mcfe-ex42_525.htm



Exhibit 4.2

DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK

The following description of our capital stock is intended as a summary only and is qualified in its entirety by reference to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws, each previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and incorporated by reference as an exhibit to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of which this Description of Capital Stock is a part, as well as to the applicable provisions of Delaware law. In this Description of Capital Stock, “we,” “us,” “our,” “McAfee,” and “our Company” refer to McAfee Corp. Capitalized terms not defined herein shall have the definitions set forth in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.

Our authorized capital stock consists of 1,500,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.001 per share, 300,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.001 per share, and 200,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.001 per share. Our Class A common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Global Select market, under the symbol “MCFE” and began trading on October 22, 2020. Prior to that date, there was no public trading market for our Class A common stock. There is no public trading market for our Class B common stock. 

Common Stock

Voting Rights. Holders of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock are be entitled to cast one vote per share on all matters submitted to stockholders for their approval. Holders of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock are not entitled to cumulate their votes in the election of directors. Holders of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to stockholders for their vote or approval, except with respect to the amendment of certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would alter or change the powers, preferences or special rights of the Class B common stock so as to affect them adversely, which amendments must be approved by a majority of the votes entitled to be cast by the holders of the Class B common stock, voting as a separate class, or as otherwise required by applicable law. The voting power of the outstanding Class B common stock (expressed as a percentage of the total voting power of all common stock) is equal to the percentage of LLC Units not held directly or indirectly by McAfee Corp. Shares of Class B common stock will be canceled on a one-for-one basis upon the exchange of LLC Units for shares of Class A common stock, and accordingly, the voting power afforded to holders of LLC Units by their shares of Class B common stock will automatically be reduced as the number of LLC Units held by such holder of Class B common stock decreases.

Generally, all matters to be voted on by stockholders must be approved by a majority of the votes entitled to be cast on a matter by stockholders (or, in the case of election of directors, by a plurality), voting together as a single class. Delaware law would require our Class A stockholders and Class B stockholders to vote separately as a single class in the following circumstances:

 


	
 
	
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if we amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to increase the authorized shares of a class of stock, or to increase or decrease the par value of a class of stock, then such class would be required to vote separately to approve the proposed amendment; or




 


	
 
	
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if we amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation in a manner that alters or changes the powers, preferences or special rights of a class of stock in a manner that affects holders of such class of stock adversely, then such class would be required to vote separately to approve such proposed amendment.




Except as otherwise provided by law, amendments to the amended and restated certificate of incorporation must be approved by a majority or, in some cases, a super-majority of the combined voting power of all shares entitled to vote, voting together as a single class.

Dividend Rights. Holders of Class A common stock share ratably (based on the number of shares of Class A common stock held) if and when any dividend is declared by the board of directors out of funds legally available therefor, subject to any statutory or contractual restrictions on the payment of dividends and to any restrictions on the payment of dividends imposed by the terms of any outstanding preferred stock. The holders of shares of our Class B common stock do not have any right to receive dividends other than dividends consisting of shares of our Class B common stock paid proportionally with respect to each outstanding share of our Class B common stock.

Liquidation Rights. On our liquidation, dissolution, or winding up and after payment in full of all amounts required to be paid to creditors and to the holders of preferred stock having liquidation preferences, if any, each holder of Class A common stock is entitled to a pro rata distribution of any assets available for distribution to common stockholders. Other than their par value, the holders of shares of our Class B common stock do not have any right to receive a distribution upon a liquidation or dissolution of our Company.

Other Matters. No shares of Class A common stock or Class B common stock are subject to redemption or have preemptive rights to purchase additional shares of Class A common stock or Class B common stock. Holders of shares of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock do not have subscription, redemption or conversion rights. There are no redemption or sinking fund 



provisions applicable to the Class A common stock or Class B common stock. All the outstanding shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock are validly issued, fully paid, and non-assessable.

Transfers of Class B Common Stock. Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the New LLC Agreement, each holder of Class B common stock agrees that:

 


	
 
	
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the holder will not transfer any shares of Class B common stock to any person unless the holder transfers an equal number of LLC Units to the same person; and




 


	
 
	
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in the event the holder transfers any LLC Units to any person, the holder will transfer an equal number of shares of Class B common stock to the same person.




Preferred Stock

Our board of directors may, without further action by our stockholders, from time to time, direct the issuance of shares of preferred stock in series and may, at the time of issuance, determine the designations, powers, preferences, privileges and relative participating, optional or special rights, as well as the qualifications, limitations or restrictions thereof, including dividend rights, conversion rights, voting rights, terms of redemption and liquidation preferences, any or all of which may be greater than the rights of the Class A common stock. 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 Class A common stock. Holders of shares of preferred stock may be entitled to receive a preference payment in the event of our liquidation before any payment is made to the holders of shares of our Class A common stock. Under certain circumstances, the issuance of shares of preferred stock may render more difficult or tend to discourage a merger, tender offer or proxy contest, the assumption of control by a holder of a large block of our securities or the removal of incumbent management. Upon the affirmative vote of a majority of the total number of directors then in office, our board of directors, without stockholder approval, may issue shares of preferred stock with voting and conversion rights which could adversely affect the holders of shares of our Class A common stock and the market value of our Class A common stock.

Anti-Takeover Effects of Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Our Amended and Restated Bylaws

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws contain provisions that may delay, defer, or discourage another party from acquiring control of us. We expect that these provisions will discourage coercive takeover practices or inadequate takeover bids. These provisions are also designed to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of us to first negotiate with the board of directors, which we believe may result in an improvement of the terms of any such acquisition in favor of our stockholders. However, they may also discourage acquisitions that some stockholders may favor.

These provisions include:

 


	
 
	
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Classified board. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that our board of directors is divided with respect to the time for which directors severally hold office into three classes of directors. As a result, approximately one-third of our board of directors is elected each year. The classification of directors has the effect of making it more difficult for stockholders to change the composition of our board. 




 


	
 
	
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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 the certificate of incorporation specifically authorizes cumulative voting. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation does not authorize cumulative voting.




 


	
 
	
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Requirements for removal of directors. Directors may only be removed for cause; provided, however, that each of the Principal Stockholders may remove any director nominated by such Principal Stockholder, respectively, without cause upon affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding voting power.




 


	
 
	
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Advance notice procedures. Our amended and restated bylaws establish an advance notice procedure for stockholder proposals to be brought before an annual meeting of our stockholders, including proposed nominations of persons for election to the board of directors. Stockholders at an annual meeting will only be able to consider proposals or nominations specified in the notice of meeting or brought before the meeting by or at the direction of the board of directors or by a stockholder who was a stockholder of record on the record date for the meeting, who is entitled to vote at the meeting and who has given our secretary timely written notice, in proper form, of the stockholder’s intention to bring that business before the meeting. Although our amended and restated bylaws do not give the board of directors the power to approve or disapprove stockholder nominations of candidates or proposals regarding other business to be conducted at a special or annual meeting, our amended and restated bylaws may have the effect of precluding the conduct of certain business at a meeting if the proper procedures are not followed or may discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect its own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of our Company.




 








	
 
	
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Actions by written consent; special meetings of stockholders. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that stockholder action can be taken only at an annual or special meeting of stockholders and cannot be taken by written consent in lieu of a meeting. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation also provides that, except as otherwise required by law, special meetings of the stockholders can only be called by or at the direction of the board of directors pursuant to a resolution approved by a majority of the entire board of directors.




 


	
 
	
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Supermajority approval requirements. Certain amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and shareholder amendments to our amended and restated bylaws require the affirmative vote of at least 66 2/3% of the voting power of the outstanding shares of our capital stock entitled to vote thereon.




 


	
 
	
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Authorized but unissued shares. Our authorized but unissued shares of common and preferred stock are available for future issuance without stockholder approval. The existence of authorized but unissued shares of preferred stock could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.




Exclusive Forum

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that (i) derivative actions or proceedings brought on behalf of the Company, (ii) actions against directors, officers and employees asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed to the Company or the Company’s stockholders, (iii) actions asserting a claim against the Company arising pursuant to the DGCL or the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation or amended and restated bylaws, (iv) actions to interpret, apply, enforce or determine the validity of the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation or amended and restated bylaws or (v) actions asserting a claim against the Company governed by the internal affairs doctrine, may be brought only in specified courts in the State of Delaware. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation also provides that the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action against us or any of our directors, officers, employees or agents and arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). However, Section 22 of the Securities Act, provides that federal and state courts have concurrent jurisdiction over lawsuits brought the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. To the extent the exclusive forum provision restricts the courts in which claims arising under the Securities Act may be brought, there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such a provision. We note that investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. This provision does not apply to claims brought under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. 

Section 203 of the DGCL

We are subject to the provisions of 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 such 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.

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 that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder; upon 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 voting stock outstanding, shares owned by persons who are directors and also officers, and employee stock plans, in some instances; or at or after the time the stockholder became interested, the business combination was approved by 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 these provisions with an express provision in its original certificate of incorporation or an express provision in its certificate of incorporation or by-laws resulting from a stockholders’ amendment approved by at least a majority of the outstanding voting shares. We have not opted out of these provisions. As a result, mergers or other takeover or change in control attempts of us may be discouraged or prevented.

Corporate Opportunities

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce any interest or expectancy in the business opportunities of our Principal Stockholders and Thoma Bravo, L.P. and each of their respective affiliates, partners, principals, directors, officers, members, managers and/or employees, including any of the foregoing who serve as officers or directors of the 



Company, and each such party shall not have any obligation to offer us those opportunities unless presented to one of our directors or officers in his or her capacity as a director or officer.

Limitations on Liability and Indemnification of Directors and Officers

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation limits the liability of our directors and officers to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law and requires that we will provide them with customary indemnification. We also have entered into customary indemnification agreements with each of our directors that provide them, in general, with customary indemnification in connection with their service to us or on our behalf. Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, we have been informed that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy and is therefore unenforceable. We also maintain officers’ and directors’ liability insurance that insures against liabilities that our officers and directors may incur in such capacities.

Transfer Agent and Registrar

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

Listing

Our Class A common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “MCFE”.