Description of Class A Common Stock

The following description of the capital stock of Nutanix, Inc. (“us”, “our”, “we” or the “Company”) is a summary. This summary is not complete and is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to the complete text of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws, each previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and incorporated by reference as an exhibit to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of which this Exhibit 4.5 is a part, as well as to the relevant provisions of the general corporation law of the state of Delaware (the “DGCL”). We encourage you to read our certificate of incorporation, bylaws and the applicable provisions of the DGCL carefully.

Our authorized capital stock consists of 1,400,000,000 shares, with a par value of $0.000025 per share, of which:

Our board of directors is authorized, without stockholder approval, except as required by the listing standards of the NASDAQ Stock Market, to issue additional shares of our capital stock.

Holders of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock have identical rights, provided however that, except as otherwise expressly provided in our certificate of incorporation or required by applicable law, on any matter that is submitted to a vote of our stockholders, holders of Class A common stock are entitled to one vote per share of Class A common stock and holders of Class B common stock are entitled to 10 votes per share of Class B common stock. Holders of shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock vote together as a single class on all matters (including the election of directors) submitted to a vote of stockholders, unless otherwise required by Delaware law or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Delaware law could require either holders of our Class A common stock or Class B common stock to vote separately as a single class in the following circumstances:

We have not provided for cumulative voting for the election of directors in our certificate of incorporation. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws provide for a classified board of directors consisting of three classes of approximately equal size, each class serving staggered three-year terms. Only one will be elected at each annual meeting of our stockholders, with the other classes continuing for the remainder of their respective three-year terms.

Our common stock is not entitled to preemptive rights and is not subject to conversion, redemption or sinking fund provisions.

Except as otherwise expressly provided in our certificate of incorporation or required by applicable law, shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock have the same rights and privileges and rank equally, share ratably and are identical in all respects as to all matters, including, without limitation those described below.

Subject to preferences that may apply to any shares of preferred stock outstanding at the time, the holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock are entitled to share equally, identically and ratably, on a per share basis, with respect to any dividend or distribution of cash, property or shares of our capital stock paid or distributed by us, unless different treatment of the shares of each such class is approved by the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock, each voting separately as a class. In the event a dividend or distribution is paid in the form of shares of Class A common stock or Class B common stock or rights to acquire shares of such stock, the holders of Class A common stock shall receive Class A common stock, or rights to acquire Class A common stock, as the case may be, and the holders of Class B common stock shall receive Class B common stock, or rights to acquire Class B common stock, as the case may be.

Upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding-up, the holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock are entitled to share equally, identically and ratably in all assets remaining after the payment of any liabilities and the liquidation preferences and any accrued or declared but unpaid dividends, if any, with respect to any outstanding preferred stock, unless different treatment of the shares of each class is approved by the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock, each voting separately as a class.

  

Upon (A) the closing of the sale, transfer or other disposition of all or substantially all of our assets, (B) the consummation of a merger, reorganization, consolidation or share transfer which results in our voting securities outstanding immediately prior to the transaction (or the voting securities issued with respect to our voting securities outstanding immediately prior to the transaction) representing less than a majority of the combined voting power of our voting securities or the voting securities of the surviving or acquiring entity, (C) the closing of the transfer (whether by merger, consolidation or otherwise), in one transaction or a series of related transactions, to a person or group of affiliated persons of securities of the company if, after closing, the transferee person or group would hold 50% or more of our outstanding voting stock (or the outstanding voting stock of the surviving or acquiring entity), (D) any voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding-up, or (E) the issuance by us of voting securities representing more than 2% of our total voting power to a person who held 50% or less of our total voting power immediately prior to such transaction and who following such transaction holds more than 50% of our total voting power, the holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock will be treated equally and identically with respect to shares of Class A common stock or Class B common stock owned by them, unless different treatment of the shares of each class is approved by the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock, each voting separately as a class.

If we subdivide or combine in any manner outstanding shares of Class A common stock or Class B common stock, the outstanding shares of the other class will be subdivided or combined in the same manner, unless different treatment of the shares of each class is approved by the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock, each voting as a separate class. 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws contain provisions that could have the effect of delaying, deferring or discouraging another party from acquiring control of us. These provisions and certain provisions of Delaware law, which are summarized below, could discourage takeovers, coercive or otherwise.

These provisions are also designed, in part, to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of us to negotiate first with our board of directors. We believe that the benefits of increased protection of our potential ability to negotiate with an unfriendly or unsolicited acquirer outweigh the disadvantages of discouraging a proposal to acquire us.

Dual Class Stock. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides for a dual class common stock structure, which provides certain of our investors and certain of our executive officers, employees, directors and their affiliates with significant influence over all matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors and significant corporate transactions, such as a merger or other sale of our company or its assets.

Issuance of Undesignated Preferred Stock. Our board of directors has the ability to designate and issue preferred stock with voting or other rights or preferences that could deter hostile takeovers or delay changes in our control or management.

Limits on Ability of Stockholders to Act by Written Consent or Call a Special Meeting. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, upon the conversion of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock into a single class of common stock, our stockholders may not act by written consent. This limit on the ability of stockholders to act by written consent may lengthen the amount of time required to take stockholder actions. As a result, the holders of a majority of our capital stock would not be able to amend the amended and restated bylaws or remove directors without holding a meeting of stockholders called in accordance with the amended and restated bylaws.

In addition, our amended and restated bylaws provide that special meetings of the stockholders may be called only by the chief executive officer, the president (in the absence of a chief executive officer), the lead independent director or a majority of our board of directors. A stockholder may not call a special meeting, which may delay the ability of our stockholders to force consideration of a proposal or for holders controlling a majority of our capital stock to take any action, including the removal of directors.

Advance Requirements for Advance Notification of Stockholder Nominations and Proposals. Our amended and restated 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 our board of directors or a committee of the board of directors. These advance notice procedures may have the effect of precluding the conduct of certain business at a meeting if the proper procedures are not followed and may also discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect its own slate of directors or otherwise attempt to obtain control of our company.

Board Classification. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that our board of directors will be divided into three classes, one class of which is elected each year by our stockholders. The directors in each class will serve for a three-year term. Our classified board of directors may tend to discourage a third party from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us because it generally makes it more difficult for stockholders to replace a majority of the directors.

Election and Removal of Directors. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws contain provisions that establish specific procedures for appointing and removing members of our board of directors. Under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, upon the conversion of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock into a single class of common stock, vacancies and newly created directorships on our board of directors may be filled only by a majority of the directors then serving on our board of directors. Under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, directors may be removed only for cause and, in addition to any other vote required by law, upon the affirmative vote of the holders of at least two-thirds of the shares then entitled to vote at an election of directors.

No Cumulative Voting. The Delaware General Corporation Law provides that stockholders are not entitled to the right to cumulate votes in the election of directors unless our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides otherwise. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws do not expressly provide for cumulative voting. Without cumulative voting, a minority stockholder may not be able to gain as many seats on our board of directors as the stockholder would be able to gain if cumulative voting were permitted. The absence of cumulative voting makes it more difficult for a minority stockholder to gain a seat on our board of directors to influence our board of directors’ decision regarding a takeover.

Amendment of Charter Provision. Any amendment of the above provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would require approval by holders of at least two-thirds of our then outstanding Class A and Class B common stock.

Delaware Anti-Takeover Statute. We will be subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law regulating corporate takeovers. In general, Section 203 prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging, under certain circumstances, in a business combination with an interested stockholder for a period of three years following the date the person became an interested stockholder unless:

Generally, a business combination includes a merger, asset or stock sale, or other transaction resulting in a financial benefit to the interested stockholder. An interested stockholder is a person who, together with affiliates and associates, owns or, within three years prior to the determination of interested stockholder status, did own 15% or more of a corporation’s outstanding voting stock. We expect the existence of this provision to have an anti-takeover effect with respect to transactions our board of directors does not approve in advance. We also anticipate that Section 203 may discourage attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares of Class A common stock held by stockholders.