Description of the Regist

EX-4.3 2 free-20201231xex43.htm EX-4.3 Document

Exhibit 4.3
DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
The following summary of the material terms of our securities is not intended to be a complete summary of the rights and preferences of such securities, and is qualified by reference to our certificate of incorporation (the “certificate of incorporation”), our bylaws (the “bylaws”) and the warrant-related documents described herein, each of which are incorporated by reference as an exhibit to the Form 10-K of which this Exhibit 4.3 is a part. We urge to you read each of the certificate of incorporation, the bylaws and the warrant-related documents described herein in their entirety for a complete description of the rights and preferences of such securities. Our common stock and warrants are registered pursuant to Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Unless otherwise indicated, the terms “we”, “us”, and “our” refer to Whole Earth Brands, Inc.
Authorized Capital Stock
The total amount of our authorized capital stock consists of 220,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share. No shares of preferred stock are issued and outstanding.
Preferred Stock
Our board of directors has authority to issue shares of preferred stock in one or more series, to fix for each such series such voting powers, designations, preferences, qualifications, limitations or restrictions thereof, including dividend rights, conversion rights, redemption privileges and liquidation preferences for the issue of such series all to the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL. The issuance of preferred stock could have the effect of decreasing the trading price of our common stock, restricting dividends on our capital stock, diluting the voting power of our common stock, impairing the liquidation rights of our capital stock, or delaying or preventing a change in control our company.
Common Stock
General
Holders of our common stock are not entitled to preemptive or other similar subscription rights to purchase any of our securities. Our common stock is neither convertible nor redeemable. Unless our board of directors determines otherwise, we expect to issue all shares of our capital stock in uncertificated form.
Voting Rights
Each holder of our common stock is entitled to one vote per share on each matter submitted to a vote of stockholders, as provided by the certificate of incorporation. Our bylaws provide that the holders of a majority of the capital stock issued and outstanding and entitled to vote thereat, present in person or represented by proxy, will constitute a quorum at all meetings of the stockholders for the transaction of business. When a quorum is present, the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast is required to take action, unless otherwise specified by law, our bylaws or our certificate of incorporation, and except for the election of directors, which is determined by a plurality vote. There are no cumulative voting rights.
Dividend Rights
Each holder of shares of our common stock is entitled to the payment of dividends and other distributions as may be declared by our board of directors from time to time out of our assets or funds legally available for dividends or other distributions. These rights are subject to the preferential rights of the holders of our preferred stock, if any, and any contractual limitations on our ability to declare and pay dividends. Any dividends declared by our board of directors to the holders of the then outstanding shares of common stock shall be paid to the holders thereof pro rata in accordance with the number of shares of common stock held by each such holder as of the record date of such dividend.




Other Rights
Each holder of our common stock is subject to, and may be adversely affected by, the rights of the holders of any series of our preferred stock that we may designate and issue in the future.
Liquidation Rights
If we are involved in voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding up of our affairs, or a similar event, each holder of our common stock will participate pro rata in all assets remaining after payment of liabilities, subject to prior distribution rights of our preferred stock, if any, then outstanding.
Warrants
Our warrants are issued under an Amended and Restated Warrant Agreement (the “Warrant Agreement”) dated as of June 25, 2020, between us and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent. Pursuant to the Warrant Agreement, each warrant is exercisable for one-half of one share of our common stock at an exercise price of $5.75 per one-half share ($11.50 per whole share), subject to the adjustments provided in the Warrant Agreement.
Pursuant to the Warrant Agreement, warrant holders may exercise their warrants only for a whole number of shares of our common stock. Therefore, only two warrants or a multiple of two warrants may be exercised at any given time by a warrant holder. No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the Warrants. For example, if a warrant holder only holds one warrant to purchase one-half of one share of our common stock, such warrant will not be exercisable. However, if a warrant holder holds two warrants, such warrants will be exercisable for one share of common stock. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share (as a result of a subsequent share dividend payable in shares of common stock, or by a split up of the common stock or other similar event), we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of shares of common stock to be issued to such holder.
No warrant is exercisable, and we are not obligated to issue shares of common stock, until such shares have been registered, qualified or deemed to be exempt from registration or qualification under the securities laws of the state of residence of the warrant holder. If a registration statement covering the our common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective within 60 business days from the completion of the Transaction (as defined in the Warrant Agreement), or at any time thereafter, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement, exercise warrants only on a “cashless basis” pursuant to an available exemption from registration under the Securities Act. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the warrants and the “fair market value” (defined below) by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” will mean the average reported last sale price of the common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants.
The exercise price and number of shares of common stock issuable on exercise of the warrants may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event of a share dividend, extraordinary dividend or our recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. However, the warrants will not be adjusted for issuances of common stock at a price below their respective exercise prices. We are also permitted, in our sole discretion, to lower the exercise price at any time prior to the expiration date for a period of not less than 20 business days, provided that we provide at least 20 days’ prior written notice of such reduction to registered holders of the warrants and that any such reduction will be applied consistently to all of the warrants. Any such reduction in the exercise price will comply with any applicable regulations under the federal securities laws, including Rule 13e-4 under the Exchange Act generally and Rule 13e-4(f)(1)(i) specifically.
The warrants will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time on the earlier to occur of (x) the date that is five years from the completion of the Transaction, (y) our liquidation, or (z) other than with respect to the private placement warrants, the redemption date as fixed by us pursuant to the Warrant Agreement, if we elect to redeem all warrants as described below. Each outstanding warrant not exercised on or before the expiration date will become void, and all rights under the warrants and the Warrant Agreement will cease as of the expiration date.




We may call the warrants for redemption, in whole and not in part, at a price of $0.01 per warrant:
at any time while the warrants are exercisable,
upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption to each warrant holder
if and only if, the reported last sale price of the shares of our common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share, for any 20 trading days within a 30-day trading period ending on the third business day prior to the notice of redemption to warrant holders, an
if and only if, there is a current registration statement in effect with respect to our common stock underlying such warrants at the redemption date and for the entire 30-day trading period referred to above and continuing each day thereafter until the date of redemption
If we call the warrants for redemption as described above, we will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a “cashless basis.” Whether we will exercise our option to require all holders to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis” will depend on a variety of factors including the price of our common stock at the time the warrants are called for redemption, our cash needs at such time and concerns regarding dilutive share issuances
A warrant holder will not have the rights or privileges of holders of common stock and any voting rights with respect to the shares underlying any warrants until they exercise such warrants and receive common stock. After the issuance of common stock upon exercise of the warrants, each holder will be entitled to such rights with respect to such shares of common stock as provided by applicable law, our organizational documents and any other applicable agreement.
Warrant holders may elect, at their sole option and discretion, to be subject to a restriction on the exercise of their warrants such that an electing warrant holder (and his, her or its affiliates) would not be able to exercise their warrants to the extent that, after giving effect to such exercise, such holder (and his, her or its affiliates) would beneficially own in excess of 9.8% of the common stock outstanding.
The Warrant Agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval, by written consent or vote, of the holders of 65% of the then-outstanding public warrants in order to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we may lower the exercise price or extend the duration of the exercise period of the warrants in accordance with the Warrant Agreement, without the consent of any holder.
Anti-Takeover Effects of the Certificate of Incorporation and the Bylaws
Our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws contain provisions that may delay, defer or discourage another party from acquiring control of our company. We expect that these provisions, which are summarized below, will discourage coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids. These provisions are also designed to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of our company to first negotiate with our board of directors, which we believe may result in an improvement of the terms of any such acquisition in favor of our stockholders. However, they also give our board of directors the power to discourage mergers that some stockholders may favor.
Special Meetings of Stockholders
Our certificate of incorporation provides that a special meeting of stockholders may be called by the (a) the chairperson of our board of directors or (b) our board of directors.
Removal of Directors
Subject to applicable law, any director or the entire board of directors may be removed only for cause and only by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 662∕3% of the total voting power of our then issued and outstanding capital stock entitled to vote in the election of directors, voting together as a single class.




Amendment to Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws
The DGCL provides generally that the affirmative vote of a majority of the outstanding stock entitled to vote on amendments to a corporation’s certificate of incorporation or bylaws is required to approve such amendment, unless a corporation’s certificate of incorporation or bylaws, as the case may be, requires a greater percentage. Our bylaws may be further amended, altered, changed or repealed by a majority vote of our board of directors.
Delaware Anti-Takeover Statute
Section 203 of the DGCL provides that if a person acquires 15% or more of the voting stock of a Delaware corporation, such person becomes an “interested stockholder” and may not engage in certain “business combinations” with such corporation for a period of three years from the time such person acquired 15% or more of such corporation’s voting stock, unless: (1) our board of directors of such corporation approves the acquisition of stock or the merger transaction before the time that the person becomes an interested stockholder, (2) the interested stockholder owns at least 85% of the outstanding voting stock of such corporation at the time the merger transaction commences (excluding voting stock owned by directors who are also officers and certain employee stock plans) or (3) the merger transaction is approved by our board of directors and at a meeting of stockholders, not by written consent, by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock which is not owned by the interested stockholder. A Delaware corporation may elect in its certificate of incorporation or bylaws not to be governed by this particular Delaware law. Under our certificate of incorporation, we have not opted out of Section 203 of the DGCL.
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 DGCL, and our bylaws provide that we will indemnify them to the fullest extent permitted by such law. We have entered into and expect to continue to enter into agreements to indemnify our directors, executive officers and other employees as determined by our board of directors. Under the terms of such indemnification agreements, we are required to indemnify each of our directors and officers, to the fullest extent permitted by the laws of the state of Delaware, if the basis of the indemnitee’s involvement was by reason of the fact that the indemnitee is or was our director or officer or was serving at our request in an official capacity for another entity. We must indemnify our officers and directors against all reasonable fees, expenses, charges and other costs of any type or nature whatsoever, including any and all expenses and obligations paid or incurred in connection with investigating, defending, being a witness in, participating in (including on appeal), or preparing to defend, be a witness or participate in any completed, actual, pending or threatened action, suit, claim or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, or establishing or enforcing a right to indemnification under the indemnification agreement. The indemnification agreements also require us, if so requested, to advance all reasonable fees, expenses, charges and other costs that such director or officer incurred, provided that such person will return any such advance if it is ultimately determined that such person is not entitled to indemnification by us. Any claims for indemnification by our directors and officers may reduce our available funds to satisfy successful third-party claims against us and may reduce the amount of money available to us.
Exclusive Jurisdiction of Certain Actions
Our certificate of incorporation requires, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in our name against our directors, officers or employees for breach of fiduciary duty, any provision of the DGCL, our certificate of incorporation or our bylaws or other similar actions may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware and, if brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel. Notwithstanding the foregoing, our certificate of incorporation provides that the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Similarly, Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Although we believe this provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.



Transfer Agent
The transfer agent for our common stock and warrants is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company.