Description of Capital Stock
Exhibit 4.2
DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK
The following summary describes the capital stock of IO Biotech, Inc. (the “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our”) and the material provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws, the investors’ rights agreement to which we and certain stockholders are parties (the “IRA”) and of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware. Because the following is only a summary, it does not contain all of the information that may be important to you. For a complete description, you should refer to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, amended and restated bylaws, and the IRA, copies of which are incorporated by reference as exhibits to our Annual Report on Form 10-K.
As of December 31, 2023, IO Biotech, Inc. (“IO Biotech”) had common stock, $0.001 par value per share, registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and listed on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under the trading symbol “IOBT.”
General
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes 300,000,000 shares of common stock, $0.001 par value per share, and 5,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock, $0.001 par value per share, the rights, preferences and privileges of which may be designated from time to time by our board of directors.
As of December 31, 2023, we had outstanding 65,880,914 shares of common stock.
Common Stock
Dividend Rights
Subject to preferences that may apply to shares of preferred stock outstanding at the time, the holders of outstanding shares of our common stock are entitled to receive dividends out of funds legally available if our board of directors, in its discretion, determines to issue dividends and only then at the times and in the amounts that our board of directors may determine.
Voting Rights
The holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote per share. Stockholders do not have the ability to cumulate votes for the election of directors. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws provide for a classified board of directors consisting of three classes of approximately equal size, each serving staggered three-year terms. Only one class of directors will be elected at each annual meeting of our stockholders, with the other classes continuing for the remainder of their respective three-year terms.
No Preemptive or Similar Rights
Our common stock is not entitled to preemptive rights and is not subject to redemption or sinking fund provisions.
Right to Receive Liquidation Distributions
Upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding-up, the assets legally available for distribution to our stockholders would be distributable ratably among the holders of our common stock and any participating preferred stock outstanding at that time, subject to prior satisfaction of all outstanding debt and liabilities and the preferential rights of and the payment of liquidation preferences, if any, on any outstanding shares of preferred stock.
Preferred Stock
Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our board of directors is authorized, subject to limitations prescribed by Delaware law, to issue preferred stock in one or more series, to establish from time to time the number of shares to be included in each series and to fix the designation, powers, preferences and rights of the shares of each series and any of its qualifications, limitations or restrictions, in each case without further vote or action by our stockholders. Our board of directors can also increase or decrease the number of shares of any series of preferred stock, but not below the number of shares of that series then outstanding, without any further vote or action by our stockholders. Our board of directors may authorize the issuance of preferred stock with voting or conversion rights that could adversely affect the voting power or other rights of the holders of our common stock. The issuance of preferred stock, while providing flexibility in connection with possible acquisitions and other corporate purposes, could, among other things, have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in our control and might adversely affect the market price of our common stock and the voting and other rights of the holders of our common stock. We have no current plan to issue any shares of preferred stock.
Warrants and Options
As of December 31, 2023, we had outstanding options and warrants to purchase an aggregate of 42,917,570 shares of common stock, with a weighted-average exercise price of $3.11 per share.
Registration Rights
Certain holders of shares of our common stock, or their permitted transferees, are entitled to rights with respect to the registration of these shares under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"). These shares are referred to as registrable securities. These rights are provided under the terms of our IRA, and are described in additional detail below.
Demand Registration Rights
The holders of registrable securities are entitled to certain demand registration rights. Upon the written request of the holders of a majority of our registrable securities then outstanding that we file a registration statement under the Securities Act covering at least 40% of our registrable securities then outstanding, we are obligated to register the sale of all registrable securities that the holders may request in writing to be registered. We are required to effect no more than one registration statement that is declared or ordered effective. We may postpone the filing of a registration statement for up to 120 days once in a 12-month period if in the good faith judgment of our Board of Directors such registration would be seriously detrimental to us.
Piggyback Registration Rights
The holders of registrable securities are entitled to certain piggyback registration rights.
If we register any of our securities for public sale, either for our own account or for the account of other security holders, we will also have to register all registrable securities that the holders of such securities request in writing be registered. This piggyback registration right does not apply to a registration relating to any of our stock plans, stock purchase or similar plan, a transaction under Rule 145 of the Securities Act or a registration related to stock issued upon conversion of debt securities. We, based on consultation with the underwriters of any underwritten offering will have the right to limit the number of shares registered by these holders if the underwriters determine that including all registrable securities will jeopardize the success of the offering.
Form S-3 Registration Rights
The holders of at least 30% of the registrable securities then outstanding are entitled to certain registration rights on Form S-3. The holders of these shares can request that we register all or a portion of their shares on Form S-3 if we are eligible to file a registration statement on Form S-3 and the aggregate price to the public of the shares offered is in excess of $10.0 million. We are required to effect no more than two Form S-3 registration statements that are declared or ordered effective in any 12-month period. We may postpone the filing of a registration statement for up
to 120 days not more than once in a 12-month period if in the good faith judgment of our Board of Directors such registration would be seriously detrimental to us.
Anti-Takeover Provisions
The provisions of the DGCL, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our bylaws could have the effect of delaying, deferring or discouraging another person from acquiring control of our company. These provisions, which are summarized below, are expected to discourage certain types of coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids and encourage persons seeking to acquire control of our company to first negotiate with our board of directors. We believe that the benefits of increased protection of our potential ability to negotiate with an unfriendly or unsolicited acquirer outweigh the disadvantages of discouraging a proposal to acquire us because negotiation of these proposals could result in an improvement of their terms.
Section 203 of the DGCL
We are subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the DGCL regulating corporate takeovers. In general, Section 203 prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in a “business combination” with an “interested stockholder” for a three-year period following the date that this stockholder becomes an interested stockholder, unless the business combination is approved in a prescribed manner. Under Section 203, a business combination between a corporation and an interested stockholder is prohibited unless it satisfies one of the following conditions:
• | before the stockholder became interested, our board of directors 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, shares owned by persons who are directors and also officers, and employee stock plans in some instances, but not the outstanding voting stock owned by the interested stockholder; or |
• | at or after the time the stockholder became interested, the business combination was approved by our board and authorized at an annual or special meeting of the stockholders by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds 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, lease, 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 of 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.
Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaw Provisions
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our bylaws include a number of provisions that may have the effect of deterring hostile takeovers, or delaying or preventing changes in control of our management team or changes in our board of directors or our governance or policy, including the following:
Board Vacancies
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws authorize generally only our board of directors to fill vacant directorships resulting from any cause or created by the expansion of our board of directors. In addition, the number of directors constituting our board of directors may be set only by resolution adopted by a majority vote of our entire board of directors. These provisions prevent a stockholder from increasing the size of our board of directors and gaining control of our board of directors by filling the resulting vacancies with its own nominees.
Classified Board
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws provide that our board of directors is classified into three classes of directors. The existence of a classified board of directors could delay a successful tender offeror from obtaining majority control of our board of directors, and the prospect of that delay might deter a potential offeror.
Directors Removed Only for Cause
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that stockholders may remove directors only for cause.
Supermajority Requirements for Amendments of Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation further provides that the affirmative vote of holders of at least two-thirds of the voting power of our outstanding common stock are required to amend certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, including provisions relating to the classified board, the size of the board of directors, removal of directors, special meetings, actions by written consent and designation of our preferred stock. The affirmative vote of holders of at least two-thirds of the voting power of our outstanding common stock are required to amend or repeal our bylaws, although our bylaws may be amended by a simple majority vote of our board of directors.
Stockholder Action; Special Meeting of Stockholders
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that our stockholders may not take action by written consent, but may only take action at annual or special meetings of our stockholders. As a result, holders of our capital stock would not be able to amend our bylaws or remove directors without holding a meeting of our stockholders called in accordance with our bylaws. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our bylaws provide that special meetings of our stockholders may be called only by a majority of our board of directors, the chairperson of our board of directors, or our chief executive officer, thus prohibiting a stockholder from calling a special meeting. These provisions might delay the ability of our stockholders to force consideration of a proposal or for stockholders to take any action, including the removal of directors.
Advance Notice Requirements for Stockholder Proposals and Director Nominations
Our bylaws provide advance notice procedures for stockholders seeking to bring business before our annual meeting of stockholders or to nominate candidates for election as directors at our annual meeting of stockholders. To be timely, a stockholder’s notice generally must be delivered to us not later than the close of business on the 90th day nor earlier than the close of business on the 120th day prior to the first anniversary of the preceding year’s annual meeting of stockholders. Our bylaws also specify certain requirements regarding the form and content of a stockholder’s notice. With respect to nominations of persons for election to our board of directors, the notice shall provide information about the nominee, including, among other things, name, age, address, principal occupation,
ownership of our capital stock and whether they meet applicable independence requirements. With respect to the proposal of other business to be considered by our stockholders at an annual meeting, the notice shall provide a brief description of the business desired to be brought before the meeting, the text of the proposal or business, the reasons for conducting such business at the meeting and any material interest in such business by such stockholder and any beneficial owners and associated persons on whose behalf the notice is made, or the proposing persons. In addition, a stockholder’s notice must set forth certain information related to the proposing persons, including, among other things:
• | the name and address of the proposing persons; |
• | information as to the ownership by the proposing persons of our capital stock and any derivative interest or short interest in any of our securities held by the proposing persons; |
• | information as to any material relationships and interest between the proposing persons and us, any of our affiliates and any of our principal competitors; |
• | a representation that the stockholder is a holder of record of our stock entitled to vote at that meeting and that the stockholder intends to appear in person or by proxy at the meeting to propose such nomination or business; and |
• | a representation whether the proposing persons intend or are part of a group which intends to deliver a proxy statement or form of proxy to holders of at least the percentage of our outstanding capital stock required to elect the nominee or carry the proposal. |
These provisions may preclude our stockholders from bringing matters before our annual meeting of stockholders or from making nominations for directors at our annual meeting of stockholders. We expect that these provisions might also discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of our company.
No Cumulative Voting
The DGCL provides that stockholders are not entitled to the right to cumulate votes in the election of directors unless a corporation’s certificate of incorporation provides otherwise. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws do not provide for cumulative voting.
Issuance of Undesignated Preferred Stock
Our board has the authority, without further action by the stockholders, to issue up to 5,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock with rights and preferences, including voting rights, designated from time to time by our board of directors. The existence of authorized but unissued shares of preferred stock enables our board of directors to render more difficult or to discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a merger, tender offer, proxy contest or otherwise.
Exclusive Forum
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the sole and exclusive forum for (1) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf under Delaware law, (2) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers or other employees to us or our stockholders, (3) any action asserting a claim against us or any of our directors, officers or other employees arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, (4) any other action against us or any of our directors, officers or other employees asserting a claim that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine shall be the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if the Court of Chancery does not have jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Delaware) or (5) any other action asserting an “internal corporate claim,” as defined in Section 115 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, in all cases subject to the court having jurisdiction over indispensable parties named as defendants. These exclusive-forum provisions do not apply to claims under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise
acquiring any interest in our securities shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to this provision. Although we believe these provisions benefit us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law for the specified types of actions and proceedings, the provisions may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against us or our directors and officers.
Transfer Agent and Registrar
The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is Computershare Trust Company, N.A. The transfer agent’s address is 150 Royall Street, Canton, Massachusetts 02021, and its telephone number is ###-###-####.
