ex_179549.htm


Exhibit 4.4


 


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


 


As of March 5, 2020, Cleveland BioLabs, Inc. (“we,” us,” and “our”), has one class of securities registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended: common stock, par value $0.005 per share, authorized 25,000,000 shares, issued and outstanding 11,298,239 shares (“Common Stock”). The following is a summary of the material terms and rights of our common stock and the provisions of our restated certificate of incorporation and our bylaws, each as amended and each of which is incorporated by reference as an exhibit to our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, of which this exhibit is a part. This summary is not complete and you should refer to the applicable provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws. Our certificate of incorporation also authorizes us to issue up to 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.005. As of March 5, 2020, there are no shares of our preferred stock issued and outstanding.


 


Voting Rights. The holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote per share with respect to each matter presented to our stockholders on which the holders of common stock are entitled to vote and do not have cumulative voting rights. An election of directors by our stockholders is determined by a plurality of the votes cast by the stockholders entitled to vote on the election.


 


Dividends. Holders of our common stock are entitled to receive ratably any dividends as may be declared by our board of directors, subject to any preferential dividend rights of outstanding preferred stock.


 


Liquidation and Dissolution. In the event of our liquidation or dissolution, the holders of our common stock are entitled to receive ratably all assets available for distribution to stockholders after the payment of all debts and other liabilities and subject to the prior rights of any outstanding preferred stock.


 


Other Rights.  Holders of our common stock have no preemptive, subscription, redemption or conversion rights by virtue of our certificate of incorporation, our bylaws or Delaware law. 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. There are no sinking fund provisions applicable to our common stock.


 


Listing. Our common stock is listed on The NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol “CBLI.”


 


Transfer Agent and Registrar. The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company.


 


Fully Paid and Nonassessable. All of our outstanding shares of common stock are fully paid and nonassessable.


 


Anti-Takeover Effects of Delaware Law and our Certificate of Incorporation and By-laws


 


Certain provisions of Delaware law, our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws, which are discussed below, could discourage or make it more difficult to accomplish a proxy contest or other change in our management or the acquisition of control by a holder of a substantial amount of our voting stock. It is possible that these provisions could make it more difficult to accomplish, or could deter, transactions that stockholders may otherwise consider to be in their best interests or the best interests of the Company. These provisions are intended to enhance the likelihood of continuity and stability in the composition of our board of directors and in the policies formulated by the board of directors and to discourage certain types of transactions that may involve an actual or threatened change of control of us. These provisions are also designed to reduce our vulnerability to an unsolicited acquisition proposal and to discourage certain tactics that may be used in proxy fights. Such provisions also may have the effect of preventing changes in our management.


 





 










 








 


Delaware Law


 


In general, Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, or the DGCL, prohibits a publicly held 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 the business combination is, or the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder was, approved in a prescribed manner or another prescribed exception applies. For purposes of Section 203, a “business combination” is defined broadly to include a merger, asset sale or other transaction resulting in a financial benefit to the interested stockholder, and, subject to certain exceptions, an “interested stockholder” is a person who, together with his or her affiliates and associates, owns, or within three years prior, did own, 15% or more of the corporation’s voting stock. However, our certificate of incorporation provides that we are not subject to the anti-takeover provisions of Section 203 of the DGCL.


 


Stockholder Action; Special Meeting of Stockholders; Advance Notice Requirements for Stockholder Proposals and Director Nominations


 


Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws do not permit our stockholders to act by written consent. As a result, any action to be effected by our stockholders must be effected at a duly called annual or special meeting of the stockholders. Our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws also provide that special meetings of the stockholders may be called only by (i) our chairperson of the board of directors, (ii) our board of directors or any holder or holders of 10% or more of the outstanding voting power of the issued and outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company entitled to vote in connection with the election of directors.


 


Our bylaws provide that, for nominations to the board of directors or for other business to be properly brought by a stockholder before a meeting of stockholders, the stockholder must first have given timely notice of the proposal in writing to our Secretary. For an annual meeting, a stockholder’s notice generally must be delivered not less than 90 days nor more than 120 days prior to the anniversary of the date of the previous year’s annual meeting; provided, however, that in the event that the annual meeting is called for a date that is not within 30 days before or after such anniversary date, notice by the stockholder in order to be timely must be received not later than the 10th day following the day on which such notice of the date of the annual meeting was mailed or public disclosure was made, whichever occurs first. Detailed requirements as to the form of the notice and information required in the notice are specified in our bylaws. If it is determined that business was not properly brought before a meeting in accordance with our bylaws, such business will not be considered at the meeting.


 


Effects of Authorized but Unissued Stock


 


We have additional shares of common stock, including shares of common stock reserved for issuance under the Company’s 2013 Employee Stock Purchase Plan and the Cleveland BioLabs, Inc. Equity Incentive Plan, and shares of preferred stock, available for future issuance without stockholder approval, subject to any limitations imposed by the listing standards of The NASDAQ Capital Market. We may utilize these additional shares for a variety of corporate purposes including for future public or private offerings to raise additional capital or facilitate corporate acquisitions or for payment as a dividend on our capital stock. The existence of unissued and unreserved common stock and preferred stock may enable our board of directors to issue shares to persons friendly to current management or to issue preferred stock with terms that could have the effect of making it more difficult for a third party to acquire, or could discourage a third party from seeking to acquire, a controlling interest in our Company by means of a merger, tender offer, proxy contest or otherwise. In addition, if we issue preferred stock, the issuance could adversely affect the voting power of holders of our common stock and the likelihood that such holders will receive dividend payments and payments upon liquidation.


 


Limitation of Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors


 


Our certificate of incorporation contains provisions permitted under the DGCL relating to the liability of directors. The provisions eliminate a director’s liability for monetary damages for a breach of fiduciary duty, except in circumstances involving wrongful acts, such as the breach of a director’s duty of loyalty or acts or omissions not in good faith or that involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law. Further, our certificate of incorporation contains provisions to indemnify our directors and officers to the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL.