Description of Securities of the Registrant

EX-4.3 2 lxeo-ex4_3.htm EX-4.3 EX-4.3

Exhibit 4.3

DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK

The following description summarizes certain important terms of the capital stock of Lexeo Therapeutics, Inc. (“us,” “our,” “we,” “Lexeo” or the “Company”) as specified in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws. This summary does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the amended and restated bylaws, copies of which have been filed as exhibits to this Annual Report on Form 10-K, as well as to the applicable provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law.

Authorized Capital Stock

Our authorized capital stock consists of 500,000,000 shares of common stock, $0.0001 par value per share, and 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock, $0.0001 par value per share. All of our outstanding shares of common stock are paid and nonassessable.

Common stock

Our common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “LXEO.” The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is Equiniti Trust Company, LLC. The transfer agent’s address is 48 Wall Street, Floor 23, New York, New York 10005.

Voting rights

Each holder of our common stock is entitled to one vote for each share on all matters submitted to a vote of the stockholders, including the election of directors. The affirmative vote of holders of at least 66-2/3% of the voting power of all of the then-outstanding shares of capital stock, voting as a single class, will be required to amend certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, including provisions relating to amending our amended and restated bylaws, the classified board, the size of our board, removal of directors, director liability, vacancies on our board, special meetings, stockholder notices, actions by written consent and exclusive forum.

Dividends

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

Liquidation

In the event of our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, holders of common stock will be entitled to share ratably in the net assets legally available for distribution to stockholders after the payment of all of our debts and other liabilities and the satisfaction of any liquidation preference granted to the holders of any then-outstanding shares of preferred stock.

Rights and preferences

Holders of common stock have no preemptive, conversion or subscription rights and there are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock. The rights, preferences and privileges of the holders of common stock are subject to, and may be adversely affected by, the right of the holders of shares of any series of preferred stock that we may designate in the future.

Preferred stock

Our restated certificate of incorporation provides that the board of directors is authorized, without further action by our stockholders, to issue up to 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock in one or more series, to establish from time to time the number of shares to be included in each such series, to fix the rights, preferences and privileges of the shares of each wholly unissued series and any qualifications, limitations or restrictions thereon, and to increase or decrease the number of shares of any such series, but not below the number of shares of such series then outstanding. These rights, preferences and privileges could include dividend rights, conversion rights, voting rights, redemption rights, liquidation preferences, sinking fund terms and the number of shares constituting any series or the designation of such series, any or all of which may be greater than the rights of common stock.

The issuance of preferred stock could, among other things, have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of us and may adversely affect the market price of our common stock and the voting and other rights of the holders of our common stock. In addition, the issuance of preferred stock could adversely affect the likelihood that holders of our common stock will receive dividend payments and payments upon liquidation.

Preferred stock will be fully paid and nonassessable upon issuance.

Registration rights of Certain Stockholders

Certain of our stockholders have registration rights under our amended and restated investors’ rights agreement, or the Investors’ Rights Agreement, between us and such stockholders. These stockholders (and certain of their permitted transferees) may request that we file registration statements under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and, upon such request and subject to minimum size and other conditions, we will be required to effect any such registration. We are generally obligated to bear the expenses, other than underwriting discounts and sales commissions, of these registrations. This summary does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by the provisions of the Investors’ Rights Agreement, a copy of which has been filed as an exhibit to this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Anti-takeover provisions

Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law

We are 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, with the following exceptions:

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before such date, the board of directors of the corporation approved either the business combination or the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder;

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upon completion of the transaction that 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 began, excluding for purposes of determining the voting stock outstanding, but not the outstanding voting stock owned by the interested stockholder, those shares owned (i) by persons who are directors and also officers and (ii) 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

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on or after such date, the business combination is approved by the board of directors and authorized at an annual or special meeting of the stockholders, and not by written consent, by the affirmative vote of at least 66-2/3% of the outstanding voting stock that is not owned by the interested stockholder.

In general, Section 203 defines a “business combination” to include the following:

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any merger or consolidation involving the corporation or any direct or indirect majority-owned subsidiary of the corporation and the interested stockholder;

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any sale, transfer, pledge or other disposition of 10% or more of the assets of the corporation involving the interested stockholder (in one transaction or a series of transactions);

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subject to certain exceptions, any transaction that results in the issuance or transfer by the corporation or by any direct or indirect majority-owned subsidiary of the corporation of any stock of the corporation or of such subsidiary to the interested stockholder;

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any transaction involving the corporation or any direct or indirect majority-owned subsidiary of the corporation that has the effect of increasing the proportionate share of the stock or any class or series of the corporation beneficially owned by the interested stockholder; or

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the receipt by the interested stockholder of the benefit of any loans, advances, guarantees, pledges or other financial benefits by or through the corporation.

In general, Section 203 defines an “interested stockholder” as an entity or person who, together with the person’s affiliates and associates, beneficially owns, or within three years prior to the time of determination of interested stockholder status did own, 15% or more of the outstanding voting stock of the corporation.

Amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides for our board of directors to be divided into three classes with 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. Because our stockholders do not have cumulative voting rights, stockholders holding a majority of the shares of common stock outstanding will be able to elect all of our directors. Our amended and restated certificate and our amended and restated bylaws also provides that directors may be removed by the stockholders only for cause upon the vote of 66-2/3% or more of our outstanding common stock. Furthermore, the authorized number of directors may be changed only by resolution of the board of directors, and vacancies and newly created directorships on the board of directors may, except as otherwise required by law or determined by the board, only be filled by a majority vote of the directors then serving on the board, even though less than a quorum.

Under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws our stockholders do not have cumulative voting rights. Because of this, the holders of a majority of the shares of common stock entitled to vote in any election of directors can elect all of the directors standing for election, if they should so choose.

Our amended and restated certificate and amended and restated bylaws also provide that all stockholder actions must be effected at a duly called meeting of stockholders and will eliminate the right of stockholders to act by written consent without a meeting. Our amended and restated bylaws also provide that only our Chairman of the board, Chief Executive Officer or the board of directors pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the total number of authorized directors may call a special meeting of stockholders.

Our amended and restated bylaws also provide that stockholders seeking to present proposals before a meeting of stockholders to nominate candidates for election as directors at a meeting of stockholders must provide timely advance notice in writing, and will specify requirements as to the form and content of a stockholder’s notice.

Our amended and restated certificate and amended and restated bylaws provide that our stockholders cannot amend many of the provisions described above except by a vote of 66-2/3% or more of our outstanding common stock.

The combination of these provisions makes it more difficult for our existing stockholders to replace our board of directors as well as for another party to obtain control of us by replacing our board of directors. Since our board of directors has the power to retain and discharge our officers, these provisions could also make it more difficult for existing stockholders or another party to effect a change in management. In addition, the authorization of undesignated preferred stock makes it possible for our board of directors to issue preferred stock with voting or other rights or preferences that could impede the success of any attempt to change our control.

These provisions are intended to enhance the likelihood of continued stability in the composition of our board of directors and its policies and to discourage coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids. These provisions are also designed to reduce our vulnerability to hostile takeovers and to discourage certain tactics that may be used in proxy fights. However, such provisions could have the effect of discouraging others from making tender offers for our shares and may have the effect of delaying changes in our control or management. As a consequence, these provisions may also inhibit fluctuations in the market price of our stock that could result from actual or rumored takeover attempts. We believe that the benefits of these provisions, including increased protection of our potential ability to negotiate with the proponent of an unfriendly or unsolicited proposal to acquire or restructure our company, outweigh the disadvantages of discouraging takeover proposals, because negotiation of takeover proposals could result in an improvement of their terms.