arwr-ex44_92.htm



Exhibit 4.4

 

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

The following is a description of our common stock and a summary of our preferred stock. You should refer to our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate of Incorporation”) and our Amended and Restated Bylaws (the “Bylaws”), each of which is filed as an exhibit to our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2019, to which this exhibit is also appended (the “2019 Annual Report”). 

We are authorized to issue up to 145,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share, and 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.001 per share. As of September 30, 2019, 95,506,271 shares of common stock and 0 shares of preferred stock were issued and outstanding.

Common Stock

Holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote for each share held on each matter to be voted on by stockholders. There is no cumulative voting in the election of directors. The holders of our common stock have no preemptive or conversion rights and are not subject to further calls or assessments. There are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to our common stock. The rights of the holders of the Common Stock are subject to any rights that may be fixed for holders of preferred stock, if any. Holders of our common stock are entitled to receive ratably dividends out of funds legally available, if and when declared from time to time by our board of directors. In the event of liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the affairs of the Company, holders of our common stock are to share in all assets remaining after the payment of liabilities and any preferential distributions payable to preferred stockholders, if any.

Our common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “ARWR”. The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is Computershare Trust Company.

Preferred Stock

Under our Certificate of Incorporation, our board of directors has the authority, without further action by stockholders, to designate up to 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock, $0.001 par value per share, in one or more series and to fix the rights, preferences, privileges, qualifications and restrictions granted to or imposed upon the preferred stock, including but not limited to dividend rights, conversion rights, voting rights, rights and terms of redemption, liquidation preference and sinking fund terms, any or all of which may be greater than the rights of our common stock.

Delaware Anti-Takeover Law

We are subject to Section 203 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”). Section 203 of the DGCL generally prohibits a public Delaware corporation from engaging in a “business combination” with an “interested stockholder” for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder, unless:

 


	
 
	
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prior to the date of the transaction, the board of directors of the corporation approved either the business combination or the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder;




 


	
 
	
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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 number of shares outstanding (1) shares owned by persons who are directors and also officers and (2) shares owned by employee stock plans in which employee participants do not have the right to determine whether shares held subject to the plan will be tendered in a tender or exchange offer; or




 


	
 
	
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on or subsequent to the date of the transaction, the business combination is approved by the board and authorized at an annual or special meeting of 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.








 

Section 203 of the DGCL defines a business combination to include:

 


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




 


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




 


	
 
	
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subject to exceptions, any transaction that results in the issuance or transfer by the corporation of any stock of the corporation to the interested stockholder; and




 


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




In general, Section 203 of the DGCL defines an interested stockholder as any entity or person beneficially owning 15% or more of the outstanding voting stock of the corporation and any entity or person affiliated with or controlling or controlled by the entity or person.

 

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