Description of Capital Stock
Exhibit 4.3
DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK
The following description of the capital stock of Box, Inc. (“us,” “our,” “we” or the “Company”) is a summary of the rights of our Class A common stock and certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws as currently in effect. This summary does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, each previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and incorporated by reference as an exhibit to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of which this Exhibit 4.3 is a part, as well as to the applicable provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”). We encourage you to read our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, amended and restated bylaws, and the applicable provisions of the DGCL carefully.
General
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides for two classes of common stock and authorizes shares of undesignated preferred stock, the rights, preferences and privileges of which may be designated from time to time by our board of directors. On June 14, 2018, all of our outstanding shares of Class B common stock automatically converted into the same number of shares of Class A common stock pursuant to the terms of our amended and restated certification of incorporation. No additional shares of Class B common stock may be issued following such conversion. On June 15, 2018, we filed a certificate with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware effecting the retirement and cancellation of our Class B common stock. This certificate of retirement had the additional effect of eliminating the authorized Class B common stock, thereby reducing the total number of our authorized shares of common stock by 200,000,000.
Our authorized capital stock therefore consists of 1,100,000,000 shares, $0.0001 par value per share, of which:
| • | 1,000,000,000 shares are designated as Class A common stock; and |
| • | 100,000,000 shares are designated as preferred stock. |
Class A Common Stock
Dividend Rights
Subject to preferences that may apply to any shares of preferred stock outstanding at the time, the holders of our Class A common stock are entitled to receive dividends out of funds legally available if our board of directors, in its discretion, determines to issue dividends and then only at the times and in the amounts that our board of directors may determine.
Voting Rights
Holders of our Class A common stock are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters submitted to a vote of stockholders. Stockholders do not have the ability to cumulate votes for the election of directors. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws provide for a classified board of directors consisting of three classes of approximately equal size, each serving staggered three-year terms. Only the directors in one class will be subject to election by a plurality of the votes cast at each annual meeting of stockholders, with the directors in the other classes continuing for the remainder of their respective three-year terms.
Right to Receive Liquidation Distributions
If we become subject to a liquidation, dissolution, or winding-up, the assets legally available for distribution to our stockholders would be distributable ratably among the holders of our Class A common stock and any participating preferred stock outstanding at that time, subject to prior satisfaction of all outstanding debt and
liabilities and the preferential rights of and the payment of liquidation preferences, if any, on any outstanding shares of preferred stock.
Other Matters
Shares of our Class A common stock are not convertible into any other shares of our capital stock. All issued and outstanding shares of our Class A common stock are fully paid and nonassessable. Our Class A common stock is not entitled to preemptive rights and is not subject to redemption or sinking fund provisions.
Preferred Stock
Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our board of directors has the authority, without further action by the stockholders, to issue from time to time up to 100,000,000 shares of preferred stock in one or more series. Our board of directors may designate the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions of the preferred stock, including dividend rights, conversion rights, voting rights, redemption rights, liquidation preference, sinking fund terms, and the number of shares constituting any series or the designation of any series. The issuance of preferred stock could have the effect of restricting dividends on our Class A common stock, diluting the voting power of our Class A common stock, impairing the liquidation rights of our Class A common stock, or delaying, deterring, or preventing a change in control. Such issuance could have the effect of decreasing the market price of our Class A common stock.
Anti-Takeover Provisions
Certain provisions of the DGCL, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, and our amended and restated bylaws, which are summarized below, may have the effect of delaying, deferring, or discouraging another person from acquiring control of the Company. They are also designed, in part, to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of us to negotiate first with our board of directors.
Delaware Law
We are subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the DGCL regulating corporate takeovers. In general, Section 203 prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging, under certain circumstances, in a business combination with an interested stockholder for a period of three years following the date the person became an interested stockholder unless:
| • | prior to the date of the transaction, our board of directors approved either the business combination or the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder; |
| • | upon completion 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, (i) shares owned by persons who are directors and also officers and (ii) shares owned by 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 |
| • | at or subsequent to the date of the transaction, the business combination is approved by our board of directors 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 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. An interested stockholder is a person who, together with affiliates and associates, owns or, within three years prior to the determination of interested stockholder status, did own 15% or more of a corporation’s outstanding voting stock. We expect the existence of this provision to have an anti-takeover effect with respect to transactions our board of directors does not approve in advance. We also anticipate that
Section 203 may discourage attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares of common stock held by stockholders.
Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Amended and Restated Bylaw Provisions
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws include a number of provisions that could deter hostile takeovers or delay or prevent changes in control of our board of directors or management team, including the following:
Undesignated Preferred Stock. As discussed above, our board of directors has the ability to designate and issue preferred stock with voting or other rights or preferences that could deter hostile takeovers or delay changes in our control or management.
Board of Directors Vacancies. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws authorize only our board of directors to fill vacant directorships, including newly created seats. In addition, the number of directors constituting our board of directors is permitted to be set only by a resolution adopted by a majority vote of our entire board of directors. These provisions would prevent a stockholder from increasing the size of our board of directors and then gaining control of our board of directors by filling the resulting vacancies with its own nominees. This makes it more difficult to change the composition of our board of directors and promotes continuity of management.
Classified Board. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws provide that our board of directors is classified into three classes of directors. A third party may be discouraged
Limits on Ability of Stockholders to Act by Written Consent or Call a Special Meeting. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that our stockholders may not act by written consent. This limit on the ability of stockholders to act by written consent may lengthen the amount of time required to take stockholder actions. As a result, the holders of a majority of our capital stock would not be able to amend our amended and restated bylaws or remove directors without holding a meeting of stockholders called in accordance with our amended and restated bylaws. In addition, our amended and restated bylaws provide that special meetings of the stockholders may be called only by the chairperson of our board of directors, the chief executive officer, the president (in the absence of a chief executive officer) or our board of directors. A stockholder may not call a special meeting, which may delay the ability of our stockholders to force consideration of a proposal or for holders controlling a majority of our capital stock to take any action, including the removal of directors.
Classified Board of Directors. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws provide that our board of directors is classified into three classes of directors. A third party may be discouraged from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us as it is more difficult and time consuming for stockholders to replace a majority of the directors on a classified board of directors.
Stockholder Action; Special Meeting of Stockholders. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that our stockholders may not take action by written consent, but may only take action at annual or special meetings of our stockholders. As a result, a holder controlling a majority of our capital stock would not be able to amend our amended and restated bylaws or remove directors without holding a meeting of our stockholders called in accordance with our amended and restated bylaws. Our amended and restated bylaws further provides that special meetings of our stockholders may be called only by a majority of our entire board of directors, the Chair of our board of directors, or our Chief Executive Officer, thus prohibiting a stockholder from calling a special meeting. These provisions might delay the ability of our stockholders to force consideration of a proposal or for stockholders controlling a majority of our capital stock to take any action, including the removal of directors.
Requirements for Advance Notification of Stockholder Nominations and Proposals. Our amended and restated 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 our board of directors or a committee of our board of directors. These advance notice procedures may have the effect of precluding the conduct of certain business at a meeting if the proper procedures are not followed and may also discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect its own slate of directors or otherwise attempt to obtain control of our company.
Directors Removed Only for Cause. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that stockholders may remove directors only for cause.
Amendment of Charter Provisions. Any amendment of the above provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would require approval by holders of at least 66 2⁄3% of our then outstanding capital stock.
Transfer Agent and Registrar
The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is Computershare Trust Company, N.A., located at 250 Royall Street, Canton, Massachusetts 02021.
Listing
Our Class A common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “BOX.”