Description of the Registrant's Securities

EX-4.3 2 exhibit43-q4201910xk.htm EXHIBIT 4.3 Exhibit


Exhibit 4.3

DESCRIPTION OF THE REGISTRANT’S SECURITIES
REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
nLIGHT, Inc. has one class of securities registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended: our common stock, par value $0.0001 per share.
The general terms and provisions of our common stock are summarized below. This summary does not purport to be complete and is subject to, and qualified in its entirety by express reference to, the provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, as amended, each of which is included as an exhibit to the Annual Report on Form 10-K to which this description is an Exhibit, and each of which may be amended from time to time. We encourage you to read our certificate of incorporation and bylaws and the applicable provisions of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware for additional information.
Our authorized capital stock consists of 190,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share.
Common Stock

Voting Rights

Each holder of 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. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws do not provide for cumulative voting rights. Therefore, the holders of a plurality 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. The holders of a majority of the stock issued and outstanding and entitled to vote, present in person or represented by proxy, shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at all meetings of the stockholders. With respect to matters other than the election of directors, at any meeting of the stockholders at which a quorum is present or represented, the affirmative vote of a majority of the voting power of the shares present in person or represented by proxy at such meeting and entitled to vote on the subject matter shall be the act of the stockholders, except as otherwise required by law.

Dividends

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

Liquidation

In the event of our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, holders of our 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 our common stock have no preemptive, conversion, subscription or other rights, and there are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock. 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 that we may designate in the future.

Fully Paid and Nonassessable

All of our outstanding shares of common stock are fully paid and nonassessable.

Preferred Stock

Our board of directors has the authority, without further action by the stockholders, to issue up to 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock in one or more series and to fix the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions thereof. 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 senior to or greater than the rights of common stock. The issuance of preferred stock could adversely affect the voting power of holders of common stock and the likelihood that such holders will receive dividend payments and payments upon liquidation. In addition, the issuance of preferred stock could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing change in our control or other corporate action.

Anti-Takeover Effects of Delaware and Washington Law and Our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws

Delaware Law

We are subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. Section 203 generally prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in a “business combination” with any “interested stockholder” for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder, unless:

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prior to the date of the transaction, the board of directors of the corporation approved either the business combination or the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder;

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upon consummation of the transaction which 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 commenced, excluding for purposes of determining the number of shares outstanding (i) shares owned by persons who are directors and also officers and (ii) shares owned by 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 subsequent to the date of the transaction, the business combination is approved by the board and authorized at an annual or special meeting of stockholders, and not by written consent, by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock which is not owned by the interested stockholder.

Section 203 defines a business combination to include:

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any merger or consolidation involving the corporation and the interested stockholder;

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any sale, lease, exchange, mortgage, transfer, pledge or other disposition involving the interested stockholder of 10% or more of the assets of the corporation;

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subject to exceptions, any transaction that results in the issuance or transfer by the corporation of any stock of the corporation to the interested stockholder;

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any transaction involving 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; and

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

In general, Section 203 defines an interested stockholder as any entity or person beneficially owning 15% or more of the outstanding voting stock of the corporation and any entity or person affiliated with or controlling or controlled by the entity or person.

Washington Business Corporation Act

The laws of Washington, where our principal executive offices are located, impose restrictions on certain transactions between certain foreign corporations and significant stockholders. In particular, the Washington Business Corporation Act, or WBCA, prohibits a “target corporation,” with certain exceptions, from engaging in certain “significant business transactions” with a person or group of persons which beneficially owns 10% or more of the voting power of the target corporation, an “acquiring person,” for a period of five years after such acquisition, unless:

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the transaction or acquisition of shares is approved by a majority of the members of the target corporation’s board of directors prior to the time of acquisition; or

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at or subsequent to the acquisition of shares, the transaction is approved by a majority of the members of the target corporation’s board of directors and approved at an annual or special





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meeting of the stockholders, by the affirmative vote of at least 662/3% of the outstanding voting shares, except shares beneficially owned by or under the voting control of the acquiring person.

Such prohibited transactions may include, among other things:

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any merger or consolidation with, disposition of assets to, or issuance or redemption of stock to or from, the acquiring person;

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any termination of 5% or more of the employees of the target corporation employed in Washington State as a result of the acquiring person’s acquisition of 10% or more of the shares; and

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allowing the acquiring person to receive any disproportionate benefit as a stockholder.

After the five-year period, a significant business transaction may take place as long as it complies with certain fair price provisions of the statute or is approved at an annual or special meeting of stockholders.

We will be considered a “target corporation” so long as our principal executive office is located in Washington and (i) a majority of our employees are residents of the State of Washington or we employ more than one thousand residents of the State of Washington; (ii) a majority of our tangible assets, measured by market value, are located in the State of Washington or we have more than $50 million worth of tangible assets located in the State of Washington; and (iii) any one of the following: (a) more than 10% of our stockholders of record are resident in the State of Washington; (b) more than 10% of our shares are owned of record by state residents; or (c) 1,000 or more of our stockholders of record are resident in the state.

If we meet the definition of a target corporation, the WBCA may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control.

  Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws

Provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws may delay or discourage transactions involving an actual or potential change in our control or change in our management, including transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares, or transactions that our stockholders might otherwise deem to be in their best interests. Therefore, these provisions could adversely affect the price of our common stock. Among other things, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws:

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permits our board of directors to issue up to 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock, with any rights, preferences and privileges as they may designate, including the right to approve an acquisition or other change in our control;

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provides that the authorized number of directors may be changed only by resolution of the board of directors, subject to the rights of any holders of preferred stock;

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provides that all vacancies on our board of directors may only be filled by our board of directors and not by our stockholders;

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divides our board of directors into three classes, each of which stands for election once every three years;

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provides that a director may only be removed from the board of directors by the stockholders for cause;

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requires that any action to be taken by our stockholders must be effected at a duly called annual or special meeting of stockholders and not be taken by written consent;

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provides that stockholders seeking to present proposals before a meeting of stockholders or to nominate candidates for election as directors at a meeting of stockholders must provide notice in writing in a timely manner, and also meet specific requirements as to the form and content of a stockholder’s notice;

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not provide for cumulative voting rights (therefore allowing the holders of a plurality of the shares of common stock entitled to vote in any election of directors to elect all of the directors standing for election, if they should so choose);
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provides that special meetings of our stockholders may be called only by the board of directors, the chairman of the board of directors, our chief executive officer or president (in the absence of a chief executive officer);





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provides that stockholders will be permitted to amend certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws only upon receiving at least two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast by holders of all outstanding shares then entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class; and

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provides that, unless we otherwise consent in writing, a state or federal court located within the State of Delaware shall be the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers or other employees to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against the company arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law, or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, or (iv) any action asserting a claim against us governed by the internal affairs doctrine.

The amendment of any of these provisions would require approval by the holders of at least two-thirds of our then outstanding common stock, voting as a single class.