Description of registered securities

Except as otherwise indicated or unless the context requires otherwise, all references herein to the “Company,” "KDP", “we,” “us,” “our” and similar terms refer to Keurig Dr Pepper Inc.

The following description of our common stock is based upon our Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation, effective as of May 6, 2018 (as amended, the “Articles of Incorporation”), our By‑Laws, as amended and restated, effective as of July 9, 2018 (“By‑Laws”) and applicable provisions of law. We have summarized certain portions of the Articles of Incorporation and By‑Laws below. The summary is not complete. The Articles of Incorporation and By‑Laws are incorporated by reference as exhibits to the Annual Report on Form 10-K to which this exhibit is a part. You should read the Articles of Incorporation and By‑Laws for the provisions that are important to you.

Our authorized capital stock consists of 2,000,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, and 15,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share. Our board of directors may establish the rights and preferences of the preferred stock from time to time. As of December 31, 2019, 1,406,852,305 shares of our common stock were issued and outstanding and held of record by approximately 10,729 holders, and no shares of our preferred stock were issued or outstanding.

Each holder of our common stock is entitled to one vote for each share on all matters to be voted upon by the common stockholders and there are no cumulative voting rights. Subject to any preferential rights of any outstanding preferred stock, holders of our common stock are entitled to receive ratably the dividends, if any, as may be declared from time to time by our board of directors out of funds legally available. If there is a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of our company, holders of our common stock will be entitled to share in our assets remaining after the payment of liabilities and any preferential rights of any outstanding preferred stock. Holders of our common stock have no preemptive or conversion rights or other subscription rights and there are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock. All outstanding shares of our common stock are fully paid and non-assessable. The rights, preferences and privileges of the holders of our common stock are subject to, and may be adversely affected by, the rights of the holders of shares of any series of preferred stock which we may designate and issue in the future.

Under the terms of our Certificate of Incorporation, our board of directors is authorized, subject to limitations prescribed by the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”), and by our Certificate of Incorporation, to issue preferred stock in one or more series without stockholder approval. Our board of directors has the discretion, subject to limitations prescribed by the DGCL and by our Certificate of Incorporation, to determine the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions, including voting rights, dividend rights, conversion rights, redemption privileges and liquidation preferences, of each series of preferred stock.

Provisions of the DGCL and our Certificate of Incorporation and By-Laws could make it more difficult to acquire us by means of a tender offer, a proxy contest or otherwise or to remove incumbent officers and directors. These provisions, summarized below, would be expected to discourage certain types of coercive takeover practices and takeover bids our board of directors may consider inadequate and to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of us to first negotiate with us. We believe that the benefits of increased protection of our ability to negotiate with the proponent of an unfriendly or unsolicited proposal to acquire or restructure us will outweigh the disadvantages of discouraging takeover or acquisition proposals because, among other things, negotiation of these proposals could result in an improvement of their terms.

Our Certificate of Incorporation and By-Laws provide that the entire board of directors will be elected annually; however, any vacancies, including any newly created directorships, on the board of directors will be filled by the affirmative vote of the majority of the remaining directors then in office, even if such directors constitute less than a quorum, or by a sole remaining director. Any director appointed to the board of directors to fill a vacancy will have the same remaining term as that of his or her predecessor.

Our Certificate of Incorporation and By-Laws preclude stockholders from calling special meetings and taking action or passing resolutions by written consent.

Our By-Laws contain advance notice procedures for stockholders to make nominations of candidates for election as directors or to bring other business before the annual meeting of stockholders. As specified in our By-Laws, director nominations and the proposal of business to be considered by stockholders may be made only pursuant to a notice of meeting, at the direction of the board of directors or by a stockholder who is entitled to vote at the meeting and who has complied with the advance notice procedures that are provided in our By-Laws. To be timely, a nomination of a director by a stockholder or notice for business to be brought before an annual meeting by a stockholder must be delivered to the secretary at our principal executive offices not less than 90 days nor more than 120 days prior to the first anniversary of the preceding year’s annual meeting; provided, however, that in the event that the date of an annual meeting is advanced by more than 30 days or delayed by more than 60 days from such anniversary date, for notice by the stockholder to be timely, it must be delivered not earlier than the 120th day prior to such annual meeting and not later than the close of business on the later of (i) the 90th day prior to such annual meeting and (ii) the 10th day following the day on which notice of such annual meeting was mailed or public announcement of the date of such meeting is first made, whichever first occurs.In the event a special meeting of stockholders is called for the purpose of electing one or more directors, any stockholder entitled to vote may nominate a person or persons as specified in our By-Laws, but only if the stockholder notice is delivered to the secretary at our principal executive offices not earlier than the 120th day prior to such special meeting and not later than the close of business on the later of (x) the 90th day prior to such special meeting and (y) the 10th day following the day on which notice of the date of such special meeting was mailed or public disclosure of the date of such special meeting was made, whichever first occurs.

Our Certificate of Incorporation and By-Laws require an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the voting power of the outstanding shares to amend certain provisions of our Certificate of Incorporation or By-Laws, including the provisions relating to the ability of stockholders to call special meetings or act by written consent, the size of the board, filling vacancies on the board, indemnification of directors and officers, advance notice provisions and supermajority voting requirements.

We are subject to Section 203 of the DGCL, an anti-takeover statute. In general, Section 203 of the DGCL prohibits a publicly-held Delaware corporation from engaging in a “business combination” with an “interested stockholder” during the period of three years following the time the person becomes an interested stockholder, unless (with certain exceptions) the business combination or the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder is approved in a prescribed manner. Generally, a “business combination” includes a merger, asset or stock sale or other transaction resulting in a financial benefit to the interested stockholder. Generally, 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 voting stock. The existence of this provision would be expected to have an anti-takeover effect with respect to transactions not approved in advance by the board of directors, including discouraging attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares of common stock held by stockholders.

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

The DGCL authorizes corporations to limit or eliminate the personal liability of directors to corporations and their stockholders for monetary damages for breaches of directors’ fiduciary duties as directors. Our Certificate of Incorporation includes provisions that indemnify, to the fullest extent allowable under the DGCL, the personal liability of directors or officers for monetary damages for actions taken as a director or officer of our company, or for serving at our request as a director or officer or another position at another corporation or enterprise, as the case may be. Our Certificate of Incorporation also provides that we must indemnify and advance reasonable expenses to our directors and officers, subject to our receipt of an undertaking from the indemnified party as may be required under the DGCL. We are also expressly authorized to carry directors’ and officers’ insurance to protect our company, our directors, officers and certain employees for some liabilities.The limitation of liability and indemnification provisions in our Certificate of Incorporation may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions may also have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against directors and officers, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders. However, these provisions do not limit or eliminate our rights, or those of any stockholder, to seek non-monetary relief such as injunction or rescission in the event of a breach of a director’s duty of care. Moreover, the provisions do not alter the liability of directors under the federal securities laws. In addition, your investment may be adversely affected to the extent that, in a class action or direct suit, we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against directors and officers pursuant to these indemnification provisions.There is currently no pending material litigation or proceeding against any of our directors, officers or employees for which indemnification is sought.

Our authorized but unissued shares of common stock and preferred stock are generally available for future issuance without stockholder approval. We may use additional shares for a variety of purposes, including future public offerings to raise additional capital, to fund acquisitions and as employee compensation. The existence of authorized but unissued shares of 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.

Our By-Laws provide that unless we consent in writing to an alternative forum, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of us, any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee of KDP to us or our stockholders, any action arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, or any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine; provided, however, that, in the event that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware lacks subject matter jurisdiction over any such action or proceeding, the sole exclusive forum for such action or proceeding shall be another state or federal court located in the State of Delaware, unless the Court of Chancery (or such other state or federal court located within the State of Delaware, as applicable) has dismissed a prior action by the same plaintiff asserting the same claims because such court lacked personal jurisdiction over an indispensable party named as a defendant therein.

Our common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the ticker symbol “KDP.”

Computershare Trust Company, N.A. (“Computershare”) is the transfer agent and registrar for our common stock.

Our common stock is registered in book-entry form through the direct registration system. Under this system, ownership of our common stock is reflected in account statements periodically distributed to stockholders by Computershare, our transfer agent, who holds the book-entry shares on behalf of our common stockholders.