Description of Securities of 1847 Holdings LLC
Exhibit 4.1
DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES
General
The following is a summary of the material terms of our shares as of December 31, 2020. The operating agreement provides for the issuance of our shares, the terms relating to distributions with respect to our shares and the voting rights of holders of our shares. In addition, the terms of the series A senior convertible preferred shares are governed by a certificate of designation, dated September 30, 2020.
The following description is subject to the provisions of the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act. Certain provisions of the operating agreement are intended to be consistent with the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, and the powers of our company, the governance processes and the rights of the holders of our shares are generally intended to be similar in many respects to those that would exist if our company was a Delaware corporation under the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, with certain exceptions.
The statements that follow are subject to and are qualified in their entirety by reference to all of the provisions of the operating agreement, a copy of which is included as an exhibit to this report.
We are authorized to issue up to 500,000,000 common shares, 3,157,895 series A senior convertible preferred shares and 1,000 allocation shares. As of December 31, 2020, we had 4,444,013 common shares and 2,632,278 series A senior convertible preferred shares issued and outstanding. In connection with the formation of our company, our manager acquired 100% of the allocation shares for a capital contribution of $1,000 by our manager. Other than the allocation shares held by our manager, our company will not be authorized to issue any other allocation shares.
Common Shares
Distribution Rights. Holders of common shares are entitled to receive ratably those distributions, if any, as may be declared from time to time by the board of directors out of legally available funds.
Liquidation Rights. Upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up in accordance with the terms of the operating agreement, the then holders of common shares will be entitled to share in the assets of our company legally available for distribution, following payment to creditors, in accordance with the positive balance in such holders’ tax-based capital accounts required by the operating agreement, after giving effect to all contributions, distributions and allocations for all periods.
Voting Rights. The holders of common shares are entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters submitted to a vote of the shareholders. Under the operating agreement, any action to be taken by vote of shareholders other than for election of directors shall be authorized by the affirmative vote of the majority of shares present or represented by proxy and entitled to vote. Directors are elected by a plurality of votes cast.
Other Rights. Holders of common shares have no preemptive, conversion or subscription rights and there are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to the common shares.
Series A Senior Convertible Preferred Shares
Dividends. Dividends at the rate per annum of 14.0% of the stated value ($2.00 per share, subject to adjustment) shall accrue on the series A senior convertible preferred shares. Dividends shall accrue from day to day, whether or not declared, and shall be cumulative. Dividends shall be payable quarterly in arrears on each dividend payment date in cash or common shares at our discretion. Dividends payable in common shares shall be calculated based on a price equal to eighty percent (80%) of the volume weighted average price, or VWAP, for the common shares on our principal trading market during the five (5) trading days immediately prior to the applicable dividend payment date.
Liquidation. Subject to the rights of our creditors and the holders of any senior securities or parity securities (in each case, as defined in the certificate of designation), upon any liquidation of our company or its subsidiaries, before any payment or distribution of the assets of our company (whether capital or surplus) shall be made to or set apart for the holders of securities that are junior to the series A senior convertible preferred shares as to the distribution of assets on any liquidation of our company, each holder of outstanding series A senior convertible preferred shares shall be entitled to receive an amount of cash equal to 115% of the stated value plus an amount of cash equal to all accumulated accrued and unpaid dividends thereon (whether or not declared) to, but not including the date of final distribution to such holders. If, upon any liquidation of our company, the assets of our company, or proceeds thereof, distributable among the holders of the series A senior convertible preferred shares shall be insufficient to pay in full the preferential amount payable to the holders of the series A senior convertible preferred shares and liquidating payments on any other shares of any class or series of parity securities as to the distribution of assets on any liquidation of our company, then such assets, or the proceeds thereof, shall be distributed among the holders of series A senior convertible preferred shares and any such other parity securities ratably in accordance with the respective amounts that would be payable on such series A senior convertible preferred shares and any such other parity securities if all amounts payable thereon were paid in full.
Voting Rights. The series A senior convertible preferred shares do not have any voting rights; provided that, so long as any series A senior convertible preferred shares are outstanding, the affirmative vote of holders of a majority of series A senior convertible preferred shares, which majority must include Leonite Capital LLC so long as it holds any series A senior convertible preferred shares (which we refer to as the requisite holders), voting as a separate class, shall be necessary for approving, effecting or validating any amendment, alteration or repeal of any of the provisions of the certificate of designation. In addition, so long as any series A senior convertible preferred shares are outstanding, the affirmative vote of requisite holders shall be required prior to our company’s or Kyle’s creation or issuance of (i) any parity securities; (ii) any senior securities; and (iii) any new indebtedness other than intercompany indebtedness by Kyle’s in favor of our company, except any financing transaction the use of proceeds of which we will use to redeem the series A senior convertible preferred shares and the warrants.
Conversion Rights. Each series A senior convertible preferred share, plus all accrued and unpaid dividends thereon, shall be convertible, at the option of the holder thereof, at any time and from time to time into such number of fully paid and nonassessable common shares determined by dividing the stated value, plus the value of the accrued, but unpaid, dividends thereon, by the conversion price of $2.00 per share; provided that in no event shall the holder of any series A senior convertible preferred shares be entitled to convert any number of series A senior convertible preferred shares that upon conversion the sum of (i) the number of common shares beneficially owned by the holder and its affiliates and (ii) the number of common shares issuable upon the conversion of the series A senior convertible preferred shares with respect to which the determination of this proviso is being made, would result in beneficial ownership by the holder and its affiliates of more than 4.99% of the then outstanding common shares of our company. This limitation may be waived (up to a maximum of 9.99%) by the holder and in its sole discretion, upon not less than sixty-one (61) days’ prior notice to our company.
Redemption. We may redeem in whole (but not in part) the series A senior convertible preferred shares by paying in cash therefore a sum equal to 115% of the stated value plus the amount of accrued and unpaid plus any other amounts due pursuant to the terms of the series A senior convertible preferred shares.
Adjustments. In addition to standard adjustments to the conversion price in the event of any share splits, share combinations, share reclassifications, dividends paid in common shares, sales of substantially all of our assets, mergers, consolidations or similar transactions, the certificate of designation contains a provision regarding adjustments to the dividend rate, stated value and conversion price as follows:
● | On the first day of the 12th month following the issuance date of any series A senior convertible preferred shares, the stated dividend rate shall automatically increase by five percent (5.0%) per annum and the conversion price shall automatically adjust to the lower of the (i) initial conversion price and (ii) the price equal to the lowest VWAP of the ten (10) trading days immediately preceding such date. |
● | On the first day of the 24th month following the issuance date of any series A senior convertible preferred shares, the stated dividend rate shall automatically increase by an additional five percent (5.0%) per annum, the stated value shall automatically increase by ten percent (10%) and the conversion price shall automatically adjust to the lower of the (i) initial conversion price and (ii) the price equal to the lowest VWAP of the ten (10) trading days immediately preceding such date. |
● | On the first day of the 36th month following the issuance date of any series A senior convertible preferred shares, the stated dividend rate shall automatically increase by an additional five percent (5.0%) per annum, the stated value shall automatically increase by ten percent (10%) and the conversion price shall automatically adjust to the lower of the (i) initial conversion price and (ii) the price equal to the lowest VWAP of the ten (10) trading days immediately preceding the third adjustment date. |
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the conversion price for purposes of the adjustments above shall not be adjusted to a number that is below $0.0075.
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Additional Equity Interest. On the third adjustment date set forth above, we are required to cause Kyle’s to issue to the holders of series A senior convertible preferred shares, on a pro rata basis, a ten percent (10%) equity stake Kyle’s. We are required to cause Kyle’s to grant to the holders of the series A senior convertible preferred shares upon the issuance to them of such equity interest a right to receive an additional number of shares of common stock of Kyle’s if Kyle’s issues to any third party equity securities at a price below the acquisition price (as defined below). Such additional number of shares of common stock of Kyle’s to be issued in such instance shall be equal to a number of shares of common stock of Kyle’s which, when added to the number of shares of common stock of Kyle’s constituting such equity interest, would be equal to the total number of shares of common stock which would have been issued to a holder of series A senior convertible preferred shares if the price per share of common stock of Kyle’s was equivalent to the price per equity security paid by such third party in Kyle’s. For purposes of this provision, “acquisition price” means the price per share of Kyle’s that was paid by us upon the acquisition of Kyle’s.
Other Rights. Holders of series A senior convertible preferred shares have no preemptive or subscription rights for additional securities of our company.
Allocation Shares
Distribution Rights. Under the terms of the operating agreement, our company will pay a profit allocation to our manager, as holder of the allocation shares. See Item 1 “Business—Our Manager—Our Manager as an Equity Holder—Manager’s Profit Allocation” for a description of our manager’s profit allocation to be paid to our manager and an example of the calculation of the profit allocation.
Liquidation Rights. Upon a liquidation of our company, any accrued, but unpaid profit allocation due to our manager as a result of our manager’s ownership of the allocation shares would be paid to our manager before any payment is made of any amounts due upon a liquidation to the holders of our common shares.
Voting Rights. The operating agreement provides that the holder of allocation shares will not be entitled to any voting rights, except that the holder of the allocation shares will have:
● | voting rights in connection with the merger or consolidation of our company, the sale, lease or exchange of all or substantially all of our company’s assets and certain other business combinations or transactions; |
● | a consent right with respect to the dissolution of our company in certain circumstances; |
● | a consent right with respect to the amendment of the provisions providing for distributions to the holders of allocation shares; |
● | a consent right to any amendment to the provisions entitling the holders of allocation shares to appoint and remove directors who will serve on our board of directors of our company; |
● | a consent right to any amendment to the provision regarding the quorum and voting requirements for board meetings; |
● | a consent right to any amendment to the provisions regarding the indemnification and liability of directors; |
● | a consent right with respect to any amendment of the provision of the operating agreement governing amendments thereof; and |
● | a consent right with respect to any amendment that would adversely affect the holder of allocation shares. |
In addition, the holder of the allocation shares has the right to appoint one (1) director to our board of directors for every four (4) members constituting the entire board of directors. Any director appointed to our board of directors by the holder of the allocation shares will not be required to stand for election by the holders of our common shares and will not have any special voting rights.
Other Rights. Holders of allocation shares have no preemptive, conversion or subscription rights and there are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to the allocation shares.
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Warrants
In connection with the unit offering described elsewhere in this report, we issued warrants for the purchase of an aggregate of 2,632,278 common shares. Each warrant is exercisable within three years at an exercise price of $2.50 per common share (subject to adjustment, including a full ratchet antidilution adjustment), which may be exercised on a cashless basis if the underlying warrant shares are not then registered or otherwise freely tradeable. The warrants contains an ownership limitation, such that the we shall not effect any exercise of any warrant, and the holder shall not have the right to exercise any portion of such warrant, to the extent that after giving effect to issuance of common shares upon exercise such warrant, such holder, together with its affiliates, and any other persons acting as a group together with such holder or any of its affiliates, would beneficially own in excess of 4.99% of the number of common shares outstanding immediately after giving effect to the issuance of common shares issuable upon exercise of such warrant. Upon no fewer than 61 days’ prior notice to us, a purchaser may increase or decrease such beneficial ownership limitation provisions and any such increase or decrease will not be effective until the 61st day after such notice is delivered to us.
We may force the exercise of the warrants at any time after the one year anniversary of the date of the warrants, if (i) our company is listed on a national securities exchange or the over-the-counter market, (ii) the underlying common shares are registered or the holder of the warrant otherwise has the ability to trade the underlying common shares without restriction, (iii) the 30-day volume-weighted daily average price of our common shares exceeds 200% of the exercise price, as adjusted and (iv) the average daily trading volume is at least 100,000 common shares during such 30-day period.
We may redeem the warrants held by any holder in whole (but not in part) by paying in cash to such holder as follows: (i) $0.50 per share then underlying the warrant if within the first twelve (12) months of issuance; (ii) $1.00 per share then underlying the warrant if after the first twelve (12) months, but before twenty-four (24) months of issuance; and (iii) $1.50 per share then underlying the warrant if after twenty-four months, but before thirty-six (36) months.
Agreement to be Bound by our Operating Agreement; Power of Attorney
By purchasing our shares, you will be admitted as a member of our company and will be deemed to have agreed to be bound by the terms of the operating agreement. Pursuant to the operating agreement, each shareholder and each person who acquires a share from a shareholder grants to certain of our officers (and, if appointed, a liquidator) a power of attorney to, among other things, execute and file documents required for our qualification, continuance or dissolution. The power of attorney also grants certain of our officers the authority to make certain amendments to, and to make consents and waivers under and in accordance with, our operating agreement.
Ratification of Agreements
The operating agreement provides that each holder, by acquiring shares, ratifies and confirms the various agreements entered into by our company, including but not limited to, the management services agreement, the supplemental put provision of the operating agreement, and that the execution of any of these agreements does not constitute a breach of any duty existing under the operating agreement or otherwise existing at law, in equity or otherwise by any persons, including our manager, approving, negotiating or executing such agreements on behalf our company.
Waiver of Jury Trial
Our operating agreement provides that, to the extent permitted by law, holders of common shares waive the right to a jury trial of any claim they may have against us arising out of or relating to our operating agreement, including any claim under the U.S. federal securities laws. If we opposed a jury trial demand based on the waiver, the court would determine whether the waiver was enforceable under the facts and circumstances of that case in accordance with applicable case law. See Item 1A “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Shares—Holders of our common shares may not be entitled to a jury trial with respect to claims arising under our operating agreement, which could result in less favorable outcomes to the plaintiffs in any such action.”
Election by Our Company
The operating agreement provides that our board of directors may, without the vote of holders of our shares, cause our company to elect to be treated as a corporation for United States federal income tax purposes if the board receives an opinion from a nationally recognized financial advisor to the effect that the market valuation of our company is expected to be significantly lower as a result of our company continuing to be treated as a partnership for United States federal income tax purposes than if our company instead elected to be treated as a corporation for United States federal income tax purposes.
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Amendment of the Operating Agreement
The operating agreement may be amended by a majority vote of our board of directors of our company, except that amending the following provisions requires an affirmative vote of at least a majority of the then outstanding common shares:
● | the purpose or powers of our company; |
● | an increase in the number of common shares authorized for issuance; |
● | the distribution rights of the common shares; |
● | the voting rights relating to the common shares; |
● | the hiring of a replacement manager following the termination of the management services agreement; |
● | the merger or consolidation of our company, the sale, lease or exchange of all or substantially all of our company’s assets and certain other business combinations or transactions; |
● | the right of our shareholders to vote on the dissolution, winding up and liquidation of our company; and |
● | the provision of the operating agreement governing amendments thereof. |
Anti-Takeover Provisions
Certain provisions of the management services agreement and the operating agreement may make it more difficult for third parties to acquire control of our company by various means. These provisions could deprive our shareholders of opportunities to realize a premium on the shares owned by them. In addition, these provisions may adversely affect the prevailing market price of our shares. These provisions are intended to:
● | protect our manager and its economic interests in our company; |
● | protect the position of our manager and its rights to manage the business and affairs of our company under the management services agreement; |
● | enhance the likelihood of continuity and stability in the composition of our board of directors and in the policies formulated by our board of directors; |
● | discourage certain types of transactions which may involve an actual or threatened change in control of our company; |
● | discourage certain tactics that may be used in proxy fights; |
● | encourage persons seeking to acquire control of our company to consult first with our board of directors to negotiate the terms of any proposed business combination or offer; and |
● | reduce the vulnerability of our company to an unsolicited proposal for a takeover that does not contemplate the acquisition of all of the outstanding shares or that is otherwise unfair to our shareholders. |
Anti-Takeover Effects of the Management Services Agreement
The limited circumstances in which our manager may be terminated means that it will be very difficult for a potential acquirer of our company to take over the management and operation of our business. Under the terms of the management services agreement, our manager may only be terminated by our company in certain limited circumstances. Furthermore, our manager has the right to resign and terminate the management services agreement upon 120 days’ notice.
Upon the termination of the management service agreement, seconded officers, employees, representatives and delegates of our manager and its affiliates who are performing the services that are the subject of the management services agreement, will resign their respective position with our company and cease to work at the date of our manager’s termination or at any other time as determined by our manager. Any director on our board of directors appointed by the holder of the allocation shares may continue serving on our board of directors subject to our manager’s continued ownership of the allocation shares and subject to such director’s removal by the holder of the allocation shares.
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If we terminate the management services agreement, our company and its businesses must cease using the term “1847,” including any trademarks based on the name of our company that may be licensed to them by our manager under a license grant in the management services agreement, entirely in their businesses and operations within 180 days of our termination of the management services agreement. The license grant requires our company and its businesses to change their names to remove any reference to the term “1847” or any reference to trademarks licensed to them by our manager upon termination of the license which would occur upon termination of the management services agreement.
See Item 1 “Business—Our Manager—Termination of Management Services Agreement” for more information about the termination provisions set forth in the management services agreement.
Anti-Takeover Provisions in the Operating Agreement
A number of provisions of the operating agreement also could have the effect of making it more difficult for a third-party to acquire, or of discouraging a third-party from acquiring, control of our company. The operating agreement prohibits the merger or consolidation of our company with or into any limited liability company, corporation, statutory trust, business trust or association, real estate investment trust, common-law trust or any other unincorporated business, including a partnership, or the sale, lease or exchange of all or substantially all of our company’s property or assets unless, in each case, our board of directors adopts a resolution by a majority vote approving such action and unless such action is approved by the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of each of the outstanding common shares and allocation shares entitled to vote thereon.
In addition, the operating agreement contains provisions based generally on Section 203 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware which prohibits our company from engaging in a business combination with an interested holder of our common shares unless such business combination is approved by the affirmative vote of the holders of 66 2/3% of each of the outstanding common shares and allocation shares, excluding shares held by the interested holder or any affiliate or associate of the interested holder of interests.
Subject to the right of our manager to appoint directors and any successor in the event of a vacancy, the operating agreement authorizes our board of directors to increase the size of the board of directors and to fill vacancies on our board of directors. This provision could prevent a holder of common shares from effectively obtaining an indirect majority representation on our board of directors by permitting the existing board of directors to increase the number of directors and to fill the vacancies with its own nominees. The operating agreement also provides that directors may be removed, with or without cause, only by the affirmative vote of holders of two-thirds of the then outstanding common shares. A director appointed by our manager may only be removed by our manager, as holder of the allocation shares.
The operating agreement provides that special meetings may only be called by the Chairman of our board of directors or by resolution adopted by our board of directors.
The operating agreement also provides that holders of common shares seeking to bring business before an annual meeting of members or to nominate candidates for election as directors at an annual meeting of members must provide notice thereof in writing to our company not less than 120 days and not more than 150 days prior to the anniversary date of the preceding year’s annual meeting of members or as otherwise required by requirements of the Exchange Act. In addition, the holders of common shares furnishing such notice must be a holder of record on both (i) the date of delivering such notice and (ii) the record date for the determination of members entitled to vote at such meeting. The operating agreement specifies certain requirements as to the form and content of a member’s notice. These provisions may preclude members from bringing matters before members at an annual meeting or from making nominations for directors at an annual or special meeting.
Authorized but unissued shares are available for future issuance, without further approval of our shareholders. These additional shares may be utilized for a variety of purposes, including future public offerings to raise additional capital or to fund acquisitions, as well as option plans for employees of our company or its businesses. The existence of authorized but unissued shares could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of our company by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.
In addition, our board of directors has broad authority to amend the operating agreement, as discussed above. Our board of directors could, in the future, choose to amend the operating agreement to include other provisions which have the intention or effect of discouraging takeover attempts.
Transfer Agent and Registrar
The transfer agent and registrar for our common shares is VStock Transfer, LLC. The address for VStock Transfer, LLC is 18 Lafayette Pl, Woodmere, NY 11598, and the telephone number is  ###-###-####.
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