Document

Exhibit 4.6





EVOLENT HEALTH, INC.
DESCRIPTION OF THE REGISTRANT’S SECURITIES 
REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE 
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934


DESCRIPTION OF COMMON STOCK


As of December 31, 2021, Evolent Health, Inc. (the “Company,” “us,” “we,” or “our”) had one class of securities, our Class A common stock, par value $0.01 per share, registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Our common stock is listed on New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “EVH.”


The following summary does not purport to be complete and is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”) and our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as amended (the “certificate of incorporation”), and third amended and restated by-laws (the “by-laws”), as each may be further amended from time to time.


General


Our certificate of incorporation provides that we may issue up to 750,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.01 per share. 


Voting Rights


Except as otherwise provided in our certificate of incorporation, or required by law, the holders of Class A common stock are entitled to one vote per share on all matters to be voted upon by the stockholders.


Dividend and Liquidation Rights


Subject to preferences that may be applicable to any outstanding preferred stock, the holders of Class A common stock are entitled to receive ratably such dividends, if any, as may be declared from time to time by the board of directors out of funds legally available therefor. 


We currently anticipate that we will retain all of our future earnings for use in the expansion and operation of our business and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. The declaration and payment of all future dividends to holders of our Class A common stock will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on many factors, including our financial condition, earnings, legal requirements and any debt agreements we are then party to, and other factors our board of directors deems relevant.


In the event of liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Company, the holders of Class A common stock are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining after payment of liabilities, subject to prior distribution rights of preferred stock, if any, then outstanding. 


Other Rights










The holders of our Class A common stock have no preemptive or conversion rights or other subscription rights. There are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to the Class A common stock. The rights, preferences and privileges of holders of our common stock are subject to those of the holders of any shares of our preferred stock we may issue in the future. 


Election and Removal of Directors; Vacancies 


Our board of directors consists of up to 10 directors, excluding any directors elected by holders of any preferred stock pursuant to provisions applicable in the case of defaults and subject to applicable laws and stock exchange regulations. The exact number of directors will be fixed from time to time by resolution of the board. 


In accordance with our certificate of incorporation and our by-laws, our board of directors currently consists of 10 members.  Prior to the 2023 annual meeting of stockholders, our board of directors is divided into three classes of directors, as nearly equal in number as possible. Any director elected prior to the date of the 2021 annual meeting of stockholders will serve for a three-year term expiring on the date of the third annual meeting of stockholders following the annual meeting of stockholders at which that Director was elected. Each director elected at the 2021 annual meeting of stockholders was elected for a one-year term expiring at the 2022 annual meeting of stockholders. Each director elected at the 2022 annual meeting of stockholders will be elected for a one-year term expiring at the 2023 annual meeting of stockholders. At the 2023 annual meeting of stockholders and at each annual meeting of stockholders thereafter, all directors will be elected for a one-year term expiring at the next annual meeting of stockholders. There is no limit on the number of terms a director may serve on our board of directors. 


In connection with our IPO, we entered into a stockholders agreement which contains provisions related to the composition of our board of directors, the committees of our board of directors and our corporate governance. Under the stockholders agreement, for so long as University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (“UPMC”) owns at least 40% of the shares of common stock held by it following the completion of our IPO, such stockholder will be entitled to nominate two directors to serve on our board of directors. When such stockholder owns less than 40% but at least 5% of the shares of common stock held by it following the completion of our IPO, such stockholder will be entitled to nominate one director. 


Our certificate of incorporation and our by-laws provide that prior to the date of the 2023 annual meeting of stockholders, any director or the entire Board may be removed only for cause and only upon the affirmative vote of holders of at least 75% of the total voting power of all the then outstanding shares of capital stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class. On or after the date of the 2023 annual meeting of stockholders, any director or the entire Board may be removed, at any time, with or without cause, by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least a majority of the voting power of the outstanding shares of Company’s capital stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class, subject to the terms of the Stockholders Agreement.


In addition, our certificate of incorporation and our by-laws provide that any newly created directorship on the board of directors that results from an increase in the number of directors and any vacancy occurring on the board of directors shall be filled only by a majority of the directors then in office, although less than a quorum, or by a sole remaining director. 


No Cumulative Voting 










The DGCL provides that stockholders are not entitled to the right to cumulate votes in the election of directors unless our certificate of incorporation provides otherwise. Our certificate of incorporation prohibits cumulative voting. 


Limits on Written Consents 


The DGCL permits stockholder action by written consent unless otherwise provided by our certificate of incorporation. Our certificate of incorporation precludes stockholder action by written consent. 


Stockholder Meetings 


Our certificate of incorporation and our by-laws provide that special meetings of stockholders may be called only by or at the direction of the board of directors, the chairman of the board of directors or the chief executive officer.


Amendment of Certificate of Incorporation 


The affirmative vote of holders of at least a majority of the voting power of our outstanding shares of stock will generally be required to amend provisions of our certificate of incorporation. 


Amendment of By-laws 


Our second amended and restated by-laws may generally be altered, amended or repealed, and new by-laws may be adopted, by the affirmative vote of either a majority of directors present at any regular or special meeting of the board of directors called for that purpose or by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least a majority of the voting power of the outstanding shares of stock. 


Other Limitations on Stockholder Actions 


Our by-laws also impose some procedural requirements on stockholders who wish to: 


•make nominations in the election of directors;
•propose that a director be removed;
•propose any repeal or change in our by-laws; or
•propose any other business to be brought before an annual meeting of stockholders.


Under these procedural requirements, in order to bring a proposal before a meeting of stockholders, a stockholder must deliver timely notice of a proposal pertaining to a proper subject for presentation at the meeting to our corporate secretary along with the following: 


•a description of the business or nomination to be brought before the meeting and the reasons for conducting such business at the meeting;
•the stockholder’s name and address;
•any material interest of the stockholder in the proposal;
•the number of shares beneficially owned by the stockholder and evidence of such ownership; and
•the names and addresses of all persons with whom the stockholder is acting in concert and a description of all arrangements and understandings with those persons, and the number of shares such persons beneficially own.










To be timely, a stockholder must generally deliver notice:


•in connection with an annual meeting of stockholders, not less than 120 nor more than 150 days prior to the month and day corresponding to the date on which the annual meeting of stockholders was held in the immediately preceding year, but in the event that the date of the annual meeting is more than 30 days before or more than 30 days after the anniversary date of the preceding annual meeting of stockholders, a stockholder notice will be timely if received by us not later than the close of business on the 10th day following the day on which we first publicly announce the date of the annual meeting; or
•in connection with the election of a director at a special meeting of stockholders, not less than 40 nor more than 60 days prior to the date of the special meeting, but in the event that less than 50 days’ notice or prior public disclosure of the date of the special meeting of the stockholders is given or made to the stockholders, a stockholder notice will be timely if received by us not later than the close of business on the 10th day following the day on which a notice of the date of the special meeting was mailed to the stockholders or the public disclosure of that date was made.


In order to submit a nomination for our board of directors, a stockholder must also submit any information with respect to the nominee that we would be required to include in a proxy statement, as well as certain other information. If a stockholder fails to follow the required procedures, the stockholder’s proposal or nominee will be ineligible and will not be voted on by our stockholders.


Corporate Opportunity 


Our certificate of incorporation and the stockholders agreement provide that each of TPG, The Advisory Board and UPMC and their respective affiliates will not have any duty to refrain from (i) engaging, directly or indirectly, in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us, including those business activities or lines of business deemed to be competing with us, or (ii) doing business with any of our clients, customers or vendors. In the event that TPG, The Advisory Board or UPMC or any of their respective affiliates acquires knowledge of a potential business opportunity which may be a corporate opportunity for us, they will have no duty to communicate or offer such corporate opportunity to us. Our certificate of incorporation and the stockholders agreement also provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, none of such stockholders or their respective affiliates will be liable to us, for breach of any fiduciary duty or otherwise, by reason of the fact that any such stockholder or any of its affiliates directs such corporate opportunity to another person, or otherwise does not communicate information regarding such corporate opportunity to us, and we will waive and renounce any claim that such business opportunity constituted a corporate opportunity that should have been presented to us. 


Limitation of Liability of Directors and Officers 


Our certificate of incorporation provides that no director will be personally liable to us or our stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, except as required by applicable law, as in effect from time to time. Currently, Delaware law requires that liability be imposed for the following: 


•any breach of the director’s duty of loyalty to our company or our stockholders;
•any act or omission not in good faith or which involved intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law;
•unlawful payments of dividends or unlawful stock repurchases or redemptions as provided in Section 174 of the DGCL; and








•any transaction from which the director derived an improper personal benefit.


As a result, neither we nor our stockholders have the right, through stockholders’ derivative suits on our behalf, to recover monetary damages against a director for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, including breaches resulting from grossly negligent behavior, except in the situations described above. 


Our by-laws provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, we will indemnify any officer or director of our company against all damages, claims and liabilities arising out of the fact that the person is or was our director or officer, or served any other enterprise at our request as a director, officer, employee, agent or fiduciary. We will reimburse the expenses, including attorneys’ fees, incurred by a person indemnified by this provision when we receive an undertaking to repay such amounts if it is ultimately determined that the person is not entitled to be indemnified by us. Amending these provisions will not reduce our indemnification obligations relating to actions taken before an amendment.


Forum Selection 


Our certificate of incorporation requires, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought on our behalf, any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers or other employees to us or our stockholders and other similar actions, may be brought only in specified courts in the State of Delaware. Although we believe this provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers. 


Anti-takeover Effects of Some Provisions 


Some provisions of our certificate of incorporation and by-laws could make the following more difficult: 


•acquisitions of control of us by means of a proxy contest or otherwise; or
•removal of our incumbent officers and directors.


These provisions, as well as our ability to issue preferred stock, are designed 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. We believe that the benefits of increased protection give us the potential ability to negotiate with the proponent of an unfriendly or unsolicited proposal to acquire or restructure us, and that the benefits of this increased protection outweigh the disadvantages of discouraging those proposals, because negotiation of those proposals could result in an improvement of their terms. 


Delaware Business Combination Statute 


We have elected in our certificate of incorporation not to be subject to Section 203 of the DGCL, an antitakeover law. In general, Section 203 prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in a business combination, such as a merger, with a person or group owning 15% or more of the corporation’s voting stock for a period of three years following the date the person became an interested stockholder, unless (with certain exceptions) the business combination or the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder is approved in a prescribed manner. Accordingly, we will not be subject to any anti-takeover effects of Section 203. Nevertheless, our certificate of incorporation contains provisions that have the same effect as Section 203, except that they provide that each of TPG, UPMC and The Advisory Board and their transferees will not be deemed to be 








“interested stockholders,” regardless of the percentage of our voting stock owned by them, and accordingly will not be subject to such restrictions. 


Transfer Agent and Registrar 


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