nominees and continuing directors follows, including the specific experiences, qualifications, attributes and skills that the Board believes qualifies each of the below named individuals to serve as a director of the Company, in light of the Company’s business and structure.

 

The Board of Directors Recommends
a Vote FOR the Election of the Nominees

 

Our Board of Directors has established an Audit Committee, a Nominating and Governance Committee and a Personnel and Compensation Committee. From time to time, our Board of Directors may establish other committees. Each of the Audit Committee, Nominating and Governance Committee and Personnel and Compensation Committee has a written charter that can be accessed on our website at www.teledyne.com.

 

Audit Committee

 

The members of the Audit Committee are:

 

Frank V. Cahouet, Chair
Kenneth C. Dahlberg
Simon M. Lorne
Paul D. Miller
Michael T. Smith

 

The Audit Committee held six meetings in 2009. Robert P. Bozzone was a member of the Audit Committee prior to his retirement from our Board of Directors at the 2009 Annual Meeting. Roxanne S. Austin was a member of the Audit Committee until April 22, 2009, and Michael T. Smith became a member of the Audit Committee on April 22, 2009.

 

The primary purpose of the Audit Committee is to assist the Board’s oversight of the integrity of our financial statements, our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, the qualification and the independence of our independent auditor, and the performance of our internal audit function and independent auditor. As provided in its charter, the Audit Committee is directly responsible for the appointment, retention, compensation, oversight, evaluation and termination of our independent auditor (including resolving disagreements between management and the independent auditor regarding financial reporting). The Audit Committee has been designated as the “qualified legal compliance committee.” In carrying out its responsibilities, the Audit Committee undertakes to do many things, including:

 

 

 

The charter of the Audit Committee was last amended and restated on December 15, 2009. The Audit Committee charter provides that our senior internal auditing executive reports directly and separately to the Chair of the Audit Committee and the Chief Executive Officer. As required by the charter, our Audit Committee also has established procedures for the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints regarding accounting, internal controls and auditing matters. See “Corporate Governance — Sarbanes-Oxley Disclosure Committee” at page 6.

 

The Audit Committee meets the size, independence and experience requirements of the New York Stock Exchange, including the enhanced independence requirements for Audit Committee members under Exchange Act Rule 10A-3. The Board of Directors has determined that Frank V. Cahouet is an “audit committee financial expert” within the meaning of the SEC regulations and all of the members are “independent” and “financially literate” under the New York Stock Exchange listing standards. Our Corporate Governance Guidelines provide that no director may serve as a member of the Audit Committee if such director serves on the audit committees of more than two other public companies unless the Board determines that such simultaneous service would not impair the ability of such director to effectively serve on the Audit Committee. Any such determination must be disclosed in the annual proxy statement. Besides our Audit Committee, Mr. Smith simultaneously serves on the audit committee of two other public companies and Admiral Miller simultaneously serves on the audit committee of one other public company.

 

The report of the Audit Committee is included under “Item 2 on Proxy Card — Ratification of Appointment of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm” at page 17.

 

Nominating and Governance Committee

 

The members of the Nominating and Governance Committee are:

 

Michael T. Smith, Chair
Roxanne S. Austin
Frank V. Cahouet
Charles Crocker
Simon M. Lorne
Paul D. Miller

Wesley W. von Schack

 

The Nominating and Governance Committee held four meetings in 2009.

 

The Nominating and Governance Committee undertakes to:

 

 

 

The charter of the Nominating and Governance Committee was last amended and restated on December 11, 2007. The members of the Nominating and Governance Committee are “independent” under the New York Stock Exchange listing standards.

 

The Nominating and Governance Committee will consider stockholder recommendations for nominees for director. Any stockholders interested in suggesting a nominee should follow the procedures outlined in “Other Information — 2011 Annual Meeting and Stockholder Proposals” at page 56.

 

The Nominating and Governance Committee utilizes a variety of methods for identifying and evaluating all nominees for directors. The Committee periodically assesses the appropriate size of the Board and whether vacancies on the Board are expected due to retirement, change in professional status or otherwise. Candidates may come to the attention of the Committee through current Board members, members of our management, stockholders and other persons. The Committee to date has not engaged a professional search firm. Candidates are evaluated at meetings of the Committee and may be considered at any point during the year.

 

As stated in the Corporate Governance Guidelines, nominees for director are to be selected on the basis of, among other criteria, experience, knowledge, skills, expertise, integrity, diversity, ability to make analytical inquiries, understanding of or familiarity with our business, products or markets or similar business, products or markets, and willingness to devote adequate time and effort to Board responsibilities. The Committee may establish additional criteria and is responsible for assessing the appropriate balance of criteria required of Board members. Although we do not have a written policy with respect to Board diversity, the Nominating and Governance Committee and the Board believe that a diverse board leads to improved Company performance by encouraging new ideas, expanding the knowledge base available to management and fostering a boardroom culture that promotes innovation and vigorous deliberation. Consequently, when evaluating potential nominees, the Committee considers individual characteristics that may bring diversity to the Board, including gender, race, national origin, age, professional background, unique skill sets and areas of expertise.

 

Personnel and Compensation Committee

 

The members of the Personnel and Compensation Committee are:

 

Charles Crocker, Chair
Roxanne S. Austin
Kenneth C. Dahlberg
Wesley W. von Schack

The Personnel and Compensation Committee held four meetings in 2009. Robert P. Bozzone was a member of the Personnel and Compensation Committee prior to his retirement from our Board of Directors at the 2009 Annual Meeting. Michael T. Smith was a member of the Personnel and Compensation Committee until April 22, 2009 and Roxanne S. Austin became a member of the Personnel and Compensation Committee on April 22, 2009.

 

The Personnel and Compensation Committee’s principal authority and responsibilities include:

 

 

While reviewed annually, the charter of the Personnel and Compensation Committee was last amended and restated on December 15, 2009. The members of the Personnel and Compensation Committee are “independent” under the New York Stock Exchange listing standards.

 

Our Chief Executive Officer works with the Personnel and Compensation Committee Chair, our Vice President of Administration and Human Resources and the Office of the Corporate Secretary in establishing the agenda for the Committee and makes compensation recommendations for the named executives (other than himself). The Personnel and Compensation Committee’s Chair reports the committee’s recommendations on executive compensation to the Board. The Personnel and Compensation Committee has the authority, under its charter, to obtain advice and assistance from internal or external legal, accounting or other advisors. The Personnel and Compensation Committee has the sole authority and resources to retain and terminate any

compensation consultant to be used to assist in the evaluation of the Chief Executive Officer’s or other executive officers’ compensation and has sole authority to approve the consultant’s fees and other retention terms. As discussed below under “Compensation Discussion and Analysis,” the Committee retained Hewitt Associates LLC and Watson Wyatt Company to assist the Committee in fulfilling its responsibilities in 2009. The Personnel and Compensation Committee may delegate its responsibility to control and manage the plan assets of our employee benefit plans. In addition, under the terms of our stock incentive plans, the Personnel and Compensation Committee may delegate its powers and authority under the stock incentive plan as it deems appropriate to a subcommittee and/or designated officers and, as discussed below under “Compensation Discussion and Analysis,” the Personnel and Compensation Committee has made a limited delegation of authority to grant stock options to our Chief Executive Officer pursuant to this authority.

 

The 2009 Report of the Personnel and Compensation Committee is included under “Executive and Director Compensation” at page 36.

ITEM 2 ON PROXY CARD —
RATIFICATION OF APPOINTMENT OF ERNST & YOUNG LLP
AS THE COMPANY’S INDEPENDENT
REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

 

The Audit Committee has appointed Ernst & Young LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal 2010. Ernst & Young LLP has served as our independent registered public accounting firm since the November 29, 1999 spin-off. The Audit Committee believes that Ernst & Young LLP is knowledgeable about our operations and accounting practices and is well qualified to act in the capacity of independent registered public accounting firm.

 

Although the appointment of an independent registered public accounting firm is not required to be approved by the stockholders, the Audit Committee and the Board of Directors believe that stockholders should participate in such selection through ratification. The proposal to ratify the Audit Committee’s appointment of Ernst & Young LLP will be approved by the stockholders if it receives the affirmative vote of a majority of the shares present in person or represented by proxy at the meeting and entitled to vote on the proposal. If you sign and return your proxy card, your shares will be voted (unless you indicate to the contrary) to ratify the selection of Ernst & Young LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for 2010. If you specifically abstain from voting on the proposal, your shares will, in effect, be voted against the proposal. Broker non-votes, if any, are included in determining the presence of a quorum at the Annual Meeting, but will not be counted as being entitled to vote on the proposal and will not affect the outcome of the vote. If the stockholders do not ratify the selection of Ernst & Young LLP, the Audit Committee will reconsider the appointment of an independent registered public accounting firm. It is expected that representatives of Ernst & Young LLP will be present at the meeting and will have an opportunity to make a statement and respond to appropriate questions.

 

The Board of Directors Recommends
a Vote FOR Ratification of the Appointment
of Ernst & Young LLP as the
Company’s Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm.

Fees Billed by Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

 

The following table sets forth fees billed by Ernst & Young LLP for professional services rendered for 2009 and 2008 (in thousands).

 

 

 

 

In October 2002, our Audit Committee adopted guidelines relating to the rendering of services by external auditors. The guidelines require the approval of the Audit Committee prior to retaining any firm to perform any Audit Services. “Audit Services” include the services necessary to audit our consolidated financial statements for a specified fiscal year and the following audit and audit-related services: (a) Statement on Auditing Standards No. 71 quarterly review services; (b) regulatory and employee benefit plan financial statement audits; and (c) compliance and statutory attestation services for our subsidiaries. Subject to limited exceptions, the guidelines further provide that the Audit Committee must pre-approve the engagement of Ernst & Young LLP to provide any services other than Audit Services. The Chair of the Audit Committee may, however, pre-approve the engagement of Ernst & Young LLP for such non-audit services to the extent the fee is reasonably expected to be less than $150,000. If the fee for any non-audit services is reasonably expected to be $250,000 or more, we must seek at least one competing bid from another firm prior to engaging Ernst & Young LLP, unless there are exceptional circumstances or if it relates to the public offering of our securities. The guidelines prohibit us from engaging Ernst & Young LLP to perform any of the following non-audit services or other services that the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board determines by regulation to be prohibited: bookkeeping or other services related to accounting records or financial statements; financial information systems design and implementation; appraisal or valuation services, fairness opinions, or contribution-in-kind reports; actuarial services; internal auditing outsourcing services; management functions or human resources; broker or dealer, investment advisor, or investment banking services; or legal services and expert services unrelated to the audit.

For 2009, all audit and non-audit services rendered by Ernst & Young LLP were pre-approved in accordance with our guidelines.

 

In making its recommendation to ratify the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending January 2, 2011, the Audit Committee considered whether the provision of non-audit services by Ernst & Young LLP is compatible with maintaining Ernst & Young LLP’s independence.

AUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT

 

The following report of the Audit Committee is included in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission. It is not incorporated by reference into any of our registration statements under the Securities Act of 1933.

 

Report of the Audit Committee

 

The following is the report of the Audit Committee with respect to the audited financial statements for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2010, (the “Financial Statements”) of Teledyne Technologies Incorporated and its consolidated subsidiaries (the “Company”).

 

The responsibilities of the Audit Committee are set forth in the Audit Committee Charter, as amended and restated as of December 15, 2009, which has been adopted by the Board of Directors. The Audit Committee is comprised of five directors. The Company’s Board of Directors has determined that each of the members of the Audit Committee is independent in accordance with the applicable rules of the New York Stock Exchange. The Board of Directors has also determined that at least one director has “financial management expertise” under New York Stock Exchange listing standards and that Frank V. Cahouet is an “audit committee financial expert” within the meaning of the Securities and Exchange Commission regulations.

 

Management is responsible for the preparation, presentation and integrity of the Company’s financial statements, the Company’s internal controls and financial reporting process and the procedures designed to assure compliance with accounting standards and applicable laws and regulations. Ernst & Young LLP (“Ernst & Young”), the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm, is responsible for performing an independent audit of the Company’s Financial Statements and expressing an opinion as to their conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. The Audit Committee reviewed and discussed the Company’s Financial Statements with management and Ernst & Young, and discussed with Ernst & Young the matters required to be discussed by Statement on Auditing Standards No. 114 (Codification of Statements on Auditing Standards, AU 380) and Rule 2-07 of Regulation S-X, as amended. The Audit Committee has received written disclosures and the letter from Ernst & Young required by applicable requirements of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding Ernst & Young’s communication with the Audit Committee concerning independence and has discussed with Ernst & Young its independence.

 

The members of the Audit Committee are not professionally engaged in the practice of auditing or accounting and are not, and do not represent themselves to be, performing the functions of auditors or accountants. Members of the Audit Committee may rely without independent verification on the information provided to them and on the representations made by management and Ernst & Young. Accordingly, the Audit Committee’s oversight does not provide an independent basis to determine that management has maintained appropriate accounting and financial reporting principles or appropriate internal controls and procedures designed to assure compliance with accounting standards and applicable laws and regulations. Furthermore, the Audit Committee’s considerations and discussions referred to above do not assure that the audit of the Company’s financial statements has been carried out in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards,

that the financial statements are presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles or that the Company’s auditors are in fact “independent”.

 

Based on these reviews and discussions, the Audit Committee recommended to the Board of Directors that the Financial Statements be included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2010 for filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

Submitted by the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors:

 

Frank V. Cahouet, Chair

Kenneth C. Dahlberg

Simon M. Lorne

Paul D. Miller

Michael T. Smith

 

February 16, 2010

 

We know of no business that may be presented for consideration at the meeting other than the two action items indicated in the Notice of Annual Meeting. If other matters are properly presented at the meeting, the persons designated as proxies in your proxy card may vote at their discretion.

 

Following adjournment of the formal business meeting, Dr. Robert Mehrabian, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, will address the meeting and will hold a general discussion period during which the stockholders will have an opportunity to ask questions about our company and businesses.

 

The rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission require that we disclose late filings of reports of stock ownership (and changes in stock ownership) by our directors and statutory insiders. To the best of our knowledge, all of the filings for our directors and statutory insiders were made on a timely basis in 2009, except that a Form 4 filed by the Company on behalf of Charles Crocker on July 2, 2009, inadvertently contained incorrect information regarding shares issued to Charles Crocker in lieu of a retainer fee payment on July 1, 2009. On January 5, 2010, the Company filed on behalf of Mr. Crocker an amended Form 4 correcting the mistakes in the original filing.

 

The following table sets forth the number of shares of our common stock owned beneficially by each person known to us to own beneficially more than five percent of our outstanding common stock. As of February 19, 2010, we had received notice that the individuals and entities listed in the following table are beneficial owners of five percent or more of our common stock. In general, “beneficial ownership” includes those shares that a person has the power to vote or transfer, and options to acquire common stock that are exercisable currently or within 60 days. As of February 19, 2010, we had 36,206,504 shares outstanding.

 

 

 

 

The following table shows the number of shares of common stock reported to us as beneficially owned by (i) each of our directors and each executive officer named in the executive compensation tables and (ii) all of our directors and Section 16 statutory officers as a group, in each case based upon the beneficial ownership of such persons of common stock as reported to us as of February 19, 2010, including shares as to which a right to acquire ownership exists (for example, through the exercise of stock options) within the meaning of Rule 13d-3(d)(1) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Certain shares beneficially owned by our officers and directors may be held in accounts with third party brokerage firms, where such shares may from time to time be subject to a security interest for margin credit provided in accordance with such brokerage firm’s policies.

 

 

 

 

Phantom Shares.   Under the Teledyne Technologies Incorporated Non-Employee Director Stock Compensation Plan, non-employee directors may elect to defer payment of up to 75% of their annual retainer fees and committee chair fees and 100% of their meeting fees under the Teledyne Technologies Incorporated Executive Deferred Compensation Plan. Under the Deferred Compensation Plan, non-employee directors may elect to have their deferred monies treated as though they are invested in our common stock (called the “Teledyne Common Stock Phantom Fund”). Deferrals to the Teledyne Common Stock Phantom Fund mirror actual purchases of stock, but no actual stock is issued. There are no voting or other stockholder rights associated with the fund. As of February 19, 2010, the following directors had the following number of phantom shares of common stock under the Deferred Compensation Plan: Charles Crocker — 451 phantom shares; Frank V. Cahouet — 5,303 phantom shares; Simon Lorne — 1,049 phantom shares; Paul D. Miller — 3,607 phantom shares; and Michael T. Smith — 781 phantom shares.

 

Compensation Objectives

 

Our objective with respect to executive compensation is to attract and retain high quality executives and to align the interests of management with the interests of stockholders. To achieve this objective, our Personnel and Compensation Committee has determined that total compensation for executives will be comprised of three general characteristics:

 

 

Personnel and Compensation Committee

 

The Personnel and Compensation Committee reviews and administers the compensation for the Chief Executive Officer and other members of senior management, including the named executive officers listed on the Summary Compensation Table beginning on page 36 of this Proxy Statement. In the case of the Chief Executive Officer, the compensation determination made by the Committee is reviewed by the entire Board. The Committee also oversees our employee benefit plans. The Committee is composed exclusively of non-employee, independent directors. The Committee has periodically retained compensation consultants, Hewitt Associates LLC and Watson Wyatt Company, to assist the Committee in fulfilling its responsibilities, and did so in 2009. The services that Hewitt Associates LLC performed for Teledyne were related to executive compensation and were primarily in support of decision-making by the Committee. No other services were provided by Hewitt Associates for the Company. The principal services that Watson Wyatt Company performs for Teledyne are administration of Teledyne’s pension and health and welfare plans and actuarial consulting. The Committee has also considered publicly available market and other data on executive compensation matters.

 

The Personnel and Compensation Committee has a written charter that delineates its responsibilities, a full copy of which is posted on our website at www.teledyne.com. Among other duties, the charter states that the Committee shall review and approve the corporate goals and objectives relevant to the chief executive officer and other executive officer compensation, evaluate chief executive officer and other executive officer performance in light of those goals and objectives, and determine and approve all compensation of the chief executive officer and other executive officers based on this evaluation. In determining the long-term incentive component of Chief Executive Officer compensation, the Committee considers corporate performance and relative shareholder return, the value of similar incentive awards to chief executive officers at comparable companies and the awards given to the Chief Executive Officer in past years. The charter also states that the Committee will review and approve any employment agreements and severance arrangements, any change-in-control agreements and change-in-control provisions affecting any elements of compensation and benefits, and any special or supplemental compensation and benefits for the chief executive officer and executive officers, including supplemental retirement benefits and the perquisites provided to them during and after employment.

 

Our Chief Executive Officer works with the Personnel and Compensation Committee Chair, our Vice President of Administration and Human Resources and the Office of the Corporate Secretary in establishing

the agenda for the Committee and makes compensation recommendations for the named executives (other than himself).

 

Peer Group Comparisons

 

The companies we use for comparative purposes are based for the most part on size and the industries in which we operate, specifically aerospace, electronic components and systems engineering. Such peer group is not used for the purposes of the performance graph included in our Annual Report. The performance graph does compare our performance to the Russell 2000 Index, which is a performance measure under our long-term incentive compensation programs as discussed below. In order to provide industry specific data for those jobs not matched to positions in the peer group, data from other published survey sources was used as additional reference.

 

Our peer group is intended to be representative of companies of similar size to us in the industries in which we compete. Our peer group for 2009 compensation purposes was comprised of the following companies:

 

 

Our peer group contains companies with average and median revenues of $1.769 billion and $1.887 billion, respectively, and average and median market capitalizations of $1.784 billion and $1.280 billion, respectively. The Committee generally sets compensation at levels above the median for our peer group in recognition that we compete with much larger companies for executive-level talent. The Committee also reviews data collected from a broader industry peer group consisting of 96 companies in order to understand what an executive with comparable responsibility to a company executive would earn in the broader industry. The companies in the general industry group have average and median revenues of $1.886 billion and $1.806 billion, respectively, and average and median market capitalizations of $2.418 billion and $1.823 billion, respectively.

 

Determining the Amount and Mix of Compensation

 

In determining both the amount and mix of compensation, the Committee, with assistance from Hewitt Associates, compared each named executive’s pay to various market data points for that named executive’s position and set compensation levels for salary, bonus and long-term compensation at levels that fall between the 50th percentile and 75th percentile of our peer group for each position. For 2009, base salaries for the named executive officers generally approximated the 50th percentile of the peer group and bonus targets were within the target ranges of the peer group. Long term incentives and total compensation were below the 50th percentile of the peer group largely due to the decision of the Personnel and Compensation Committee to not grant stock options in 2009.

 

Our compensation program is designed to balance our need to provide our executives with incentives to achieve our short-and long-term performance goals with the need to pay competitive base salaries. The Personnel and Compensation Committee will consider the amount of prior salary increases, stock option grants and restricted stock grants as a factor in determining compensation for the current period. At the time that 2009 compensation for named executives was approved by the Personnel and Compensation Committee, the

allocation of compensation between base salary, estimated target bonus and estimated long-term compensation for our named executives was as follows:

 

 

There is no pre-established policy for allocating between either cash and non-cash or short-term or long-term compensation. As discussed below, stock-based compensation in the form of stock options, restricted stock awards and performance share program awards represent a significant part of each named executive’s total compensation, and, as a result, the amount of stock-based compensation that a named executive receives compared to cash compensation is largely a factor of a named executive’s long-term compensation relative to total compensation. As a result of the downturn in the national economy, the difficult and uncertain business climate facing the Company and reductions in our workforce at various business units, the Committee determined not to make stock option grants in 2009. As a result, non-cash and long term compensation represented a smaller percentage of long-term compensation than it did in prior years.

 

Base Salary.   Base salary for all management positions will be at the unit’s industry/market median for comparable positions unless there are sound reasons, such as competitive factors for a particular executive’s skill set, for varying significantly from industry medians. The Personnel and Compensation Committee’s judgment will always be the guiding factor in base salary determinations, as well as any other compensation issue. The Committee believes that no system should be so rigid that it prevents the use of judgment. The principal factors considered in decisions to adjust base salary are changes in compensation in our general industry and at our peer companies, our recent and projected financial performance and individual performance measured against pre-established goals and objectives.

 

Aggregate base salaries for our named executives remained unchanged in 2009 from 2008. The Committee determined not to increase salaries in 2009 as part of the Company’s overall cost saving measures, including reductions in our workforce at various business units, implemented in 2009 in response to the national economic downturn, the difficult business climate facing the Company and the low rate of inflation in 2009. Base salaries are reviewed by the Committee in July of each year and take effect on September 1 of each year. Base salaries are also reviewed at the time of a promotion or other changes in responsibilities.

 

Short-Term Incentives.   Annual Incentive Plan (“AIP”) awards are cash bonuses based on the achievement of pre-defined performance measures, with up to 200% of the target award paid in the case of significant over-achievement. The majority of the awards are based on our achievement of financial performance goals, with a smaller portion tied to the achievement of pre-established individual goals.

 

For 2009, aggregate awards for all employees were paid from a pool equal to 6.3% of operating profit, which is less than the 11% limit initially established by the Committee when it approved the 2009 Annual Incentive Plan goals. For 2008, aggregate awards equaled 6.1% of operating profit. The Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation column in the Summary Compensation Table includes the Annual Incentive Plan award for 2009 paid to the named executives.

 

For 2009, as in prior years, awards were determined as follows for corporate executives: 40% of the award was tied to the achievement of predetermined levels of operating profit, 25% to the achievement of predetermined levels of revenue, 15% to the achievement of predetermined levels of accounts receivable and inventory as a percentage of revenue and 20% to the achievement of specific individual performance objectives.

 

For business unit presidents, as in prior years, 10% of the award was tied to the achievement of predetermined levels of operating profit at the corporate level and 30% of the award was tied to achievement

of predetermined levels of operating profit at the business unit level, 5% to the achievement of predetermined levels of revenue at the corporate level and 20% to the achievement of predetermined levels of revenue at the business unit level, 5% to the achievement of predetermined levels of accounts receivable and inventory as a percentage of revenue at the corporate level and 10% to the achievement of predetermined levels of accounts receivable and inventory as a percentage of revenue at the business unit level, and 20% to the achievement of specific individual performance objectives.

 

No annual incentive plan bonus is earned in any year unless operating profit is positive, after accruing for bonus payments, and operating profit is at least 75% of the operating plan, subject in each case to modification by the Committee. We chose operating profit, revenue and accounts receivable and inventory as a percentage of revenue as the components of the award because we believe these measures are key objective indicators of our year-over-year financial performance.

 

In determining the weighted performance of the revenue and operating profit components, for every percentage point actual performance exceeds a target a multiple of 5x is applied, and for every percentage point actual performance misses a target a multiple of 3x is applied. In determining the weighted performance of the accounts receivable and inventory as a percentage of revenue component, a multiple of 20x is applied for every percentage point actual performance exceeds or misses the target.

 

At the time the Committee determined awards for 2009 performance, 2009 operating profit at the corporate level was 107.8% of the 2009 business plan target of $171.4 million, 2009 revenue was 94.1% of the 2009 business plan target of $1.891 billion and 2009 accounts receivable and inventory as a percentage of revenue was 100.4% of the 2009 business plan target of 24.9%.

 

For 2009, operating profit at our Electronics and Communications segment, of which Aldo Pichelli is the President and Chief Operating Officer, was 92.2% of the 2009 business plan target of $179.5 million, revenue was 93.5% of the 2009 business plan target of $1.331 billion and accounts receivable and inventory as a percentage of revenue was 97.5% of the 2009 business plan target of 27.5%.

 

For 2009, operating profit at our Engineered Systems segment, of which Rex Geveden is the President, was 104% of the 2009 business plan target of $31.7 million, revenue was 94.0% of the 2009 business plan target of $370 million and accounts receivable and inventory as a percentage of revenue was 114.1% of the 2009 business plan target of 9.2%. For 2009, operating profit at our Energy and Power Systems segment, of which Mr. Geveden is also President, was 51.6% of the 2009 business plan target of $7.9 million, revenue was 95.3% of the 2009 business plan target of $76.8 million and accounts receivable and inventory as a percentage of revenue was 111.2% of the 2009 business plan target of 18.7%.

 

Individual performance objectives typically consist of five or six goals for each named executive that are weighted in terms of importance. Some of the goals are corporate-level goals shared by all named executives and some goals are specific to individual executives. The goals are qualitative and quantitative in nature. Corporate-level goals included continued implementation of our three-year strategic plan and achieving specific revenue and earnings per share targets higher than targets set forth in our strategic plan. Individual-specific goals included achieving specified cost reductions and free cash flow targets, ensuring effective internal control procedures, succession planning, and successfully managing litigation and disputes. In 2009, no single individual performance goal for any named executive was tied to more than 7.9% of a named executive’s actual bonus.

 

The annual incentive plan awards in 2009 followed the same formula as the awards for 2008, the only changes being the predetermined levels of financial performance, which generally increased in 2009 as compared to 2008, and each named executive’s individual performance objectives.

The Annual Incentive Plan award is expressed as a percentage of the participant’s base salary earned during the plan year. The following schedule shows the award guidelines for the 2009 awards for named executives as a percentage of 2009 base salary:

 

 

The target and maximum percentages were the same as in 2008, except that Dr. Mehrabian’s target and maximum percentages for the 2008 Annual Incentive Plan were 80% and 160%, respectively, and Mr. Pichelli’s target percentage and maximum percentage for the 2008 Annual Incentive Plan were 45% and 90%, respectively.

 

In determining the actual 2009 Annual Incentive Plan awards, the Personnel and Compensation Committee exercised its authority to make upward discretionary adjustments in the case of some of the named executive officers. The Committee determined the upward discretionary adjustments were appropriate as a result of the amounts by which the performance goals of the named executives exceeded the goals set out in the 2009 business plan and the accomplishments of the named executives during challenging times. In the case of Dr. Mehrabian, no upward discretionary adjustment was made, in part because Dr. Mehrabian’s AIP target percentage increased to 100% of his base salary in 2009 from 80% in 2008. The Committee and the Board recognized that Dr. Mehrabian had achieved his personal objectives for 2009, including those relating to Teledyne’s 2009 financial results and earnings per share, which the Committee and Board noted were particularly strong given difficult economic, financial and market conditions, as well as his continuing pursuit of operational excellence initiatives, internal controls and legal compliance and succession planning.

 

Dr. Mehrabian earned an AIP award equal to 118.2% of his base salary, of which no discretionary adjustments were made. Mr. Schnittjer earned an AIP award equal to 75.8% of his base salary, to which was applied a 20% upward discretionary adjustment. Mr. Kuelbs earned an AIP award equal to 70.4% of his base salary, to which was applied a 15% upward discretionary adjustment. Mr. Pichelli earned an AIP award equal to 51.9% of his base salary, to which was applied a 20% upward discretionary adjustment. Mr. Geveden earned an AIP award equal to 64.9% of his base salary.

 

The Committee determined that Dr. Mehrabian achieved 130% of his individual performance objectives, Mr. Schnittjer achieved 170% of his individual performance objectives, Mr. Kuelbs achieved 125% of his individual performance objectives, Mr. Pichelli achieved 95% of his individual performance objectives and Mr. Geveden achieved 90% of his individual performance objectives.

 

The Committee also considered as a factor in making adjustments to the 2009 Annual Incentive Plan awards the $18 million pre-tax charge taken by the Company in 2008 as a result of the voluntary product recall and replacement program at our subsidiary, Teledyne Continental Motors, Inc. In February 2009, subsequent to the date that the Committee determined the awards under the 2008 Annual Incentive Plan, the Company became aware of circumstances that led to the voluntary product recall and replacement program. The charge related to this program resulted in 2008 operating income that was lower than the income that the Committee used in determining 2008 Annual Incentive Plan awards. At that time, the Committee determined not to change the 2008 Annual Incentive Plan awards that had already been granted, but reserved the right to consider such matter in connection with 2009 compensation.

Long-Term Incentives.   We have one active long-term incentive plan that has been approved by our stockholders, the Teledyne Technologies Incorporated 2008 Incentive Award Plan. The 2008 Incentive Award Plan replaced the Teledyne Technologies Incorporated 1999 Incentive Plan and the Teledyne Technologies Incorporated 2002 Stock Incentive Plan, under which no new awards will be issued but the terms of which still govern awards that remain outstanding under those Plans.

 

Long-term incentives consist of three components: stock options, a three-year performance share program and a restricted stock award program.

 

Stock Options.   Stock options are generally awarded annually to a broad group of key employees who are nominated by management to receive awards and whose awards the Personnel and Compensation Committee approves in the aggregate. In practice, the amount of the award generally depends on the employee’s position. Stock options provide our employees with the opportunity to participate in shareholder value created as a result of stock price appreciation, and as a result further our objective of aligning the interests of management with the interests of our stockholders.

 

All stock options granted are non-qualified stock options, vest at a rate of one-third per year, with full vesting at the end of three years and have a term of ten years. A description of the terms under our incentive plans related to the treatment of stock options upon termination of employment can be found under the heading “Potential Payments Upon Termination or a Change in Control” on page 46 of this Proxy Statement. In 2009, no stock options were awarded.

 

Performance Share Program.   A three-year performance share program opportunity, with a new cycle beginning every three years, is available to key employees. Performance share program awards are intended to reward executives to the extent we achieve specific pre-established financial performance goals and provide a greater long-term return to shareholders relative to a broader market index. The performance share program provides grants of performance share units, which key officers and executives may earn if we meet specified performance objectives over a three-year period. Forty percent of the award is based on the achievement of specified levels of operating profit, 30% on the achievement of specified levels of revenue and 30% on the achievement of specified levels of return to shareholders. No awards are made if the three-year aggregate operating profit is less than 75% of target, unless the Committee determines otherwise. In determining the weighted performance of the components, for every percentage point actual performance exceeds a target a multiple of 5x is applied, and for every percentage point actual performance misses a target a multiple of 3x is applied. Accordingly, a maximum of 200% for each component can be earned if 120% of the target is achieved. For the 2006-2008 and 2009-2011 cycles, the Russell 2000 Index is the benchmark for the specified return to shareholders component. Awards are generally paid to the participants in three annual installments after the end of the performance cycle so long as they remain employed. A description of the treatment of performance share program awards upon termination of employment can be found under the heading “Potential Payments Upon Termination or a Change in Control” beginning on page 46 of this Proxy Statement.

 

In January 2009, the Committee established a performance cycle for the three-year period ending December 31, 2011. For the 2009-2011 cycle, one-half of the award will be paid in cash and one-half will be paid in shares of our common stock. We chose operating profit, revenue and return to shareholders as the components of the award because we believe these metrics strongly correlate with our growth and equity value. We established a three-year payout period following the end of each performance cycle to encourage continued employment by the participant.

 

As of January 3, 2010, there were 27 participants in 2009-2011 performance cycle. Forty percent of the 2009-2011 performance cycle is based on achievement of aggregate operating profit of $526 million (net of pension expense) for three years, 30% on the achievement of aggregate revenue of $6,312 million for three years and 30% on the achievement of a return to shareholders that requires our stock performance to exceed the stock performance of the Russell 2000 Index. These performance targets are used by Teledyne solely for compensation purposes and should not be understood to be management’s expectations or guidance relating to

future financial performance. All of the named executives in the Summary Compensation Table participate in the 2009-2011 performance share program.

 

The potential cash and stock payouts under the 2009-2011 performance cycle to the named executive officers are set forth in the Grants of Plan Based Awards Table. Actual cash and stock payments under the 2009-2011 performance share program will occur in three equal annual installments, with the first installment being paid in February 2012, provided the named executive officer remains an employee at the time of the applicable payout. The entire stock portion of the performance share award for the 2009-2011 performance cycle is included under the Stock Awards column of the Summary Compensation Table, valued at fair value as calculated in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718 (formerly FAS 123(R)), and based on the assumption that the target threshold would be achieved. Pursuant to Securities and Exchange Commission guidance, the cash portion of the performance share award for the 2009-2011 performance cycle, if earned, will be included in the Summary Compensation Table under the Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation column in the year in which the performance criteria were met (i.e., the last year of the performance cycle).

 

In January 2006 the Committee established a performance cycle for the three-year period ended December 31, 2008. With respect to this 2006-2008 cycle, in January 2009 the Committee determined that 193% of the target performance was met. All of the named executives in the Summary Compensation Table participated in the 2006-2008 performance share program, with the first two installment payments being made in February of 2009 and 2010 and the third payment scheduled for February 2011, subject to the participant’s continued employment with the Company. The amount of cash that the named executives received under the 2006-2008 performance cycle in 2009 can be found in footnote 4 to the Summary Compensation Table. The total number of shares each named executive received under the 2006-2008 performance share program in 2009 can be found in the Option Exercises and Stock Vested table. The total number of shares each named executive is entitled to receive under the 2006-2008 performance share program in 2010 and 2011 can be found in the Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year End table under the column headed “Number of Shares or Units of Stock That Have Not Vested.”

 

Restricted Stock Award Program.   A restricted stock award program has also been established for key employees, which was first approved and adopted by the Personnel and Compensation Committee in 2000. This program provides grants of restricted stock, generally each calendar year, to key employees at an aggregate fair market value equal to 30% of each recipient’s annual base salary as of the date of the grant, unless otherwise determined by the Committee. The restrictions are subject to both a time-based and performance-based component. In general, the restricted period for each grant of restricted stock extends from the date of the grant to the third anniversary of such date, with the restrictions lapsing on the third anniversary. However, unless the Committee determines otherwise, if we fail to meet certain minimum performance goals for a multi-year performance cycle (typically three years) established by the Committee as applicable to a restricted stock award, then all of the restricted stock is forfeited. If we achieve the minimum performance goals, but fail to attain an aggregate level of 100% of the targeted performance goals, then a portion of the restricted stock would be forfeited. The targeted performance goal for 2009, as in previous years, is the price of our common stock as compared to the Russell 2000 Index. In order for a participant to retain the restricted shares, our three-year aggregate return to shareholders (as measured by our stock price) must be at least 35% of the performance of the Russell 2000 Index for the three-year period. If our stock performance is less than 35% of the Russell 2000 Index performance, all restricted shares would be forfeited. If it ranges from 35% to less than 100%, a portion of the restricted shares will be forfeited. If it is 100% or greater, no shares are forfeited and the participant does not receive additional shares. We believe that benchmarking the restricted stock performance goals to a broader market index like the Russell 2000 Index aligns the interest of management and stockholders because executives are rewarded only to the extent that our stock price performs relative to the stock prices of companies with similar market capitalizations.

A participant cannot transfer the restricted stock during the restricted period. In addition, during the restricted period, restricted stock generally will be forfeited upon a participant’s termination of employment. A description of the treatment of restricted stock awards upon termination of employment in cases of death, disability or retirement can be found under the heading “Potential Payments Upon Termination or a Change in Control” beginning on page 46 of this Proxy Statement. Upon expiration of the restricted period, absent any forfeiture, we will deliver to the recipient certificates for the appropriate number of shares of common stock, as determined by the Committee based on achievement of the specified performance objectives, free of the restrictive legend.

 

We granted restricted stock to key employees on January 19, 2010, January 20, 2009, January 22, 2008, January 23, 2007, and January 24, 2006. All restrictions on the January 24, 2006 award lapsed on January 24, 2009, and all restrictions on the January 23, 2007 awards lapsed on January 23, 2010. Our stock performance was 203.7% and 119.2% of the Russell 2000 Index for the measurement periods associated with the 2006 and 2007 restricted stock grants, respectively.

 

For purposes of the Summary Compensation Table, restricted stock awards are valued at fair value on the date of grant as calculated in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718 (formerly FAS 123(R)) and this value is reported in the Stock Awards column.

 

The potential payouts under January 20, 2009 restricted stock award can be found in the table headed “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” on page 38 of this Proxy Statement. The maximum number of shares that the named executive could retain under the restricted stock awards granted on January 23, 2007, January 22, 2008, and January 20, 2009, can be found in the table headed “Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year End” beginning on page 39 of this Proxy Statement.

 

We believe that the incentives provided by our stock options, performance share award and restricted stock award programs are consistent with our compensation goals of employee retention, rewarding executives for long-term performance and rewarding executives for long-term increases in our stock price, both in absolute terms and as compared to the broader market.

 

Change in Control Severance Agreements

 

Each of our named executives, as well as eleven other executives, is a party to a change in control severance agreement with us. A description of the terms of the agreements can be found under the heading “Potential Payments Upon Termination or a Change in Control” beginning on page 46 of this Proxy Statement. In entering into these agreements, the Personnel and Compensation Committee desired to assure that we would have the continued dedication of certain executives and the availability of their advice and counsel, notwithstanding the possibility of a change in control, and to induce such executives to remain in our employ. The Committee believes that, should the possibility of a change in control arise, it is imperative that we be able to receive and rely upon our executives’ advice, if requested, as to the best interests of our company and stockholders without the concern that he or she might be distracted by the personal uncertainties and risks created by the possibility of a change in control. The Committee also considered arrangements offered to similarly situated executives of comparable companies.

 

We chose the specific amounts and triggers contained in the change in control agreements because we believe such terms provide reasonable assurances that our executive officers will remain with us during an acquisition or change of control event, should one occur, and assist in the assessment of a possible acquisition or change in control event and advise management and the Board as to whether such acquisition or change in control event would be in the best interests of our company and stockholders.

 

The Personnel and Compensation Committee has reviewed the potential aggregate costs to a potential acquirer associated with the change in control severance agreements, including estimated excise taxes and gross-up payments associated with the agreements. The Committee considers it unlikely that the employment

of all 16 applicable employees would be terminated following a change in control. The Committee did not adjust the compensation of the applicable employees as a result of the employees entering into these change of control severance agreements.

 

Employment Agreement

 

In 1999, we entered into an employment agreement with Dr. Mehrabian, which agreement was amended and restated on April 25, 2001, to update Dr. Mehrabian’s titles and the types and rates of compensation to which he was entitled, on January 24, 2006, primarily to assure compliance with Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code, and on September 1, 2007, to reflect an increase in Dr. Mehrabian’s base salary and, per Dr. Mehrabian’s request, to reflect that his eligibility to receive country club and city club membership and related tax gross-ups was discontinued. The agreement was further amended and restated on January 22, 2009, principally to amend the termination and renewal provisions as described below. The employment agreement was initially entered into in order to memorialize compensation-related agreements made by Dr. Mehrabian and ATI prior to our spin-off from ATI. The amended and restated employment agreement provides that we shall employ Dr. Mehrabian as our Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. The agreement automatically renews for a successive one year unless either party gives the other written notice of its election not to renew at least 12 months before the expiration of the current term or any successive renewal terms. If notice is given, Dr. Mehrabian would then retire on December 31st of the year following the 12th month after receipt of the notice. Under the agreement, we will employ Dr. Mehrabian as the Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer through at least December 31, 2011, because 12 months notice of nonrenewal had not been given prior to the expiration of December 31, 2009.

 

Under the current agreement, Dr. Mehrabian has an annual base salary of $840,000. The agreement provides that Dr. Mehrabian is entitled to participate in our annual incentive bonus plan and other executive compensation and benefit programs. The agreement provides Dr. Mehrabian with a supplemental non-qualified pension arrangement, which we will pay to Dr. Mehrabian starting six months following his retirement for a period of ten years. Effective July 31, 2007, the number of years of credited service under this supplemental pension equalization plan reached the maximum number of ten years; as a result, no additional years of service will be credited under this plan.

 

Perquisites and Other Benefits

 

All of our named executives receive car allowances and/or leased vehicles. We provide car allowances and leased vehicles in cases where the named executive typically travels for business and also for retention of senior executives. In 2007, at the request of our Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, we discontinued making club memberships available.

 

Deferred Compensation

 

Our named executives are eligible to participate in our executive deferred compensation plan. The deferred compensation plan is a voluntary, non-tax qualified, unfunded deferred compensation plan available to all members of management and certain other highly-compensated employees for the purpose of providing deferred compensation, and thus potential tax benefits, to these employees. The deferred compensation plan was initially established to provide benefits to our employees who participated in the ATI executive deferred compensation plan prior to our spin-off. A description of the terms of the deferred compensation plan can be found under the heading “Nonqualified Deferred Compensation” beginning on page 42 of this Proxy Statement. In addition, the Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Table on page 42 of this Proxy Statement sets forth information about the account balances, contributions and withdrawals of each named executive that participates in the deferred compensation plan.

Pension Plans

 

In connection with the spin-off of Teledyne from ATI, we adopted a defined benefit pension plan on terms substantially similar to the parts of the ATI pension plan applicable to all of our employees, both active and inactive, at our operations that perform government contract work and for our active employees at our commercial operations. All of the named executives other than Mr. Geveden participate in the pension plan. The annual benefits payable under these parts of the pension plan to participating salaried employees retiring at or after age 65 is calculated under a formula which takes into account the participant’s compensation and years of service. The Internal Revenue Code limits the amounts payable to participants under a qualified pension plan. We have also adopted a benefit restoration/pension equalization plan, which is designed to restore benefits that would be payable under the pension plan provisions but for the limits imposed by the Internal Revenue Code, to the levels calculated pursuant to the formulas contained in the pension plan provisions or for any monies deferred under our deferred compensation plan.

 

Our pension plan was initially established to provide benefits to employees who participated in the ATI pension plan prior to our spin-off. Effective January 1, 2004, in order to limit our future obligations under our pension plan, new non-union employees do not participate in the pension plan, and effective February 20, 2007, all new employees do not participate in the pension plan. Instead such new hires are eligible to participate in an enhanced 401(k) plan.

 

A description of the terms of our pension plan can be found under the heading “Pension Benefits” beginning on page 41 of this Proxy Statement. In addition, the Pension Benefits Table on page 41 of this Proxy Statement sets forth information about each named executive’s years of credited service and the actuarial present value of each named executive’s accumulated benefit under our pension plan.

 

Policies Relating to the Timing and Pricing of Stock Option Awards and Stock Awards

 

Stock Options   Stock options may be granted under our 2008 Incentive Award Plan by the Personnel and Compensation Committee, which is the administrator of the plan. The Committee has delegated authority to our Chief Executive Officer to grant a specified number of options to employees under the 2008 Incentive Award Plan. This authority is used to make grants to new hires, upon promotion of certain employees, to retain certain employees, and in connection with acquisitions. Of these shares, 46,500 remained available for grant by our Chief Executive Officer under this delegated authority as of January 19, 2010. Stock options may also be granted to non-employee directors pursuant to administrative rules under our 2008 Incentive Award Plan. Our Nominating and Governance Committee administers these administrative rules related to non-employee director equity awards.

 

Stock options are generally granted to employees by the Personnel and Compensation Committee in January of each year at its regularly scheduled committee meeting, although no stock option awards were made to employees in 2009. At this meeting the Committee finalizes annual bonuses for the previous fiscal year and sets the terms of our annual incentive plan for the current fiscal year. We typically issue our press release containing financial results for the fourth quarter and year end shortly following this meeting date. Grants by our Chief Executive Officer under his delegated authority may be made at any time, but primarily have been made to new hires (including new hires resulting from acquisitions) or following the successful completion of special projects. No option grants were made in 2009 by our Chief Executive Officer under his delegated authority. Under administrative rules relating to non-employee director equity compensation under the 2008 Incentive Award Plan, an annual grant of options to purchase 4,000 shares is made to each non-employee director after our annual meeting of stockholders. In addition, directors may elect to receive all or a part of their board and committee meeting fees and annual retainer fee in the form of stock options.

 

Pursuant to the terms of the 2008 Incentive Award Plan, the exercise price for new stock option grants must equal the fair market value of our common stock, which for purposes of the Plan is defined as the closing sales price of a share of our common stock on the New York Stock Exchange on the date of grant. Pursuant to the terms of our 1999 Incentive Plan and 2002 Stock Incentive Plan, the exercise price for new stock option grants must equal the fair market value of our common stock, which for purposes of the plans is defined as the average of the high and low quoted sales price of a share of our common stock on the New York Stock Exchange on the date of grant. New grants made by our Personnel and Compensation Committee have exercise prices equal to the fair market value of our common stock on the date of the meeting at which the grant was approved by the Committee. Grants made by the Chief Executive Officer have exercise prices equal to the fair market value of our common stock on the date of grant. Stock options granted to non-employee directors as part of the annual grant have exercise prices equal to the fair market value of our common stock on the date of grant. For a non-employee director that elects to have all or a portion of his or her retainer or meeting fees paid in the form of stock options, the number of shares to be subject to the stock option is determined by dividing the applicable portion of the non-employee director’s fees elected to be received as stock options by an amount equal to the fair market value of a share of common stock on the date of grant multiplied by 0.3333, and the exercise price for such non-employee director’s stock options is equal to the fair market value of our common stock on the date of grant multiplied by 0.6666.

 

Stock Awards   Restricted stock awards and performance share program stock awards may be granted under our 2008 Incentive Award Plan by the Personnel and Compensation Committee, which is the administrator of the Plan.

 

Restricted stock awards are generally granted each year by the Personnel and Compensation Committee at the same January meeting that the Personnel and Compensation Committee makes stock option award grants. The number of shares is determined by dividing an amount generally equal in value to 30% of a participating executive’s base salary by the average of the high and low stock prices for 20 trading days preceding the date of grant.

Performance cycles under the performance share program are generally established once every three years, at the same January meeting that the Personnel and Compensation Committee makes restricted stock award grants and stock option award grants. Under the 2008 Incentive Award Plan, the number of shares for the stock portion of the award is determined by dividing one half of the value of the award by an amount equal to the fair market value of a share of our common stock on the New York Stock Exchange on the date that the performance cycle is established by the Personnel and Compensation Committee.

 

For non-employee directors that elect to receive meeting fees or annual retainer fees in the form of a stock award the number of shares to be subject to the stock award is determined by dividing the applicable portion of the non-employee director’s fees elected to be received as stock by an amount equal to the closing sales price of a share of our common stock on the New York Stock Exchange on the meeting date. For annual retainer fees, which are paid semi-annually, the grant date is the first business day of January and July.

 

Stock Ownership Policies

 

Our Personnel and Compensation Committee believes stock-based compensation is an important element of compensation and, as discussed above, stock-based compensation figures prominently in our mix of compensation. In 2008, our Board adopted stock ownership guidelines that require key executives and non-employee directors to maintain ownership of a specified amount of Teledyne common stock. Key executives are required to own shares of Teledyne common stock equal in market value to the amount set forth below:

 

 

A key executive who is defined as a recipient of a restricted stock award is expected to attain the minimum level of target ownership within a period of five years from the date of hire or promotion, and is expected to own continuously sufficient shares to meet the guideline once attained.

 

Each non-employee director is required to own shares of Teledyne common stock equal in market value to three times the amount of the annual retainer. A new director is expected to attain the minimum level of target ownership within a period of five years from the date he or she is first becomes a director of the Company. Once achieved, the guideline amount must be maintained for so long as the non-employee director retains his seat on the Board.

 

In determining the value of common stock the Nominating and Governance Committee uses the average price of Teledyne common stock during the most recent calendar year. Restricted stock and vested in-the-money options are included in the definition of common stock.

 

Our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee reviews compliance with the stock ownership guidelines annually at its January meeting. As of January 2010, all of our key executives and non-employee directors owned sufficient shares to comply with the guidelines with the exception of three executives (including Mr. Geveden), all of whom had additional time to achieve compliance pursuant to the terms of the guidelines. The full text of our stock ownership guidelines is available on our website at www.teledyne.com.

 

 

We have reviewed and discussed the foregoing Compensation Discussion and Analysis with management. Based on our review and discussion with management, we have recommended to the Board of Directors that the Compensation Discussion and Analysis be included in this proxy statement and in Teledyne Technologies Incorporated’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 3, 2010.

 

Submitted by the Personnel and Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors:

 

Charles Crocker, Chair

Roxanne S. Austin

Kenneth C. Dahlberg

Wesley W. von Schack

 

February 16, 2010

 

No member of the Personnel and Compensation Committee of our Board of Directors is an officer or employee of the Company. During 2009, no member of the Committee had a current or prior relationship and no officer who was a statutory insider had a relationship to any other company, in each case that must be described under the Securities and Exchange Commission rules relating to disclosure of executive compensation.

 

The following Summary Compensation Table sets forth information about the compensation earned by certain of our executive officers during the 2009, 2008 and 2007 fiscal years. It sets forth information about compensation paid to: (1) our Chief Executive Officer, (2) our Chief Financial Officer and (3) the three other most highly compensated executive officers who were required to file reports under Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 for fiscal 2009 (collectively, the “named executives”).

 

 

 

Grants of Plan-Based Awards

 

The table below sets forth information on grants to the named executives of options and stock awards in fiscal year 2009.

 

 

 

 

 

The material terms of our Annual Incentive Plan, stock option awards, performance share program, restricted stock award program and our employment agreement with Dr. Mehrabian are described in Compensation Discussion and Analysis.

Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End

 

The following table summarizes the outstanding equity awards held by the named executives as of January 3, 2010.

 

 

 

 

Option Exercises and Stock Vested

 

The following table sets forth information about stock options exercised by the named executives in fiscal year 2009 and stock awards that vested or were paid in fiscal year 2009 to the named executives.

 

 

 

Pension Benefits

 

The following table describes pension benefits provided to the named executives. Since Mr. Geveden was hired after January 1, 2004, he does not participate in any pension plan sponsored by us and is not included as a named executive for purposes of this Pension Benefits discussion.

 

 

Teledyne Technologies Incorporated Pension Plan

 

In connection with the spin-off of Teledyne from ATI, we adopted the Teledyne Technologies Incorporated Pension Plan on terms substantially similar to the parts of the defined benefit ATI Pension Plan applicable to our employees, both active and inactive, at our operations that perform government contract work and for our active employees at our commercial operations. Effective January 1, 2004, new non-union employee hires, and effective February 20, 2007, all new employee hires, do not participate in the Pension Plan, but are eligible to participate in our enhanced Teledyne Technologies Incorporated 401(k) Plan. The annual benefits payable under these parts of the pension plan to participating salaried employees retiring at or after age 65 is calculated under a formula which takes into account the participant’s compensation and years of service. The Internal Revenue Code limits the amounts payable to participants under a qualified pension plan.

 

The normal retirement age under the qualified Pension Plan is generally age 65. Participants that have satisfied the Pension Plan’s eligibility requirements and terminate employment on or after their normal retirement date will be eligible to receive a lifetime monthly income following termination of employment. Generally, the basic retirement benefit is equal to one percent of a participant’s average monthly compensation up to monthly Social Security covered compensation, plus 1.65% of average monthly salary in excess of monthly Social Security covered compensation. This amount is then multiplied by the years of credited service completed by the participant, up to 30 years, but with some grandfathered exceptions, such as in the case of

Mr. Schnittjer. In general, a participant that has achieved the age of 55 and has completed five years of service or has a vested accrued benefit is eligible for early retirement benefits under the Pension Plan. Early retirement benefits are reduced by an amount equal to 3 percent for each year that a participant’s early retirement date precedes his or her normal retirement date. Participants in the Pension Plan have the choice of different annuity types. Participants are prohibited from changing the annuity type elected once monthly benefit payments begin.

 

All of the named executives who participate in our pension plans are currently eligible for either normal retirement or early retirement. For named executives, a year of credited service is any year in which the named executive has performed 1,000 or more service hours. None of the named executives have been granted extra years of credited service and it is our policy not to grant participants, including named executives, with extra years of credited service.

 

Pension Equalization/Benefit Restoration Plan

 

We have also adopted a Pension Equalization/Benefit Restoration Plan, which is designed to restore benefits which would be payable under the pension plan provisions but for the limits imposed by the Internal Revenue Code, to the levels calculated pursuant to the formulas contained in the pension plan provisions or for any monies deferred under the Teledyne Technologies Incorporated Executive Deferred Compensation Plan. The Pension Equalization/Benefit Restoration Plan provides that Teledyne will pay to the participant, without requirement for participant contribution upon his retirement, a retirement benefit equal to the difference between the maximum life annuity to which the participant would be entitled under the qualified Pension Plan upon his or her retirement and the life annuity which is actually paid to the participant under the qualified Pension Plan after giving effect to the limitations imposed by the Internal Revenue Code.

 

Employment Agreement with Dr. Mehrabian

 

The agreement with Dr. Mehrabian provides him with a non-qualified supplemental pension arrangement under which we will pay annually to Dr. Mehrabian starting six months following his retirement and for a period of ten years, as payments supplemental to any accrued pension under our qualified pension plan, an amount equal to 50 percent of his base compensation as in effect at retirement. Effective July 31, 2007, the number of years of credited service under this supplemental pension equalization plan reached the maximum number of ten years; as a result, no additional years of service will be credited under this plan.

Nonqualified Deferred Compensation

 

The following table sets forth information about the participation of named executives in the Executive Deferred Compensation Plan.