Document

Exhibit 4.4



DESCRIPTION OF THE REGISTRANT’S SECURITIES REGISTERED
PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934, AS AMENDED
General
The common stock and warrants to purchase common stock of MP Materials Corp. (the “Company”) are registered under Section 12(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”).
These summaries are not intended to be a complete discussion of the rights of Company securityholders and are qualified in their entirety by reference to the Delaware General Corporation Law and the various documents of the Company that are referred to in the summaries, as well as reference to the Second Amended and Restated Charter and Amended and Restated Bylaws, each of which is incorporated by reference as an exhibit to our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission of which this exhibit is a part (the “Annual Report”).
Capitalized terms used herein and not defined herein shall have the meaning ascribed to such terms in the Annual Report.
Authorized Capital Stock
The Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation authorizes the issuance of 500,000,000 shares of capital stock, consisting of (i) 450,000,000 shares of common stock, consisting entirely of 450,000,000 shares of common stock, $0.0001 par value per share (the “Common Stock”) and (ii) 50,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share.
As of December 31, 2020, there were 170,719,979 shares of Common Stock outstanding. No shares of preferred stock are outstanding.
Common Stock
Voting Power
Except as otherwise required by law or as otherwise provided in any certificate of designation for any series of preferred stock, under the Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, the holders of Common Stock possess all voting power for the election of our directors and all other matters requiring stockholder action and are entitled or will be entitled, as applicable, to one vote per share on matters to be voted on by stockholders.
Dividends
Subject to the rights, if any of the holders of any outstanding shares of preferred stock, under the Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, holders of the Common Stock are entitled to receive such dividends and other distributions, if any, as may be declared from time to time by the our Board in its discretion out of funds legally available therefor and shall share equally on a per share basis in such dividends and distributions.
Liquidation, Dissolution and Winding Up
The Second Amended and Restated Charter provides that subject to applicable law and the rights, if any, of the holders of any outstanding series of the preferred stock, in the event of any voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Company, after payment or provision for payment of the debts and other liabilities of the Company, the holders of shares of Common Stock will be entitled to share ratably in all the remaining assets of the Company available for distribution to its stockholders.
Preemptive or Other Rights
Under the Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, the Company’s stockholders have no preemptive or other subscription rights and there is no sinking fund or redemption provisions applicable to the Common Stock.
Number and Election of Directors
Under the terms of the Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, the Company’s Board is divided into three classes, Class I, Class II and Class III, with only one class of directors being elected in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed to Class I and Class II) serving a three-year term. The term of office of the Class I directors will expire at the 2021 annual meeting of the stockholders of the Company. The term of office of the Class II directors will expire at 
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the 2022 annual meeting of the stockholders of the Company. The term of office of the Class III directors will expire at the 2023 annual meeting of the stockholders of the Company.
Under the Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, there is no cumulative voting with respect to the election of directors, and directors of the Company are elected by a plurality of the votes cast at a meeting of the Company’s stockholders by holders of Common Stock.
Preferred Stock
Our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation provides that shares of preferred stock may be issued from time to time in one or more series. Our Board is authorized to fix the voting rights, if any, designations, powers, preferences and relative, participating, optional, special and other rights, if any, and any qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof, applicable to the shares of each series. Our Board is able, without stockholder approval, to issue preferred stock with voting and other rights that could adversely affect the voting power and other rights of the holders of the Common Stock and could have anti-takeover effects. The ability of the our Board to issue preferred stock without stockholder approval could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of us or the removal of existing management. We have no preferred stock outstanding at the date hereof. Although we do not currently intend to issue any shares of preferred stock, we cannot assure you that we will not do so in the future.
Warrants
Public Stockholders’ Warrants
Each whole public warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one share of our Common Stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed below, at any time commencing on the date that is 12 months from the closing of FVAC’s initial public offering. A warrant holder may exercise its public warrants only for a whole number of shares of Common Stock. This means that only a whole public warrant may be exercised at any given time by a warrant holder. No fractional public warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole public warrants will trade. The public warrants will expire five years after the completion of the Business Combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
We are not obligated to deliver any shares of Common Stock pursuant to the exercise of a public warrant and will have no obligation to settle such public warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to the shares of Common Stock underlying the public warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to our satisfying our obligations described below with respect to registration. No public warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their public warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption is available. In the event that the conditions in the two immediately preceding sentences are not satisfied with respect to a public warrant, the holder of such public warrant will not be entitled to exercise such public warrant and such public warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In no event will we be required to net cash to settle any warrant. In the event that a registration statement is not effective for the exercised public warrants, the purchaser of a unit containing such public warrant will have paid the full purchase price for the unit solely for the share of Common Stock underlying such unit.
We have registered the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants. We will use our best efforts to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement, and a current prospectus relating thereto, until the expiration of the public warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. Notwithstanding the above, if our Common Stock is at the time of any exercise of a public warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their public warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to maintain in effect a registration statement, but will use our best efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
Redemption of Warrants for Cash. Once the public warrants become exercisable, we may call the public warrants for redemption:     
•in whole and not in part;         
•at a price of $0.01 per public warrant;     
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•upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption (the “30-day redemption period”) to each warrant holder; and
•if, and only if, the last reported sale price of shares of the Common Stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any twenty (20) trading days within a thirty (30) trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date we send to the notice of redemption to the warrant holders.
If and when the public warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise their warrants.
We have established the last of the redemption criterion discussed above to prevent a redemption call unless there is at the time of the call a significant premium to the warrant exercise price. If the foregoing conditions are satisfied and we issue a notice of redemption of the public warrants, each warrant holder will be entitled to exercise his, her or its public warrant prior to the scheduled redemption date. However, the price of the Common Stock may fall below the $18.00 redemption trigger price (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) as well as the $11.50 warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued.
Redemption of Warrants for Common Stock. Commencing ninety days after the public warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding public warrants:
•in whole and not in part;
•at $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption provided that holders will be able to exercise their warrants prior to redemption and receive that number of shares determined by reference to the table below, based on the redemption date and the “fair market value”(as defined below) of the Common Stock except as otherwise described below;
•if, and only if, the last reported sale price of our Common Stock equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) on the trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders; and
•if, and only if, there is an effective registration statement covering the issuance of the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating thereto available throughout the 30-day period after written notice of redemption is given.
The numbers in the table below represent the number of shares of Common Stock that a warrant holder will receive upon exercise in connection with a redemption by us pursuant to this redemption feature, based on the “fair market value” of our Common Stock on the corresponding redemption date (assuming holders elect to exercise their warrants and such warrants are not redeemed for $0.10 per public warrant), determined based on the average of the last reported sales price for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of public warrants, and the number of months that the corresponding redemption date precedes the expiration date of the public warrants, each as set forth in the table below.
The share prices set forth in the column headings of the table below will be adjusted as of any date on which the number of shares issuable upon exercise of a public warrant is adjusted as set forth below. The adjusted stock prices in the column headings will equal the stock prices immediately prior to such adjustment, multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of shares deliverable upon exercise of a public warrant immediately prior to such adjustment and the denominator of which is the number of shares deliverable upon exercise of a public warrant as so adjusted. The number of shares in the table below shall be adjusted in the same manner and at the same time as the number of shares issuable upon exercise of a public warrant.
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	Redemption Date		Fair Market Value of Common Stock
	(period to expiration of warrants)		10.00		11.00		12.00		13.00		14.00		15.00		16.00		17.00		18.00
	57 months		0.257		0.277		0.294		0.310		0.324		0.337		0.348		0.358		0.365
	54 months		0.252		0.272		0.291		0.307		0.322		0.335		0.347		0.357		0.365
	51 months		0.246		0.268		0.287		0.304		0.320		0.333		0.346		0.357		0.365
	48 months		0.241		0.263		0.283		0.301		0.317		0.332		0.344		0.356		0.365
	45 months		0.235		0.258		0.279		0.298		0.315		0.330		0.343		0.356		0.365
	42 months		0.228		0.252		0.274		0.294		0.312		0.328		0.342		0.355		0.364
	39 months		0.221		0.246		0.269		0.290		0.309		0.325		0.340		0.354		0.364
	36 months		0.213		0.239		0.263		0.285		0.305		0.323		0.339		0.353		0.364
	33 months		0.205		0.232		0.257		0.280		0.301		0.320		0.337		0.352		0.364
	30 months		0.196		0.224		0.250		0.274		0.297		0.316		0.335		0.351		0.364
	27 months		0.185		0.214		0.242		0.268		0.291		0.313		0.332		0.350		0.364
	24 months		0.173		0.204		0.233		0.260		0.285		0.308		0.329		0.348		0.364
	21 months		0.161		0.193		0.223		0.252		0.279		0.304		0.326		0.347		0.364
	18 months		0.146		0.179		0.211		0.242		0.271		0.298		0.322		0.345		0.363
	15 months		0.130		0.164		0.197		0.230		0.262		0.291		0.317		0.342		0.363
	12 months		0.111		0.146		0.181		0.216		0.250		0.282		0.312		0.339		0.363
	9 months		0.090		0.125		0.162		0.199		0.237		0.272		0.305		0.336		0.362
	6 months		0.065		0.099		0.137		0.178		0.219		0.259		0.296		0.331		0.362
	3 months		0.034		0.065		0.104		0.150		0.197		0.243		0.286		0.326		0.361
	0 months		—		—		0.042		0.115		0.179		0.233		0.281		0.323		0.361


The exact fair market value and redemption date may not be set forth in the table above, in which case, if the fair market value is between two values in the table or the redemption date is between two redemption dates in the table, the number of shares of our Common Stock to be issued for each public warrant exercised will be determined by a straight-line interpolation between the number of shares set forth for the higher and lower fair market values and the earlier and later redemption dates, as applicable, based on a 365 or 366-day year, as applicable. For example, if the average last reported sale price of our Common Stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading date prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of the public warrants is $11.00 per share, and at such time there are 57 months until the expiration of the public warrants, holders may choose to, in connection with this redemption feature, exercise their public warrants for 0.277 shares of our Common Stock for each whole public warrant. For an example where the exact fair market value and redemption date are not as set forth in the table above, if the average last reported sale price of our Common Stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading date prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of the public warrants is $13.50 per share, and at such time there are 38 months until the expiration of the public warrants, holders may choose to, in connection with this redemption feature, exercise their public warrants for 0.298 shares of our Common Stock for each whole public warrant. In no event will the public warrants be exercisable in connection with this redemption feature for more than 0.365 shares of our Common Stock per public warrant. Finally, as reflected in the table above, if the public warrants are out of the money and about to expire, they cannot be exercised on a cashless basis in connection with a redemption by us pursuant to this redemption feature, since they will not be exercisable for any shares of our Common Stock.
This redemption feature differs from the typical public warrant redemption features used in other blank check offerings, which typically only provide for a redemption of public warrants for cash when the trading price for the Common Stock exceeds $18.00 per share for a specified period of time. This redemption feature is structured to allow for all of the outstanding public warrants to be redeemed when the Common Stock is trading at or above $10.00 per share, which may be at a time when the trading price of our Common Stock is below the exercise price of the public warrants. We have established this redemption feature to provide us with the flexibility to redeem the public warrants without the public warrants having to reach the $18.00 per share threshold set forth above under “—Redemption of Warrants for Cash.” Holders choosing to exercise their public warrants in connection with a redemption pursuant to this feature will, in effect, receive a number of shares for their public warrants based on an option pricing model with a fixed volatility input. This redemption right provides us with an additional mechanism by which to redeem all of the outstanding public warrants, and therefore have certainty as to our capital structure as the public warrants would no longer be outstanding and would have been exercised or redeemed and we will be required to pay the redemption price to public warrant holders if we choose to exercise this redemption right and it will allow us to quickly proceed with a redemption of the public warrants if we determine it is in our best interest to do so. As such, we would redeem 
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the public warrants in this manner when we believe it is in our best interest to update our capital structure to remove the public warrants and pay the redemption price to the public warrant holders.
As stated above, we can redeem the public warrants when the Common Stock is trading at a price starting at $10.00, which is below the exercise price of $11.50, because it will provide certainty with respect to our capital structure and cash position while providing public warrant holders with the opportunity to exercise their public warrants on a cashless basis for the applicable number of shares. If we choose to redeem the public warrants when the Common Stock is trading at a price below the exercise price of the public warrants, this could result in the public warrant holders receiving fewer Common Stock than they would have received if they had chosen to wait to exercise their public warrants for Common Stock if and when such Common Stock were trading at a price higher than the exercise price of $11.50.
No fractional shares of Common Stock will be issued upon exercise. If, upon exercise, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will round down to the nearest whole number of the number of Common Stock to be issued to the holder. If, at the time of redemption, the public warrants are exercisable for a security other than the shares of Common Stock pursuant to the warrant agreement, the public warrants may be exercised for such security.
Redemption Procedures and Cashless Exercise. If we call the public warrants for redemption as described above under “—Redemption of Warrants for Cash,” management will have the option to require any holder that wishes to exercise his, her or its public warrant to do so on a “cashless basis.” In determining whether to require all holders to exercise their public warrants on a “cashless basis,” our management will consider, among other factors, our cash position, the number of public warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on our stockholders of issuing the maximum number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon the exercise of our public warrants. If our management takes advantage of this option, all holders of public warrants would pay the exercise price by surrendering their public warrants for that number of shares of Common Stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Common Stock underlying the public warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” (defined below) over the exercise price of the public warrants by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” shall mean the average last reported sale price of shares of the Common Stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of public warrants. If our management takes advantage of this option, the notice of redemption will contain the information necessary to calculate the number of shares of Common Stock to be received upon exercise of the public warrants, including the “fair market value” in such case. Requiring a cashless exercise in this manner will reduce the number of shares to be issued and thereby lessen the dilutive effect of a public warrant redemption. We believe this feature is an attractive option to us if we do not need the cash from the exercise of the public warrants after the Business Combination. 
A holder of a public warrant may notify us in writing in the event it elects to be subject to a requirement that such holder will not have the right to exercise such public warrant, to the extent that after giving effect to such exercise, such person (together with such person’s affiliates), to the public warrant agent’s actual knowledge, would beneficially own in excess of 9.8% (or such other amount as a holder may specify) of the shares of Common Stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.
Anti-dilution Adjustments. If the number of outstanding shares of our Common Stock is increased by a stock dividend payable in shares of Common Stock to all or substantially all holders of Common Stock, or by a split-up of shares of Common Stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such stock dividend, split-up or similar event, the number of shares of Common Stock issuable on exercise of each public warrant will be increased in proportion to such increase in the outstanding shares of Common Stock. A rights offering to holders of shares of Common Stock entitling holders to purchase shares of Common Stock at a price less than the fair market value will be deemed a stock dividend of a number of shares of Common Stock equal to the product of (i) the number of shares of Common Stock actually sold in such rights offering (or issuable under any other equity securities sold in such rights offering that are convertible into or exercisable for Common Stock) multiplied by (ii) one (1) minus the quotient of (x) the price per share of Common Stock paid in such rights offering divided by (y) the fair market value. For these purposes (i) if the rights offering is for securities convertible into or exercisable for Common Stock, in determining the price payable for Common Stock, there will be taken into account any consideration received for such rights, as well as any additional amount payable upon exercise or conversion and (ii) fair market value means the volume weighted average price of Common Stock as reported during the ten (10) trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the first date on which the shares of Common Stock trade on the applicable exchange or in the applicable market, regular way, without the right to receive such rights.
In addition, if we, at any time while the public warrants are outstanding and unexpired, pay a dividend or make a distribution in cash, securities or other assets to all or substantially all holders of Common Stock on account of such shares of Common Stock (or other shares of our capital stock into which the public warrants are convertible), other than (a) as described above, (b) certain ordinary cash dividends or (c) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Common Stock in connection 
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with the Business Combination, then the public warrant exercise price will be decreased, effective immediately after the effective date of such event, by the amount of cash and/or the fair market value of any securities or other assets paid on each share of Common Stock in respect of such event.
If the number of outstanding shares of our Common Stock is decreased by a consolidation, combination, reverse stock split or reclassification of shares of Common Stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, reverse stock split, reclassification or similar event, the number of shares of Common Stock issuable on exercise of each public warrant will be decreased in proportion to such decrease in outstanding shares of Common Stock.
Whenever the number of shares of Common Stock purchasable upon the exercise of the public warrants is adjusted, as described above, the public warrant exercise price will be adjusted by multiplying the warrant exercise price immediately prior to such adjustment by a fraction (x) the numerator of which will be the number of shares of Common Stock purchasable upon the exercise of the public warrants immediately prior to such adjustment, and (y) the denominator of which will be the number of shares of Common Stock so purchasable immediately thereafter.
In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding shares of Common Stock (other than those described above or that solely affects the par value of such shares of Common Stock), or in the case of any merger or consolidation of us with or into another corporation (other than a consolidation or merger in which we are the continuing corporation and that does not result in any reclassification or reorganization of our outstanding shares of Common Stock), or in the case of any sale or conveyance to another corporation or entity of the assets or other property of us as an entirety or substantially as an entirety in connection with which we are dissolved, the holders of the public warrants will thereafter have the right to purchase and receive, upon the basis and upon the terms and conditions specified in the public warrants and in lieu of our shares of Common Stock immediately theretofore purchasable and receivable upon the exercise of the rights represented thereby, the kind and amount of shares of stock or other securities or property (including cash) receivable upon such reclassification, reorganization, merger or consolidation, or upon a dissolution following any such sale or transfer, that the holder of the public warrants would have received if such holder had exercised their public warrants immediately prior to such event. However, if such holders were entitled to exercise a right of election as to the kind or amount of securities, cash or other assets receivable upon such consolidation or merger, then the kind and amount of securities, cash or other assets for which each public warrant will become exercisable will be deemed to be the weighted average of the kind and amount received per share by such holders in such consolidation or merger that affirmatively make such election, and if a tender, exchange or redemption offer has been made to and accepted by such holders under circumstances in which, upon completion of such tender or exchange offer, the maker thereof, together with members of any group (within the meaning of Rule 13d-5(b)(1) under the Exchange Act) of which such maker is a part, and together with any affiliate or associate of such maker (within the meaning of Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act) and any members of any such group of which any such affiliate or associate is a part, own beneficially (within the meaning of Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act) more than 50% of the outstanding Common Stock, the holder of a public warrant will be entitled to receive the highest amount of cash, securities or other property to which such holder would actually have been entitled as a stockholder if such public warrant holder had exercised the public warrant prior to the expiration of such tender or exchange offer, accepted such offer and all of the Common Stock held by such holder had been purchased pursuant to such tender or exchange offer, subject to adjustment (from and after the consummation of such tender or exchange offer) as nearly equivalent as possible to the adjustments provided for in the warrant agreement. Additionally, if less than 70% of the consideration receivable by the holders of Common Stock in such a transaction is payable in the form of Common Stock in the successor entity that is listed for trading on a national securities exchange or is quoted in an established over-the-counter market, or is to be so listed for trading or quoted immediately following such event, and if the registered holder of the public warrant properly exercises the public warrant within thirty (30) days following public disclosure of such transaction, the warrant exercise price will be reduced as specified in the warrant agreement based on the per share consideration minus the Black-Scholes Warrant Value (as defined in the warrant agreement) of the warrant.
The public warrants were issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and FVAC. You should review a copy of the warrant agreement, which was filed as an exhibit to the registration statement pertaining to FVAC’s initial public offering, for a complete description of the terms and conditions applicable to the warrants. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants.
The warrant holders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of Common Stock and any voting rights until they exercise their warrants and receive shares of Common Stock. After the issuance of shares of Common Stock upon exercise of the warrants, each holder will be entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters to be voted on by stockholders.
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Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions of Delaware Law, the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws
Provisions of the DGCL and our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Amended and Restated Bylaws could make it more difficult to acquire the Company by means of a tender offer, a proxy contest or otherwise, or to remove incumbent officers and directors. These provisions, summarized below, are intended to discourage coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids and to encourage persons seeking to acquire control the Company to first negotiate with the board of directors. We believe that the benefits of these provisions outweigh the disadvantages of discouraging certain takeover or acquisition proposals because, among other things, negotiation of these proposals could result in an improvement of their terms and enhance the ability of the Company’s Board to maximize stockholder value. However, these provisions may delay, deter or prevent a merger or acquisition of us that a stockholder might consider is in its best interest, including those attempts that might result in a premium over the prevailing market price of tour Common Stock.
Business Combinations
The Company has opted out of Section 203 of the DGCL; however the Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation contains provisions that are substantially similar to Section 203 of the DGCL. These provisions prevent the Company, under certain circumstances, from engaging in a “business combination” with (i) a stockholder who owns fifteen percent (15%) or more of our outstanding voting stock (otherwise known as an “interested stockholder”); (ii) an affiliate of an interested stockholder; or (iii) an associate of an interested stockholder, in each case, for three years following the date that such stockholder became an interested stockholder.
A “business combination” includes a merger or sale of more than 10% of our assets. However, the above provisions do not apply if:
•the Company’s Board approves the transaction that made the stockholder an “interested stockholder,” prior to the date of the transaction;
•after the completion of the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, that stockholder owned at least 85% of our voting stock outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, other than certain excluded shares of Common Stock; or
•on or subsequent to the date of the transaction, the business combination is approved by the Company’s Board and authorized at a meeting of our stockholders, and not by written consent, by an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock not owned by the interested stockholder.
In addition, our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation provide for certain other provisions that may have an anti-takeover effect:
•There is no cumulative voting with respect to the election of directors.
•Our Board is empowered to elect a director to fill a vacancy created by the expansion of the board of directors or the resignation, death, or removal of a director in certain circumstances.
•Directors may only be removed from the board of directors for cause.
•A prohibition on stockholder action by written consent, which forces stockholder action to be taken at an annual or special meeting of our stockholders.
•A prohibition on stockholders calling a special meeting and the requirement that a meeting of the stockholders may only be called by members of our Board, by our Chief Executive Officer or by our Chairman, which may delay the ability of our stockholders to force consideration of a proposal or to take action, including the removal of directors.
•Our authorized but unissued Common Stock and preferred stock are available for future issuances without stockholder approval and could be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future offerings to raise additional capital, acquisitions and employee benefit plans. The existence of authorized but unissued and unreserved Common Stock and 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.
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Classified Board:
Under the terms of the Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, the Company’s Board is divided into three classes, Class I, Class II and Class III, with only one class of directors being elected in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed to Class I and Class II) serving a three-year term. The term of office of the Class I directors will expire at the 2021 annual meeting of the stockholders of the Company. The term of office of the Class II directors will expire at the 2022 annual meeting of the stockholders of the Company. The term of office of the Class III directors will expire at the 2023 annual meeting of the stockholders of the Company. Members of the Company’s Board will be elected by a plurality of the votes cast at each annual meeting of the stockholders of the Company. Directors will be elected by a plurality of the votes cast at a meeting of the stockholders by holders of our Common Stock. So long as the Company’s Board is classified, it would take at least two elections of directors for any individual or group to gain control of the Company’s Board. Accordingly, while the classified board is in effect, these provisions could discourage a third party from initiating a proxy contest, making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to gain control of the Company.
Advance notice requirements for stockholder proposals and director nominations
Our Amended and Restated Bylaws provide that stockholders seeking to bring business before the annual meeting of the stockholders, or to nominate candidates for election as directors at the annual meeting of the stockholders of the Company must provide timely notice of their intent in writing. To be timely, a stockholder’s notice will need to be received by the company secretary at our principal executive offices not later than the close of business on the 90th nor earlier than the close of business on the 120th day prior to the anniversary date of the immediately preceding annual meeting of the stockholders. Pursuant to Rule 14a-8 of the Exchange Act, proposals seeking inclusion in our annual proxy statement must comply with the notice periods contained therein. Our Amended and Restated Bylaws also specify certain requirements as to the form and content of a stockholders’ meeting. These provisions may preclude the stockholders of the Company from bringing matters before our annual meeting of the stockholders or from making nominations for directors at our annual meeting of the stockholders.
Exclusive Forum
The Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation provides that unless the Company consents to the selection of an alternative forum, any (1) derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of the Company, (2) action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer, stockholder or employee to the Company or its stockholders, (3) action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or the Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation or the Amended and Restated Bylaws or (4) action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be exclusively brought in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware or, if such court does not have subject matter jurisdiction thereof, another state or federal court located within the State of Delaware. Additionally, the Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation will also provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the United States federal securities laws, including the Securities Act and the Exchange Act. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of capital stock of the Company shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the forum provisions in the Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation; however, there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such an exclusive forum provision with respect to claims under the Securities Act. Additionally, investors cannot waive the Company’s compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
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