Exhibit 4.1
DESCRIPTION OF REGISTRANT’S SECURITIES
REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Aprea Therapeutics, Inc. has one class of securities registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”): its common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “common stock”). For purposes of this exhibit, unless the context otherwise requires, the words “we,” “our,” “us” and “our company” refer to Aprea Therapeutics, Inc., a Delaware corporation.
Description of Common Stock
General
The following summary sets forth some of the general terms of our common stock. Because this is a summary, it does not contain all of the information that may be important to you. For a more detailed description of our common stock, you should read our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the amended and restated bylaws, each of which is an exhibit to our Annual Report on Form 10-K to which this summary is also an exhibit, and the applicable provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”).
Our charter authorizes us to issue up to 400,000,000 shares of common stock, $0.001 par value per share and 40,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.001 per share.
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 and do not have cumulative voting rights. An election of directors by our stockholders will be determined by a plurality of the votes cast by the stockholders entitled to vote on the election. Other matters shall be decided by the affirmative vote of our stockholders having a majority in voting power of the votes cast by the stockholders present or represented and voting on such matter, except as otherwise disclosed below.
Dividends
Holders of common stock are entitled to receive proportionately any dividends as may be declared by our board of directors, subject to any preferential dividend rights of outstanding preferred stock.
Liquidation
In the event of our liquidation or dissolution, the holders of common stock are entitled to receive proportionately all assets available for distribution to stockholders after the payment of all debts and other liabilities and subject to the prior rights of any outstanding preferred stock.
Rights and Preferences
Holders of common stock have no preemptive, subscription, redemption or conversion rights. The rights, preferences and privileges of holders of common stock are subject to and may be adversely affected by the rights of the holders of shares of any series of preferred stock that we may designate and issue in the future.
Preferred stock
Our board of directors is authorized to issue shares of preferred stock in one or more series without stockholder approval. Our board of directors has the discretion to determine the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions, including voting rights, dividend rights, conversion rights, redemption privileges and liquidation preferences, of each series of preferred stock.
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The purpose of authorizing our board of directors to issue preferred stock and determine its rights and preferences is to eliminate delays associated with a stockholder vote on specific issuances. The issuance of preferred stock, while providing flexibility in connection with possible acquisitions, future financings and other corporate purposes, could have the effect of making it more difficult for a third party to acquire, or could discourage a third party from seeking to acquire, a majority of our outstanding voting stock.
Anti-Takeover effects of Delaware law and our charter and bylaws
Delaware law, our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws contain provisions that could have the effect of delaying, deferring or discouraging another party from acquiring control of us. These provisions, which are summarized below, are expected to discourage coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids. These provisions are also designed to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of us to first negotiate with our board of directors.
Staggered board; removal of directors
Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws divides our board of directors into three classes with staggered three-year terms. In addition, a director may only be removed for cause and only by the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the votes that all of our stockholders would be entitled to cast in an annual election of directors. Any vacancy on our board of directors, including a vacancy resulting from an enlargement of our board of directors, will only be able to be filled by vote of a majority of our directors then in office. The classification of our board of directors and the limitations on the removal of directors and filling of vacancies could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire, or discourage a third party from seeking to acquire, control of our company.
Stockholder action by written consent; special meetings
Our certificate of incorporation provides that any action required or permitted to be taken by our stockholders must be effected at a duly called annual or special meeting of such holders and may not be effected by any consent in writing by such holders. Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws also provide that, except as otherwise required by law, special meetings of our stockholders can only be called by our chairman of the board, our Chief Executive Officer or our board of directors.
Advance notice requirements for stockholder proposals
Our bylaws establish an advance notice procedure for stockholder proposals to be brought before an annual meeting of stockholders, including proposed nominations of persons for election to our board of directors. Stockholders at an annual meeting are only able to consider proposals or nominations specified in the notice of meeting or brought before the meeting by or at the direction of our board of directors or by a stockholder of record on the record date for the meeting who is entitled to vote at the meeting and who has delivered timely written notice in proper form to our secretary of the stockholder’s intention to bring such business before the meeting. These provisions could have the effect of delaying until the next stockholder meeting stockholder actions that are favored by the holders of a majority of our outstanding voting securities.
Delaware business combination statute
We are subject to Section 203 of the DGCL. Subject to certain exceptions, Section 203 prevents a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in a “business combination” with any “interested stockholder” for three years following the date that the person became an interested stockholder, unless the interested stockholder attained such status with the approval of our board of directors or unless the business combination is approved in a prescribed manner. A “business combination” includes, among other things, a merger or consolidation involving us and the “interested stockholder” and the sale of more than 10% of our assets. In general, an “interested stockholder” is any entity or person beneficially owning 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock and any entity or person affiliated with or controlling or controlled by such entity or person.
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Amendment of certificate of incorporation and bylaws
DGCL provides generally that the affirmative vote of a majority of the shares entitled to vote on any matter is required to amend a corporation’s certificate of incorporation or bylaws, unless a corporation’s certificate of incorporation or bylaws, as the case may be, requires a greater percentage. Our bylaws may be amended or repealed by a majority vote of our board of directors or by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 75% of the votes that all of our stockholders would be entitled to cast in any annual election of directors. In addition, the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 75% of the votes that all of our stockholders would be entitled to cast in any annual election of directors is required to amend or repeal or to adopt any provisions inconsistent with any of the provisions of our certificate of incorporation described above under “Staggered board; removal of directors” and “Stockholder action by written consent; special meetings.”
Exclusive forum selection
Our certificate of incorporation provides, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or if the Court of Chancery does not have jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Delaware) shall be the sole and exclusive forum for (1) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of our company under Delaware law, (2) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers or employees to our company or our stockholders, (3) any action asserting a claim against our company arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our certificate of incorporation or bylaws, (4) any action asserting a claim against our company governed by the internal affairs doctrine or (5) any other action asserting an “internal corporate claim,” as defined in Section 115 of the DGCL. These exclusive-forum provisions do not currently apply to claims under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in our securities shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to this provision. Although we believe these provisions benefit us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law for the specified types of actions and proceedings, the provisions may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against us or our directors and officers.
Listing on The Nasdaq Global Select Market
Our common stock is listed on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “APRE.”
Authorized but unissued shares
The authorized but unissued shares of common stock and preferred stock are available for future issuance without stockholder approval, subject to any limitations imposed by the listing requirements of The Nasdaq Global Select Market. These additional shares may be used for a variety of corporate finance transactions, acquisitions and employee benefit plans. The existence of authorized but unissued and unreserved common stock and preferred stock could make it more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.
Transfer agent and registrar
The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is Computershare Trust Company, N.A. The transfer agent and registrar’s address is 150 Royall St., Canton, MA 02021.