Document:

Exhibit

Exhibit 4.1
Description of Securities
Registered Pursuant to Section 12 of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934

All references below to “National Vision Holdings, Inc.,” “National Vision,” the “Company,” “we,” “our” or “us” refer to National Vision Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and not to its subsidiaries.   As of December 28, 2019, National Vision had one class of securities registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended: common stock, par value $0.01 per share. 

The following description of our common stock is a summary and does not purport to be complete. It is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended (our “certificate of incorporation”) and our Second Amended and Restated Bylaws (our “bylaws”), which are each incorporated by reference as an exhibit to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of which this Exhibit is a part. We encourage you to read our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, and the applicable provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law ("DGCL") for additional information.

Authorized Capital Stock

Our authorized capital stock consists of 200,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, and 50,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share.  

Our certificate of incorporation authorizes our board of directors (the “Board of Directors”) to establish one or more series of preferred stock (including convertible preferred stock). Unless required by law or by NASDAQ, the authorized shares of preferred stock will be available for issuance without further action by shareholders. Our Board of Directors is able to determine, with respect to any series of preferred stock, the terms and rights of that series.  [As of December 28, 2019, there were no outstanding series of preferred stock.]

Common Stock Voting and Other Rights

Holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters on which stockholders are entitled to vote generally, including the election or removal of directors, subject to certain limitations.  For example, except as required by law, holders of our common stock are not entitled to vote on any amendment to the certificate of incorporation that relates solely to the terms of one or more outstanding series of preferred stock if the holders of such affected series are entitled, either separately or together with the holders of one or more other such series, to vote thereon pursuant to our certificate of incorporation or pursuant to the DGCL.  The holders of our common stock do not have cumulative voting rights in the election of directors. Upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up or the sale of all or substantially all of our assets and after payment in full of all amounts required to be paid to creditors and to the holders of preferred stock having liquidation preferences, if any, the holders of our common stock will be entitled to receive our remaining assets available for distribution on a pro rata basis.  Holders of our common stock do not have preemptive, subscription, redemption or conversion rights.  The common stock is not subject to further calls or assessment by us. There are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock.  The rights, powers, preferences and privileges of holders of our common stock will be subject to those of the holders of any shares of our preferred stock we may authorize and issue in the future.

Dividends

The DGCL permits a corporation to declare and pay dividends out of “surplus” or, if there is no “surplus,” out of its net profits for the fiscal year in which the dividend is declared and/or the preceding fiscal year. “Surplus” is defined as the excess of the net assets of the corporation over the amount determined to be the capital of the corporation by the board of directors. The capital of the corporation is typically calculated to be (and cannot be less than) the aggregate par value of all issued shares of capital stock. Net assets equal the fair value of the total assets minus total liabilities. The DGCL also provides that dividends may not be paid out of net profits if, after the payment of the dividend, capital is less than the capital represented by the outstanding stock of all classes having a preference upon the distribution of assets.

Declaration and payment of any dividend will be subject to the discretion of our Board of Directors and the rights, if any, of the holders of any outstanding series of preferred stock or any class or series of stock having a preference over or the right to participate with the common stock with respect to the payment of dividends. The time and amount of dividends will be dependent upon our financial condition, operations, cash requirements and availability, debt repayment obligations, capital expenditure needs and restrictions in our debt instruments, industry trends, the provisions of Delaware law affecting the payment of dividends to stockholders and any other factors our Board of Directors may consider relevant.

1

Anti-Takeover Effects of Our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws and Certain Provisions of Delaware Law

Our certificate of incorporation, bylaws and the DGCL, which are summarized in the following paragraphs, contain provisions that are intended to enhance the likelihood of continuity and stability in the composition of our Board of Directors. These provisions are intended to avoid costly takeover battles, reduce our vulnerability to a hostile change of control and enhance the ability of our Board of Directors to maximize stockholder value in connection with any unsolicited offer to acquire us. However, these provisions may have an anti-takeover effect and may delay, deter or prevent a merger or acquisition of our company by means of a tender offer, a proxy contest or other takeover attempt that a stockholder might consider is in its best interest, including those attempts that might result in a premium over the prevailing market price for the shares of common stock held by stockholders.

Authorized but Unissued Capital Stock

Delaware law does not require stockholder approval for any issuance of authorized shares. However, the listing requirements of NASDAQ require stockholder approval of certain issuances equal to or exceeding 20% of the then outstanding voting power or then outstanding number of shares of common stock. These additional shares may be used for a variety of corporate purposes, including future public offerings, to raise additional capital or to facilitate acquisitions.

Our Board of Directors may issue shares of preferred stock on terms calculated to discourage, delay or prevent a change of control of our company or the removal of our management. Moreover, our authorized but unissued shares of preferred stock will be 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.

One of the effects of the existence of unissued and unreserved common stock or preferred stock may be to enable our Board of Directors to issue shares to persons friendly to current management, which issuance could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of our company by means of a merger, tender offer, proxy contest or otherwise, and thereby protect the continuity of our Board of Directors and our management and possibly deprive our stockholders of opportunities to sell their shares of common stock at prices higher than prevailing market prices.

Classified Board

Our certificate of incorporation provides that our Board of Directors be divided into three classes of directors, with the classes to be as nearly equal in number as possible, and with the directors serving three-year terms. 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 of Directors. Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws provide that, subject to any rights of holders of preferred stock to elect additional directors under specified circumstances, the number of directors will be fixed from time to time exclusively pursuant to a resolution adopted by the Board of Directors.

Business Combinations

We have opted out of Section 203 of the DGCL; however, our certificate of incorporation contains similar provisions providing that we may 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, our Board of Directors approved either the business combination or the transaction which 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 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 our Board of Directors and by the affirmative vote of holders of at least 66 2∕3% of the outstanding voting stock that 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 owned, 15% or more of our voting stock. For purposes of this section only, “voting stock” has the meaning given to it in Section 203 of the DGCL.

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Under certain circumstances, this provision 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. This provision may encourage companies interested in acquiring our company to negotiate in advance with our Board of Directors because the stockholder approval requirement would be avoided if our Board of Directors 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 our Board of Directors and may make it more difficult to accomplish transactions which stockholders may otherwise deem to be in their best interests.

Our certificate of incorporation provides that Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. and Berkshire Partners LLC (collectively, the “Sponsors”), and their affiliates and any of their respective direct or indirect transferees and any group as to which such persons are a party do not constitute “interested stockholders” for purposes of this provision.

Removal of Directors; Vacancies

Under the DGCL, unless otherwise provided in our certificate of incorporation, directors serving on a classified board may be removed by the stockholders only for cause. Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws provide that directors may only be removed for cause and only by the affirmative vote of holders of at least 66 2∕3% in voting power of all the then outstanding shares of stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class. In addition, our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws also provide that, subject to the rights granted to one or more series of preferred stock then outstanding, any newly created directorship on the Board of Directors that results from an increase in the number of directors and any vacancy occurring on the Board of Directors may only be filled by a majority of the directors then in office, even if less than a quorum, or by a sole remaining director (and not by the stockholders).

Special Stockholder Meetings

Our certificate of incorporation provides that special meetings of our stockholders may be called at any time only by or at the direction of the Board of Directors or the chairman of the Board of Directors. Our bylaws prohibit the conduct of any business at a special meeting other than as specified in the notice for such meeting. These provisions may have the effect of deferring, delaying or discouraging hostile takeovers, or changes in control or management of our company.

Requirements for Advance Notification of Director Nominations and Stockholder Proposals

Our bylaws establish advance notice procedures with respect to stockholder proposals and the nomination of candidates for election as directors, other than nominations made by or at the direction of the Board of Directors or a committee of the Board of Directors. In order for any matter to be “properly brought” before a meeting, a stockholder has to comply with advance notice requirements and provide us with certain information. Generally, to be timely, a stockholder’s notice must be received at our principal executive offices not less than 90 days nor more than 120 days prior to the first anniversary date of the immediately preceding annual meeting of stockholders. Our bylaws also specify requirements as to the form and content of a stockholder’s notice.

Our bylaws allow the chairman of the meeting at a meeting of the stockholders to adopt rules and regulations for the conduct of meetings which may have the effect of precluding the conduct of certain business at a meeting if the rules and regulations are not followed. These provisions may defer, delay or discourage a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to influence or obtain control of our company.

Stockholder Action by Written Consent

Our certificate of incorporation precludes stockholder action by written consent.

Supermajority Provisions

Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws provide that the Board of Directors is expressly authorized to make, alter, amend, change, add to, rescind or repeal, in whole or in part, our bylaws without a stockholder vote in any matter not inconsistent with the laws of the State of Delaware or our certificate of incorporation. Any amendment, alteration, change, addition, rescission or repeal of our bylaws by our stockholders requires the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 66 2∕3% in voting power of all the then-outstanding shares of stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class.

The DGCL provides generally that the affirmative vote of a majority of the outstanding shares entitled to vote thereon, voting together as a single class, is required to amend a corporation’s certificate of incorporation, unless the certificate of incorporation requires a greater percentage.

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The following provisions in our certificate of incorporation may be amended, altered, repealed or rescinded only by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 66 2∕3% in the voting power of all outstanding shares of stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class:

		
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	the provision requiring a 66 2∕3% supermajority vote for stockholders to amend our bylaws;

		
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	the provisions providing for a classified board of directors (the election and term of our directors);

		
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	the provisions regarding resignation and removal of directors;

		
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	the provisions regarding competition and corporate opportunities;

		
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	the provisions regarding entering into business combinations with interested stockholders;

		
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	the provisions regarding stockholder action by written consent;

		
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	the provisions regarding calling special meetings of stockholders;

		
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	the provisions regarding filling vacancies on our Board of Directors and newly created directorships;

		
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	the provisions eliminating monetary damages for breaches of fiduciary duty by a director; and

		
	·  
	the amendment provision requiring that the above provisions be amended only with a 66 2∕3% supermajority vote.

The combination of the classification of our Board of Directors, the lack of cumulative voting and the supermajority voting requirements makes it more difficult for our existing stockholders to replace our Board of Directors as well as for another party to obtain control of us by replacing our Board of Directors. Because our Board of Directors has the power to retain and discharge our officers, these provisions could also make it more difficult for existing stockholders or another party to effect a change in management.

These provisions may have the effect of deterring hostile takeovers, delaying, or preventing changes in control of our management or our company, such as a merger, reorganization or tender offer. These provisions are intended to enhance the likelihood of continued stability in the composition of our Board of Directors and its policies and to discourage certain types of transactions that may involve an actual or threatened acquisition of us. These provisions are designed to reduce our vulnerability to an unsolicited acquisition proposal. The provisions are also intended to discourage certain tactics that may be used in proxy fights. However, such provisions could have the effect of discouraging others from making tender offers for our shares and, as a consequence, they also may inhibit fluctuations in the market price of our shares that could result from actual or rumored takeover attempts. Such provisions may also have the effect of preventing changes in management.

Dissenters’ Rights of Appraisal and Payment

Under the DGCL, with certain exceptions, our stockholders will have appraisal rights in connection with a merger or consolidation of us. Pursuant to the DGCL, stockholders who properly request and perfect appraisal rights in connection with such merger or consolidation will have the right to receive payment of the fair value of their shares as determined by the Delaware Court of Chancery.

Stockholders’ Derivative Actions

Under the DGCL, any of our stockholders may bring an action in our name to procure a judgment in our favor, also known as a derivative action, provided that the stockholder bringing the action is a holder of our shares at the time of the transaction to which the action relates or such stockholder’s stock thereafter devolved by operation of law.

Exclusive Forum

Our certificate of incorporation provides, subject to limited exceptions, that unless we consent to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for any (i) derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of our company, (ii) action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer, or other employee or stockholder of our company to the Company or our stockholders, creditors or other constituents, (iii) action asserting a claim against the Company or any director or officer of the Company arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our certificate of incorporation or our bylaws or as to which the DGCL confers jurisdiction on the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, or (iv) action asserting a claim against the Company or any director or officer of the Company governed by the internal affairs doctrine, in each such case subject to said Court of Chancery having personal jurisdiction over the indispensable parties named as defendants therein. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of capital stock of our company shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the forum provisions in our certificate of incorporation. However, the enforceability of similar forum provisions in other companies’ certificates of incorporation has been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is possible that a court could find these types of provisions to be unenforceable.

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Conflicts of Interest

Delaware law permits corporations to adopt provisions renouncing any interest or expectancy in certain opportunities that are presented to the corporation or its officers, directors or stockholders. Our certificate of incorporation, to the maximum extent permitted from time to time by Delaware law, renounces any interest or expectancy that we have in, or right to be offered an opportunity to participate in, specified business opportunities that are from time to time presented to our officers, directors or stockholders or their respective affiliates, other than those officers, directors, stockholders or affiliates who are our or our subsidiaries’ employees. Our certificate of incorporation provides that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, none of the Sponsors or any of their affiliates or any director who is not employed by us (including any non-employee director who serves as one of our officers in both his or her director and officer capacities) or his or her affiliates will have any duty to refrain from (i) engaging in a corporate opportunity in the same or similar lines of business in which we or our affiliates now engage or propose to engage or (ii) otherwise competing with us or our affiliates. In addition, to the fullest extent permitted by law, in the event that the Sponsors or any of their affiliates or any non-employee director acquires knowledge of a potential transaction or other business opportunity which may be a corporate opportunity for itself or himself or its or his affiliates or for us or our affiliates, such person will have no duty to communicate or offer such transaction or business opportunity to us or any of our affiliates and they may take any such opportunity for themselves or offer it to another person or entity. Our certificate of incorporation does not renounce our interest in any business opportunity that is expressly offered to a non-employee director solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the Company. To the fullest extent permitted by law, no business opportunity will be deemed to be a potential corporate opportunity for us unless we would be permitted to undertake the opportunity under our certificate of incorporation, we have sufficient financial resources to undertake the opportunity and the opportunity would be in line with our business.

5Exhibit

Exhibit 4.3

Description of HAMILTON BEACH BRANDS HOLDING COMPANY’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 the securities of Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Company (“we,” “us” or “our”) that are registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.  This description also summarizes relevant provisions of Delaware law.  The following summary does not purport to be complete and is subject to, and is qualified in its entirety by, the provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, copies of which are filed as exhibits to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of which this Exhibit 4.3 is a part, and by the applicable provisions of Delaware law.

As of the date of this filing, we are authorized to issue up to 100 million shares of common stock (comprised of 70 million shares of our Class A Common and 30 million shares of our Class B Common), par value $0.01 per share, and 5 million shares of preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share.

Common Stock

Voting Rights

Subject to the rights of the holders of any series of preferred stock, each share of our Class A Common entitles the holder of the share to one vote on all matters submitted to our stockholders, and each share of our Class B Common entitles the holder of the share to ten votes on all such matters. 

Dividends and Other Distributions 

Subject to the rights of the holders of any series of preferred stock, each share of our Class A Common and our Class B Common is equal in respect of rights to dividends and other distributions in our cash, stock or property, except that in the case of dividends or other distributions payable in our stock, including distributions pursuant to split-ups or divisions of our stock, only our Class A Common is distributed with respect to our Class A Common and only our Class B Common is distributed with respect to our Class B Common.  In the event of a future spin-off of one of our subsidiaries, the Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Company amended and restated certificate of incorporation permits the Company to elect to distribute to each holder of our Class A Common shares of the Class A common stock of such subsidiary and to each holder of our Class B Common shares of the Class B common stock of such subsidiary.  In the case of any consolidation, merger or sale of all, or substantially all, of our assets as a result of which our stockholders will be entitled to receive cash, stock other securities or other property with respect to or in exchange for their shares of our stock, each holder of our Class A Common and our Class B Common will be entitled to receive an equal amount of consideration for each share of our Class A Common or our Class B Common held by such holder.

Restrictions on Transfer of Class B Common; Convertibility of Class B Common into Class A Common. 

Our Class B Common generally is not transferable by a stockholder except to or among such holder’s spouse, certain relatives of such holder, and spouses of such relatives, certain trusts established for their or another permitted transferee’s benefit, certain corporations, limited liability companies and partnerships owned by them and certain charitable organizations.  

Our Class B Common is, however, convertible at all times, and without cost to the stockholder, into our Class A Common on a share-for-share basis.  Therefore, stockholders desiring to sell the equity interest in us represented by their shares of our Class B Common may convert those shares into an equal number of shares of our Class A Common and sell the shares of our Class A Common.  A stockholder who does not wish to complete the conversion process before a sale may effect a sale of our Class A Common into which such stockholder’s shares of our Class B Common is convertible.  

Other than pursuant to conversions into our Class A Common as described above, a holder of shares of our Class B Common may transfer such shares (whether by sale, assignment, gift, bequest, appointment or otherwise) only to a permitted transferee, which is defined generally as follows: 

		
	1.
	to the extent such person is a natural person, any of the lineal descendants of a great, great, great, great grandparent of such holder of our Class B Common, including children adopted before age 18 or any spouse (including a widow or widower) of such lineal descendant, any of the spouses of a lineal descendant of a great, great, great, great grandparent of such Class B stockholder’s spouse, any lineal descendant of any spouse of a lineal descendant of a great, great, great, great grandparent of such Class B stockholder (such persons, including such holder of our Class B Common, are hereinafter referred to as such “Class B stockholder’s family members”);

		
	2.
	a trust for the benefit of such Class B stockholder’s family members and certain charitable organizations;

		
	3.
	certain charitable organizations established by such Class B stockholder’s family members; and

		
	4.
	a corporation whose stockholders, a partnership whose partners or a limited liability company whose members, are made up exclusively of such Class B stockholder’s family members, any trust described in (2) above or any other permitted transferees.

In the case of a corporation or limited liability company, shares of our Class B Common also may be transferred to a successor by merger or consolidation, provided that each stockholder of each other corporation or member of each other limited liability company, as applicable, which is a party to such merger or consolidation is, at the time of such transaction, a stockholder of such corporation or a permitted transferee of at least one stockholder of such corporation or a member of such limited liability company or a permitted transferee of at least one member of such limited liability company.  Class B Common shares being beneficially held pursuant to a trust may be transferred to (i) any person, as of the record date, to whom or for whose benefit principal may be distributed under the terms of the trust, (ii) the person or persons who established such trust, and (iii) permitted transferees of any such person described in subclause (i) or (ii).  Shares beneficially held by certain charitable organizations may be transferred to the Class B stockholder who or that transferred such shares to the charitable organization and to such holder’s permitted transferees.

The restrictions on the transferability of our Class B Common are set forth in full in Section 3 of Article IV of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.  Each certificate representing shares of our Class B Common will bear a legend indicating that the shares of our Class B Common are subject to restrictions on the transfer and registration of transfer thereof.

Any purported transfer of shares of our Class B Common not permitted under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will be void and of no effect and the purported transferee will have no rights as our stockholder and no other rights against or with respect to us.  We may, as a condition to the transfer or registration of transfer of shares of our Class B Common to a permitted transferee, require the furnishing of such affidavits or other proof as we deem necessary to establish that such transferee is a permitted transferee.

Additional shares of our Class B Common will not be issued without an affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of our outstanding voting stock, except in connection with stock splits and stock dividends.  All shares of our Class B Common received by us when stockholders convert them into our Class A Common or that are otherwise acquired by us will be retired and not reissued.

Other Provisions

Neither our Class A Common nor our Class B Common carry any preemptive rights enabling a holder to subscribe for or receive shares of our stock of any class or any other securities convertible into shares of our stock.

Listing 

Our Class A Common is quoted on the NYSE under the symbol “HBB.” Our Class B Common is not listed on the NYSE or any other stock exchange.

Preferred Stock

Our Board is authorized to issue one or more series of up to 5 million shares of preferred stock.  With respect to each series of the preferred stock, our Board has the authority, consistent with our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, to determine the following terms:

		
	1.
	the number of shares and the designation of any series; 

		
	2.
	the voting powers, if any, of the shares of such series and whether such voting powers are full or limited; 

		
	3.
	the redemption provisions, if any, applicable to such series, including the redemption price or prices to be paid; 

		
	4.
	whether dividends, if any, will be cumulative or noncumulative, the dividend rate or rates of such series and the dates and preferences of dividends of such series; 

		
	5.
	the rights of such series upon our voluntary or involuntary dissolution, or upon any distribution of our assets; 

		
	6.
	whether the shares are convertible into, or exchangeable for, any of our other stock, the price or rate of conversion or exchange and the applicable terms and conditions; 

		
	7.
	the right, if any, to subscribe for or to purchase any of our securities or of any other corporation or other entity; 

		
	8.
	the provisions, if any, of any sinking fund applicable to such series; and 

		
	9.
	any other relative, participating, optional or other powers, preferences or rights, and any qualifications, limitations or restrictions, of such series; 

The issuance of preferred stock may adversely affect the voting rights and other rights of the holders of common stock.

Provisions That May Have an Anti-Takeover Effect

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains provisions that may make the acquisition of control of us by means of a tender offer, open market purchase, proxy fight or otherwise more difficult.  Our amended and restated bylaws also contain provisions that could have an anti-takeover effect. 

These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws are designed to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of us to negotiate the terms with our Board.  We believe that, as a general rule, the interests of our stockholders are best served if any change in control results from negotiations with our Board based upon careful consideration of the proposed terms, such as the price to be paid to stockholders, the form of consideration to be paid and the anticipated tax effects of the transaction.  Stockholders are not generally permitted to call a special meeting of stockholders.  However, in the future, preferred stock may be designated that permits the holders of such preferred stock to call a special meeting of the holders of such class of preferred stock.  Subject to the rights of holders of our preferred stock, our directors must be nominated in accordance with Section 3 of Article II of our amended and restated bylaws, which provides that nominations for election as directors at an annual meeting of our stockholders may only be made (i) by or at the direction of our Board or a committee thereof or (ii) by any stockholder who is entitled to vote at such annual meeting and who complies with the additional requirements of such section.

The provisions could, however, have the effect of discouraging a prospective acquirer from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us.  To the extent that these provisions discourage takeover attempts, they could deprive stockholders of opportunities to realize takeover premiums for their shares.  Moreover, these provisions could discourage accumulations of large blocks of shares of our Class A Common, thus depriving stockholders of any advantages that large accumulations of stock might provide.  Set forth below is a summary of the relevant provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws and certain applicable sections of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”).  This summary may not contain all of the information that is important to you and is subject to, and is qualified by reference to, all of the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws and the DGCL.

Restrictions on Certain Transactions with Interested Persons

We are subject to Section 203 of the DGCL, which prohibits certain business combinations and transactions between a corporation and an “interested stockholder” for at least three years after the interested stockholder becomes an interested stockholder, unless:

		
	•
	before the interested stockholder’s share acquisition date, the board approved either the business combination or the purchase of shares by the 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 (but not the outstanding voting stock owned by the interested stockholder) those shares owned (i) by persons who are directors and also officers and (ii) employee stock plans in which employee participants do not have the right to determine confidentially whether shares held subject to the plan will be tendered in a tender or exchange offer; or

		
	•
	the transaction 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, after excluding shares controlled by the interested stockholder.

An “interested stockholder” is any person that (i) is the owner of 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock, or (ii) is our affiliate or associate and was the owner of 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock at any time within the 3-year period immediately before the date on which it is sought to be determined whether such person is an interested stockholder, and the affiliates and associates of such person.  

Special Vote Required for Certain Amendments to Organizational Documents

Certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, such as those set forth in Article V (election and removal of directors), Article VI (amendment of bylaws) and Article IX (rights to indemnification), may not be amended or repealed except by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 80% of the voting power of our outstanding voting stock, voting together as a single class.  Such 80% vote is also required to adopt any provisions inconsistent with any of the provisions of Article I, Sections 1 (time and place of meetings of stockholders), 3 (special meetings of stockholders) and 8 (order of business at meetings of stockholders), Article II, Sections 1 (number and term of office of directors), 2 (vacancies and new directorships), 3 (nominations and election of directors) and 4 (powers of directors) and Article VII (amendments to bylaws) of our amended and restated bylaws.  

Other Provisions

Certain other provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws may also tend to discourage attempts to acquire control of us.  These include advance notice requirements for director nominations and stockholder proposals and provisions that prohibit stockholder action being effected by written consent.

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