Description of the Registrants Securities

EX-4.1 2 btmd-ex4_1.htm EX-4.1 EX-4.1

 

Exhibit 4.1

DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

The following summary of the material terms of our securities is not intended to be a complete description of all of the rights and preferences of such securities. Because it is only a summary, it does not contain all of the information that may be important to you and is qualified by reference to our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation (the "Charter"), the amended and restated bylaws (the "Bylaws") and the amended and restated investor rights agreement (the "A&R IRA") which are filed as exhibits to this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023. We urge you to read each of the Charter, the Bylaws and the A&R IRA in their entirety for a complete description of the rights and preferences of our securities.

Authorized and Outstanding Stock

Our Charter authorizes the issuance of 718,000,000 shares, consisting of 708,000,000 shares of common stock, including (i) 600,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, (ii) 8,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, and (iii) 100,000,000 shares of Class V voting stock, and 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock. The outstanding shares of our common stock are, and the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants or pursuant to the Exchange Rights will be, duly authorized, validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable. These numbers of holders do not include DTC participants or beneficial owners holding shares through nominee names.

The number of Holdings Units equal to the number of Sponsor Earnout Shares (the Sponsor Earnout Units together with the Sponsor Earnout Shares, the Earnout Voting Shares and the Member Earnout Units, the “Earnout Securities”), are subject to certain restrictions and potential forfeiture pending the achievement (if any) of certain earnout targets pursuant to the terms of the Business Combination Agreement or the occurrence of a Change of Control. The Earnout Securities have voting rights but no right to dividends or distributions (except for certain tax distributions from Biote in accordance with the Holdings A&R OA) until such restrictions and potential forfeiture have lapsed. One third of each of the Member Earnout Units, Earnout Voting Shares, Sponsor Earnout Shares and Sponsor Earnout Units will vest upon the occurrence of each of the following events: (i) the first time, prior to the Earnout Deadline, the VWAP equals or exceeds $12.50 per share for 20 consecutive trading days of any 30 consecutive trading day period following the Closing Date, (ii) the first time, prior to the Earnout Deadline, the VWAP equals or exceeds $15.00 per share for 20 trading days of any 30 consecutive trading day period following the Closing, and (iii) the first time, prior to the Earnout Deadline, the VWAP equals or exceeds $17.50 per share for 20 trading days of any 30 consecutive trading day period following the Closing. If a definitive agreement with respect to a Change of Control is entered into on or prior to the Earnout Deadline, then effective as of immediately prior to closing of such Change of Control, unless previously vested pursuant to clauses (i) through (iii) of the preceding sentence, each of the Member Earnout Units, Earnout Voting Shares, Sponsor Earnout Shares and Sponsor Earnout Units will vest.

Beginning on the six month anniversary of the Closing Date, each Retained Holdings Unit held by the Members may be redeemed, together with one share of Class V voting stock and subject to certain conditions, in exchange for either one share of Class A common stock or in certain circumstances, at the election of the Company in its capacity as the sole manager of Holdings, the cash equivalent of the market value of one share of Class A common stock, pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Holdings A&R OA.

Common Stock

Our Common Stock consists of shares of Class A common stock, Class B common stock and Class V voting stock.

Voting Power

Except as otherwise required by law or the Charter (including any preferred stock designation), the holders of common stock exclusively possess all voting power with respect to the Company. Except as otherwise required by law or the Charter (including any preferred stock designation), the holders of shares of common stock are entitled to one vote per share on each matter properly submitted to the stockholders on which the holders of the common stock are entitled to vote. Except as otherwise required by law or the Charter (including any preferred stock designation), at any annual or special meeting of the stockholders of the Company, holders of the Class A common stock and holders of the Class V voting stock, voting together as a single class, have the exclusive right to vote for the election

 


 

of directors and on all other matters properly submitted to a vote of the stockholders. Notwithstanding the foregoing, except as otherwise required by law or the Charter (including any preferred stock designation), holders of shares of any series of common stock are not entitled to vote on any amendment to the Charter (including any amendment to any preferred stock designation) that relates solely to the terms of one or more outstanding series of preferred stock or other series of common stock if the holders of such affected series of preferred stock or common stock, as applicable, are entitled exclusively, either separately or together with the holders of one or more other such series, to vote thereon pursuant to the Charter (including any preferred stock designation) or the Delaware General Corporate Law (the “DGCL”).

Class B Common Stock

Except as otherwise required by law or the Charter (including any preferred stock designation), for so long as any shares of Class B common stock shall remain outstanding, the Company shall not, without the prior vote or written consent of the holders of a majority of the shares of Class B common stock then outstanding, voting separately as a single class, amend, alter or repeal any provision of the Charter, whether by merger, consolidation or otherwise, if such amendment, alteration or repeal would alter or change the powers, preferences or relative, participating, optional or other or special rights of the Class B common stock. Any action required or permitted to be taken at any meeting of the holders of Class B common stock may be taken without a meeting, without prior notice and without a vote, if a consent or consents in writing, setting forth the action so taken, shall be signed by the holders of the outstanding Class B common stock having not less than the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to authorize or take such action at a meeting at which all shares of Class B common stock were present and voted and shall be delivered to the Company by delivery to its registered office in the State of Delaware, its principal place of business, or to the Secretary of the Company or another officer or agent of the Company having custody of the book in which minutes of proceedings of stockholders are recorded. Delivery made to the Company’s registered office shall be by hand or by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested. Prompt written notice of the taking of corporate action without a meeting by less than unanimous written consent of the holders of Class B common stock shall, to the extent required by law, be given to those holders of Class B common stock who have not consented in writing and who, if the action had been taken at a meeting, would have been entitled to notice of the meeting if the record date for notice of such meeting had been the date that written consents signed by a sufficient number of holders of Class B common stock to take the action were delivered to the Company.

Dividends

Our “Economic Common Stock” means Class A common stock together with Class B common stock. Subject to applicable law, the rights, if any, of the holders of any outstanding series of preferred stock and the provisions of the Charter, holders of shares of Economic Common Stock will be entitled to receive dividends and other distributions (payable in cash, property or capital stock of the Company), when, as and if declared thereon by our Board from time to time out of any assets or funds of the Company legally available therefor and shall share equally on a per share basis in such dividends and distributions. Dividends or distributions of cash, property or shares of capital stock of the Company may not be declared or paid on the Class V voting stock.

Liquidation, Dissolution and Winding Up

Subject to applicable law, the rights, if any, of the holders of any outstanding series of preferred stock and the provisions of the Charter, in the event of the voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution, distribution of assets or winding-up of the Company, after payment or provision for payment of the debts and other liabilities of the Company, the holders of shares of Economic Common Stock shall be entitled to receive all the remaining assets of the Company available for distribution to its stockholders, ratably in proportion to the number of shares of Economic Common Stock held by them. The holders of shares of Class V voting stock will not be entitled to receive, with respect of such shares, any assets of the Company in excess of the par value thereof, in the event of any voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the affairs of the Company.

Preemptive or Other Rights

Our stockholders have no preemptive or other subscription rights and there are no sinking fund or redemption provisions applicable to our common stock.

Election of Directors

Our Board is divided into three classes, with only one class of directors being elected in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to the first annual meeting of stockholders of Biote) generally

 


 

serving a term of three years. As described in our Charter, our initial Class I directors serve until the next annual meeting of stockholders following the Closing, initial Class II directors serve until the second annual meeting of stockholders following the Closing and initial Class III directors serve until the third annual meeting of stockholders.

Preferred Stock

The Charter provides that shares of preferred stock may be issued from time to time in one or more series. Our Board is authorized to fix the voting rights, if any, designations, powers, preferences, the relative, participating, optional or other special rights and any qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof, applicable to the shares of each series. Our Board is able, without stockholder approval, to issue preferred stock with voting and other rights that could adversely affect the voting power and other rights of the holders of the common stock and could have anti-takeover effects. The ability of our Board to issue preferred stock without stockholder approval could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of us or the removal of existing management. We have no preferred stock outstanding at the date hereof. Although we do not currently intend to issue any shares of preferred stock, we cannot assure you that we will not do so in the future.

Warrants

Public Stockholders’ Warrants

Each whole warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed below, provided that we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available (or we permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis under the circumstances specified in the Warrant Agreement) and such shares are registered, qualified or exempt from registration under the securities, or blue sky, laws of the state of residence of the holder. Pursuant to the Warrant Agreement, a warrant holder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of shares of Class A common stock. This means only a whole warrant may be exercised at a given time by a warrant holder. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least four units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant. The warrants will expire five years after the Closing Date, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.

We are not obligated to deliver any shares of Class A common stock pursuant to the exercise of a warrant and have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to the shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to our satisfying our obligations described below with respect to registration. No warrant is exercisable and we are not obligated to issue shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of a warrant unless Class A common stock issuable upon such warrant exercise has been registered, qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the registered holder of the warrants. In the event that the conditions in the two immediately preceding sentences are not satisfied with respect to a warrant, the holder of such warrant is not entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In no event are we required to net cash settle any warrant, except as described in the following paragraph. In the event that a registration statement is not effective for the exercised warrants, the purchaser of a unit containing such warrant will have paid the full purchase price for the unit solely for the share of Class A common stock underlying such unit.

Under the Warrant Agreement, we have agreed that we will use our best efforts to maintain the effectiveness of a registration statement, and a current prospectus relating thereto, until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the Warrant Agreement. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A common stock are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of Public Warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use our best efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the lesser of (A) the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” (defined below) less the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value and (B) 0.361. The “fair market value” as used in this paragraph shall

 


 

mean the volume weighted average price of the Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the trading day prior to the date on which the notice of exercise is received by the Warrant Agent.

Redemption of Warrants When the Price Per Share of Class A common stock Equals or Exceeds $18.00

Once the warrants become exercisable, we may call the warrants for redemption (except as described herein with respect to the private placement warrants):

in whole and not in part;
at a price of $0.01 per warrant;
upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption (the “30-day redemption period”) to each warrantholder; and
if, and only if, the closing price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrantholders.

We will not redeem the warrants as described above unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the shares of the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating to those shares of the Class A common stock is available throughout the 30-day redemption period. We may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.

We have established the last of the redemption criterion discussed above to prevent a redemption call unless there is at the time of the call a significant premium to the warrant exercise price. If the foregoing conditions are satisfied and we issue a notice of redemption of the warrants, each warrant holder will be entitled to exercise his, her or its warrant prior to the scheduled redemption date. However, the price of the Class A common stock may fall below the $18.00 redemption trigger price (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “Warrants-Public Stockholders’ Warrants-Anti-Dilution Adjustments”) as well as the $11.50 warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued.

Redemption of Warrants When the Price Per Share of Class A Common Stock Equals or Exceeds $10.00

Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the warrants:

in whole and not in part;
at $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption provided that holders will be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis prior to redemption and receive that number of shares of the Class A common stock to be determined by reference to the table below, based on the redemption date and the “fair market value” of shares of the Class A common stock (as defined below) except as otherwise described below;
if, and only if, the closing price of shares of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant) for any 20 trading days within the 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrantholders; and
if the closing price of the Class A common stock for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders is less than $18.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant), the private placement warrants must also be concurrently called for redemption on the same terms as the outstanding public warrants, as described above.

We have the right to redeem the warrants when the shares of our Class A common stock are trading at a price equal to or exceeding $10.00, which is below the exercise price of $11.50. If we choose to redeem the warrants when the shares of the Class A common stock are trading at a price below the exercise price of the warrants, this could result in the warrant holders receiving fewer shares of our Class A common stock than they would have

 


 

received if they had chosen to wait to exercise their warrants for shares of our Class A common stock if and when such shares of the Class A common stock were trading at a price higher than the exercise price of $11.50.

No fractional shares of the Class A common stock will be issued upon exercise. If, upon exercise, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will round down to the nearest whole number of shares of the Class A common stock to be issued to the holder. If, at the time of redemption, the warrants are exercisable for a security other than the shares of the Class A common stock pursuant to the Warrant Agreement, the warrants may be exercised for such security.

Exercise Limitations

A holder of a warrant may notify us in writing in the event it elects to be subject to a requirement that such holder will not have the right to exercise such warrant, to the extent that after giving effect to such exercise, such person (together with such person’s Affiliates), to the Warrant Agent’s actual knowledge, would beneficially own in excess of 4.9% or 9.8% (as specified by the holder) of the Class A common stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.

Anti-Dilution Adjustments

If the number of outstanding shares of Class A common stock is increased by a stock dividend payable in shares of Class A common stock, or by a split-up of Class A common stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such stock dividend, split-up or similar event, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable on exercise of each warrant will be increased in proportion to such increase in the outstanding shares of Class A common stock. A rights offering to holders of Class A common stock entitling holders to purchase Class A common stock at a price less than the fair market value will be deemed a stock dividend of a number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the product of (i) the number of shares of Class A common stock actually sold in such rights offering (or issuable under any other equity securities sold in such rights offering that are convertible into or exercisable for Class A common stock) and (ii) the quotient of (x) the price per share of Class A common stock paid in such rights offering and (y) the fair market value. For these purposes (i) if the rights offering is for securities convertible into or exercisable for shares of Class A common stock, in determining the price payable for Class A common stock, there will be taken into account any consideration received for such rights, as well as any additional amount payable upon exercise or conversion and (ii) fair market value means the volume weighted average price of shares of Class A common stock as reported during the 10 trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the first date on which the Class A common stock trades on the applicable exchange or in the applicable market, regular way, without the right to receive such rights.

In addition, if we, at any time while the warrants are outstanding and unexpired, pay a dividend or make a distribution in cash, securities or other assets to the holders of Class A common stock on account of such Class A common stock (or other securities into which the warrants are convertible), other than (a) as described above, (b) certain ordinary cash dividends, (c) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A common stock in connection with a proposed initial business combination or extension of the time period in which we must complete an initial business combination, or (d) in connection with the redemption of our public shares upon our failure to complete our initial business combination, then the warrant exercise price will be decreased, effective immediately after the effective date of such event, by the amount of cash and/or the fair market value of any securities or other assets paid on each share of Class A common stock in respect of such event.

If the number of outstanding shares of Class A common stock is decreased by a consolidation, combination, reverse stock split or reclassification of Class A common stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, reverse stock split, reclassification or similar event, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable on exercise of each warrant will be decreased in proportion to such decrease in outstanding shares of Class A common stock.

Whenever the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants is adjusted, as described above, the warrant exercise price will be adjusted by multiplying the warrant exercise price immediately prior to such adjustment by a fraction (x) the numerator of which will be the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants immediately prior to such adjustment, and (y) the denominator of which will be the number of shares of Class A common stock so purchasable immediately thereafter.

In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding Class A common stock (other than those described above or that solely affects the par value of such Class A common stock), or in the case of any merger or

 


 

consolidation of us with or into another corporation (other than a consolidation or merger in which we are the continuing corporation and that does not result in any reclassification or reorganization of our outstanding Class A common stock), or in the case of any sale or conveyance to another corporation or entity of the assets or other property of us as an entirety or substantially as an entirety in connection with which we are dissolved, the holders of the warrants will thereafter have the right to purchase and receive, upon the basis and upon the terms and conditions specified in the warrants and in lieu of the Class A common stock immediately theretofore purchasable and receivable upon the exercise of the rights represented thereby, the kind and amount of shares of Class A common stock or other securities or property (including cash) receivable upon such reclassification, reorganization, merger or consolidation, or upon a dissolution following any such sale or transfer, that the holder of the warrants would have received if such holder had exercised their warrants immediately prior to such event. If less than 70% of the consideration receivable by the holders of Class A common stock in such a transaction is payable in the form of Class A common stock in the successor entity that is listed for trading on a national securities exchange or is quoted in an established over-the-counter market, or is to be so listed for trading or quoted immediately following such event, and if the registered holder of the warrant properly exercises the warrant within thirty days following public disclosure of such transaction, the warrant exercise price will be reduced as specified in the Warrant Agreement based on the Black-Scholes Warrant Value (as defined in the Warrant Agreement) of the warrant. The purpose of such exercise price reduction is to provide additional value to holders of the warrants when an extraordinary transaction occurs during the exercise period of the warrants pursuant to which the holders of the warrants otherwise do not receive the full potential value of the warrants.

The warrants have been issued in registered form under the Warrant Agreement. 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, and that all other modifications or amendments will require the vote or written consent of the holders of a majority of the then outstanding public warrants, and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants, a majority of the then outstanding private placement warrants.

The warrants may be exercised upon surrender of the warrant certificate on or prior to the expiration date at the offices of the Warrant Agent, with the exercise form on the reverse side of the warrant certificate completed and executed as indicated, accompanied by full payment of the exercise price (or on a cashless basis, if applicable), by certified or official bank check payable to us, for the number of warrants being exercised. The warrant holders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of common stock and any voting rights until they exercise their warrants and receive Class A common stock. After the issuance of Class A common stock upon exercise of the warrants, each holder will be entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters to be voted on by stockholders.

No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the warrants. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round the number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued to the warrant holder down to the nearest whole number.

We have agreed that, subject to applicable law, any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the Warrant Agreement will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction will be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. This provision applies to claims under the Securities Act but does not apply to claims under the Exchange Act or any claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum.

Private Placement Warrants

The private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) are not redeemable by us so long as they are held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees. The initial purchasers, or their permitted transferees, have the option to exercise the private placement warrants on a cashless basis. Except as described in this section, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants sold as part of the units in the IPO, including that they may be redeemed for shares of Class A common stock. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us in all redemption scenarios and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units sold in the IPO.

Except under certain circumstances, if holders of the private placement warrants elect to exercise them on a cashless basis, they would pay the exercise price by surrendering his, her or its warrants for that number of shares of

 


 

Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” of our Class A common stock (defined below) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” will mean the average closing price of the Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of warrant exercise is sent to the Warrant Agent.

Dividends

The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition. The payment of any cash dividends is within the discretion of our Board. Our Board is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any stock dividends in the foreseeable future. Further, if we incur any indebtedness, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.

Transfer Agent and Warrant Agent

The transfer agent for our common stock and Warrant Agent for our warrants is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company. We have agreed to indemnify Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company in its roles as transfer agent and Warrant Agent, its agents and each of its stockholders, directors, officers and employees against all claims and losses that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any liability due to any gross negligence, willful misconduct or bad faith of the indemnified person or entity. Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company has agreed that it has no right of set-off or any right, title, interest or claim of any kind to, or to any monies in, the trust account, and has irrevocably waived any right, title, interest or claim of any kind to, or to any monies in, the trust account that it may have now or in the future. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will only be able to be satisfied, or a claim will only be able to be pursued, solely against us and our assets outside the trust account and not against the any monies in the trust account or interest earned thereon.

Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions of Delaware Law and the Company’s Charter and Bylaws

At any time when we have a class of voting stock that is either listed on a national securities exchange or held of record by more than 2,000 stockholders, we will be 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, subject to certain exceptions. This statute prevents certain Delaware corporations, under certain circumstances, from engaging in a “business combination” with:

a stockholder who owns 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock (otherwise known as an “interested stockholder”);
an Affiliate of an interested stockholder; or
an associate of an interested stockholder, for three years following the date that the stockholder became an interested stockholder.

A “business combination” includes a merger or sale of more than 10% of our assets. However, the above provisions of Section 203 do not apply if:

our Board approves the transaction that made the stockholder an “interested stockholder,” prior to the date of the transaction;
after the completion of the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, that stockholder owned at least 85% of our voting stock outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, other than statutorily excluded shares of common stock; or
on or subsequent to the date of the transaction, the business combination is approved by our Board and authorized at a meeting of our stockholders, and not by written consent, by an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock not owned by the interested stockholder.

The Charter opts out of Section 203 of the DGCL.

The Charter contains certain limitations on convening special stockholder meetings. In addition, the prior charter and the Charter do not provide for cumulative voting in the election of directors. Our Board is empowered to elect a director to fill a vacancy created by the expansion of the Board or the resignation, death, or removal of a

 


 

director in certain circumstances; and our advance notice provisions require that stockholders must comply with certain procedures in order to nominate candidates to our Board or to propose matters to be acted upon at a stockholders’ meeting.

Our authorized but unissued common stock and preferred stock are available for future issuances without stockholder approval and could be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future offerings to raise additional capital, acquisitions and employee benefit plans. The existence of authorized but unissued and unreserved common stock and preferred stock could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.

Forum Selection Clause

Our Charter provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware shall be the sole and exclusive forum for any stockholder (including a beneficial owner) to bring: (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of the Company; (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of fiduciary duty owed by any of the Company’s directors, officers or other employees of the Company to the Company or its stockholders; (iii) any action asserting a claim against the Company, its directors, officers or employees arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or the Charter or Bylaws; or (iv) any action asserting a claim against the Company, its directors, officers or employees governed by the internal affairs doctrine 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 except any action (A) as to which the Court of Chancery determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), (B) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery or (C) for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction. Unless the Company consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America shall be the sole and exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. Under the Securities Act, federal and state courts have concurrent jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act, and stockholders cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Accordingly, there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such a forum selection provision as written in connection with claims arising under the Securities Act. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the forum selection clause will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America shall be the sole and exclusive forum.

Rule 144

Pursuant to Rule 144 promulgated by the SEC under the Securities Act, as may be amended from time to time (“Rule 144”), a person who has beneficially owned restricted shares of our common stock or warrants for at least six months would be entitled to sell their securities provided that, (i) such person is not deemed to have been one of our Affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale and (ii) we are subject to the Exchange Act periodic reporting requirements for at least three months before the sale and have filed all required reports under Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the 12 months (or such shorter period as we were required to file reports) preceding the sale.

Persons who have beneficially owned restricted shares of our common stock or warrants for at least six months but who are our Affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale, would be subject to additional restrictions, by which such person would be entitled to sell within any three-month period only a number of securities that does not exceed the greater of:

1% of the total number of shares of Class A common stock then outstanding; or
the average weekly reported trading volume of the Class A common stock during the four calendar weeks preceding the filing of a notice on Form 144 with respect to the sale.

Sales by our Affiliates under Rule 144 are also limited by manner of sale provisions and notice requirements and to the availability of current public information about us.

 


 

Investor Rights

The Company, the Members, the Sponsor, the Members’ Representative and certain other parties are party to an investor rights agreement, which was amended on July 19, 2022, or the A&R IRA, pursuant to which, (i) the Company provided certain registration rights for the shares of Class A common stock held by the Members, the Sponsor, and certain other parties, (ii) the Members agreed not to, subject to certain exceptions, transfer, sell, assign or otherwise dispose of the shares of Class A common stock, shares of Class V voting stock and Holdings Units held by such Members for six months following the Closing, and the Member Earnout Units until the date such securities have been earned in accordance with the Business Combination Agreement and (v) the Sponsor agreed not to, subject to certain exceptions, transfer, sell, assign or otherwise dispose of its (a) shares of Class A common stock (other than the Sponsor Earnout Shares) for six months following the Closing, (b) Sponsor Earnout Shares until the date such securities have been earned in accordance with the Business Combination Agreement and (c) warrants issued to the Sponsor pursuant to that certain Private Placement Warrants Purchase Agreement, dated March 1, 2021, by and between the Company and the Sponsor, and the underlying shares of Class A common stock, for 30 days following the Closing Date (in each case, as more fully described in the A&R IRA). All lock-up restrictions, other than those related to the Member Earnout Units and the Sponsor Earnout Shares, have expired.