vie-ex43_344.htm



Exhibit 4.3

DESCRIPTION OF REGISTRANT’S SECURITIES

REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF 

THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934, AS AMENDED

Viela Bio, Inc. (the “Company” or “we”) has one class of securities registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended: our common stock, par value $0.001 per share.

DESCRIPTION OF COMMON STOCK

We are authorized to issue 200,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share, and 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.001 per share. 

The following description of our common stock and provisions of our third amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws are summaries of material terms and provisions and are qualified by reference to our third amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, copies of which have been filed with the SEC as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. The descriptions of our common stock reflect the content of the third amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws.

General

Holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote for each share of common stock held of record for the election of directors and on all matters submitted to a vote of stockholders. Holders of our common stock are entitled to receive dividends ratably, if any, as may be declared by our board of directors out of legally available funds, subject to any preferential dividend rights of any preferred stock then outstanding. Upon our dissolution, liquidation or winding up, holders of our common stock are entitled to share ratably in our net assets legally available after the payment of all our debts and other liabilities, subject to the preferential rights of any preferred stock then outstanding. Holders of our common stock have no preemptive, subscription, redemption or conversion rights. The rights, preferences and privileges of 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 preferred stock that we may designate and issue in the future. Except as described under the “—Anti-Takeover Effects of Delaware Law, Our Third Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Our Amended and Restated Bylaws” section below, a majority vote of the holders of common stock is generally required to take action under our third amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws.

CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF DELAWARE LAW AND OF THE COMPANY’S CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION AND BYLAWS

Anti-Takeover Effects of Delaware Law, Our Third Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Our Amended and Restated Bylaws

Our third amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws include a number of provisions that may have the effect of encouraging persons considering unsolicited tender offers or other unilateral takeover proposals to negotiate with our board of directors rather than pursue non-negotiated takeover attempts. These provisions include the items described below.

Board Composition and Filling Vacancies

In accordance with our third amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our board of directors is divided into three classes serving three-year terms, with one class being elected each year. Our 

 



 

third amended and restated certificate of incorporation also provides that directors may be removed only for cause and then only by the affirmative vote of the holders of 75% or more of the shares then entitled to vote at an election of directors. Furthermore, any vacancy on our board of directors, however occurring, including a vacancy resulting from an increase in the size of our board of directors, will only be able to be filled by the affirmative vote of a majority of our directors then in office, even if less than a quorum.

No Written Consent of Stockholders

Our third amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that all stockholder actions are required to be taken by a vote of the stockholders at an annual or special meeting, and that stockholders may not take any action by written consent in lieu of a meeting.

Meetings of Stockholders

Our amended and restated bylaws provide that only a majority of the members of our board of directors then in office may call special meetings of stockholders and only those matters set forth in the notice of the special meeting may be considered or acted upon at a special meeting of stockholders. Our amended and restated bylaws limit the business that may be conducted at an annual meeting of stockholders to those matters properly brought before the meeting.

Advance Notice Requirements

Our amended and restated bylaws establish advance notice procedures with regard to stockholder proposals relating to the nomination of candidates for election as directors or new business to be brought before meetings of our stockholders. These procedures provide that notice of stockholder proposals must be timely given in writing to our corporate secretary prior to the meeting at which the action is to be taken. Generally, to be timely, notice must be received at our principal executive offices not less than 90 days or more than 120 days prior to the first anniversary date of the annual meeting for the preceding year. The notice must contain certain information specified in our amended and restated bylaws. These provisions may have the effect of precluding the conduct of certain business at a meeting if the proper procedures are not followed. These provisions may also discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of our company.

Amendment to Bylaws and Certificate of Incorporation

As required by the Delaware General Corporation Law, any amendment of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation must first be approved by a majority of our board of directors and, if required by law or our third amended and restated certificate of incorporation, thereafter be approved by a majority of the outstanding shares entitled to vote on the amendment, and a majority of the outstanding shares of each class entitled to vote thereon as a class, except that the amendment of the provisions relating to stockholder action, directors, limitation of liability, exclusive jurisdiction of Delaware Courts and the amendment of our amended and restated bylaws and third amended and restated certificate of incorporation must be approved by not less than 75% of the outstanding shares entitled to vote on the amendment, and not less than 75% of the outstanding shares of each class entitled to vote thereon as a class. Our amended and restated bylaws may be amended by the affirmative vote of a majority of the directors then in office, subject to any limitations set forth in the amended and restated bylaws; and may also be amended by the affirmative vote of at least 75% of the outstanding shares entitled to vote on the amendment, or, if the board of directors recommends that the stockholders approve the amendment, by 

 



 

the affirmative vote of the majority of the outstanding shares entitled to vote on the amendment, in each case voting together as a single class.

Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law

We are subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. In general, Section 203 prohibits a publicly-held Delaware corporation from engaging in a “business combination” with an “interested stockholder” for a three-year period following the time that this stockholder becomes an interested stockholder, unless the business combination is approved in a prescribed manner. A “business combination” includes, among other things, a merger, asset or stock sale or other transaction resulting in a financial benefit to the interested stockholder. An “interested stockholder” is a person who, together with affiliates and associates, owns, or did own within three years prior to the determination of interested stockholder status, 15% or more of the corporation’s voting stock.

Under Section 203, a business combination between a corporation and an interested stockholder is prohibited unless it satisfies one of the following conditions:


	
 
	
•
	
before the stockholder became interested, the board of directors approved either the business combination or the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder;





	
 
	
•
	
upon consummation 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 commenced, excluding for purposes of determining the voting stock outstanding, shares owned by persons who are directors and also officers, and employee stock plans, in some instances; or





	
 
	
•
	
at or after the time the stockholder became interested, the business combination was approved by the board of directors of the corporation and authorized at an annual or special meeting of the stockholders by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock that is not owned by the interested stockholder.




A Delaware corporation may “opt out” of these provisions with an express provision in its original certificate of incorporation or an express provision in its amended and restated certificate of incorporation or amended and restated bylaws resulting from a stockholders’ amendment approved by at least a majority of the outstanding voting shares. We have not opted out of these provisions. As a result, mergers or other takeover or change in control attempts of us may be discouraged or prevented.

Exclusive Jurisdiction of Certain Actions

Our third amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if the Chancery Court does not have jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Delaware or other state courts of the State of Delaware) will be the sole and exclusive forum for any state law claim for: (1) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf; (2) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty or other wrongdoing by any of our directors, officers, employees or agents to us or our stockholders; (3) any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law or our third amended and restated certificate of incorporation or amended and restated bylaws; (4) any action to interpret, apply, enforce or determine the validity of our third amended and restated certificate of incorporation or amended and restated bylaws or (5) any action asserting a 

 



 

claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine. The choice of forum provision does not apply to any actions arising under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act.

96877502v.2