Document:

Exhibit

Exhibit 4.2
DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
The following summary of Strategic Education, Inc.’s common stock is based on and qualified by our amended and restated articles of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws, both of which are filed as exhibits to this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and applicable provisions of law. This summary does not purport to be complete. Throughout this exhibit, references to the “Company,” “we,” “our,” and “us” refer to Strategic Education, Inc.
Authorized Shares
Our authorized capital stock consists of 32 million shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, and 8 million shares of preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
Common Stock
The holders of our common stock have and possess all rights pertaining to the stock of the Company, subject to the preferences, conversion or other rights, voting powers, restrictions, limitations as to dividends and other distributions, qualifications or terms and conditions of redemption of any class or series of preferred stock of the Company that may in the future be issued with any preference or priority over the common stock.
Except as may be provided for under the terms of any class or series of preferred stock that may in the future be issued, the holders of our common stock have the sole power to vote for the election of directors and for all other purposes. No holder of our common stock has the right to cumulative voting in the election of directors, which means that holders of a majority of our common stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors can elect all of the directors then standing for election and the holders of the remaining shares of common stock will not be able to elect any directors.
Under Maryland law, a corporation generally cannot dissolve, amend its articles of incorporation, merge, convert into another form of entity, sell all or substantially all of its assets or engage in a statutory share exchange, unless declared advisable by the board of directors and approved by stockholders entitled to cast at least two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter. However, a Maryland corporation may provide in its articles of incorporation for approval of such matters by a lesser percentage, but not less than a majority of all the votes entitled to be cast on the matter. Our articles of incorporation provide for approval of such matters by the affirmative vote of stockholders entitled to cast a majority of all the votes entitled to be cast on the matter.
Except for those amendments permitted to be made without stockholder approval, such as changing the name of the Company, our articles of incorporation may be amended, after approval by the board of directors, by the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter. Our bylaws may be amended in any manner not inconsistent with our articles of incorporation by a majority vote of the board of directors or by the affirmative vote of stockholders holding a majority of the shares of our common stock entitled to vote on the matter.
Except as otherwise provided by law or under the terms of any class or series of preferred stock that may in the future be issued by the Company, the holders of our common stock are entitled to receive such dividends as from time to time may be authorized by our board of directors and declared by the Company.
In the event of any liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Company, whether voluntary or involuntary, subject to the rights, if any, of the holders of any outstanding class or series of preferred stock, the holders of our common stock will be entitled to share ratably according to the number of shares held by them in all assets of the Company available for distribution to its stockholders.
Holders of our common stock do not have preemptive rights, which means that they do not have an automatic option to purchase any shares that the Company may issue, or preference, conversion, sinking fund or redemption rights.

1

Preferred Stock
Our articles of incorporation authorize the board of directors, without stockholder approval, to classify (or reclassify) and issue one or more series of preferred stock and to set the preferences, conversion or other rights, voting powers, restrictions, limitations as to dividends and other distributions, qualifications or terms or conditions of redemption of such shares. Because our board of directors has the power to establish the preferences and rights of each series of preferred stock, it may afford the holders of any such series of preferred stock preferences, powers and rights that are senior to the rights of holders of our common stock. Holders of preferred stock are normally entitled to receive a preference payment, if the Company were to liquidate, dissolve or wind up, before any payment is made to holders of common stock.
Certain Anti-Takeover Effects of Our Articles and Bylaws and Maryland Law
Certain provisions of our articles of incorporation and bylaws and of the Maryland General Corporation Law may have anti-takeover effects and could delay, discourage, defer or prevent a tender offer or other takeover attempt that a stockholder might consider to be in the stockholder’s best interests, including attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for shares held by stockholders, and may make removal of the incumbent management and directors more difficult.
Authorized Shares
Shares of common stock and preferred stock that are authorized under our articles of incorporation but that are unissued are 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 the Company by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.
Our board of directors has the sole authority to determine the terms of any one or more class or series of preferred stock, including voting rights, dividend rates, conversion and redemption rights and liquidation preferences. As a result of the ability to fix voting rights for a class or series of preferred stock, our board of directors has the power to issue a class or series of preferred stock to persons friendly to management in order to attempt to block a tender offer, merger or other transaction by which a third-party may seek control of the Company, and thereby assist members of management to retain their positions.
Stockholder Meetings
Our bylaws provide that special meetings of stockholders may be called for any purpose or purposes at any time by our Chief Executive Officer or board of directors. In addition, the Company’s secretary is required to call a special meeting upon the written request of a holder, or a group of holders, entitled to cast at least 25% of the votes entitled to be cast at such meeting, subject to certain restrictions.
Action by Stockholders Without a Meeting
Under Maryland law, in order for any action required or permitted to be taken at a meeting of the stockholders of the Company to be taken without a meeting, a consent in writing or by electronic transmission setting forth the action so taken, must be given by all of the stockholders of the Company entitled to vote with respect to the matter thereof. Our bylaws also require a waiver of any right to dissent from any stockholder who would be entitled to notice of a stockholder meeting but is not entitled to vote on the matter.
Business Combinations
Under Maryland law, “business combinations” between a Maryland corporation and an “interested stockholder” or an affiliate of an interested stockholder are prohibited for five years after the most recent date on which the interested stockholder becomes an interested stockholder, subject to certain exceptions. The statute permits various exemptions from its provisions, including business combinations involving a corporation whose 

2

original articles of incorporation have a provision electing not to be subject to the statute. Our articles of incorporation include such an election. Consequently, the five-year prohibition will not apply to business combinations to which the Company may be party.
Control Share Acquisitions
Maryland law provides that control shares of a Maryland corporation acquired in a “control share acquisition” have no voting rights except to the extent approved by the affirmative vote of stockholders entitled to cast at least two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter, excluding shares owned by the acquiring person or its affiliates or associates or by the corporation’s employees who are also directors. As permitted by the Maryland General Corporation Law, our articles of incorporation contain a provision exempting from the control share acquisition statute any and all acquisitions of our shares by any person.
Additional Provisions of Maryland Law
Maryland law provides that a Maryland corporation that is subject to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and has at least three independent directors can elect by resolution of the board of directors to be subject to some corporate governance provisions that may be inconsistent with the corporation’s articles of incorporation and bylaws. Under the applicable statute, a board of directors may classify itself without the vote of stockholders. A board of directors classified in that manner cannot be declassified by amendment to the articles of incorporation of the corporation. Further, the board of directors may, by electing into applicable statutory provisions and notwithstanding the articles of incorporation or bylaws:
		
	•
	provide that a special meeting of stockholders will be called only at the request of stockholders entitled to cast a majority of the votes entitled to be cast at the meeting;

		
	•
	reserve for itself the right to fix the number of directors;

		
	•
	provide that a director may be removed only by the vote of the holders of at least two-thirds of the stock entitled to vote;

		
	•
	retain for itself sole authority to fill vacancies created by the death, removal or resignation of a director; and

		
	•
	provide that all vacancies on the board of directors may be filled only by the affirmative vote of a majority of the remaining directors in office, even if the remaining directors do not constitute a quorum.

In addition, if the board of directors is classified, a director elected to fill a vacancy under this provision will serve for the balance of the unexpired term instead of until the next annual meeting of stockholders. A board of directors may implement all or any of these provisions without amending the articles of incorporation or bylaws and without stockholder approval. A corporation may be prohibited by its articles of incorporation or by resolution of its board of directors from electing any of the provisions of the statute. The Company is not prohibited from implementing any or all of the possible statutory elections.

3Exhibit 4.1

  

DESCRIPTION
OF THE COMPANY’S COMMON STOCK

REGISTERED
UNDER SECTION 12 OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

  

The following
summary of Carolina Financial Corporation’s common stock is based on and qualified by the Company’s Restated Certificate
of Incorporation, as amended (the “Certificate”), and its Amended and Restated Bylaws (the “Bylaws”).
For a complete description of the terms and provisions of the Company’s equity securities, including its common stock, refer
to the Certificate and the Bylaws, which are filed as exhibits to this Annual Report on Form 10-K. For purposes of this summary,
the terms “we,” “our” and “us” refer only to Carolina Financial Corporation and not its subsidiaries.

 

General

 

As
of the date of this report, our certificate of incorporation provides that we may issue up to 50,000,000 shares of common stock,
par value of $0.01 per share. As of February 19, 2020, 24,825,817  shares of
our common stock were issued and outstanding, and we had 260,213 shares of
our common stock reserved for issuance upon exercise of options that may or may not become exercisable and upon vesting of restricted
stock units. All outstanding shares of our common stock are fully paid and nonassessable. Our common stock is listed on the NASDAQ
Capital Market under the symbol “CARO”.

 

Voting Rights

 

Each outstanding
share of our common stock entitles the holder to one vote on all matters submitted to a vote of common stockholders, including
the election of directors. The holders of our common stock possess exclusive voting power, except as otherwise provided by law
or by a certificate of amendment establishing any series of our preferred stock.

 

There is no cumulative
voting in the election of directors. The holders of a majority of the votes cast by our common stockholders can elect all of the
directors then standing for election by the common stockholders. When a quorum is present at any meeting, questions brought before
the meeting will be decided by the vote of the holders of a majority of the shares present and voting on such matter, whether
in person or by proxy, except when the meeting concerns matters requiring the vote of a greater number of affirmative votes under
applicable Delaware law or our certificate of incorporation. Our certificate of incorporation contains certain provisions that
may limit stockholders’ ability to effect a change in control as described under the section below entitled “Anti-Takeover
Effects of Certain Certificate of Incorporation Provisions.”

 

Dividends, Liquidation and Other
Rights

 

Holders of shares
of common stock are entitled to receive dividends only when, as and if approved by our board of directors from funds legally available
for the payment of dividends. Our stockholders are entitled to share ratably in our assets legally available for distribution
to our stockholders in the event of our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, voluntarily or involuntarily, after payment of,
or adequate provision for, all of our known debts and liabilities. These rights are subject to the preferential rights of any
series of our preferred stock that may then be outstanding.

 

Holders
of shares of our common stock have no preference, conversion, exchange, sinking fund or redemption rights and have no preemptive
rights to subscribe for any of our securities. Our board of directors may issue additional shares of our common stock or rights
to purchase shares of our common stock without the approval of our stockholders.

    	 

    	 

    

Transfer Agent and Registrar

 

Subject to compliance with applicable
federal and state securities laws, our common stock may be transferred without any restrictions or limitations. The transfer agent
and registrar for shares of our common stock is Computershare Limited.

 

Anti-takeover Effects of Certain
Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaw Provisions

 

Our certificate
of incorporation and bylaws, as well as Delaware General Corporation Law, contain certain provisions designed to enhance the ability
of our board of directors to deal with attempts to acquire control of us. These provisions may be deemed to have an anti-takeover
effect and may discourage takeover attempts which have not been approved by the board of directors (including takeovers which
certain stockholders may deem to be in their best interest). This summary does not purport to be complete and is qualified in
its entirety by reference to the laws and documents referenced. With respect to our charter documents, while such provisions might
be deemed to have some “anti-takeover” effect, the principal effect of these provisions is to protect our stockholders
generally and to provide our board and stockholders a reasonable opportunity to evaluate and respond to such unsolicited acquisition
proposals.

 

Authorized but Unissued Stock

 

The authorized
but unissued shares of common stock and preferred stock will be available for future issuance without stockholder approval. These
additional shares may be used for a variety of corporate purposes, including future private or public offerings to raise additional
capital, corporate acquisitions, and employee benefit plans. The existence of authorized but unissued and unreserved shares of
common stock and preferred stock may enable the board of directors to issue shares to persons friendly to current management,
which could render more difficult or discourage any attempt to obtain control of us by means such as a proxy contest, tender offer,
or merger, and thereby protect the continuity of the Company’s management.

 

Number and Classification of Directors

 

Our certificate
of incorporation and bylaws provide that the number of directors shall be fixed from time to time exclusively by the board of
directors pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the total number of authorized directorships (whether or not there
exist any vacancies in previously authorized directorships at the time any such resolutions is presented to the board), except
that in the absence of any such designation, the number shall be 11. The board of directors is divided into three classes so that
each director serves for a term expiring at the third succeeding annual meeting of stockholders after their election with each
director to hold office until his or her successor is duly elected and qualified. The classification of directors, together with
the provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws described below that limit the ability of stockholders to remove
directors and that permit the remaining directors to fill any vacancies on the board of directors, have the effect of making it
more difficult for stockholders to change the composition of the board of directors. As a result, at least two annual meetings
of stockholders may be required for the stockholders to change a majority of the directors, whether or not a change in the board
of directors would be beneficial and whether or not a majority of stockholders believe that such a change would be desirable,
and three meetings, rather than one, would be required to replace the entire board.

 

Removal of Directors and Filling
Vacancies

 

Our
certificate of incorporation provides that any director, or the entire board of directors, may be removed from office at any time,
but only for cause and only by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 80% of the voting power of all the then-outstanding
shares of capital stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a separate class. Our bylaws
provide that all vacancies on the board may be filled only by a majority vote of the directors then in office, though less than
a quorum, and directors so chosen hold office for a term expiring at the annual meeting of stockholders at which the term of office
of the class to which they have been elected expires and until such director’s successor shall have been duly elected and
qualified.

    	 

    	 

    

Advance Notice Requirements for
Stockholder Proposals

 

Our bylaws establish
advance notice procedures with regard to stockholder nominations for the election of directors and for business to be brought
by stockholders for any meeting of the stockholders of the Company. For stockholder nominations, written notice generally must
be received by the Company not less than 90 days prior to the meeting and must set forth certain information regarding the person
such stockholder proposes to nominate for election and regarding the stockholder himself. For business to be properly brought
before an annual meeting by a stockholder, the business must relate to a proper subject matter for stockholder action, and the
stockholder must have given timely notice in writing to the Secretary of the Company, which means that, generally, it must be
received by the Company not less than 90 days prior to the date of the meeting. The notice must also set forth a brief description
of the business desired to be brought before the annual meeting and the reasons for conducting such business at the annual meeting,
as well as certain information regarding the stockholder. We may reject a stockholder proposal that is not made in accordance
with such procedures.

 

Stockholder Vote Required to Approve
Business Combinations with Interested Stockholders

 

Our certificate
of incorporation requires the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 80% of the voting power of all the then-outstanding
shares of capital stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a separate class, to approve
certain business combinations involving an interested stockholder, except in the case of any business combination that does not
involve any cash or other consideration being received by the stockholders of the Company solely in their capacity as stockholders
of the Company, where the business combination has been approved a majority of the disinterested directors, or in the case of
any other business combination, where the business combination has been approved by a majority of the disinterested directors
or certain conditions with respect to the consideration to be received by some or all of the Company’s stockholders are
satisfied.

 

Factors to be Considered in Certain
Transactions

 

Our certificate
of incorporation grants the board of directors the discretion, when considering whether a proposed merger or similar transaction
is in the best interests of the Company and our stockholders, to give due consideration to all relevant factors, including, without
limitation, the social and economic effect of acceptance of such offer on the Company’s present and future customers and
employees and those of its subsidiaries, the communities in which the Company and its subsidiaries operate or are located, the
ability of the Company to fulfill its corporate objectives as a bank holding company, and on the ability of the Bank to fulfill
the objectives of a stock bank under applicable statutes and regulations.

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"}]]