Document:

scl-ex41_401.htm

Exhibit 4.1

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

 

The following is a brief description of the common stock, par value $1.00 per share (“Common Stock”), of Stepan Company (the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our”), which is the only security of the Company registered pursuant to Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The following summary is not complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Company’s Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the “Charter”), the Company’s Amended and Restated By-laws (Amended as of October 22, 2019) (the “By-laws”) and relevant sections of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”). 

 

General

 

We have the authority to issue a total of 60,000,000 shares of Common Stock and 2,000,000 shares of preferred stock, without par value (“Preferred Stock”).

 

The Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board”) is granted authority to issue Preferred Stock of one or more series and, in connection with the creation of any such series, to fix by the resolution or resolutions providing for the issue of shares of Preferred Stock, the designations and the powers, preferences and rights, and the qualifications, limitations or restrictions of such Preferred Stock, including (without limitation) the authority to fix any dividend, liquidation, redemption, voting or conversion characteristics of the Preferred Stock of any series thereof.

 

Voting Rights

 

At all meetings of the stockholders of the Company, each holder of record of Common Stock shall be entitled to vote and have one vote for each share held by such holder of record. Except as otherwise required in the Charter, By-laws or by applicable law, the holders of voting stock shall vote together as one class on all matters submitted to a vote of stockholders generally. The Charter and By-laws do not provide for cumulative voting in connection with the election of directors. Accordingly, holders of more than 50% of the shares voting will be able to elect all of the directors standing for election at a meeting of stockholders. However, in a contested election, a plurality of the votes shall be enough to elect a director. The holders of a majority of our voting stock issued and outstanding and entitled to vote at a meeting of stockholders, present in person or represented by proxy, constitute a quorum at any such meeting of stockholders for the transaction of business.

 

Dividend Rights

 

Subject to any dividend rights granted to Preferred Stock that may be outstanding from time to time, the holders of shares of Common Stock shall be entitled to receive such dividends and other distributions in cash, property or shares of stock as may be declared thereon by the Board from time to time out of the assets or funds legally available. Before payment of any dividend, there may be set aside out of any funds available for dividends such sum or sums as the directors, in their absolute discretion, think proper as a reserve or reserves to meet contingencies, or for equalizing dividends, or for repairing or maintaining any Company property, or for such other purpose as the directors shall think conducive to the interests of the Company, and the directors may modify or abolish any such reserve in the manner in which it was created.

 

No Preemptive Rights

 

No holder of our capital stock has any preemptive right to subscribe for any shares of our capital stock issued in the future.

 

Liquidation Rights

 

The holders of Common Stock shall be entitled to share ratably in the assets of the Company remaining after payment pursuant to any liquidation rights granted to Preferred Stock that may be outstanding from time to time.

 

Preferred Stock

 

As of February 26, 2020, there are no shares of any series of Preferred Stock outstanding. The Charter provides that the Board may, by resolution, establish one or more series of Preferred Stock having the number of shares and relative voting rights, designations, dividend rates, liquidation and other rights, preferences and limitations as may be fixed by the Board without further stockholder approval. The holders of our Preferred Stock may be entitled to preferences over common stockholders with respect to dividends, liquidation, dissolution or our winding up in such amounts as are established by the resolutions of the Board approving the issuance of such shares.

 

The issuance of Preferred Stock may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control without further action by the holders and may adversely affect voting and other rights of holders of our securities. In addition, issuance of Preferred Stock, while providing desirable flexibility in connection with possible acquisitions and other corporate purposes, could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire a majority of the outstanding shares of our voting stock.

 

Provisions of Our Charter, By-laws and Delaware Law That May Have an Anti-Takeover Effect

 

Preferred Stock

 

See above under “Preferred Stock.”

 

Special Meetings of Stockholders

 

The By-laws provide that special meetings of the stockholders may be called by our Chair of the Board, the President and Chief Executive Officer or any two directors. Subject to certain exceptions, a special meeting of stockholders may also be called by our secretary upon the written request of stockholders entitled to cast not less than one-third of the voting power of all votes entitled to be cast at the special meeting.

 

Advance Notice of Stockholder Meetings

 

Notice of any annual or special meeting of stockholders, stating the place (if any), date and hour of the meeting, the means of remote communication (if any) by which stockholders may be deemed to be present in person and vote at such meeting, and in the case of a special meeting, the purpose of purposes for which the meeting is called, shall be given in writing to each stockholder entitled to vote at such meeting not less than ten nor more than 60 days before the date of such meeting.

 

Advance Notice for Nominations or Stockholder Proposals at Meetings

 

The By-laws also prescribe the procedure that a stockholder must follow to nominate directors or bring business before annual or special stockholder meetings.

 

Nominations of persons for election to the Board and the proposal of business at stockholder meetings may be made by (1) the Company, (2) the Chair of the Board or (3) any stockholder entitled to vote and who makes the nomination or proposal pursuant to timely notice in proper written form to our Secretary in compliance with the procedures set forth in the By-laws. 

 

For a stockholder to nominate a candidate for director or to bring other business before an annual meeting, we must receive notice not more than 120 days nor less than 90 days prior to the first anniversary date of the immediately preceding 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 must be received not later than the close of business on the tenth day following the date on which notice of such meeting is first given to stockholders or public disclosure of the date of such meeting is made. 

 

For a stockholder to nominate a candidate for director or to bring other business before special meeting, we must receive notice by the close of business on the tenth day following the date on which notice of such meeting is first given to stockholders or public disclosure of the date of such meeting is made. 

2

 

Notice of a nomination for director or proposals to bring other business before a meeting must also include a description of various matters regarding the nominee or proposal and the shareholder giving notice, as set forth in the By-laws.

 

At a meeting of stockholders, only such business (other than the nomination of candidates for election as directors in accordance with the By-laws) will be conducted or considered as is properly brought before the annual meeting or a special meeting as specified in the By-laws.

 

Directors

 

The total number of directors constituting the Board shall be fixed from time to time by a resolution of the Board, but the Board shall consist of no more than eight members. As of February 26. 2020, the Board has seven members.

 

Each director to be elected by stockholders shall be elected by a majority vote of the stockholders, except that if the number of nominees exceeds the number of directors to be elected, the directors shall be elected by a plurality of votes. If an incumbent director fails to receive the required vote for re-election, the director shall tender an irrevocable resignation that will be effective upon the Board’s acceptance of such resignation.

 

There is no cumulative voting in the election of directors. Directors may be removed, with or without cause, by a majority vote of our voting stock.

 

Our directors serve staggered three‐year terms. The directors are classified into three classes, each class consisting of one-third in number of the directors as near as may be. At each annual election of directors, the successors to the class of directors whose terms expires in that year shall be elected for a three-year term. One class of directors shall be elected by the stockholders at each annual meeting of stockholders.

 

The Board is expressly authorized to adopt, amend or repeal the By-laws.

 

Delaware Law

 

The Company is a Delaware corporation subject to Section 203 of the DGCL. Section 203 provides that, subject to certain exceptions specified in the law, a Delaware corporation shall not engage in certain “business combinations” with any “interested stockholder” for a three-year period following the time that the stockholder became an interested stockholder unless:

 

	
 
	
•
	
prior to such time, the Board approved either the business combination or the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder;

 

	
 
	
•
	
upon consummation of the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, the interested stockholder owned at least 85% of our voting stock outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, excluding certain shares; or

 

	
 
	
•
	
at or subsequent to that time, 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 which is not owned by the interested stockholder.

 

Generally, a “business combination” includes a merger, asset or stock sale or other transaction resulting in a financial benefit to the interested stockholder. Subject to certain exceptions, an “interested stockholder” is a person who, together with that person’s affiliates and associates, owns, or within the previous three years did own, 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock.

 

Under certain circumstances, Section 203 makes it more difficult for a person who would be an “interested stockholder” to effect various business combinations with a corporation for a three-year period. The provisions of Section 203 may encourage companies interested in acquiring our company to negotiate in advance with the Board 

3

because the stockholder approval requirement would be avoided if the Board approves either the business combination or the transaction which results in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder. These provisions also may have the effect of preventing changes in the Board and may make it more difficult to accomplish transactions which stockholders may otherwise deem to be in their best interests.

 

4Exhibit

Exhibit 4.1

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

The following description sets forth certain material terms and provisions of Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc.’s (the “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our”) securities that are registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK

The following description is a summary and does not purport to be complete. It is subject to, and qualified in its entirety by reference to, our Second Restated Certificate of Incorporation, (our “Certificate of Incorporation”) and our Amended and Restated Bylaws (our “Bylaws”), each of which are incorporated by reference as an exhibit to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of which this Exhibit 4.1 is a part.  The terms of these securities also may be affected by Delaware law. 

General

Our Certificate of Incorporation provides for authorized capital stock of 475,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share, and 25,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock, par value $0.001 per share. 

Common Stock

Subject to preferences that may apply to shares of preferred stock outstanding at the time, holders of outstanding shares of our 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. Each outstanding share of our common stock is entitled to one vote on all matters submitted to a vote of stockholders; provided, that, unless otherwise required by law, the holders of our common stock are not entitled to vote on any amendment to our Certificate of Incorporation that relates solely to the terms of one or more outstanding series of preferred stock; provided, further, that the number of authorized shares of preferred stock may be increased or decreased by the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the voting power of the outstanding capital stock of the Company entitled to vote generally in the election of directors. Holders of shares of our common stock do not have cumulative voting rights. Our common stock is not entitled to preemptive or other similar subscription rights to purchase any of our securities. Further, our common stock is neither convertible nor redeemable. 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.
 
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 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. 

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, including the following:

Classified Board.    Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that our Board of Directors 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 is 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 thirteen 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 our Bylaws also provide that, except as otherwise required by law, special meetings of the stockholders can only be called by or at the direction of our Board of Directors pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of our Board of Directors. Stockholders are not permitted to call a special meeting or to require our Board of Directors to call a special meeting.

Removal of Directors.    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.
 
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 acquiror from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect its own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of the Company.

Super Majority Approval Requirements.    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 by-laws, unless either a corporation’s certificate of incorporation or by-laws 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.

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 and certain of their successors, transferees 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.

Exclusive Forum.    Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that, subject to limited exceptions, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers or other employees to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law, our Certificate of Incorporation or our Bylaws, or (iv) any other action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the provisions of our Certificate of Incorporation described above. Although we believe these provisions benefit us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law for the specified types of actions and proceedings, these provisions may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers. The enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ certificates of incorporation has been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is possible that, in connection with one or more actions or proceedings described above, a court could find the choice of forum provisions contained in our Certificate of Incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable.

Corporate Opportunities

Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that we renounce any interest or expectancy of the Company in the business opportunities of investment funds affiliated with Bain Capital Partners, LLC and certain of their successors, transferees and affiliates and all of their respective partners, principals, directors, officers, members managers and/or employees and each such party shall not have any obligation to offer us those opportunities unless presented to a director or officer of the Company in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the Company.

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 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. We also maintain customary directors’ and officers’ liability insurance policies that provide coverage to our directors and officers against loss arising from claims made by reason of breach of duty or other wrongful act and to us with respect to indemnification payments that we may make to directors and officers.

Transfer Agent and Registrar

The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is EQ Shareowner Services.
 
Listing on the New York Stock Exchange

Our shares of common stock are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “BFAM.”

Source: [{"source": "alea-institute/alea-institute/kl3m-data-edgar-agreements/train-00305-of-00352.parquet"}, [{"source": "alea-institute/alea-institute/kl3m-data-edgar-agreements/train-00305-of-00352.parquet"}]]