Document

Exhibit 4.1
Description of capital stock
The following description of the capital stock of Trean Insurance Group, Inc. (“Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) and provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated by-laws are summaries and do not purport to be complete. They are qualified in their entirety by reference to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated by-laws that are incorporated by reference as exhibits to the Annual Report on Form 10-K (the “2020 Form 10-K”) of which this Exhibit 4.1 is a part, and by applicable law.


Authorized capital stock
Our authorized capital stock consists of 600,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, and 100,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share. As of March 19, 2021, we had 51,148,782 shares of our common stock outstanding, held by 16 stockholders of record, and no shares of preferred stock outstanding. 


Common stock
Holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote per share on all matters submitted to a vote of stockholders, including the election of directors. Our common stockholders are not entitled to cumulative voting in the election of directors. Subject to preferences that may be applicable to any outstanding shares of preferred stock, holders of our common stock are entitled to receive ratably such dividends as may be declared by our board of directors out of funds legally available therefor if our board of directors, in its discretion, determines to issue dividends and only then at the times and in the amounts that our board of directors may determine. Upon the liquidation, dissolution or winding-up of the Company, the holders of our common stock will be entitled to receive their ratable share of the net assets of the Company available after payment of all debts and other liabilities, subject to the prior preferential rights and payment of liquidation preferences, if any, of any outstanding shares of preferred stock. Holders of our common stock have no preemptive, subscription or redemption rights. There are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to our common stock. The rights, preferences and privileges of the holders of our common stock are subject to, and may be adversely affected by, the rights of the holders of shares of any series of preferred stock that we may designate in the future.


Preferred stock
Our board of directors has the authority, subject to the limitations imposed by Delaware law and the Nasdaq listing rules, without any further vote or action by our stockholders, to issue preferred stock in one or more series and to fix the designations, powers, preferences, limitations and rights of the shares of each series, including:
•dividend rates;
•conversion rights;
•voting rights;
•terms of redemption and liquidation preferences; and
•the number of shares constituting each series.
Satisfaction of any dividend preferences of outstanding shares of preferred stock would reduce the amount of funds available for the payment of dividends on shares of our common stock. Holders of shares of preferred stock may be entitled to receive a preference payment in the event of our liquidation, dissolution or winding-up before any payment is made to the holders of shares of our common stock.


Our board of directors may authorize the issuance of preferred stock with voting or conversion rights that could adversely affect the voting power or other rights of the holders of our common stock. The issuance of preferred stock, while providing flexibility in connection with possible acquisitions and other corporate purposes, could, among other things, have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of our company and may adversely affect the market price of our common stock and the voting and other rights of the holders of our common stock.


There are no current agreements or understandings with respect to the issuance of preferred stock and our board of directors has no present intentions to issue any shares of preferred stock.










Certain anti-takeover provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our amended and restated by-laws and applicable law
Certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, amended and restated by-laws, Delaware law and insurance regulations applicable to our business may discourage or make more difficult a takeover attempt that a stockholder might consider in his or her best interest. These provisions may also adversely affect prevailing market prices for our common stock. We believe that the benefits of increased protection give us the potential ability to negotiate with the proponent of an unsolicited proposal to acquire or restructure us and outweigh the disadvantage of discouraging those proposals because negotiation of the proposals could result in an improvement of their terms.


Authorized but unissued capital stock
Delaware law does not require stockholder approval for any issuance of authorized shares. However, the listing requirements of the Nasdaq, which apply so long as our common stock remains listed on the Nasdaq, require stockholder approval of certain issuances equal to or exceeding 20% of the then outstanding voting power or then outstanding number of shares of common stock. These additional shares may be used for a variety of corporate purposes, including future public offerings, to raise additional capital or to facilitate acquisitions.


Our board of directors may generally issue preferred shares on terms calculated to discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of our company or the removal of our management. Moreover, our authorized but unissued shares of preferred stock will be available for future issuances without stockholder approval and could be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future offerings to raise additional capital, acquisitions and employee benefit plans.


One of the effects of the existence of unissued and unreserved common stock or preferred stock may be to enable our board of directors to issue shares to persons friendly to current management, which issuance could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of our company by means of a merger, tender offer, proxy contest or otherwise, and thereby protect the continuity of our management and possibly deprive our stockholders of opportunities to sell their shares of common stock at prices higher than prevailing market prices.


Classified board of directors; number of directors
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated by-laws provide that, subject to any rights of holders of preferred stock to elect additional directors under specified circumstances, the number of directors will be fixed from time to time exclusively pursuant to a resolution adopted by the board of directors.


Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that our board of directors is divided into three classes with staggered three-year terms, with the classes as nearly equal in number as possible. As a result, one class (i.e., approximately one-third of our board of directors) is elected at each annual meeting of stockholders, with the other classes continuing for the remainder of their respective three-year terms. A third party may be discouraged from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us as it is more difficult and time-consuming for stockholders to replace a majority of the directors on a classified board. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation also provides that the number of directors on our board is fixed exclusively pursuant to resolution adopted by our board of directors.


In connection with our initial public offering which closed July 20, 2020, we entered into a Director Nomination Agreement that grants the Altaris Funds the right to nominate individuals to our board of directors provided certain ownership requirements are met. 


Vacancies
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, subject to the rights granted to one or more series of preferred stock then outstanding, any vacancies on our board of directors will be filled only by the affirmative vote of a majority of the remaining directors, even if less than a quorum, or by a sole remaining director.


Special stockholder meetings
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated by-laws provides that special meetings of our stockholders for any purpose or purposes may be called at any time only (i) by the chairman of our board of directors, (ii) by our chief executive officer, (iii) pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of our board of directors or (iv) until the date that the principal stockholders cease to beneficially own 30% or more of our outstanding shares, at the request of holders of at least 50% of our outstanding shares. Except as described above, stockholders will not have the authority to call a special meeting of 








stockholders. Our amended and restated by-laws prohibit the conduct of any business at a special meeting other than as specified in the notice for such meeting.


Requirements for advance notification of director nominations and stockholder proposals
Our amended and restated by-laws establish advance notice procedures with respect to stockholder proposals and the nomination of candidates for election as directors, other than nominations made by or at the direction of the board of directors or a committee of the board of directors. In order for any matter to be "properly brought" before a meeting, a stockholder must comply with advance notice requirements and provide us with certain information. Generally, to be timely, a stockholder's notice must be received at our principal executive offices not less than 90 days nor more than 120 days prior to the first anniversary date of the immediately preceding annual meeting of stockholders. Our amended and restated by-laws also specify requirements as to the form and content of a stockholder's notice. Our amended and restated by-laws allow the chairman of the meeting at a meeting of the stockholders to adopt rules and regulations for the conduct of meetings which may have the effect of precluding the conduct of certain business at a meeting if the rules and regulations are not followed. These provisions do not apply to the principal stockholders at any time when they beneficially own, in the aggregate, less than 30% of our outstanding common stock. These provisions may also defer, delay or discourage a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer's own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to influence or obtain control of us.


Stockholder action by written consent
Pursuant to Section 228 of the DGCL, any action required to be taken at any annual or special meeting of the stockholders may be taken without a meeting, without prior notice and without a vote if a consent or consents in writing, setting forth the action so taken, is or are signed by the holders of outstanding stock having not less than the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to authorize or take such action at a meeting at which all shares of our stock entitled to vote thereon were present and voted, unless our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides otherwise. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation precludes stockholder action by written consent at any time when the principal stockholders beneficially own, in the aggregate, less than 30% of our outstanding common stock.


Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law
As a Delaware corporation, we are subject to Section 203 of the DGCL. In general, Section 203 prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in a "business combination" with an "interested stockholder" for a three-year period following the time that this stockholder becomes an interested stockholder, unless the business combination is approved in a prescribed manner. A "business combination" includes, among other things, a merger, asset or stock sale or other transaction resulting in a financial benefit to the interested stockholder. An "interested stockholder" is a person who, together with affiliates and associates, owns, or did own within three years prior to the determination of interested stockholder status, 15% or more of the corporation's voting stock. For the avoidance of doubt, our principal stockholders, the Altaris Funds, are not interested stockholders. Under Section 203, a business combination between a corporation and an interested stockholder is prohibited unless it satisfies one of the following conditions:
•before the stockholder became interested, the board of directors approved either the business combination or the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder;
•upon consummation of the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, the interested stockholder owned at least 85% of the voting stock of the corporation outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, excluding for purposes of determining the voting stock outstanding, shares owned by persons who are directors and officers; or
•at or after the time the stockholder became interested, the business combination was approved by the board of directors of the corporation and authorized at an annual or special meeting of the stockholders by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock which is not owned by the interested stockholder.
A Delaware corporation may "opt out" of Section 203 with an express provision in its original certificate of incorporation or an express provision in its certificate of incorporation or by-laws resulting from amendments approved by holders of at least a majority of the corporation's outstanding voting shares. We will elect to "opt out" of Section 203.


Insurance regulations
The insurance laws and regulations of the states of Kansas, the state of domicile of Benchmark, California, where Benchmark is commercially domiciled, and Utah, the state of domicile of ALIC, may delay or impede a business combination involving our company. State insurance laws prohibit an entity from acquiring control of an insurance company without the prior approval of the domestic insurance regulator. Under most states' statutes, including Kansas', California's and Utah's, an entity is presumed to 








have control of an insurance company if it owns, directly or indirectly, 10% or more of the voting stock of that insurance company or its parent company. These regulatory restrictions may delay, deter or prevent a potential merger or sale of our company, even if our board of directors decides that it is in the best interests of stockholders for us to merge or be sold. These restrictions also may delay sales by us or acquisitions by third parties of our subsidiaries.


Certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation
Exclusive forum
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware shall be the exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers or other employees to us or to our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or (iv) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine. Unless the Company consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the exclusive forum for any action under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act shall be either the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware or the federal district court for the District of Delaware. This exclusive forum provision will not apply to claims which are vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, for which the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware does not have subject matter jurisdiction or, in the case of an action under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, for which neither the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware nor the federal district court for the District of Delaware has subject matter jurisdiction.


Conflicts of interest
The DGCL permits corporations to adopt provisions renouncing any interest or expectancy in certain opportunities that are presented to the corporation or its officers, directors or stockholders. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation renounces, to the maximum extent permitted from time to time by law, any interest or expectancy that we have in, or right to be offered an opportunity to participate in, specified business opportunities that are from time to time presented to our officers, directors or stockholders or their respective affiliates, other than those officers, directors, stockholders or affiliates who are our or our subsidiaries' employees. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, each of the principal stockholders or any of their affiliates or any director who is not employed by us or his or her affiliates will have no duty to refrain from (i) engaging in a corporate opportunity in the same or similar lines of business in which we or our affiliates now engage or propose to engage or (ii) otherwise competing with us or our affiliates. In addition, to the fullest extent permitted by law, in the event that the principal stockholders or any non-employee director acquires knowledge of a potential transaction or other business opportunity which may be a corporate opportunity for themselves or himself or their or his affiliates or for us or our affiliates, such person will have no duty to communicate or offer such transaction or business opportunity to us or any of our affiliates and they may take any such opportunity for themselves or offer it to another person or entity. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation does not renounce our interest in any business opportunity that is expressly offered to a non-employee director solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the Company. To the fullest extent permitted by law, no business opportunity will be deemed to be a potential corporate opportunity for us unless we would be permitted to undertake the opportunity under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, we have sufficient financial resources to undertake the opportunity and the opportunity would be in line with our business.


Limitation of liability and indemnification of directors and officers
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation includes provisions that limit the personal liability of our directors for monetary damages for breach of their fiduciary duties as directors, except to the extent that such limitation is not permitted under the DGCL. Such limitation shall not apply, except to the extent permitted by the DGCL, to (i) any breach of a director's duty of loyalty to us or our stockholders, (ii) acts or omissions not in good faith or that involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law, (iii) any unlawful payment of a dividend or unlawful stock repurchase or redemption, as provided in Section 174 of the DGCL, or (iv) any transaction from which the director derived an improper personal benefit. These provisions will have no effect on the availability of equitable remedies such as an injunction or rescission based on a director's breach of his or her duty of care.


Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our by-laws provide for indemnification, to the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL, of any person made or threatened to be made a party to any action, suit or proceeding by reason of the fact that such person is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the Company, or, at our request, serves or served as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or any other enterprise, against all expenses, judgments, fines, amounts paid in settlement and other losses actually and reasonably incurred in connection with the defense or settlement of such action, suit or proceeding. In addition, we intend to enter into indemnification agreements with each of our directors and executive officers pursuant to which we will agree to indemnify each such executive officer and director to the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL.










Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers or persons controlling the Company pursuant to the foregoing provisions, we have been informed that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is therefore unenforceable.


Listing
Our common stock is listed on the Nasdaq under the symbol "TIG."


Transfer agent and registrar
The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is Equiniti Trust Company. The transfer agent's address is 1110 Centre Pointe Curve, Suite 101, Mendota Heights, MN 55120.