Description of the Company's Capital Stock

 

 

 

Our authorized capital stock consists of 2,000,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, and 200,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share, all of which preferred stock is undesignated. Unless our board of directors determines otherwise, we will issue all shares of our capital stock in uncertificated form.

 

 Common Stock

 

Common stock outstanding. As of February 14, 2020 there were 405,098,215 shares of common stock outstanding. All outstanding shares of common stock are fully paid and non-assessable.

 

Voting rights. The holders of common stock are entitled to one vote per share on all matters to be voted upon by the stockholders.

 

Dividend rights. Subject to preferences that may be applicable to any outstanding preferred stock, the holders of common stock are entitled to receive ratably such dividends, if any, as may be declared from time to time by the board of directors out of funds legally available therefor.

 

Rights upon liquidation. In the event of liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Company, the holders of common stock are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining after payment of liabilities, subject to prior distribution rights of preferred stock, if any, then outstanding.

 

Other rights. The holders of our common stock have no preemptive or conversion rights or other subscription rights. There are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock.

 

 

 Our board of directors has the authority to issue the preferred stock in one or more series and to fix the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions thereof, including dividend rights, dividend rates, conversion rights, voting rights, terms of redemption, redemption prices, liquidation preferences and the number of shares constituting any series or the designation of such series, without further vote or action by the stockholders.

 

The issuance of preferred stock may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of the Company without further action by the stockholders and may adversely affect the voting and other rights of the holders of common stock. As of February 14, 2020 there were no shares of preferred stock outstanding. At present, the Company has no plans to issue any of the preferred stock.

 

 

Our board of directors shall consist of not less than five and not more than 15 directors, as determined by the board of directors.

 

 

No director may be removed except for cause, and directors may be removed for cause by an affirmative vote of shares representing a majority of the shares then entitled to vote at an election of directors. Any vacancy occurring on the board of directors and any newly created directorship may be filled only by a majority of the remaining directors in office.

 

Our board of directors is divided into three classes serving staggered three-year terms. At each annual meeting of stockholders, directors will be elected to succeed the class of directors whose terms have expired. This classification of our board of directors could have the effect of increasing the length of time necessary to change the composition of a majority of the board of directors. In general, at least two annual meetings of stockholders will be necessary for stockholders to effect a change in a majority of the members of the board of directors.

 

 

Our bylaws provide that our business shall be managed by or under the direction of our board of directors. Our board of directors may act by the affirmative vote of a majority of the directors present at a meeting at which a quorum is present. A majority of the total number of directors then in office shall constitute a quorum. The board may also act by unanimous written consent.

 

 

Under Delaware law, the business and affairs of a corporation are managed by or under the direction of its board of directors. In exercising their powers, directors are charged with a duty of care and a duty of loyalty. The duty of care requires that directors act in an informed and deliberate manner and to inform themselves, prior to making a business decision, of all relevant material information reasonably available to them. The duty of care also requires that directors exercise care in overseeing the conduct of corporate employees. The duty of loyalty is the duty to act in good faith, not out of self-interest, and in a manner which the director reasonably believes to be in the best interests of the shareholders. A party challenging the propriety of a decision of a board of directors bears the burden of rebutting the presumptions afforded to directors by the "business judgment rule." If the presumption is not rebutted, the business judgment rule attaches to protect the directors and their decisions. Where, however, the presumption is rebutted, the directors bear the burden of demonstrating the fairness of the relevant transaction. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Delaware courts subject directors' conduct to enhanced scrutiny in respect of defensive actions taken in response to a threat to corporate control and approval of a transaction resulting in a sale of control of the Company.

 

 

Under Delaware law, such a contract or arrangement is voidable unless it is approved by a majority of disinterested directors or by a vote of shareholders, in each case if the material facts as to the interested director's relationship or interests are disclosed or are known to the disinterested directors or shareholders, or such contract or arrangement is fair to the Company as of the time it is approved or ratified. Additionally, such interested director could be held liable for a transaction in which such director derived an improper personal benefit.

 

Our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws provide that holders of our common stock will not be able to act by written consent without a meeting.

 

Our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws provide that special meetings of our stockholders may be called by the chairman of the board of directors whenever in his or her judgment such a meeting is necessary and by the secretary at the request in writing of holders of record of not less than ten percent of the total voting power of all outstanding securities of the Company generally entitled to vote in the election of directors, voting together as a single class.

 

The Company reserves the right to amend the certificate of incorporation in any manner permitted by Delaware law and all rights and powers conferred upon stockholders, directors and officers herein are granted subject to this reservation. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the provisions set forth in “—Voting Rights,” “—Bylaws,” “—Board of Directors,” “—Meetings of Stockholders” and “—Amendments” may not be repealed or amended in any respect, and no other provision may be adopted, amended or repealed which would have the effect of modifying or permitting the circumvention of the provisions set forth in any such sections, unless such action is approved by the affirmative vote of the holders of not less than a majority of the total voting power of all outstanding securities of the Company generally entitled to vote in the election of directors, voting together as a single class.

 

Our bylaws may be altered, amended or repealed, or new bylaws may be made, by (i) the stockholders entitled to vote thereon at any annual or special meeting thereof or (ii) by the board of directors. Unless a higher percentage is required by the certificate of incorporation, all such amendments must be approved by (i) the affirmative vote of the holders of not less than a majority of the total voting power of all outstanding securities of the Company generally entitled to vote in the election of directors, voting together as a single class, or (ii) by a majority of the board of directors.

 

Our bylaws also impose some procedural requirements on stockholders who wish to:

 

 

 

 

 

Under these procedural requirements, in order to bring a proposal before a meeting of stockholders, a stockholder must deliver timely notice of a proposal pertaining to a proper subject for presentation at the meeting to our corporate secretary along with the following:

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be timely, a stockholder must generally deliver notice:

 

 

 

In order to submit a nomination for our board of directors, a stockholder must also submit any information with respect to the nominee that we would be required to include in a proxy statement, as well as some other information. If a stockholder fails to follow the required procedures, the stockholder’s proposal or nominee will be ineligible and will not be voted on by our stockholders.

 

Our certificate of incorporation provides that no director will be personally liable to us or our stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, except as required by applicable law, as in effect from time to time. Currently, Delaware law requires that liability be imposed for the following:

 

 

 

 

 

As a result, neither we nor our stockholders have the right, through stockholders’ derivative suits on our behalf, to recover monetary damages against a director for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, including breaches resulting from grossly negligent behavior, except in the situations described above.

 

Our bylaws provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, we will indemnify any officer or director of our company against all damages, claims and liabilities arising out of the fact that the person is or was our director or officer, or served any other enterprise at our request as a director, officer, employee, agent or fiduciary. We will reimburse the expenses, including attorneys’ fees, incurred by a person indemnified by this provision when we receive an undertaking to repay such amounts if it is ultimately determined that the person is not entitled to be indemnified by us. Amending this provision will not reduce our indemnification obligations relating to actions taken before an amendment.

 

We are subject to Section 203 of the DGCL, which regulates corporate acquisitions. Section 203 prevents an “interested stockholder,” which is defined generally as a person owning 15% or more of a corporation’s voting stock, or any affiliate or associate of that person, from engaging in a broad range of “business combinations” with the Company for three years after becoming an interested stockholder unless:

 

 

 

 

Under Section 203, the restrictions described above also do not apply to specific business combinations proposed by an interested stockholder following the announcement or notification of designated extraordinary transactions involving the Company and a person who had not been an interested stockholder during the previous three years or who became an interested stockholder with the approval of a majority of the Company’s directors, if such extraordinary transaction is approved or not opposed by a majority of the directors who were directors prior to any person becoming an interested stockholder during the previous three years or were recommended for election or elected to succeed such directors by a majority of such directors.

 

Some provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws could make the following more difficult:

 

 

 

These provisions, as well as our ability to issue preferred stock, are designed to discourage coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids. These provisions are also designed to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of us to first negotiate with our board of directors. We believe that the benefits of increased protection give us the potential ability to negotiate with the proponent of an unfriendly or unsolicited proposal to acquire or restructure us, and that the benefits of this increased protection outweigh the disadvantages of discouraging those proposals, because negotiation of those proposals could result in an improvement of their terms.

 

 

Our common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol “KOS”.

 

 

The transfer agent and registrar for the common stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange is Computershare Trust Company, N.A. The transfer agent and registrar for the common stock listed on the London Stock Exchange is Computershare Investor Services PLC.