Document:

a41descriptionofsecuriti

                                                                                                                                                                                             Exhibit 4.1                                   DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES                         REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE                               SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934    The following summary describes the securities of Dunkin’ Brands Group, Inc. (“Dunkin’ Brands”) registered  pursuant to Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). As of the end of  our most recent fiscal year, Dunkin’ Brands had only one class of securities registered pursuant to the Exchange Act:  our common stock.                                                                                       Description of Common Stock            The following description of our Common Stock is a summary and is qualified in its entirety by reference to our  second restated certificate of incorporation (our “Certificate of Incorporation”) and third amended and restated  bylaws (our “Bylaws”), which are incorporated by reference as exhibits to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of  which this Exhibit 4.1 is a part. For purposes of this description, references to “Dunkin’ Brands,” “we,” “our” and  “us” refer only to Dunkin’ Brands Group, Inc. and not to any of its subsidiaries.     Authorized Capital Shares. Our authorized capital shares consist of 475,000,000 shares of common stock, $0.001  par value per share (“Common Stock”), and 25,000,000 shares of preferred stock, $0.001 par value per share  (“Preferred Stock”). The outstanding shares of our Common Stock are fully paid and nonassessable under the  Delaware General Corporation Law.  As of the date of the filing of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, there were no  shares of Preferred Stock outstanding.    Dividend Rights. Subject to preferences that may apply to shares of Preferred Stock outstanding at the time, holders  of outstanding shares of Common Stock are entitled to receive dividends out of assets legally available at the times  and in the amounts as our board of directors may from time to time determine.    Voting Rights. Subject to the rights of any holders of Preferred Stock outstanding at the time, each outstanding share  of Common Stock is entitled to one vote on all matters submitted to a vote of stockholders.    Except as otherwise required by certain applicable rules or regulations or by our Certificate of Incorporation or  Bylaws, (i) all matters other than the election of directors will be determined by a majority of the votes cast on the  matter and (ii) in uncontested elections, directors will be elected only if the number of votes which are cast “for” his  or her election exceed the number of votes “against” his or her election. If the number of director nominees is  greater than the number of director positions open for election, the election of directors will be determined by a  plurality of the votes cast.  Liquidation Rights. Upon our liquidation, the holders of our Common Stock will be entitled to receive pro rata our  assets which are legally available for distribution, after payment of all debts and other liabilities and subject to the  prior rights of any holders of Preferred Stock then outstanding.  Nasdaq Listing. Our Common Stock is listed on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “DNKN.”  Preferred stock   Our board of directors may, without further action by our stockholders, from time to time, direct the issuance of  shares of preferred stock in one or more series and may, at the time of issuance, determine the designations, powers,  preferences, privileges, and relative participating, optional or special rights as well as the qualifications, limitations  or restrictions thereof, including dividend rights, conversion rights, voting rights, terms of redemption and  liquidation preferences, any or all of which may be greater than the rights of our Common Stock. Satisfaction of any  dividend preferences of outstanding shares of preferred stock would reduce the amount of funds available for the  payment of dividends or other distributions on shares of our Common Stock. Holders of shares of Preferred Stock  may be entitled to receive a preference payment in the event of our liquidation before any payment is made to the     

 

   holders of shares of our Common Stock. Under specified circumstances, the issuance of shares of Preferred Stock  may render more difficult or tend to discourage a merger, tender offer or proxy contest, the assumption of control by  a holder of a large block of our securities or the removal of incumbent management. Upon the affirmative vote of a  majority of the total number of directors then in office, our board of directors, without stockholder approval, may  issue shares of Preferred Stock with voting and conversion rights which could adversely affect the holders of shares  of our Common Stock and the market value of our Common Stock.  Anti-takeover effects of our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws   Our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws contain certain provisions that are intended to enhance the likelihood of  continuity and stability in the composition of our board of directors and which may have the effect of delaying,  deferring or preventing a future takeover or change in control of the company unless such takeover or change in  control is approved by our board of directors.  These provisions include:  Classified Board. Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that our board of directors shall be divided into three  classes of directors, with the classes as nearly equal in number as possible. As a result, approximately one-third of  our board of directors will be elected each year. The classification of directors has the effect of making it more  difficult for stockholders to change the composition of our board. Our Certificate of Incorporation also provides that,  subject to any rights of holders of Preferred Stock to elect additional directors under specified circumstances, the  number of directors will be fixed exclusively pursuant to a resolution adopted by our board of directors. Our board  of directors currently has ten members.  Action by Written Consent; Special Meetings of Stockholders. Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that  stockholder action can be taken only at an annual or special meeting of stockholders and cannot be taken by written  consent in lieu of a meeting. Our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws also provide that, except as otherwise  required by law, special meetings of the stockholders can only be called by the chairman or vice-chairman of the  board, the chief executive officer or pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of our board of directors. Except  as described above, stockholders are not permitted to call a special meeting or to require our board of directors to  call a special meeting.   Removal of Directors; Vacancies.    Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that our directors may be removed  only for cause by the affirmative vote of at least 75% of the voting power of our outstanding shares of capital stock,  voting together as a single class. This requirement of a supermajority vote to remove directors could enable a  minority of our stockholders to prevent a change in the composition of our board of directors. Our Certificate of  Incorporation also provides that, other than vacancies created by the removal of a director by stockholders for cause,  vacancies on our board of directors and newly created directorships may be filled exclusively by a majority of  directors then in office, even if less than a quorum.   Advance Notice Procedures. Our Bylaws establish an advance notice procedure for stockholder proposals to be  brought before an annual meeting of our stockholders, including proposed nominations of persons for election to our  board of directors. Stockholders at an annual meeting will only be able to consider proposals or nominations  specified in the notice of meeting or brought before the meeting by or at the direction of our board of directors or by  a stockholder who was a stockholder of record on the record date for the meeting, who is entitled to vote at the  meeting and who has given our Secretary timely written notice, in proper form, of the stockholder’s intention to  bring that business before the meeting. Although our Bylaws do not give our board of directors the power to approve  or disapprove stockholder nominations of candidates or proposals regarding other business to be conducted at a  special or annual meeting, our Bylaws may have the effect of precluding the conduct of certain business at a meeting  if the proper procedures are not followed or may discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a  solicitation of proxies to elect its own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of the company.  Amendments. The Delaware General Corporation Law generally provides that the affirmative vote of a majority of  the shares entitled to vote on any matter is required to amend a corporation’s certificate of incorporation or bylaws,  unless either a corporation’s certificate of incorporation or bylaws require a greater percentage. Our Certificate of  Incorporation and Bylaws provide that the affirmative vote of holders of at least 75% of the total votes eligible to be  cast in the election of directors is required to amend, alter, change or repeal specified provisions. This requirement    

 

   of a supermajority vote to approve amendments to our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws could enable a  minority of our stockholders to exercise veto power over any such amendments.   Authorized but Unissued Shares. Our authorized but unissued shares of Common Stock and Preferred Stock will be  available for future issuance without stockholder approval. These additional shares may be utilized for a variety of  corporate purposes, including future public offerings to raise additional capital, corporate acquisitions and employee  benefit plans. The existence of authorized but unissued shares of Common Stock and Preferred Stock could render  more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of a majority of our Common Stock by means of a proxy  contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.   Exclusive Forum.    Our Certificate of Incorporation requires, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative  actions brought on behalf of Dunkin’ Brands, actions against directors, officers and employees for breach of a  fiduciary duty, actions against Dunkin’ Brands arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General  Corporation Law, our Certificate of Incorporation or our Bylaws 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.   Business Combinations with Interested Stockholders. We have elected in our Certificate of Incorporation not to be  subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, 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 are not subject to any anti-takeover effects of Section 203. However, our Certificate of Incorporation contains  provisions that have the same effect as Section 203, except that they provide that investment funds affiliated with  Bain Capital Partners, LLC, The Carlyle Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P., who previously held a significant  interest in us, and their respective successors and affiliates 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.  Limitations on liability and indemnification of officers and directors   Our Certificate of Incorporation limits the liability of our directors to the fullest extent permitted by the Delaware  General Corporation Law, and our Bylaws provides that we will indemnify them to the fullest extent permitted by  such law. We have entered into indemnification agreements with our current directors and executive officers and  expect to enter into a similar agreement with any new directors or executive officers.  Transfer agent and registrar   The transfer agent and registrar for our Common Stock is American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC. Its  address is 6201 15th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11219. Its telephone number is (718) 921-8200.a1019murphypromoletter

                                                                        December 10, 2019        Scott Murphy      Dear Scott,    On behalf of Dunkin’ Brands, Inc. (“Dunkin’ Brands” or the “Company”), I am pleased to offer you the position of  President, Dunkin' Americas reporting to David Hoffmann, Chief Executive Officer, Dunkin' Brands, Inc.  The additional  terms of this offer are set forth below.     Start Date    Your start date will be December 1, 2019.    Cash Compensation    Base Salary    You will be paid $23,076.92 on a bi-weekly basis, less applicable payroll deductions and withholdings, in accordance  with Dunkin’ Brands’ standard payroll practices for salaried employees.  This equates to $600,000 on an annualized  basis.    Your base salary will be reviewed annually at the beginning of each calendar year based on market competitiveness  and performance and may be adjusted at that time.  You will next be eligible to be considered for an increase in 2021.    Short-Term Incentive    You continue to be eligible to participate in the FY-2019 Dunkin’ Brands’ Short-Term Incentive Plan (STI). Your annual  incentive is targeted at 75% of your base salary earnings, prorated based on your start date in the position.  The  actual percentage of your Award is discretionary and will be based on the terms of the STI Plan as they exist at any  given time, which generally take into account Company performance and your individual job performance, including  your ability to meet established goals and objectives.  Your participation letter, as well as the Plan Document which  governs the terms of the Plan, will be provided to you under separate cover.    Other Compensation    Long Term Incentive     As President, Dunkin’ Americas, you will be eligible to participate in our Long-Term Incentive Plan. All long-term  incentive grants are scheduled to be made during the first quarter following the applicable calendar year.  For  calendar year 2020, you will receive a grant with an approximate fair value of $800,000.  In 2021 and beyond, any  future grants will be based on Company performance, individual performance and management discretion. All grants  are subject to Board Compensation Committee approval, the terms of the Long-Term Incentive Plan, the applicable  award agreement and Dunkin’ Brands Stock Ownership Guidelines which require you to maintain a percentage of  ownership of the Company over a period of time.  These documents will be provided to you under separate cover at  the time a grant is made.                                                                                                           130 Royall Street, Canton, MA 02021                                                      

 

                                                         Benefits    There will be no change in your company-provided benefits at this time, subject to your benefits election for 2020.    Severance    In the event that Dunkin’ Brands terminates your employment other than for "Cause", as defined herein, you will be  eligible for severance of up to twelve (12) months of your then-current base salary compensation, subject to the date  you obtain re-employment which, in the sole opinion of the Company, is a reasonably comparable position.   Severance payments shall be expressly conditioned upon your execution, delivery and non-revocation of a severance  agreement and full release of claims in a form acceptable to the Company.  Severance is payable at the same time  and in the same manner as Dunkin’ Brands’ regular payroll, commencing upon the first scheduled payroll date  following the date such release is executed and no longer subject to revocation and in no event later than 60 days  from the date of termination.  “Cause” is defined as a material breach of any agreement you have with the Company  or any policy of the Company; fraud; nonfeasance or misfeasance (other than as a result of illness or disability) in  your duties to Dunkin’ Brands; conduct that is not in the best interest of, or is injurious to, Dunkin’ Brands; acts of  dishonesty in connection with the performance of your duties; or conviction of a felony or crime involving falsehood  or moral turpitude.  Without our receipt and your non-revocation of a full release of claims, you will not be entitled to  the aforementioned severance.  You shall not be entitled to severance in the event that you voluntarily resign or  retire.   Any payments pursuant to this paragraph are subject to applicable tax and legally required withholdings, are  intended to comply with, or be exempt from, the requirements of Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,  as amended ("Section 409A"), and shall be construed and administered accordingly; provided, that in no event shall  the Company be liable by reason of any failure of any such payment to comply with Section 409A or the requirements  for exemption from Section 409A.    Period of Employment     Your employment with Dunkin’ Brands will continue to be at will, meaning that this offer of employment does not  constitute a contract of employment. If employed, you may elect to resign at any time and Dunkin’ Brands may elect  to terminate your employment at any time for any reason, with or without cause or advance notice.  This at will  employment relationship cannot be changed by any statement, promise, policy or course of conduct, except by a  document in writing signed by you and an appropriate Company officer.     Data Transfer     By signing this offer letter and accepting employment at Dunkin' Brands you hereby give your consent to Dunkin’  Brands and/or its parent or any affiliate to collect, transmit, store and process certain information, including  information that is personally identifying or sensitive to you or about you (“Personal Data”) as set forth herein and for  all purposes relating to your employment, including without limitation: administering and maintaining personnel  records; employment-related communication; paying and reviewing salary and other remuneration and benefits;  providing and administering benefits (including if relevant, pension and medical insurance); undertaking training,  performance appraisals and evaluations; maintaining sickness and other absence records; making decisions as to your  fitness for work; fraud prevention; providing references and information to future employers, if applicable, and if  necessary, governmental and quasi-governmental bodies, taxing authorities; providing information to future  purchasers of the Company or of the business in which you work, or making disclosures to a third party on or in  connection with the outsourcing or sale of some or all of the Company’s business; transferring information  concerning you to a country or territory outside the US; administering the Company’s business; and/or the Company’s  operational or HR planning purposes. Personal Data shall include information submitted during your application,  related to your employment, or collected or updated during your employment relationship (e.g. name, address, bank  account data, telephone number, private email address, age, sex, marriage status, place of birth, degrees, certificates,  education, past engagements, application picture, employee ID, worked hours, sick reports, wage, bonus payments,                                                                                                                                                          130 Royall Street, Canton, MA 02021 

 

                                                       financial information, employment picture, performance criteria, and/or performance evaluations); and/or personally  identifying or sensitive information about you.    The persons who may have access to Personal Data may include: employees of Dunkin’ Brands, its parent or any  affiliate as appropriate and necessary for the proper performance of their duties of employment; Dunkin’ Brands’  outsourcers and contractors, existing or prospective customers, third party suppliers, and prospective purchasers as  necessary and related to the business of Dunkin’ Brands, its parent and any affiliates.    Entire Agreement      This offer of employment is contingent upon your execution of a new non-compete, non-solicitation and  confidentiality agreement.    This offer of employment and the non-compete, non-solicitation and confidentiality agreement contain all of the  terms of your employment with Dunkin’ Brands and supersede any prior understandings, promises or agreements,  whether oral or written, between you and Dunkin’ Brands or anyone acting on its behalf.  By signing this offer, you  represent and warrant that your employment with Dunkin’ Brands will not violate any agreements, obligations or  understandings that you may have with any third party or prior employer.    We are pleased to offer you this position with Dunkin’ Brands.  To accept the terms above, please sign and date this  letter and return it to me.        Sincerely,                                             Stephanie Lilak  Chief Human Resources Officer  Dunkin’ Brands, Inc.      I ACCEPT THE ABOVE OFFER OF EMPLOYMENT      _______________________________________________    ____________________  Scott Murphy                                       Date    cc:      David Hoffmann           Personnel File                                                                                                                                                          130 Royall Street, Canton, MA 02021

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