ex_228417.htm


Exhibit 4.4


 


DESCRIPTION OF THE REGISTRANT'S SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 


OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934


 


The following is a description of the common stock, par value $0.001 per share, of Ormat Technologies, Inc. (the “Company,” “we” or “us”) registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). This description is a summary and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated by-laws, copies of which are filed as Exhibits 3.1 and 3.3, respectively, to the Current Report on Form 8-K of the Company filed on November 12, 2019. We refer in this exhibit to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation as our certificate of incorporation, and we refer to our amended and restated by-laws as our by-laws. 


 


General


 


Our authorized capital stock consists of 200 million shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share, and 5 million shares of preferred stock, par value $0.001 per share, of which our board of directors has designated 500,000 shares as Series A Junior Participatory Preferred Stock.


 


As of February 24, 2021, 55,983,259 shares of our common stock were outstanding and no shares of preferred stock were outstanding.


 


Common Stock


 


Voting Rights. The holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote for each outstanding share of common stock owned by that stockholder on every matter properly submitted to the stockholders for their vote.


 


Directors shall be elected by a majority of all votes cast for each of the director nominees at each annual meeting, except for contested elections (i.e., elections in which there are a greater number of candidates than there are seats to be filled), in which case the directors shall be elected by a plurality vote of all votes cast for the election of directors at such meeting. Subject to the rights of the holders of any series of preferred stock or any other series or class of stock, as provided in the certificate of incorporation or in any preferred stock designation, to elect additional directors under specific circumstances, at a meeting of stockholders called expressly for that purpose, one or more members of the Board of Directors (including the entire Board) may be removed, with or without cause, by a vote of the holders of a majority of the shares then entitled to vote on the election of directors. For all other matters, if a quorum is present, the affirmative vote of the majority of the outstanding shares present in person or represented by proxy at the meeting and entitled to vote on the subject matter shall be the act of the stockholders, unless the vote of a greater number is required by the by-laws, the certificate of incorporation or the DGCL.


 


Written Consent of Stockholders. Our certificate of incorporation and by-laws permit our stockholders to act by written consent without a meeting.


 


Dividend Rights and Liquidation Rights. Subject to the dividend rights of the holders of any outstanding series of preferred stock, holders of our common stock are entitled to receive ratably such dividends and other distributions of cash or any other right or property as may be declared by our board of directors out of our assets or funds legally available for such dividends or distributions.


 


In the event of any voluntary of involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding up of our affairs, holders of our common stock would be entitled to share ratably in our assets that are legally available for distribution to stockholders after payment of liabilities. If we have any preferred stock outstanding at such time, holders of the preferred stock may be entitled to distribution and/or liquidation preferences. In either such case, we must pay the applicable distribution to the holders of our preferred stock before we may pay distributions to the holders of our common stock.


 


Other Rights and Preferences. Holders of our common stock have no conversion, redemption, preemptive, subscription or similar rights pursuant to our certificate of incorporation or by-laws.


 





 










 








 


Preferred Stock


 


Our board of directors is authorized, subject to any limitations prescribed by law, to issue up to 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock in one or more series without further stockholder approval. The board has discretion to determine the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions of, including, without limitation, voting rights, dividend rights, conversion rights, redemption privileges and liquidation preferences of, and to fix the number of shares of, each series of our preferred stock. Our board of directors has designated 500,000 shares of our preferred stock as Series A Junior Participatory Preferred Stock. Our board of directors could authorize the issuance of shares of preferred stock with terms and conditions that could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a transaction or a change in control that might involve a premium price for holders of our common stock or otherwise be in their best interest.


 


The rights, preferences and privileges of holders of our common stock may be affected by the rights, preferences and privileges granted to holders of preferred stock.


 


 


Anti-Takeover Effects of our Certificate of Incorporation and By-laws and Delaware Law


 


Certain provisions in our certificate of incorporation and by-laws may be deemed to have an anti-takeover effect and may delay, deter or prevent a tender offer or takeover attempt that a stockholder might consider to be in its best interests, including attempts that might result in a premium being paid over the market price for the shares held by stockholders. These provisions include the items described below.


 


Special Meetings. Our certificate of incorporation and by-laws provide that a special meeting of stockholders may be called only by the Chairman of the Board, the President, our board of directors, the holders of not less than a majority of all of the outstanding shares of the corporation entitled to vote at the meeting or, at any time that Ormat Industries (or a certain transferee of Ormat Industries) owns at least 20% of the then outstanding shares of our common stock, by Ormat Industries (or such transferee). Stockholders are not permitted to call, or to require that the board of directors call, a special meeting of stockholders. Moreover, the business permitted to be conducted at any special meeting of stockholders is limited to the business brought before the meeting pursuant to the notice of the meeting given by us. Our by-laws establish an advance notice procedure for stockholders to nominate candidates for election as directors or to bring other business before meetings of our stockholders.


 


Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. We are subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which, subject to certain exceptions, prohibits a Delaware corporation from engaging in any “business combination” (as defined below) with any “interested stockholder” (as defined below) for a period of three years following the date that such stockholder became an interested stockholder, unless: (1) prior to such date, the board of directors of the corporation approved either the business combination or the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder; (2) on consummation of the transaction that 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 number of shares outstanding those shares owned (x) by persons who are directors and also officers and (y) 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 (3) on or subsequent to such date, the business combination is approved by the board of directors and authorized at an annual or special meeting of stockholders, and not by written consent, by the affirmative vote of at least 662⁄3% of the outstanding voting stock that is not owned by the interested stockholder.


 


Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law defines “business combination” to include: (1) any merger or consolidation involving the corporation and the interested stockholder; (2) any sale, transfer, pledge or other disposition of 10% or more of the assets of the corporation involving the interested stockholder; (3) subject to certain exceptions, any transaction that results in the issuance or transfer by the corporation of any stock of the corporation to the interested stockholder; (4) any transaction involving the corporation that has the effect of increasing the proportionate share of the stock of any class or series of the corporation beneficially owned by the interested stockholder; or (5) the receipt by the interested stockholder of the benefit of any loans, advances, guarantees, pledges or other financial benefits provided by or through the corporation. 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 corporation and any entity or person affiliated with or controlling or controlled by such entity or person.


 


Additional Authorized Shares of Capital Stock. The additional shares of authorized common stock and preferred stock available for issuance our certificate of incorporation could be issued at such times, under such circumstances and with such terms and conditions as to impede a change in control.


 





 










 








 


Advance Notice Requirements. Our bylaws establish advance notice procedures with regard to stockholder proposals relating to the nomination of candidates for election as directors or other business to be brought before meetings of the stockholders. These procedures provide that notice of stockholder proposals of these kinds must be timely given in writing before the meeting at which the action is to be taken. Generally, to be timely, notice of stockholder proposals must be received at the principal executive offices of the corporation not later than the close of business on the 90th day nor earlier than the close of business on the 120th day prior to the first anniversary of the preceding year’s annual meeting; provided, however, that in the event that the date of the annual meeting is more than 30 days before or more than 60 days after such anniversary date, notice by the stockholder to be timely must be so delivered not earlier than the close of business on the 120th day prior to such annual meeting and not later than the close of business on the later of the 90th day prior to such annual meeting or, if the first public announcement of the date of such annual meeting is less than 100 days prior to the date of such annual meeting, the 10th day following the day on which public announcement of the date of such meeting is first made by the corporation. The notice must contain certain information specified in the bylaws.