Document

Exhibit 4.10
DESCRIPTION OF THE REGISTRANT’S SECURITIES
REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934


Alkami Technology, Inc. (the “Company,” “we,” “our” or “us”) currently has one class of securities registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”): our common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “common stock”). The following summary includes a brief description of the common stock as well as certain related information.


The following summary does not purport to be complete and is subject to, and qualified in its entirety by, the full text of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (the “certificate of incorporation”) and our amended and restated bylaws (the “bylaws”). For additional information please refer to the certificate of incorporation and bylaws, each of which are exhibits to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, and applicable provisions of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (“DGCL”).


DESCRIPTION OF COMMON STOCK


General
Under the certificate of incorporation, the Company is authorized to issue up to 500 million shares of common stock and up to 10 million shares of preferred stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “preferred stock”). The shares of common stock currently outstanding are fully paid and nonassessable. No shares of preferred stock are currently outstanding. The board of directors has the authority to make, alter or repeal the bylaws or adopt new bylaws, subject to certain limitations set forth in the bylaws.


Voting Rights
Each holder of common stock is entitled to one vote for each share on all matters submitted to a vote of the stockholders, including the election of directors. Our stockholders do not have cumulative voting rights in the election of directors. Accordingly, holders of a majority of the voting shares are able to elect all of the directors. In addition, the affirmative vote of holders of 66 2/3% of the voting power of all of the then outstanding voting stock will be required to take certain actions, including amending certain provisions of the certificate of incorporation, including the provisions relating to the bylaws, our classified board and director liability.


Dividends
Subject to preferences that may be applicable to any then outstanding preferred stock, holders of our common stock are entitled to receive ratably any dividends that our board of directors may declare out of funds legally available.


Liquidation
In the event of our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, holders of our common stock will be entitled to share ratably in the net assets legally available for distribution to stockholders after the payment of all of our debts and other liabilities, subject to the satisfaction of any liquidation preference granted to the holders of any then outstanding shares of preferred stock.


Rights and Preferences
Holders of our common stock have no preemptive, conversion or subscription rights, and there are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to our common stock. The rights, preferences and privileges of the holders of our common stock are subject to, and may be adversely affected by, the rights of the holders of shares of any series of our preferred stock that we may designate and issue in the future.


Anti-Takeover Provisions of Delaware Law


Section 203 of the DGCL
We are subject to Section 203 of the DGCL (“Section 203”), which prohibits a Delaware corporation from engaging in any business combination with any interested stockholder for a period of three years after the date that such stockholder became an interested stockholder, with the following exceptions:
•before 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;










•upon completion 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 began, excluding for purposes of determining the voting stock outstanding (but not the outstanding voting stock owned by the interested stockholder) those shares owned (i) by persons who are directors and also officers and (ii) 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


•on or after such date, the business combination is approved by the board of directors and authorized at an annual or special meeting of the stockholders, and not by written consent, by the affirmative vote of at least 66 2/3% of the outstanding voting stock that is not owned by the interested stockholder.


In general, Section 203 defines a “business combination” to include the following:


•any merger or consolidation involving the corporation and the interested stockholder;


•any sale, transfer, pledge or other disposition of 10% or more of the assets of the corporation involving the interested stockholder;


•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;


•any transaction involving the corporation that has the effect of increasing the proportionate share of the stock or any class or series of the corporation beneficially owned by the interested stockholder; and


•the receipt by the interested stockholder of the benefit of any loans, advances, guarantees, pledges or other financial benefits by or through the corporation.


In general, Section 203 defines an “interested stockholder” as an entity or person who, together with the person’s affiliates and associates, beneficially owns, or within three years prior to the time of determination of interested stockholder status did own, 15% or more of the outstanding voting stock of the corporation.


Section 203 could prohibit or delay mergers or other takeover or change in control attempts and, accordingly, may discourage attempts to acquire us even though such a transaction may offer our stockholders the opportunity to sell their stock at a price above the prevailing market price.


Anti-Takeover Provisions of Our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws
Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that may delay, defer or discourage another party from acquiring control of us. We expect that these provisions, which are summarized below, 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 our 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 also give our board of directors the power to discourage acquisitions that some stockholders may favor. The amendment of any of these provisions, except for the provision making it possible for our board of directors to issue undesignated preferred stock, would require approval by the holders of at least 66 2/3% of the voting power of all of our then-outstanding stock.


Authorized but Unissued Shares
The authorized but unissued shares of our common stock and our preferred stock are available for future issuance without stockholder approval, subject to any limitations imposed by the listing rules 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 more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.










Classified Board of Directors
Our certificate of incorporation provides that our board of directors will be divided into three classes, with the classes as nearly equal in number as possible and each class serving three-year staggered terms. Only one class of directors will be elected at each annual meeting of our stockholders, with the other classes continuing for the remainder of their respective three-year terms. Because our stockholders do not have cumulative voting rights, our stockholders holding a majority of the shares of our common stock outstanding will be able to elect all of our directors. Subject to the rights of any series of preferred stock to elect directors, directors may only be removed for cause, which removal may be effected, subject to any limitation imposed by law, by the holders of at least 66 2/3% of the voting power of all of our then-outstanding shares of the capital stock entitled to vote generally at an election of directors. The authorized number of directors may only be changed by resolution of our board of directors. All vacancies on our board of directors, including newly created directorships, may, except as required by law, be filled by the affirmative vote of a majority vote of directors then in office, even if less than a quorum. These provisions may have the effect of deferring, delaying or discouraging hostile takeovers or changes in control of us or our management.


Stockholder Action; Special Meeting of Stockholders
Our certificate of incorporation provides that our stockholders will not be able to take action by written consent for any matter and may only take action at annual or special meetings. As a result, a holder controlling a majority of our capital stock would not be able to amend our bylaws or remove directors without holding a meeting of our stockholders called in accordance with our bylaws, unless previously approved by our board of directors. Our certificate of incorporation further provides that special meetings of our stockholders may be called only by a majority of our board of directors, thus limiting the ability of a stockholder to call a special meeting. These provisions might delay the ability of our stockholders to force consideration of a proposal or for stockholders controlling a majority of our capital stock to take any action, including the removal of directors.


Advance Notice Requirements for Stockholder Proposals and Director Nominations
In addition, our bylaws establish an advance notice procedure for stockholder proposals to be brought before an annual meeting of stockholders, including proposed nominations of candidates for election to our board of directors. In order for any matter to be “properly brought” before a meeting, a stockholder must comply with advance notice and duration of ownership requirements and provide us with certain information. Stockholders at an annual meeting may only 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 qualified 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 stockholder actions that are favored by the holders of a majority of our outstanding voting securities until the next stockholder meeting.


Choice of Forum
Our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws provide that: (i) unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if such court does not have subject matter jurisdiction thereof, the federal district court of the State of Delaware) will, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for: (A) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of the Company, (B) any action asserting a claim for or based on a breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our current or former director, officer, other employee, agent or stockholder to the Company or our stockholders, including without limitation a claim alleging the aiding and abetting of such a breach of fiduciary duty, (C) any action asserting a claim against the Company or any of our current or former directors, officers, other employees, agents or stockholders arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our certificate of incorporation or bylaws or as to which the DGCL confers jurisdiction on the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware or (D) any action asserting a claim related to or involving the Company that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine; (ii) unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America will, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder; (iii) the exclusive forum provisions are intended to benefit and may be enforced by the Company, our officers and directors, the underwriters to any offering giving rise to such complaint and any other professional or entity whose profession gives authority to a statement made by that person or entity and who has prepared or certified any part of the documents underlying the offering; (iv) any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring or holding any interest in shares of capital stock of the Company will be deemed to have notice of and consented to these 








provisions; and (v) failure to enforce the foregoing provisions would cause us irreparable harm, and we will be entitled to equitable relief, including injunctive relief and specific performance, to enforce the foregoing provisions. Nothing in our certificate of incorporation or bylaws precludes stockholders that assert claims under the Exchange Act from bringing such claims in federal court to the extent that the Exchange Act confers exclusive federal jurisdiction over such claims, subject to applicable law.


Although our certificate of incorporation bylaws contain the choice of forum provision described above, it is possible that a court could find that such a provision is inapplicable for a particular claim or action or that such provision is unenforceable.