Description of the Registrants Securities registered pursuant to Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

EX-4.4 2 hgv-ex44_1545.htm EX-4.4 hgv-ex44_1545.htm

Exhibit 4.4

 

DESCRIPTION OF THE REGISTRANT’S SECURITIES

REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

As of December 31, 2019, Hilton Grand Vacations Inc. had one class of securities registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”): its common stock, par value 0.01 per share. References herein to “we,” “us,” “our,” “the company,” and “our company” refer to Hilton Grand Vacations Inc. and not to any of its subsidiaries.

The following description of our common stock is a summary and does not purport to be complete. It is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended (the “Charter”), and our Amended and Restated By-Laws (the “By-Laws”), each of which is incorporated by reference as an exhibit to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of which this Exhibit is a part. We encourage you to read the Charter, By-Laws and the applicable provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”) for additional information.

Authorized Capital

Our authorized capital stock consists of 3,000,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, and 300,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share. As of December 31, 2019, we had not issued any preferred stock. All of the shares of our common stock are in uncertificated form. Unless our board of directors determines otherwise, all of the shares of our common stock will continue to be, and any future shares of our preferred stock will be, in uncertificated form. Our common stock is listed on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “HGV.”

Voting

Holders of shares of our common stock are entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters on which stockholders are entitled to vote generally, including the election or removal of directors elected by our stockholders generally. The holders of our common stock do not have cumulative voting rights in the election of directors.

Liquidation Rights of our Common Stock

Upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up and after payment in full of all amounts required to be paid to creditors and to the holders of our preferred stock having liquidation preferences, if any, the holders of our common stock will be entitled to receive pro rata our remaining assets available for distribution. The common stock will not be subject to further calls or assessment by us. Holders of our common stock do not have preemptive, subscription, redemption or conversion rights. There will be no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock. The rights, powers, preferences and privileges of holders of our common stock will be subject to those of the holders of any shares of our preferred stock we may authorize and issue in the future.

 Dividends

The DGCL permits a corporation to declare and pay dividends out of “surplus” or, if there is no “surplus,” out of its net profits for the fiscal year in which the dividend is declared and/or the preceding fiscal year. “Surplus” is defined as the excess of the net assets of the corporation over the amount determined to be the capital of the corporation by its board of directors. The capital of the corporation is


typically calculated to be (and cannot be less than) the aggregate par value of all issued shares of capital stock. Net assets equals the fair value of the total assets minus total liabilities. The DGCL also provides that dividends may not be paid out of net profits if, after the payment of the dividend, remaining capital would be less than the capital represented by the outstanding stock of all classes having a preference upon the distribution of assets. Declaration and payment of any dividend is subject to the discretion of our board of directors.

Dissenters’ Rights of Appraisal and Payment

Under the DGCL, with certain exceptions, our stockholders will have appraisal rights in connection with a merger or consolidation of our company. Pursuant to the DGCL, 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 DGCL, 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.

Stockholder Meetings

Our Charter and our Bylaws provide that annual stockholder meetings will be held at a date, time and place, if any, as exclusively selected by our board of directors. Our Bylaws provide that special meetings of the stockholders may be called only by or at the direction of the board of directors, the chairman of our board or our chief executive officer, or upon the request of holders of not less than a majority of the total voting power of all the then outstanding shares of our capital stock. For a description of the procedures related to a stockholder action by written consent, see “Anti-Takeover Effects of Our Charter and Our Bylaws and Certain Provisions of Delaware Law—Stockholder Action by Written Consent” below. To the extent permitted under applicable law, we may conduct meetings by remote communications, including by webcast.

Anti-Takeover Effects of Our Charter and Our Bylaws and Certain Provisions of Delaware Law

Undesignated Preferred Stock

The ability to authorize undesignated preferred stock will make it possible for our board of directors to issue preferred stock with super-majority voting, special approval, dividend or other rights or preferences that could impede the success of any attempt to acquire us or otherwise effect a change in control of us. These and other provisions may have the effect of deferring, delaying or discouraging hostile takeovers, or changes in control or management of our company.

Requirements for Advance Notification of Stockholder Meetings, Nominations and Proposals

Our 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 the board of directors or a committee of the board of directors. For any matter to be “properly brought” before a meeting, a stockholder will have to comply with advance notice requirements and provide us with certain information specified by our Bylaws about the stockholder, its affiliates and any proposed

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business or nominee for election as a director, including information about the economic interest of the stockholder, its affiliates and any proposed nominee in us. Additionally, vacancies and newly created directorships may be filled only by a vote of a majority of the directors then in office, even though less than a quorum, and not by the stockholders. Our Bylaws provide for certain procedures with respect to the resignation of any director who does not receive a majority of the votes cast in an uncontested election. Our Bylaws allow the presiding officer at a meeting of the stockholders to adopt rules and regulations for the conduct of meetings which may have the effect of precluding the conduct of certain business at a meeting if the rules and regulations are not followed. These provisions may also defer, delay or discourage a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to influence or obtain control of our company.

Our Charter provides that the board of directors is expressly authorized to make, alter or repeal our Bylaws and that our stockholders may only amend our Bylaws with the approval of 80% or more of all of the outstanding shares of our capital stock entitled to vote.

No Cumulative Voting

The DGCL provides that stockholders are not entitled to the right to cumulate votes in the election of directors unless our Charter provides otherwise. Our Charter does not provide for cumulative voting.

Stockholder Action by Written Consent

Pursuant to Section 228 of the DGCL, any action required to be taken at any annual or special meeting of the stockholders 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, is or are signed by the holders of outstanding 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 our stock entitled to vote thereon were present and voted, unless a company’s certificate of incorporation provides otherwise. Our Charter provides that any action required or permitted to be taken by our stockholders may not be effected by consent in writing by stockholders unless such action is recommended by all directors then in office.

Delaware Anti-Takeover Statute

We have opted out of Section 203 of the DGCL. Section 203 provides that, subject to certain exceptions specified in the law, a publicly held Delaware corporation shall not engage in certain “business combinations” with any “interested stockholder” for a three-year period after the date of the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder. These provisions generally prohibit or delay the accomplishment of mergers, assets or stock sales or other takeover or change-in-control attempts that are not approved by a company’s board of directors.

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, 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 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

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number of shares outstanding (1) shares owned by persons who are directors and also officers and (2) 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

 

on or subsequent to the date of the transaction, the business combination is approved by the board 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.

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.

 Under certain circumstances, Section 203 makes it more difficult for a person who would be an “interested stockholder” to effect various business combinations with a corporation for a three-year period. Accordingly, Section 203 could have an anti-takeover effect with respect to certain transactions our board of directors does not approve in advance. The provisions of Section 203 may encourage companies interested in acquiring our company to negotiate in advance with our board of directors because the stockholder approval requirement would be avoided if our board of directors approves either the business combination or the transaction that results in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder. However, Section 203 also could discourage attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares of common stock held by stockholders. These provisions also may make it more difficult to accomplish transactions that stockholders may otherwise deem to be in their best interests.

Exclusive Forum

Our Charter provides that unless we consent to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for any (i) derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of our company, (ii) action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee of our company to our company or our company’s stockholders, (iii) action asserting a claim against our company or any director or officer of our company arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, our Charter or our Bylaws or (iv) action asserting a claim against our company or any director or officer of our company 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. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of capital stock of our company shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the forum provisions in our Charter.

 

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