Description of Common Stock of the Registrant

Contract Categories: Business Finance - Stock Agreements
EX-4.6 2 ex4-6.htm DESCRIPTION OF COMMON STOCK OF THE REGISTRANT ex4-6
 
Exhibit 4.6
 
DESCRIPTION OF COMMON STOCK
 
The following description summarizes the terms of our common stock. Because it is only a summary, it does not contain all the information that may be important to you. For a complete description of the matters set forth in this “Description of Common Stock,” you should refer to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as amended, and bylaws, as amended, which are included as exhibits to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, and to the applicable provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as amended, authorizes us to issue 150,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share.
 
Voting
 
Our common stock is entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters submitted to a vote of the stockholders, including the election of directors, and does not have cumulative voting rights. Accordingly, the holders of a majority of the shares of our common stock entitled to vote in any election of directors can elect all of the directors standing for election.
 
Dividends
 
The holders of common stock are entitled to receive dividends, if any, as may be declared from time to time by our board of directors out of legally available funds.
 
Liquidation
 
In the event of our liquidation, dissolution or winding-up, holders of our common stock will be entitled to share ratably in the net assets legally available for distribution to stockholders after the payment of all of our debts and other liabilities.
 
Rights and Preferences
 
Holders of our common stock have no preemptive, conversion or subscription rights, and there are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to our common stock.
 
Delaware Anti-Takeover Law and Provisions of Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended, and Bylaws, as amended
 
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as amended, and our bylaws, as amended, contain certain provisions that could have the effect of delaying, deterring or preventing another party from acquiring control of us, and therefore could adversely affect the market price of our common stock. These provisions and certain provisions of Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”), which are summarized below, may also discourage coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids, and are designed, in part, to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of us to negotiate first with our board of directors. We believe that the benefits of increased protection of our potential ability to negotiate more favorable terms with an unfriendly or unsolicited acquirer outweigh the disadvantages of potentially discouraging a proposal to acquire us.
 
 
 
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Delaware Anti-Takeover Law
 
We are subject to Section 203 of the DGCL (“Section 203”). Section 203 generally prohibits a public Delaware corporation from engaging in a “business combination” with an “interested stockholder” for a period of three years following the time that such stockholder became an interested stockholder, unless:
 
prior to such time the board of directors of the corporation approved either the business combination or the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder;
 
upon consummation of the transaction which 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) 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
 
at or subsequent to such time the business combination is approved by the 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 which is not owned by the interested stockholder.
 
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 involving the interested stockholder of 10% or more of the assets of the corporation;
 
subject to exceptions, any transaction that results in the issuance or transfer by the corporation of any stock of the corporation to the interested stockholder;
 
subject to exceptions, any transaction involving the corporation that has the effect of increasing the proportionate share of the stock of any class or series of the corporation beneficially owned by the interested stockholder; and
 
the receipt by the interested stockholder of the benefit of any loans, advances, guarantees, pledges or other financial benefits provided by or through the corporation.
 
In general, Section 203 defines an interested stockholder as any entity or person beneficially owning 15% or more of the outstanding voting stock of the corporation and any entity or person affiliated with or controlling or controlled by the entity or person.
 
 
 
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Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended, and Bylaws, as amended
 
Among other things, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as amended, and bylaws, as amended:
 
provide that the authorized number of directors may be changed only by resolution of our board of directors;
 
provide that directors may be removed with or without cause by the holders of at least a majority of the voting power of all of our then-outstanding shares of the capital stock then entitled to vote;
 
provide that all vacancies, including newly created directorships, may, except as otherwise required by law, be filled by the affirmative vote of a majority of directors then in office, even if less than a quorum;
 
provide that stockholders seeking to present proposals before a meeting of stockholders or to nominate candidates for election as directors at a meeting of stockholders must provide advance notice in writing, and also specify requirements as to the form and content of a stockholder’s notice;
 
do not provide for cumulative voting rights (therefore allowing the holders of a majority of the shares of common stock entitled to vote in any election of directors to elect all of the directors standing for election, if they should so choose); and
 
provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors or officers to our company or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against our company arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or Bylaws, or (iv) any action asserting a claim against our company governed by the internal affairs doctrine; provided that this choice of forum provision does not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction.
 
The amendment of any of these provisions would require the affirmative vote of the holders of at least a majority of the voting power of all of our then outstanding common stock.
 
The provisions of the DGCL and the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as amended, and bylaws, as amended, could have the effect of discouraging others from attempting hostile takeovers and, as a consequence, they might also inhibit temporary fluctuations in the market price of our common stock that often result from actual or rumored hostile takeover attempts. These provisions might also have the effect of preventing changes in our management. It is possible that these provisions could make it more difficult to accomplish transactions that stockholders might otherwise deem to be in their best interests.
 
Transfer Agent and Registrar
 
The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is Computershare Inc.
 
Listing on The Nasdaq Capital Market
 
Our common stock is listed on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “CDXC”.
 
 
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