Description of Capital Stock
Exhibit 4.5
DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK
The following summary of the material terms of Marblegate Capital Corporation (the Company, we or our) capital stock is not intended to be a complete summary of the rights and preferences of such securities. The full text of the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the Charter) and Amended and Restated Bylaws (the Bylaws) are included as exhibits to the Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC). You are encouraged to read the applicable provisions of Delaware law, the Charter and Bylaws in their entirety for a complete description of the rights and preferences of our securities.
Authorized and Outstanding Capital Stock
The Charter authorizes the issuance of 260,000,000 shares of capital stock, of which 250,000,000 shares are shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (Common Stock), and 10,000,000 shares are shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share (Preferred Stock).
Voting Power
Except as otherwise provided in the Charter or as required by applicable law, holders of Common Stock will each be entitled to one vote per share.
Dividends
Subject to preferences that may apply to any shares of preferred stock outstanding at the time, the holders of Common Stock will be entitled to receive dividends and other distributions as may from time to time be declared by our board of directors (the Board) in its discretion out of legally available assets, ratably in proportion to the number of shares held by each such holder, and at such times and in such amounts as the Board in its discretion may determine.
Liquidation, Dissolution or Winding Up
In the event of any voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Company, after payment of debts and other liabilities and of preferential claims, and after the rights of holders of preferred stock, if any, have been satisfied, the holders of all outstanding shares of Common Stock will be entitled to receive the remaining assets of the Company available for distribution ratably in proportion to the number of shares held by each such stockholder.
Election of Directors
Directors of the Company shall be elected by a majority of the votes cast at an annual meeting of stockholders by holders of the Common Stock.
Warrants
Marblegate Acquisition Corp. (MAC) assigned to us all of MACs right, title and interest in and to the Warrant Agreement, dated September 30, 2021, between MAC and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company (Continental) (as amended, the Warrant Agreement), and pursuant to a Warrant Assumption Agreement, by and among MAC, Continental, and the Company, dated as of April 7, 2025, we assumed, and agreed to pay, perform, satisfy and discharge in full, all of MACs liabilities and obligations under the Warrant Agreement arising from and after the consummation of the Business Combination (as defined in the Warrant Agreement). You should review a copy of the Warrant Agreement, which is filed as an exhibit to the Annual Report on Form 10-K, for a complete description of the terms and conditions applicable to the warrants. The Warrant Agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the Warrant Agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the Warrant Agreement set forth herein, or to correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least a majority of the then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants.
Each outstanding whole warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one share of Common Stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed below, at any time 30 days after the completion of the Business Combination. A warrant holder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of shares of Common Stock. The warrants will expire five years after the completion of the Business Combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
Redemption of Warrants
The Company will not be obligated to deliver any shares of Common Stock pursuant to the exercise of a warrant and will have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act) with respect to the shares of Common Stock underlying the warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to the Company satisfying its obligations described below with respect to registration. No warrant will be exercisable, and the Company will not be obligated to issue shares of Common Stock upon exercise of a warrant unless Common Stock issuable upon such warrant exercise has been registered, qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the registered holder of the warrants. In the event that the conditions in the two immediately preceding sentences are not satisfied with respect to a warrant, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant, and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless, in which case the purchaser of a unit containing such public warrants will have paid the full purchase price for the unit solely for the share of Common Stock underlying such unit. In no event will the Company be required to net cash settle any warrant.
Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may call the warrants for redemption:
| in whole and not in part; |
| at a price of $0.01 per warrant; |
| upon not less than 30 days prior written notice of redemption (the 30-day redemption period) to each warrant holder; and |
| if, and only if, the reported last sale price of the Companys Common Stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period commencing once the warrants become exercisable and ending on the third trading day prior to the date the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. |
If and when the warrants become redeemable by the Company, the Company may not exercise its redemption right if the issuance of shares of Common Stock upon exercise of the warrants is not exempt from registration or qualification under applicable state blue sky laws, or we are unable to effect such registration or qualification. In the event that the Company elects to redeem all of the redeemable warrants as described above, it will fix a date for the redemption (the Redemption Date). Pursuant to the terms of the Warrant Agreement, notice of redemption will be mailed by first class mail, postage prepaid, by the Company not less than 30 days prior to the Redemption Date to the registered holders of the redeemable warrants to be redeemed at their last addresses as they appear on the registration books. In addition, the Company will issue a press release and file a current report on Form 8-K with the SEC containing notice of redemption. The Company is not contractually obligated to notify investors when its warrants become eligible for redemption and does not intend to so notify investors upon eligibility of the warrants for redemption, unless and until it elects to redeem such warrants pursuant to the terms of the Warrant Agreement. The Company will use its best efforts to register or qualify such shares of Common Stock under the blue sky laws of the state of residence in those states in which the warrants were offered by MAC in its initial public offering (the IPO).
The Company has established the last of the redemption criteria discussed above to prevent a redemption call unless there is at the time of the call a significant premium to the warrant exercise price. If the foregoing conditions are satisfied and the Company issues a notice of redemption of the warrants, each warrant holder will be entitled to exercise its warrant prior to the scheduled redemption date. However, the price of the Companys Common Stock may fall below the $18.00 redemption trigger price (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) as well as the $11.50 warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued.
If the Company calls the warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require any holder that wishes to exercise its warrant to do so on a cashless basis. In determining whether to require all holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, The Companys management will consider, among other factors, the Companys cash position, the number of warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on its stockholders of issuing the maximum number of shares of the Companys Common Stock issuable upon the exercise of its warrants. If the Companys management takes advantage of this option, all holders of warrants would pay the exercise price by surrendering their warrants for that number of shares of the Companys Common Stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Common Stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference
between the exercise price of the warrants and the fair market value (defined below) by (y) the fair market value. The fair market value shall mean the average reported last sale price of the Companys Common Stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. If the Companys management takes advantage of this option, the notice of redemption will contain the information necessary to calculate the number of shares of Common Stock to be received upon exercise of the warrants, including the fair market value in such case. Requiring a cashless exercise in this manner will reduce the number of shares to be issued and thereby lessen the dilutive effect of a warrant redemption. The Company believes this feature is an attractive option to it if it does not need the cash from the exercise of the warrants after consummation of the Business Combination. If the Company calls its warrants for redemption and its management does not take advantage of this option, holders of private placement units and their permitted transferees would still be entitled to exercise their private placement warrants that are included in the private placement units for cash or on a cashless basis using the same formula described above that other warrant holders would have been required to use had all warrant holders been required to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, as described in more detail below.
A holder of a warrant may notify the Company in writing in the event it elects to be subject to a requirement that such holder will not have the right to exercise such warrant, to the extent that after giving effect to such exercise, such person (together with such persons affiliates), to the warrant agents actual knowledge, would beneficially own in excess of 4.9% or 9.8% (or such other amount as a holder may specify) of the shares of the Companys Common Stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.
If the number of outstanding shares of Common Stock is increased by a stock dividend payable in shares of Common Stock, or by a split-up of shares of Common Stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such stock dividend, split-up or similar event, the number of shares of Common Stock issuable on exercise of each warrant will be increased in proportion to such increase in the outstanding shares of Common Stock. A rights offering to holders of Common Stock entitling holders to purchase shares of Common Stock at a price less than the fair market value will be deemed a stock dividend of a number of shares of Common Stock equal to the product of (i) the number of shares of Common Stock actually sold in such rights offering (or issuable under any other equity securities sold in such rights offering that are convertible into or exercisable for the Companys Common Stock) and (ii) one (1) minus the quotient of (x) the price per share of Common Stock paid in such rights offering divided by (y) the fair market value. For these purposes (i) if the rights offering is for securities convertible into or exercisable for Common Stock, in determining the price payable for the Companys Common Stock, there will be taken into account any consideration received for such rights, as well as any additional amount payable upon exercise or conversion and (ii) fair market value means the volume weighted average price of the Companys Common Stock as reported during the ten (10) trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the first date on which the shares of Common Stock trade on the applicable exchange or in the applicable market, regular way, without the right to receive such rights.
In addition, if the Company, at any time while the warrants are outstanding and unexpired,
pays a dividend or make a distribution in cash, securities or other assets to the holders of Common Stock on account of such shares of Common Stock (or other shares of its capital stock into which the warrants are convertible), other than (a) as described above, (b) certain ordinary cash dividends or (c) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Common Stock in connection with a stockholder vote to amend the Charter with respect to any provision relating to stockholders rights, then the warrant exercise price will be decreased, effective immediately after the effective date of such event, by the amount of cash and/or the fair market value of any securities or other assets paid on each share of Common Stock in respect of such event.
If the number of outstanding shares of Common Stock is decreased by a consolidation, combination, reverse stock split or reclassification of shares of Common Stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, reverse stock split, reclassification or similar event, the number of shares of Common Stock issuable on exercise of each warrant will be decreased in proportion to such decrease in outstanding shares of Common Stock.
Whenever the number of shares of Common Stock purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants is adjusted, as described above, the warrant exercise price will be adjusted by multiplying the warrant exercise price immediately prior to such adjustment by a fraction (x) the numerator of which will be the number of shares of Common Stock purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants immediately prior to such adjustment, and (y) the denominator of which will be the number of shares of Common Stock so purchasable immediately thereafter.
In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding shares of Common Stock (other than those described above or that solely affects the par value of such shares of Common Stock), or in the case of any merger or consolidation of us with or into another corporation (other than a consolidation or merger in which the Company is the continuing corporation and that does not result in any reclassification or reorganization of our outstanding shares of Common Stock), or in the case of any sale or conveyance to another corporation or entity of the assets or other property of us as an entirety or substantially as an entirety in connection with which is dissolved, the holders of the warrants will thereafter have the right to purchase and receive, upon the basis and upon the terms and conditions specified in the warrants and in lieu of the shares of our Common Stock immediately theretofore purchasable and receivable upon the exercise of the rights represented thereby, the kind and amount of shares of stock or other securities or property (including cash) receivable upon such reclassification, reorganization, merger or consolidation, or upon a dissolution following any such sale or transfer, that the holder of the warrants would have received if such holder had exercised their warrants immediately prior to such event.
The warrants may be exercised upon surrender of the warrant certificate on or prior to the expiration date at the offices of the warrant agent, with the exercise form on the reverse side of the warrant certificate completed and executed as indicated, accompanied by full payment of the exercise price (or on a cashless basis, if applicable), by certified or official bank check payable to us, for the number of warrants being exercised. The warrant holders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of the Companys Common Stock and any voting rights until they exercise their warrants and receive shares of Common Stock. After the issuance of shares of Common Stock upon exercise of the warrants, each holder will be entitled to one (1) vote for each share held of record on all matters to be voted on by stockholders.
The Company has agreed that, subject to applicable law, any action, proceeding or claim against the Company arising out of or relating in any way to the Warrant Agreement will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and the Company irrevocably submits to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction will be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. This provision applies to claims under the Securities Act but does not apply to claims under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act) or any claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum.
Redemption Procedures
A holder of a warrant may notify us in writing in the event it elects to be subject to a requirement that such holder will not have the right to exercise such warrant, to the extent that after giving effect to such exercise, such person (together with such persons affiliates), to the warrant agents actual knowledge, would beneficially own in excess of 9.8% (or such other amount as a holder may specify) of the shares of Common Stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.
Anti-Dilution Adjustments
If the number of outstanding shares of Common Stock is increased by a stock dividend payable in shares of Common Stock, or by a split-up of shares of Common Stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such stock dividend, split-up or similar event, the number of shares of Common Stock issuable on exercise of each warrant will be increased in proportion to such increase in the outstanding shares of Common Stock. A rights offering to holders of Common Stock entitling holders to purchase shares of Common Stock at a price less than the historical fair market value (as defined below) will be deemed a stock dividend of a number of shares of Common Stock equal to the product of (1) the number of shares of Common Stock actually sold in such rights offering (or issuable under any other equity securities sold in such rights offering that are convertible into or exercisable for Common Stock) multiplied by (2) one minus the quotient of (x) the price per share of Common Stock paid in such rights offering divided by (y) the historical fair market value. For these purposes (1) if the rights offering is for securities convertible into or exercisable for Common Stock, in determining the price payable for Common Stock, there will be taken into account any consideration received for such rights, as well as any additional amount payable upon exercise or conversion and (2) historical fair market value means the volume weighted average price of Common Stock as reported during the 10-trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the first date on which the shares of Common Stock trade on the applicable exchange or in the applicable market, regular way, without the right to receive such rights.
In addition, if the Company, at any time while the warrants are outstanding and unexpired, pays a dividend or make a distribution in cash, securities or other assets to the holders of Common Stock on account of such shares of Common Stock (or other shares of its capital stock into which the warrants are convertible), other than (a) as described above, (b) certain ordinary cash dividends or (c) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Common Stock in connection with a stockholder vote to amend the Charter with respect to any provision relating to stockholders rights, then the warrant exercise price will be decreased, effective immediately after the effective date of such event, by the amount of cash and/or the fair market value of any securities or other assets paid on each share of Common Stock in respect of such event.
If the number of outstanding shares of Common Stock is decreased by a consolidation, combination, reverse stock split or reclassification of shares of Common Stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, reverse stock split, reclassification or similar event, the number of shares of Common Stock issuable on exercise of each warrant will be decreased in proportion to such decrease in outstanding shares of Common Stock.
Whenever the number of shares of Common Stock purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants is adjusted, as described above, the warrant exercise price will be adjusted by multiplying the warrant exercise price immediately prior to such adjustment by a fraction (x) the numerator of which will be the number of shares of Common Stock purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants immediately prior to such adjustment, and (y) the denominator of which will be the number of shares of Common Stock so purchasable immediately thereafter.
In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding shares of Common Stock (other than those described above or that solely affects the par value of such shares of Common Stock), or in the case of any merger or consolidation of us with or into another corporation (other than a consolidation or merger in which we are the continuing corporation and that does not result in any reclassification or reorganization of our outstanding shares of Common Stock), or in the case of any sale or conveyance to another corporation or entity of the assets or other property of us as an entirety or substantially as an entirety in connection with which we are dissolved, the holders of the warrants will thereafter have the right to purchase and receive, upon the basis and upon the terms and conditions specified in the warrants and in lieu of the shares of Common Stock immediately theretofore purchasable and receivable upon the exercise of the rights represented thereby, the kind and amount of shares of stock or other securities or property (including cash) receivable upon such reclassification, reorganization, merger or consolidation, or upon a dissolution following any such sale or transfer, that the holder of the warrants would have received if such holder had exercised their warrants immediately prior to such event. However, if such holders were entitled to exercise a right of election as to the kind or amount of securities, cash or other assets receivable upon such consolidation or merger, then the kind and amount of securities, cash or other assets for which each warrant will become exercisable will be deemed to be the weighted average of the kind and amount received per share by such holders in such consolidation or merger that affirmatively make such election, and if a tender, exchange or redemption offer has been made to and accepted by such holders (other than a tender, exchange or redemption offer made by the company in connection with redemption rights held by stockholders of the company as provided for in the Charter) under circumstances in which, upon completion of such tender or exchange offer, the maker thereof, together with members of any
group (within the meaning of Rule 13d-5(b)(1) under the Exchange Act) of which such maker is a part, and together with any affiliate or associate of such maker (within the meaning of Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act) and any members of any such group of which any such affiliate or associate is a part, own beneficially (within the meaning of Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act) more than 50% of the outstanding shares of Common Stock, the holder of a warrant will be entitled to receive the highest amount of cash, securities or other property to which such holder would actually have been entitled as a stockholder if such warrant holder had exercised the warrant prior to the expiration of such tender or exchange offer, accepted such offer and all of the Common Stock held by such holder had been purchased pursuant to such tender or exchange offer, subject to adjustments (from and after the consummation of such tender or exchange offer) as nearly equivalent as possible to the adjustments provided for in the Warrant Agreement. Additionally, if less than 70% of the consideration receivable by the holders of Common Stock in such a transaction is payable in the form of common stock in the successor entity that is listed for trading on a national securities exchange or is quoted in an established over-the-counter market, or is to be so listed for trading or quoted immediately following such event, and if the registered holder of the warrant properly exercises the warrant within 30 days following public disclosure of such transaction, the warrant exercise price will be reduced as specified in the Warrant Agreement based on the per share consideration minus Black-Scholes Warrant Value (as defined in the Warrant Agreement) of the warrant. The purpose of such exercise price reduction is to provide additional value to holders of the warrants when an extraordinary transaction occurs during the exercise period of the warrants pursuant to which the holders of the warrants otherwise do not receive the full potential value of the warrants in order to determine and realize the option value component of the warrant. This formula is to compensate the warrant holder for the loss of the option value portion of the warrant due to the requirement that the warrant holder exercise the warrant within 30 days of the event. The Black-Scholes model is an accepted pricing model for estimating fair market value where no quoted market price for an instrument is available.
Private Placement Warrants
The private placement warrants are identical to the public warrants except that the private placement warrants: (i) are not redeemable by the Company and (ii) may be exercised for cash or on a cashless basis, as described in the prospectus related to the IPO, so long as they are held by Marblegate Acquisition LLC (the Sponsor), Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. or any of their permitted transferees. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than the Sponsor or any of its permitted transferees, they will be redeemable by the Company and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the public warrants in the units sold in the IPO. The private placement warrants (including the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder until 30 days after the completion of the Business Combination.
Anti-Takeover Effects of the Charter, the Bylaws and Certain Provisions of Delaware Law
The Charter, the Bylaws and the DGCL contain provisions, which as summarized in the following paragraphs, are intended to enhance the likelihood of continuity and stability in the composition of the Board and to discourage certain types of transactions that may involve an actual or threatened acquisition of the Company. These provisions are intended to avoid costly takeover battles, reduce the Companys vulnerability to a hostile change of control or other unsolicited acquisition proposal, and enhance the ability of the Board to maximize stockholder value in connection with any unsolicited offer to acquire the Company. However, these provisions may have the effect of delaying, deterring or preventing a merger or acquisition of the Company by means of a tender offer, a proxy contest or other takeover attempt that a stockholder might consider in its best interest, including attempts that might result in a premium over the prevailing market price for the shares of Common Stock. The Charter provides that any action required or permitted to be taken by the Companys stockholders must be effected at a duly called annual or special stockholder meeting of such stockholders and may not be effected by any consent in writing by such holders unless such action is recommended or approved by all directors of the Board then in office, except that holders of Common Stock or one or more series of Preferred Stock, if such series are expressly permitted to do so by the certificate of designation relating to such series, may take any action by written consent if such action permitted to be taken by such holders and the written consent is signed by the holders of outstanding shares of the relevant class or series having not less than the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to authorize or take such action at a meeting. See Risk Factors Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure Delaware law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (the certificate of incorporation) and amended and restated bylaws (bylaws) contain certain provisions, including anti-takeover provisions that limit the ability of stockholders to take certain actions and could delay or discourage takeover attempts that stockholders may consider favorable in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for more information.
Authorized but Unissued Capital Stock
Delaware law does not require stockholder approval for any issuance of authorized shares. However, the Nasdaq listing requirements, which would apply so long as the Common Stock is listed on Nasdaq, require stockholder approval of certain issuances equal to or exceeding 20% of then outstanding voting power or then outstanding number of shares of Common Stock. Additional shares that may be issued in the future may be used for a variety of corporate purposes, including future public offerings, to raise additional capital or to facilitate acquisitions.
One of the effects of the existence of unissued and unreserved common stock may be to enable the Board to issue shares to persons friendly to current management, which issuance could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of the Company by means of a merger, tender offer, proxy contest or otherwise and thereby protect the continuity of management and possibly deprive stockholders of opportunities to sell their shares of Common Stock at prices higher than prevailing market prices.
Election of Directors and Vacancies
The Charter will provide that the Board will determine the number of directors who will serve on the board.
In addition, the Charter provides that any vacancy on the Board, including a vacancy that results from an increase in the number of directors or a vacancy that results from the removal of a director with cause, may be filled only by a majority of the directors then in office, subject to any rights of the holders of Preferred Stock.
Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, each director will serve until his successor is duly elected and qualified or until his earlier death, resignation, retirement, disqualification or removal. No decrease in the number of directors constituting the Board will shorten the term of any incumbent director.
Quorum
The Bylaws provide that at any meeting of the Board a majority of the total number of directors then in office constitutes a quorum for all purposes.
No Cumulative Voting
Under Delaware law, the right to vote cumulatively does not exist unless the Charter expressly authorizes cumulative voting. The Charter does not authorize cumulative voting.
General Stockholder Meetings
The Charter provides that special meetings of stockholders may be called only by the Board acting pursuant to a resolution adopted by the Board.
Requirements for Advance Notification of Stockholder Meetings, Nominations and Proposals
The 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 or a committee of the Board. For any matter to be properly brought before a meeting, a stockholder will have to comply with advance notice requirements and provide the Company with certain information. Generally, to be timely, a stockholders notice must be received at the Companys principal executive offices not less than 90 days nor more than 120 days prior to the first anniversary date of the immediately preceding annual meeting of stockholders (for the purposes of the first annual meeting of the stockholders of the Company following the adoption of the Bylaws, the date of the preceding annual meeting will be deemed to be March 25, 2025 of the preceding calendar year). The Bylaws also specify requirements as to the form and content of a stockholders notice. The 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 acquirers own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to influence or obtain control of the Company.
Supermajority Provisions
The Charter and the Bylaws provide that the Board is expressly authorized to make, alter, amend, change, add to, rescind or repeal, in whole or in part, the Bylaws without a stockholder vote in any matter not inconsistent with the laws of the State of Delaware or the Charter. Any amendment, alteration, rescission or repeal of the Charter by the Companys stockholders requires the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 66 2/3%, in case of provisions in Articles 4(B), 5, 6, 7 or 9 of the Charter, and a majority, in case of any other provisions, in voting power of all then outstanding shares of the Companys stock entitled to vote thereon.
The DGCL provides generally that the affirmative vote of a majority of the outstanding shares entitled to vote thereon is required to amend a corporations Charter, unless the Charter requires a greater percentage.
These provisions may have the effect of deterring hostile takeovers or delaying or preventing changes in control of the Company or its management, such as a merger, reorganization or tender offer. These provisions are intended to enhance the likelihood of continued stability in the composition of the Board and its policies and to discourage certain types of transactions that may involve an actual or threatened acquisition of the Company. These provisions are designed to reduce the Companys vulnerability to an unsolicited acquisition proposal. The provisions are also intended 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 the Companys shares and, as a consequence, may inhibit fluctuations in the market price of the Companys shares that could result from actual or rumored takeover attempts. Such provisions may also have the effect of preventing changes in management.
Exclusive Forum
The Charter provides that, unless the Company consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of the Company, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any current or former director, officer, other employee, agent or stockholder of the Company to the Company or its stockholders, or any claim for aiding and abetting such alleged breach, (iii) any action asserting a claim against the Company or any current or former director, officer, other employee, agent or stockholder of the Company (a) arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, the Charter (as it may be amended or restated) or the Bylaws or (b) as to which the DGCL confers jurisdiction on the Delaware Court of Chancery or (iv) any action asserting a claim against the Company or any current or former director, officer, other employee, agent or stockholder of the Company governed by the internal affairs doctrine of the law of the State of Delaware shall, as to any action in the foregoing clauses (i) through (iv), to the fullest extent permitted by law, be solely and exclusively brought in the Delaware Court of Chancery; provided, however, that the foregoing shall not apply to any claim (a) as to which the Delaware Court of Chancery determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Delaware Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), (b) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Delaware Court of Chancery, or (c) arising under federal securities laws, including the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, as to which the federal district
courts of the United States of America shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the provisions of Article 11 of the Charter does not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act, or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America shall be the sole and exclusive forum. While Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder, Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any shares of the Companys capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in the Charter. If any action the subject matter of which is within the scope of the forum provisions is filed in a court other than a court located within the State of Delaware (a foreign action) in the name of any stockholder, such stockholder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located within the State of Delaware in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an enforcement action) and (y) having service of process made upon such stockholder in any such enforcement action by service upon such stockholders counsel in the foreign action as agent for such stockholder. This choice-of-forum provision may limit a stockholders ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with the Company or its directors, officers, stockholders, agents or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits. We note that there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce this provision, and the enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies charter documents has been challenged in legal proceedings. Further, investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. It is possible that a court could find these types of provisions to be inapplicable or unenforceable, and if a court were to find this provision of the Charter inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, the Company may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect the Companys business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of the Companys management and board of directors.
Conflicts of Interest
Delaware law permits corporations to adopt provisions renouncing any interest or expectancy in certain opportunities that are presented to the corporation or its officers, directors or stockholders. The Charter, to the maximum extent permitted from time to time by Delaware law, renounces any interest or expectancy that the Company has in, or right to be offered an opportunity to participate in, specified business opportunities that are from time to time presented to the Companys officers, directors or stockholders or their respective affiliates, other than those officers, directors, stockholders or affiliates who are employees of the Company or its subsidiaries. The Charter provides that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, none of the non-employee directors or his or her affiliates will have any duty to refrain from (i) engaging in a corporate opportunity in the same or similar lines of business in which the Company or its affiliates now engage or propose to engage or (ii) otherwise competing with the Company or its
affiliates. In addition, to the fullest extent permitted by law, in the event that any non-employee director or any of his or her affiliates acquires knowledge of a potential transaction or other business opportunity which may be a corporate opportunity for itself or himself or herself or its or his or her affiliates or for the Company or its affiliates, such person will have no duty to communicate or offer such transaction or business opportunity to the Company or any of its affiliates and they may take any such opportunity for themselves or offer it to another person or entity. The Charter does not renounce the Companys interest in any business opportunity that is expressly offered to, or acquired or developed by a non-employee director solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the Company. To the fullest extent permitted by law, a corporate opportunity shall not be deemed to be a potential corporate opportunity for the Company if it is a business opportunity that (i) the Company is neither financially or legally able, nor contractually permitted to undertake, (ii) from its nature, is not in the line of the Companys business or is of no practical advantage to the Company, (iii) is one in which the Company has no interest or reasonable expectancy, or (iv) is one presented to any account for the benefit of a member of the Board or such members affiliate over which such member of the Board has no direct or indirect influence or control, including, but not limited to, a blind trust.
Limitations on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors
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, subject to certain exceptions. The Charter includes a provision that eliminates, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the personal liability of directors for monetary damages for any breach of fiduciary duty as a director. The effect of these provisions is to eliminate the rights of the Company and its stockholders, through stockholders derivative suits on the Companys behalf, to recover monetary damages from a director for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, including breaches resulting from grossly negligent behavior. However, exculpation does not apply to any director if the director has acted in bad faith, knowingly or intentionally violated the law, authorized illegal dividends or redemptions or derived an improper benefit from his or her actions as a director.
The Bylaws provide that the Company must indemnify and advance expenses to directors and officers to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law. The Company is also expressly authorized to carry directors and officers liability insurance providing indemnification for directors, officers and certain employees for some liabilities. The Company believes that these indemnification and advancement provisions and insurance are useful to attract and retain qualified directors and executive officers.
The limitation of liability, indemnification and advancement provisions in the Charter and the Bylaws may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against directors and officers, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit the Company and its stockholders. In addition, your investment may be adversely affected to the extent the Company pays the costs of settlement and damage awards against directors and officers pursuant to these indemnification provisions. The Company believes that these provisions, liability insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced directors and officers.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to the Companys directors, officers and controlling persons pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Company has been advised that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable.
Registration Rights Agreement
Certain holders of our securities are entitled to registration rights pursuant to that certain Registration Rights Agreement, dated April 7, 2025, by and among the Company and certain security holders requiring us to register such securities for resale. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Transfer Agent and Warrant Agent
The transfer agent of our Common Stock and the warrant agent for our warrants is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company.