Description of Securities
EX-4.14 2 exhibit414descriptionofsec.htm EX-4.14 Document
Exhibit 4.14
DESCRIPTION OF CANCER GENETICS INC.’S SECURITIES
REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
As of December 31, 2020, Cancer Genetics, Inc. (the “Company”) had one class of securities registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended: our voting common stock, $.0001 par value per share.
DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK
The following is a summary of information concerning capital stock of Cancer Genetics, Inc. (“us,” “our,” “we” or the “Company”) and does not purport to be complete. The summary is subject to, and qualified in its entirety by reference to, Cancer Genetics, Inc.’s fourth amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as amended, amended and restated bylaws and the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”). You are urged to read our fourth amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as amended, amended and restated bylaws and the applicable provisions of the DGCL for additional information.
General
Our fourth amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes us to issue up to 100,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 9,764,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share. As of December 31, 2020, 4,135,303 shares of Common Stock, and no shares of our preferred stock, were outstanding. All outstanding shares of our common stock are fully paid and non-assessable.
Voting Rights. Holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote per share in the election of directors and on all other matters on which stockholders are entitled or permitted to vote. Holders of our common stock are not entitled to cumulative voting rights.
Dividend Rights. Subject to the terms of any outstanding series of preferred stock, the holders of our common stock are entitled to dividends in the amounts and at times as may be declared by the board of directors out of funds legally available therefor.
Liquidation Rights. Upon liquidation or dissolution, holders of our common stock are entitled to share ratably in all net assets available for distribution to stockholders after we have paid, or provided for payment of, all of our debts and liabilities, and after payment of any liquidation preferences to holders of our preferred stock.
Other Matters. Holders of our common stock have no redemption, conversion or preemptive rights. There are no sinking fund provisions applicable to our common stock. The rights, preferences and privileges of the holders of our common stock are subject to the rights of the holders of shares of any series of preferred stock that we may issue in the future.
Preferred Stock
Our board of directors has the authority to issue preferred stock in one or more classes or series and to fix the designations, powers, preferences and rights, and the qualifications, limitations or restrictions thereof, including dividend rights, conversion right, voting rights, terms of redemption, liquidation preferences and the number of shares constituting any class or series, without further vote or action by the stockholders. Although we have no present plans to issue any other shares of preferred stock, the issuance of shares of preferred stock, or the issuance of rights to purchase such shares, could decrease the amount of earnings and assets available for distribution to the holders of common stock, could adversely affect the rights and powers, including voting rights, of the common
stock, and could have the effect of delaying, deterring or preventing a change of control of us or an unsolicited acquisition proposal. The preferred stock may provide for an adjustment of the conversion price in the event of an issuance or deemed issuance at a price less than the applicable conversion price, subject to certain exceptions.
Anti-Takeover Effects of Delaware law and Our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws
The provisions of Delaware law, our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws described below may have the effect of delaying, deferring or discouraging another party from acquiring control of us.
Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law
We are subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which prohibits a Delaware corporation from engaging in any business combination with any interested stockholder for a period of three years after the date that such stockholder became an interested stockholder, with the following exceptions:
•before such date, the board of directors of the corporation 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 began, excluding for purposes of determining the voting stock outstanding (but not the outstanding voting stock owned by the interested stockholder) those shares owned (i) by persons who are directors and also officers and (ii) 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
•on or after such date, the business combination is approved by the board of directors and authorized at an annual or special meeting of the 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.
In general, Section 203 defines a “business combination” to include any merger or consolidation involving the corporation and the interested stockholder; any sale, transfer, pledge or other disposition of 10% or more of the assets of the corporation involving the interested stockholder; subject to certain exceptions, any transaction that results in the issuance or transfer by the corporation of any stock of the corporation to the interested stockholder; any transaction involving the corporation that has the effect of increasing the proportionate share of the stock or any class or series of the corporation beneficially owned by the interested stockholder; or the receipt by the interested stockholder of the benefit of any loss, advances, guarantees, pledges or other financial benefits by or through the corporation.
Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws
Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws provide that:
•the authorized number of directors can be changed only by resolution of our board of directors;
•our bylaws may be amended or repealed by our board of directors or our stockholders;
•no action can be taken by stockholders except at an annual or special meeting of the stockholders called in accordance with our bylaws, and stockholders may not act by written consent, unless the stockholders amend the certificate of incorporation to provide otherwise;
•stockholders may not call special meetings of the stockholders or fill vacancies on the board;
•our board of directors will be authorized to issue, without stockholder approval, preferred stock, the rights of which will be determined at the discretion of the board of directors and that, if issued, could operate as a “poison pill” to dilute the stock ownership of a potential hostile acquirer to prevent an acquisition that our board of directors does not approve;
•our stockholders do not have cumulative voting rights, and therefore our stockholders holding a majority of the shares of common stock outstanding will be able to elect all of our directors; and
•our stockholders must comply with advance notice provisions to bring business before or nominate directors for election at a stockholder meeting.
Potential Effects of Authorized but Unissued Stock
We have shares of common stock and preferred stock available for future issuance without stockholder approval. We may utilize these additional shares for a variety of corporate purposes, including future public offerings to raise additional capital, to facilitate corporate acquisitions or payment as a dividend on the capital stock.
The existence of unissued and unreserved common stock and preferred stock may enable our board of directors to issue shares to persons friendly to current management or to issue preferred stock with terms that could render more difficult or discourage a third-party attempt to obtain control of us by means of a merger, tender offer, proxy contest or otherwise, thereby protecting the continuity of our management. In addition, the board of directors has the discretion to determine designations, rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions, including voting rights, dividend rights, conversion rights, redemption privileges and liquidation preferences of each series of preferred stock, all to the fullest extent permissible under the Delaware General Corporation Law and subject to any limitations set forth in our certificate of incorporation. The purpose of authorizing the board of directors to issue preferred stock and to determine the rights and preferences applicable to such preferred stock is to eliminate delays associated with a stockholder vote on specific issuances. The issuance of preferred stock, while providing desirable flexibility in connection with possible financings, acquisitions and other corporate purposes, could have the effect of making it more difficult for a third-party to acquire, or could discourage a third-party from acquiring, a majority of our outstanding voting stock.
Exclusive Forum Charter Provision
Our certificate of incorporation requires that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, be the sole and exclusive forum for the following:
• any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of the Company;
• any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by, or other wrongdoing by, any director, officer, employee or agent of the Company to the Company or the Company’s stockholders;
• any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law or the Company’s certificate of incorporation or bylaws;
• any action to interpret, apply, enforce or determine the validity of the Company’s certificate of incorporation or bylaws; or
• any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine, in each such case subject to said Court of Chancery having personal jurisdiction over the indispensable parties named as defendants therein.
Because the applicability of the exclusive forum provision is limited to the extent permitted by applicable law, we do not intend that the exclusive forum provision would apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or any other claim for which the federal courts have
exclusive jurisdiction, and acknowledge that federal courts have concurrent jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act. We note that there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce the provision and that investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and 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 and registrar for our common stock is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company. Its address is 1 State Street, 30th Floor, New York, NY 10004.
NASDAQ Listing
Our common stock is traded on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol "CGIX."