Description of the Registrants Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

EX-4.4 2 stim-ex44_309.htm EX-4.4 stim-ex44_309.htm

 

Exhibit 4.4

DESCRIPTION OF THE REGISTRANT’S SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

The following description summarizes certain of the terms of the capital stock of Neuronetics, Inc. This description does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as amended, and our bylaws, as amended, each of which are incorporated by reference as an exhibit to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of which this Exhibit is a part. We encourage you to read our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, bylaws and the applicable provisions of Delaware law for additional information. Unless the context requires otherwise, all references to “we”, “us,” “our” and “Company” in this section refer solely to Neuronetics, Inc. and not to any subsidiaries that we may have from time to time.

General

Under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation we are authorized to issue up to 200,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, and 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share, all of which shares of preferred stock are undesignated. Our board of directors may establish the rights and preferences of the preferred stock from time to time.

Common Stock

Voting Rights

Each holder of our common stock is entitled to one vote for each share of common stock on all matters submitted to a vote of the stockholders, including the election of directors. 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.

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.

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Preferred Stock

Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our board of directors has the authority, without further action by our stockholders, to issue up to 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock in one or more series and to fix the designations, number of shares, rights, voting powers, preferences, privileges and the qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof. These rights, preferences and privileges could include dividend rights, conversion rights, voting rights, terms of redemption, liquidation preferences and 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 purpose of authorizing our board of directors to issue preferred stock and determine its rights and preferences is to eliminate delays associated with a stockholder vote on specific issuances. Our issuance of preferred stock with voting or conversion rights could adversely affect the voting power of holders of common stock and the likelihood and amount that such holders will receive dividend payments and payments upon liquidation. In addition, 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 of control or other corporate action, or make the removal of management more difficult. Additionally, the issuance of preferred stock may have the effect of decreasing the market price of the common stock and the voting and other rights of the holders thereof.

Our board of directors will fix the designations, number of shares, rights voting powers, preferences and privileges of each series, as well as the qualifications, limitations or restrictions thereof, of the preferred stock of each series in the certificate of designation relating to that series.

Anti-Takeover Provisions

Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws may discourage, delay or prevent a merger, acquisition or other change in control that stockholders may consider favorable, including transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares. In addition, these provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempt by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult to replace or remove our board of directors. These provisions include:

 

a prohibition on stockholder action through written consent;

 

no cumulative voting in the election of directors;

 

the exclusive right of our board of directors to elect a director to fill a vacancy created by the expansion of the board of directors or the resignation, death or removal of a director;

 

a requirement that special meetings of stockholders be called only by the board of directors, the chairman of the board of directors, the chief executive officer or, in the absence of a chief executive officer, the president;

 

an advance notice requirement for stockholder proposals and nominations;

 

the authority of our board of directors to issue preferred stock with such terms as our board of directors may determine; and

 

a requirement of approval of not less than 66 2/3% of all outstanding shares of our capital stock entitled to vote to amend any bylaws by stockholder action, or to amend specific provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.

The combination of these provisions will make 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. Because 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.

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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.

Choice of Forum

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the exclusive forum for:

 

any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf;

 

any action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty;

 

any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to the Delaware General Corporation Law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, or our amended and restated bylaws; or

 

any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation further provides that the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). On December 19, 2018, the Delaware Chancery Court issued an opinion in Sciabacucchi v. Salzberg, C.A. No. 2017-0931-JTL, invalidating a similar provision in the certificates of incorporation of three other Delaware corporations that each purported to limit to federal court the forum in which a stockholder could bring a claim under the Securities Act. In light of this decision, we do not currently intend to enforce the federal forum selection provision unless Sciabacucchi is reversed on appeal, which appeal has been made. If the Delaware Supreme Court affirms the Delaware Chancery Court’s decision in Sciabacucchi. In order to accommodate the timely filing of our proxy materials for the annual meeting of stockholders to be held in 2020, we would intend to continue to not enforce the federal forum selection provision and would intend to seek approval by our stockholders to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to remove the federal forum selection provision for Securities Act claims at the next regularly-scheduled annual meeting of stockholders following the annual meeting of stockholders to be held in 2020 where it is reasonably practicable to do so.

Recent Amendment to the Ninth Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation

The Company’s Ninth Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation was amended on May 30, 2019, following stockholder approval at the annual meeting held on May 28, 2019, to provide that any of our directors or our entire Board of Directors may be removed, with or without cause, by the holders of a majority of our capital stock then entitled to vote on the election of directors.

Transfer Agent and Registrar

The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC. The transfer agent’s address is 6201 15th Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11219.

Listing on The Nasdaq Global Market

Our common stock is listed for trading on Nasdaq under the symbol “STIM.”

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