Description of Securities

EX-4.11 2 f10k2022ex4-11_cadrenal.htm DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

Exhibit 4.11

 

DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934, AS AMENDED

 

Cadrenal Therapeutics, Inc. (the “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our”) has one class of securities registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), which is our common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “common stock”).

 

General

 

The following is a description of the material terms of our common stock. This is a summary only and does not purport to be complete. It is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to our Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate of Incorporation”), and our Bylaws (the “Bylaws”), each of which are incorporated by reference as an exhibit to our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K. We encourage you to read our Certificate of Incorporation, our Bylaws and the applicable provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law, for additional information.

 

Common Stock

 

We are authorized to issue 75,000,000 shares of common stock. Holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote for each share of common stock held of record for the election of our directors and all other matters requiring stockholder action, except with respect to amendments to our certificate of incorporation that alter or change the powers, preferences, rights or other terms of any outstanding preferred stock if the holders of such affected series of preferred stock are entitled to vote on such an amendment. Our directors are elected by a plurality of the votes cast by the stockholders entitled to vote at our annual meeting of stockholders, and are not entitled to cumulative voting rights. Holders of common stock are entitled to receive such dividends, if any, as may be declared from time to time by our Board of Directors in its discretion out of funds legally available therefor. The payment of dividends, if any, on shares of our common stock are subject to the prior payment of dividends on any outstanding preferred stock, of which there is none. Upon our liquidation or dissolution, the holders of our common stock are entitled to receive a pro rata portion of all assets remaining available for distribution to stockholders after payment of all liabilities and provision for the liquidation of any shares of preferred stock outstanding at that time. The holders of our common stock have no preemptive, subscription or redemption rights, and have no rights to convert their common stock into any other securities. The absence of preemptive rights could result in a dilution of the interest of the existing stockholders should additional shares of our common stock be issued. In addition, the rights of holders of our common stock are subject to, and may be adversely affected by, the rights of holders of shares of any series of preferred stock that we may designate and issue in the future.

 

Forum Selection

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws provide that unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, in the event that the Court of Chancery does not have jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Delaware or other state courts of the State of Delaware) is the exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf; (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer, employee or agent of the Company to the Company or our stockholders; (iii) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to the provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws; or (iv) any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine of the State of Delaware; provided that, if and only if the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware dismisses any such action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, or the Company consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, such action may be brought in another state or federal court sitting in the State of Delaware. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws also provide that the federal district courts of the United States of America is the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action against under the Securities Act. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the exclusive forum provision does not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. Nothing in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or amended and restated bylaws preclude stockholders that assert claims under the Exchange Act from bringing such claims in state or federal court, subject to applicable law.

 

 

 

 

Anti-Takeover Provisions

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws contain provisions that may delay, defer, or discourage another party from acquiring control of us. We expect that these provisions, which are summarized below, will discourage coercive takeover practices or inadequate takeover bids. These provisions are also designed to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of us 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 acquisitions that some stockholders may favor.

 

Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law

 

We are subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. Subject to certain exceptions, Section 203 prevents a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in a “business combination” with any “interested stockholder” for three years following the date that the person became an interested stockholder, unless the interested stockholder attained such status with the approval of our board of directors or unless the business combination is approved in a prescribed manner. A “business combination” includes, among other things, a merger or consolidation involving us and the “interested stockholder” and the sale of more than 10% of our assets. In general, an “interested stockholder” is any entity or person beneficially owning 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock and any entity or person affiliated with or controlling or controlled by such entity or person.

 

Classified Board of Directors

 

Our board of directors is divided into three classes serving three-year terms, with one class being elected each year by a plurality of the votes cast by the stockholders entitled to vote on the election.

 

Proposals of Business and Nominations

 

Our amended and restated bylaws generally regulates proposals of business and nominations for election of directors by stockholders. In general, Section 5 requires stockholders intending to submit proposals or nominations at a stockholders’ meeting to provide the Company with advance notice thereof, including information regarding the stockholder proposing the business or nomination as well as information regarding the proposed business or nominee. Section 5 also provides a time period during which business or nominations must be provided to the Company that creates a predictable window for the submission of such notices, eliminating the risk that the Company finds a meeting will be contested after printing its proxy materials for an uncontested election and providing the Company with a reasonable opportunity to respond to nominations and proposals by stockholders.

 

Blank Check Preferred Stock

 

Our board of directors has the right to issue preferred stock in one or more series and to determine the designations, rights, preferences of such preferred stock without stockholder approval.

 

Board Vacancies

 

Our amended and restated bylaws generally provide that only our board of directors (and not the stockholders) may fill vacancies and newly created directorships.

 

Stockholder Action by Written Consent

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws provide that any action required or permitted to be taken by our stockholders at an annual meeting or special meeting of stockholders may only be taken if it is properly brought before such meeting.

 

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Special Meetings of Stockholders

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws also provide that, except as otherwise required by law, special meetings of the stockholders may only be called by our board of directors, Chairman of the board of directors, or our Chief Executive Officer.

 

Amendment of Certificate of Incorporation or Bylaws

 

The Delaware General Corporation Law provides generally that the affirmative vote of a majority of the shares entitled to vote on any matter is required to amend a corporation’s certificate of incorporation or bylaws, unless a corporation’s certificate of incorporation or bylaws, as the case may be, requires a greater percentage. Our bylaws may be amended or repealed by a majority vote of our board of directors or by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 66 2/3% of the votes which all our stockholders would be eligible to cast in an election of directors.

 

Limitations on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors

 

Our amended and restated bylaws provide indemnification for our directors and executive officers to the fullest extent permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law. The indemnification agreements that we have entered into with each of our current executive officers and that we intend to enter into with each of our directors and executive officers may, in some cases, be broader than the specific indemnification provisions contained under Delaware law. In addition, as permitted by Delaware law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation includes provisions that eliminate the personal liability of our directors and officers for monetary damages resulting from breaches of certain fiduciary duties as a director or officer, as applicable, except to the extent such an exemption from liability thereof is not permitted under the Delaware General Corporation Law. The effect of these provisions is to restrict our rights and the rights of our stockholders in derivative suits to recover monetary damages against a director or officer for breach of fiduciary duties as a director or officer, subject to certain exceptions in which case the director or officer would be personally liable. An officer may not be exculpated for any action brought by or in the right of the corporation. A director may not be exculpated for improper distributions to stockholders. Further, pursuant to Delaware law a director or officer may not be exculpated for:

 

any breach of his or her duty of loyalty to us or our stockholders;

 

acts or omissions not in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law; and

 

any transaction from which the director or officer derived an improper personal benefit.

 

These limitations of liability do not apply to liabilities arising under the federal or state securities laws and do not affect the availability of equitable remedies such as injunctive relief or rescission.

 

Our amended and restated bylaws provide that we will indemnify our directors and executive officers to the fullest extent permitted by law, and may indemnify other officers, employees and other agents. Our amended and restated bylaws also provide that we are obligated to advance expenses incurred by a director or executive officer in advance of the final disposition of any action or proceeding.

 

We have entered into separate indemnification agreements with each of our current executive officers and plan to enter into separate indemnification agreements with our directors and executive officers. These agreements, among other things, require us to indemnify our directors and officers for any and all expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees, retainers, court costs, transcript costs, fees of experts, witness fees, travel expenses, duplicating costs, printing and binding costs, telephone charges, postage, delivery service fees) judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by such directors or officers or on his or her behalf in connection with any action or proceeding arising out of their services as one of our directors or officers, or any of our subsidiaries or any other company or enterprise to which the person provides services at our request provided that such person follows the procedures for determining entitlement to indemnification and advancement of expenses set forth in the indemnification agreement. We believe that these bylaw provisions and indemnification agreements are necessary to attract and retain qualified persons as directors and officers.

 

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The limitation of liability and indemnification provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against directors for breach of their fiduciary duties. They may also reduce the likelihood of derivative litigation against directors and officers, even though an action, if successful, might provide a benefit to us and our stockholders. Our results of operations and financial condition may be harmed to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against directors and officers pursuant to these indemnification provisions.

 

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers or persons controlling us, we have been informed that, in the opinion of the SEC, such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.

 

At present, there is no pending litigation or proceeding involving any of our directors or officers as to which indemnification is required or permitted, and we are not aware of any threatened litigation or proceeding that may result in a claim for indemnification.

 

Dissenters’ Rights of Appraisal and Payment

 

Under the Delaware General Corporation Law, with certain exceptions, our stockholders will have appraisal rights in connection with a merger or consolidation of Cadrenal Therapeutics, Inc. Pursuant to the Delaware General Corporation Law, 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 Delaware General Corporation Law, 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.

 

Transfer Agent and Registrar

 

The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is Transfer Online, Inc., 512 SE Salmon Street, Portland, OR 97214.

 

Trading Symbol and Market

 

Our common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “CVKD.”

 

 

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