Document

Exhibit 4.3



DESCRIPTION OF THE REGISTRANT’S SECURITIES 
REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 
OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934


Introduction


In the discussion that follows, Welbilt, Inc. (the "Company") has summarized the material provisions of its Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws relating to its capital stock. This discussion is subject to the relevant provisions of Delaware law and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (“Certificate of Incorporation”), and Amended and Restated Bylaws (“Bylaws”). The Company’s Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws include more details regarding the provisions described below and other provisions. The Company has filed copies of those documents with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).


Authorized Capital Stock


The Company’s authorized capital stock consists of 300,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share (“Common Stock”), and 3,500,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share (“Preferred Stock”). 


Common Stock


Dividends. Holders of shares of our Common Stock will be entitled to receive dividends when, as and if declared by the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”) at its discretion out of funds legally available for that purpose, subject to the preferential rights of any outstanding shares of Preferred Stock. The timing, declaration, amount and payment of future dividends depends on the Company’s financial condition, earnings, capital requirements and debt service obligations, as well as legal requirements, regulatory constraints, industry practice and other factors that the Board deems relevant. The Company’s Board makes all decisions regarding its payment of dividends from time-to-time in accordance with applicable law. 


Voting Rights. The holders of the Company’s Common Stock are entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters submitted to a vote of the stockholders. With certain exceptions, a majority of the votes cast at a stockholder meeting at which a quorum is present must approve all stockholder matters. Except with respect to vacancies or new directorships, the Company’s Bylaws provide that the Board’s directors are elected by the vote of the majority of the votes cast (meaning the number of shares voted “for” a director must exceed the number of shares voted “against” that director). However, if there are more nominees for election than the number of directors to be elected, directors will be elected by a plurality of the votes cast on the election of directors at a stockholder meeting at which a quorum is present. The holders of the Company’s Common Stock do not have cumulative voting rights for the election of directors or for any other purpose.


Other Rights. Subject to any preferential liquidation rights of holders of Preferred Stock that may be outstanding, upon the Company’s dissolution, the holders of Common Stock will be entitled to share ratably in its assets legally available for distribution to the Company’s stockholders. The holders of the Common Stock do not have preemptive rights or preferential rights to subscribe for shares of the Company’s capital stock.


Fully Paid. The issued and outstanding shares of Common Stock are fully paid and non-assessable. Any additional shares of Common Stock that may be issued in the future will also be fully paid and non-assessable.


Undesignated Preferred Stock


The Company currently has no outstanding shares of Preferred Stock, and the Board has no present intention to issue any shares of Preferred Stock. The Company is authorized to issue up to 3,500,000 shares of Preferred Stock in one or more class or series. The Board, without further action by the holders of the Common Stock, may issue shares of Preferred Stock. The Board is vested with the authority to fix by resolution the designations, preferences and relative, participating, optional or other special rights, and the qualifications, limitations or restrictions of any Preferred Stock issued, including, without limitation, redemption rights, dividend rights, liquidation preferences and conversion or exchange rights of any class or series of Preferred Stock, and to fix the number of classes or series of Preferred Stock, the number of shares constituting each class or series and the voting powers for each class or series.


Anti-Takeover Provisions of the Company’s Charter and Bylaws and Delaware Law


The Company’s Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws include a number of provisions that may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing another party from acquiring control of it and encouraging persons considering unsolicited tender offers or other unilateral takeover proposals to negotiate with the Company’s Board rather than pursue non-negotiated takeover attempts. These provisions include the items described below.


Filling Vacancies. Any vacancy on the Board, however occurring, including a vacancy resulting from an increase in the size of the Board, may be filled by the affirmative vote of a majority of the Board’s directors then in office, even if less than a quorum. The treatment of vacancies may have the effect of making it more difficult for stockholders to change the composition of the Board.










Advance Notice Requirements. The Company’s Bylaws establish advance notice procedures with regard to stockholder proposals relating to the nomination of candidates for election as directors or new business to be brought before meetings of the Company’s stockholders. These procedures provide that notice of stockholder proposals must be timely given in writing to the Company’s secretary prior to the meeting at which the action is to be taken. Generally, to be timely, notice must be received at the Company’s principal executive offices not less than 90 days nor more than 120 days prior to the first anniversary date of the annual meeting for the preceding year. The Company’s Bylaws specify the requirements as to form and content of all stockholders’ notices. These requirements may preclude stockholders from bringing matters before the stockholders at an annual or special meeting.


Choice of Forum. The Company’s Bylaws provide that, unless consent is given in writing to an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if that court does not have jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Delaware) will be the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on the Company’s behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of or based on a breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of the Company’s current or former directors, officers and employees to the Company or its stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against the Company or any of the current or former directors, officers, employees or stockholders arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law, the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation or Bylaws, or (iv) any action asserting a claim that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. Although the Company believes this provision is beneficial by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against the Company’s directors and officers.


Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. The Company is subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. 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. 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 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 Company’s voting stock outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, excluding for purposes of determining the voting stock outstanding, shares owned by persons who are directors and also officers, and employee stock plans, in some instances, but not the outstanding voting stock owned by the interested stockholder; or
•at or after the time the stockholder became interested, the business combination was approved by the Board 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.


Section 203 defines a business combination to include:


•any merger or consolidation involving the Company and the interested stockholder;
•any sale, transfer, lease, pledge or other disposition involving the interested stockholder of 10% or more of the Company’s our assets;
•subject to exceptions, any transaction that results in the issuance or transfer by the Company of any of its stock to the interested stockholder;
•subject to exceptions, any transaction involving the Company that has the effect of increasing the proportionate share of the stock of any of the Company’s class or series beneficially owned by the interested stockholder; and
•the receipt by the interested stockholder of the benefit of any loans, advances, guarantees, pledges or other financial benefits provided by or through the Company.


In general, Section 203 defines an interested stockholder as any entity or person beneficially owning 15% or more of the outstanding voting stock of the Company and any entity or person affiliated with or controlling or controlled by the entity or person.


Undesignated Preferred Stock. The Company’s Certificate of Incorporation provides for 3,500,000 authorized shares of Preferred Stock. The existence of authorized but unissued shares of Preferred Stock may enable the Board to discourage an attempt to obtain control of the Company by means of a merger, tender offer, proxy contest or otherwise. For example, if in the due exercise of its fiduciary obligations, the Board were to determine that a takeover proposal is not in the best interests of the Company’s stockholders, the Board could cause shares of Preferred Stock to be issued without stockholder approval in one or more private offerings or other transactions that might dilute the voting or other rights of the proposed acquirer or insurgent stockholder or stockholder group. In this regard, the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation grants the Board broad power to establish the rights and preferences of authorized and unissued shares of Preferred Stock. The issuance of shares of Preferred Stock could decrease the amount of earnings and assets available for distribution to holders of shares of Common Stock. The issuance may also adversely affect the rights and powers, including voting rights, of these holders and may have the effect of delaying, deterring or preventing a change in control of the Company.