Exhibit 4.5
DESCRIPTION OF THE REGISTRANT’S COMMON STOCK
References to “the Company,” “Collegium,” “we,” “our” and “us” herein are, unless the context otherwise indicates, only to Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc. and not to any of its subsidiaries.
The following description of our common stock is a summary and does not purport to be complete. It is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to our Third Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation (our “amended and restated articles of incorporation”) and amended and restated bylaws, each of which is incorporated by reference as an exhibit to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of which this Exhibit 4.5 is a part. We encourage you to read our amended and restated articles of incorporation, amended and restated bylaws and the applicable provisions of the Virginia Stock Corporation Act, for additional information.
Common Stock
Authorized Capital Stock.  Our authorized capital stock consists of 105,000,000 shares, 100,000,000 of which are designated as common stock with a par value of $0.001 per share and 5,000,000 of which are designated as preferred stock with a par value of $0.001. Shares of our common stock have the following rights, preferences and privileges:
Voting Rights.  The holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters submitted to a vote of the shareholders. With certain exceptions, a majority of the votes cast at a shareholder meeting at which a quorum is present must approve all shareholder matters. Our amended and restated articles of incorporation provide that an amendment to our amended and restated articles of incorporation, a merger, share exchange, domestication, entity conversion, sale of assets that requires shareholder approval or our dissolution must be approved by a majority of all the votes entitled to be cast at a shareholder meeting. Our amended and restated articles of incorporation provide that an amendment to our amended and restated bylaws by the shareholders must be approved by at least a majority of all the votes entitled to be cast. Our amended and restated bylaws also provide that our directors are elected by a majority of the votes cast in non-contested director elections. In contested elections, directors are elected by a plurality of the votes cast plurality of the votes cast.
Dividends.  Subject to the preferences applicable to any shares of preferred stock outstanding at any time, holders of our common stock are entitled to receive dividends when and as declared by our board of directors from assets or funds legally available therefor. The timing, declaration, amount and payment of future dividends will depend on our financial condition, earnings, capital requirements and debt service obligations, as well as legal requirements, regulatory constraints, industry practice and other factors that our board of directors deems relevant. Our board of directors will make all decisions regarding our payment of dividends from time to time in accordance with applicable law.
Liquidation.  Subject to any preferential liquidation rights of holders of preferred stock that may be outstanding, upon our dissolution, the holders of our common stock will be entitled to share ratably in our assets legally available for distribution to our shareholders.
No Preemptive or Similar Rights.  The holders of our common stock do not have any preemptive rights or preferential rights to subscribe for shares of our capital stock or any other securities. Our common stock is not subject to any redemption or sinking fund provisions.
Transfer Agent and Registrar. The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is Computershare Trust Company, N.A.
Listing. Our common stock is listed on NASDAQ under the symbol “COLL.”
Anti-Takeover Effects of Provisions of our Articles of Incorporation, our Bylaws and Virginia Law
Various provisions contained in our amended and restated articles of incorporation, our amended and restated bylaws and Virginia law could delay, deter or discourage some transactions involving an actual or potential change in control of the Company.
Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws
Preferred stock
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Our amended and restated articles of incorporation authorize our board of directors to establish one or more series of preferred stock and to determine, with respect to any series of preferred stock, the preferences, rights and other terms of such series. Under this authority, our board of directors could create and issue a series of preferred stock with rights, preferences or restrictions that have the effect of discriminating against an existing or prospective holder of our capital stock as a result of such holder beneficially owning or commencing a tender or exchange offer for a substantial amount of our common stock. One of the effects of authorized but unissued and unreserved shares of preferred stock may be to render it more difficult for, or to discourage an attempt by, a potential acquiror to obtain control of us by means of a merger, tender or exchange offer, proxy contest or otherwise, and thereby protect the continuity of our management. The issuance of shares of preferred stock may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of our Company without any action by our shareholders.
Qualification and election of directors
Our amended and restated bylaws provide that to be eligible to be nominated by a shareholder for election to our board of directors, a person must submit a written questionnaire regarding his or her background and qualifications and must agree to other representations as set forth in our amended and restated bylaws.
Since our initial public offering, our board of directors had been divided into three classes, each serving three-year terms and until each director’s successor is duly elected and qualified. Under our amended and restated articles of incorporation, our board of directors will be declassified beginning in 2021.  Directors in office immediately after the 2020 annual meeting of shareholders will serve out their three-year terms, but directors elected by shareholders beginning at the 2021 annual meeting will be elected to one-year terms. Beginning at the 2023 annual meeting of shareholders, all directors will be subject to annual election for one-year terms.  Our amended and restated articles of incorporation do not provide for cumulative voting in the election of directors.
Board vacancies; removal
Our amended and restated articles of incorporation provide that any vacancy occurring on our board of directors will be filled by a majority of directors then in office, even if less than a quorum. Our amended and restated articles of incorporation also provide that our directors can only be removed for cause upon the vote of more than two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast by holders of common stock.
Special meetings of shareholders; number of directors and unanimous written consent of shareholders
Our amended and restated articles of incorporation provide that only the board of directors, the chairman of the board of directors or the president may call a special meeting of the shareholders. Our amended and restated bylaws provide that the authorized number of our directors be changed only by resolution of our board of directors. Our amended and restated bylaws prohibit shareholders from acting by less-than-unanimous written consent.
Advance notification of shareholder nominations and proposals
Our amended and restated bylaws establish advance notice procedures with respect to shareholder proposals and the nomination of persons for election as directors, other than nominations made by or at the direction of our board of directors.
Virginia Anti-Takeover Statutes
Affiliated transactions statute
Virginia law contains provisions governing certain material transactions, or affiliated transactions, between the Company and any holder of more than 10% of any class of its outstanding voting shares, or an interested shareholder. In general, these provisions prohibit a Virginia corporation from engaging in an affiliated transaction with an interested shareholder for a period of three years following the date such person became an interested shareholder, unless (i) a majority of the disinterested directors and the holders of at least two-thirds of the voting shares, other than those beneficially owned by the interested shareholder, approved the affiliated transaction, or (ii) before the date that the person became an interested shareholder, a majority of the disinterested directors approved the transaction that resulted in the person becoming an interested shareholder. After three years, any such transaction must be at a “fair price,” as statutorily defined, or must be approved by the holders of at least two-thirds of the voting shares, other than those beneficially owned by the interested shareholder. Affiliated transactions subject to this approval requirement include mergers, share exchanges, material dispositions of corporate assets not in the ordinary course of business, the sale of shares of the corporation or any of its subsidiaries to an interested shareholder having an aggregate fair market value of greater than 5% of the aggregate fair market value of the corporation’s outstanding shares, any dissolution of the Company proposed by or on behalf of an interested
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shareholder or any reclassification, including reverse stock splits, recapitalization or merger of the Company with its subsidiaries, if any, that increases the percentage of voting shares beneficially owned by an interested shareholder by more than 5%.
The shareholders of a Virginia corporation may adopt an amendment to the corporation’s articles of incorporation or bylaws opting out of the provisions of Virginia law governing affiliated transactions but such amendment shall not be effective until 18 months after its adoption. Neither our amended and restated articles of incorporation nor our amended and restated bylaws contain a provision opting out of the provisions of Virginia law governing affiliated transactions.
Control share acquisitions statute
Virginia law also contains provisions relating to control share acquisitions, which are transactions causing the voting strength of any person acquiring beneficial ownership of shares of a Virginia public corporation to meet or exceed certain threshold percentages (20%, 33 1 / 3 % or 50%) of the total votes entitled to be cast for the election of directors. Shares acquired in a control share acquisition have no voting rights unless (i) the voting rights are granted by a majority vote of all outstanding shares other than those held by the acquiring person or any officer or employee director of the corporation or (ii) the articles of incorporation or bylaws of the corporation provide that these Virginia law provisions do not apply to acquisitions of its shares. The acquiring person may require that a special meeting of the shareholders be held to consider the grant of voting rights to the shares acquired in the control share acquisition.
As permitted by Virginia law, our amended and restated articles of incorporation contain a provision opting out of the Virginia anti-takeover law regulating control share acquisitions.
Indemnification and limitation of directors’ and officers’ liability
We are a Virginia corporation. As permitted by Virginia law, our amended and restated articles of incorporation provide that no director or officer shall be liable in any proceeding brought by or in the right of us or our shareholders for monetary damages arising out of any transaction, occurrence or other course of conduct, except for liability resulting from willful misconduct or a knowing violation of criminal law or of any federal or state securities laws.
Our amended and restated articles of incorporation require us to indemnify any director or officer who was or is a party to a proceeding, including a proceeding brought by or in the right of the Company, due to his or her status as our director or officer unless he or she engaged in willful misconduct or a knowing violation of criminal law. Our amended and restated articles of incorporation also require us to advance expenses to such person prior to the final disposition of any such proceeding.
We have obtained policies that insure our directors and officers against certain liabilities they may incur in their capacity as directors and officers.
We have entered into indemnification agreements with our directors and executive officers. These agreements contain provisions that may require us, among other things, to advance expenses to and indemnify these directors and officers against certain liabilities that may arise because of their status or service as directors or officers of us.