Document

Exhibit 4.2
DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK


The following summary of the material terms of the securities of Hostess Brands, Inc. (the “Company” or “we”) is not intended to be a complete summary of the rights and preferences of such securities. We urge you to read our certificate of incorporation in its entirety for a complete description of the rights and preferences of our securities. This summary is qualified in its entirety by such certificate of incorporation, which is filed as an exhibit to our Annual Report on Form 10-K to which this summary is filed as an exhibit.


Authorized and Outstanding Stock


Our certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of 261,000,000 shares of capital stock, consisting of (i) 260,000,000 shares of common stock, including 200,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value per share (“Class A Common Stock”), 50,000,000 shares of Class B Common Stock, $0.0001 par value per share (“Class B Common Stock”), and 10,000,000 shares of Class F Common Stock, $0.001 par value per share (“Class F Common Stock” and, together with the Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock, “Common Stock”) and (ii) 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share. The outstanding shares of our Common Stock are duly authorized, validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable. As of December 31, 2021, there were 138,278,573 shares of Common Stock outstanding, held of record by approximately four holders of Common Stock, including 138,278,573 shares of Class A Common Stock, no shares of Class B Common Stock, no shares of Class F Common Stock and no shares of preferred stock outstanding. Such numbers do not include DTC participants or beneficial owners holding shares through nominee names. 


We have no Class B Common Stock, Class F Common Stock or preferred stock outstanding as the date hereof. Although we do not currently intend to issue any shares of Class B Common Stock, Class F Common Stock or preferred stock, we cannot assure you that we will not do so in the future.


Voting Power
Except as otherwise required by law or as otherwise provided in any certificate of designation for any series of preferred stock, the holders of Common Stock possess all voting power for the election of our directors and all other matters requiring stockholder action and will at all times vote together as one class on all matters submitted to a vote of the stockholders of the Company. Holders of Common Stock are entitled to one vote per share on matters to be voted on by stockholders.


Dividends


Holders of Class A Common Stock will be entitled to receive such dividends and other distributions, if any, as may be declared from time to time by our board of directors 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


In the event of the voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution, distribution of assets or winding-up of the post-combination company, the holders of the Class A Common Stock will be entitled to receive an equal amount per share of all of our assets of whatever kind available for distribution to stockholders, after the rights of the holders of the preferred stock, if any, have been satisfied. 


Preemptive or Other Rights


Our stockholders have no preemptive or other subscription rights and there are no sinking fund or redemption provisions applicable to our Common Stock.




Election of Directors


Our Board is currently set at eight board members, each serving a one-year term. The terms of each board member will expire at the 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. There is no cumulative voting with respect to the election of directors, with the result that directions will be elected by a plurality of the votes cast at an annual meeting of stockholders by holders of our common stock.


Preferred Stock










Our certificate of incorporation provides that shares of preferred stock may be issued from time to time in one or more series. Our board of directors is authorized to fix the voting rights, if any, designations, powers, preferences, the relative, participating, optional or other special rights and any qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof, applicable to the shares of each series. Our board of directors 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 our board of directors 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.


Dividends


We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition. The payment of any cash dividends is within the discretion of our board of directors. In addition, our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any stock dividends in the foreseeable future. Further, restrictive covenants in our credit facilities limit our ability to declare dividends.


Transfer Agent 


The transfer agent for our Common Stock is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company. We have agreed to indemnify Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company in its roles as transfer agent, its agents and each of its stockholders, directors, officers and employees against all liabilities, including judgments, costs and reasonable counsel fees that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any liability due to any gross negligence, willful misconduct or bad faith of the indemnified person or entity.


Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions of Delaware Law, the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws


We have “opted out” of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which we refer to as “Section 203,” regulating corporate takeovers. Instead, our certificate of incorporation contains a provision that is substantially similar to Section 203, but excludes our Sponsor, Apollo and the CDM Holders, each of their successors, certain affiliates and each of their respective transferees from the definition of “interested stockholder”.


Section 203 prevents certain Delaware corporations, under certain circumstances, from engaging in a “business combination” with:


•a stockholder who owns fifteen percent (15%) or more of our outstanding voting stock (otherwise known as an “interested stockholder”);
•an affiliate of an interested stockholder; or
•an associate of an interested stockholder, for three years following the date that the stockholder became an interested stockholder.


A “business combination” includes a merger or sale of more than ten percent (10%) of our assets. However, the above provisions of Section 203 do not apply if:


•our board of directors 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 eighty-five percent (85%) of our voting stock outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, other than statutorily excluded shares of common stock; or
•on or subsequent to the date of the transaction, the business combination is approved by our 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.


Our certificate of incorporation does not provide for cumulative voting in the election of directors. Our board of directors 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; and our advance notice provisions require that 








stockholders must comply with certain procedures in order to nominate candidates to our board of directors or to propose matters to be acted upon at a stockholders’ meeting.


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.