stok-ex43_1204.htm



Exhibit 4.3

 

Description of the Registrant’s Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

As of December 31, 2020, Stoke Therapeutics, Inc. (the “Company,” “we,” or “our”) had one class of securities registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”): our common stock.

The following description summarizes the most important terms of our capital stock and certain provisions of our restated certificate of incorporation and restated bylaws. Because it is only a summary, it does not contain all of the information that may be important to you. For a complete description, you should refer to our restated certificate of incorporation and restated bylaws, which are incorporated by reference as an exhibit to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of which this Exhibit 4.3 is a part, and to the provisions of applicable Delaware law.

Authorized Capital Stock

Our authorized capital stock consists of 300,000,000 shares of common stock, $0.0001 par value per share, and 10,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock, $0.0001 par value per share.

Common stock

 

Dividend rights

Subject to preferences that may apply to any shares of preferred stock outstanding at the time, the holders of our common stock are entitled to receive dividends out of funds legally available if our board of directors, in its discretion, determines to issue dividends and then only at the times and in the amounts that our board of directors may determine. 

 

Voting rights

Holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters submitted to a vote of stockholders. We have not provided for cumulative voting for the election of directors in our restated certificate of incorporation, which means that holders of a majority of the shares of our common stock are able to elect all of our directors. Our restated certificate of incorporation established a classified board of directors, divided into three classes with staggered three-year terms. Only one class of directors is elected at each annual meeting of our stockholders, with the other classes continuing for the remainder of their respective three-year terms.

 

No preemptive or similar rights

Our common stock is not entitled to preemptive rights, and is not subject to conversion, redemption or sinking fund provisions.

 

Right to receive liquidation distributions

Upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding-up, the assets legally available for distribution to our stockholders would be distributable ratably among the holders of our common stock and any participating preferred stock outstanding at that time, subject to prior satisfaction of all outstanding debt and liabilities and the preferential rights of and the payment of liquidation preferences, if any, on any outstanding shares of preferred stock.

 

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Preferred stock

Our board of directors is authorized, subject to limitations prescribed by Delaware law, to issue up to 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock in one or more series, to establish from time to time the number of shares to be included in each series and to fix the designation, powers, preferences and rights of the shares of each series and any of their qualifications, limitations or restrictions, in each case without further vote or action by our stockholders. Our board of directors is also able to increase or decrease the number of shares of any series of preferred stock, but not below the number of shares of that series then outstanding, without any further vote or action by our stockholders. 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 might adversely affect the market price of our common stock and the voting and other rights of the holders of our common stock. We have no current plan to issue any shares of preferred stock.

 

Anti-takeover provisions

Certain provisions of Delaware General Corporation Law, or DGCL, our restated certificate of incorporation and our restated bylaws could have the effect of delaying, deferring or discouraging another person from acquiring control of our company. These provisions, which are summarized below, may have the effect of discouraging takeover bids. They are also designed, in part, to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of us to negotiate first with our board of directors. 

 

Delaware law

We are subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the DGCL regulating corporate takeovers. In general, Section 203 prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in a “business combination” with an “interested stockholder” for a period of three years following the date on which the person became an interested stockholder unless:

 


	
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prior to the date of the transaction, the board of directors of the corporation approved either the business combination or the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder;




 


	
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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, but not the outstanding voting stock owned by the interested stockholder, (i) shares owned by persons who are directors and also officers and (ii) shares owned by employee stock plans in which employee participants do not have the right to determine confidentially whether shares held subject to the plan will be tendered in a tender or exchange offer; or




 


	
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at or subsequent to the date of the transaction, the business combination is approved by the board of directors of the corporation and authorized at an annual or special meeting of stockholders, and not by written consent, by the affirmative vote of at least 66.67% of the outstanding voting stock that is not owned by the interested stockholder.




Generally, a business combination includes a merger, asset or stock sale, or other transaction or series of transactions together resulting in a financial benefit to the interested stockholder. An interested stockholder is a person who, together with affiliates and associates, owns or, within three years prior to the determination of interested stockholder status, did own 15% or more of a corporation’s outstanding voting stock. 

 

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Restated certificate of incorporation and restated bylaw provisions

Our restated certificate of incorporation and our restated bylaws include a number of provisions that could deter hostile takeovers or delay or prevent changes in control of our company, including the following:

 

 


	
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Board of directors vacancies. Our restated certificate of incorporation and restated bylaws authorize only our board of directors to fill vacant directorships, including newly created seats. In addition, the number of directors constituting our board of directors is permitted to be set only by a resolution adopted by a majority vote of our entire board of directors. These provisions would prevent a stockholder from increasing the size of our board of directors and then gaining control of our board of directors by filling the resulting vacancies with its own nominees. This makes it more difficult to change the composition of our board of directors but promotes continuity of management.




 

 


	
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Classified board. Our restated certificate of incorporation and restated bylaws provide that our board of directors is classified into three classes of directors, each with staggered 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 of directors. 




 

 


	
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Stockholder action; special meetings of stockholders. Our restated certificate of incorporation provides that our stockholders may not take action by written consent, but may only take action at annual or special meetings of our stockholders. As a result, a holder controlling a majority of our capital stock would not be able to amend our restated bylaws or remove directors without holding a meeting of our stockholders called in accordance with our restated bylaws. Further, our restated bylaws provide that special meetings of our stockholders may be called only by a majority of our board of directors, the chairman of our board of directors, our Chief Executive Officer or our President, thus prohibiting a stockholder from calling a special meeting. These provisions might delay the ability of our stockholders to force consideration of a proposal or for stockholders controlling a majority of our capital stock to take any action, including the removal of directors.




 

 


	
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Advance notice requirements for stockholder proposals and director nominations. Our restated bylaws provide advance notice procedures for stockholders seeking to bring business before our annual meeting of stockholders or to nominate candidates for election as directors at our annual meeting of stockholders. Our restated bylaws also specify certain requirements regarding the form and content of a stockholder’s notice. These provisions might preclude our stockholders from bringing matters before our annual meeting of stockholders or from making nominations for directors at our annual meeting of stockholders if the proper procedures are not followed. We expect that these provisions might also discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of our company.




 

 


	
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No cumulative voting. The DGCL provides that stockholders are not entitled to the right to cumulate votes in the election of directors unless a corporation’s certificate of incorporation provides otherwise. Our restated certificate of incorporation and restated bylaws do not provide for cumulative voting.




 

 


	
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Directors removed only for cause. Our restated certificate of incorporation provides that stockholders may remove directors only for cause and only by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least two-thirds of our outstanding common stock.




 

 


	
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Amendment of charter provisions. Any amendment of the above expected provisions in our restated certificate of incorporation requires approval by holders of at least two-thirds of our outstanding common stock.




 

 

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Issuance of undesignated preferred stock. Our board of directors has the authority, without further action by the stockholders, to issue up to 10,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock with rights and preferences, including voting rights, designated from time to time by our board of directors. The existence of authorized but unissued shares of preferred stock would enable our board of directors to render more difficult or to discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by merger, tender offer, proxy contest or other means.




 

 


	
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Choice of forum. Our restated certificate of incorporation provides that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the exclusive forum for any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf; any action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty; any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to the DGCL, our restated certificate of incorporation or our restated bylaws; or any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. The enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ certificates of incorporation has been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is possible that a court could find these types of provisions to be inapplicable or unenforceable. This exclusive forum provision does not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act. In addition, our restated bylaws provide that unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternate forum, the federal district courts of the United States are the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Nothing in our restated certificate of incorporation or restated bylaws precludes stockholders from asserting claims to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act, or any other claim for which the federal courts of the United States have exclusive jurisdiction..




 

 

Transfer agent and registrar

The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC. 

 

Nasdaq Global Select Market listing

Our common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “STOK.”

 

 

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