Description of Registrants Securities Registered Under Section 12 of the Exchange Act

EX-4.23 2 oas-12312019xex42310k1.htm EX-4.23 Document
Exhibit 4.23

DESCRIPTION OF THE REGISTRANT’S SECURITIES
REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
        As of February 19, 2020, Oasis Petroleum Inc. has one class of securities registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”): our common stock. For purposes of this description, references to “the Company,” “we,” “our” and “us” refer only to Oasis Petroleum Inc. and not to its subsidiaries.
DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK
Authorized Capital Stock of Oasis Petroleum Inc.
The authorized capital stock of Oasis Petroleum Inc. consists of 900,000,000 shares of common stock, $0.01 par value per share, and 50,000,000 shares of preferred stock, $0.01 par value per share.
The following summary of our common stock, amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as amended (the “Amended Charter”), and amended and restated bylaws (the “Amended Bylaws”) of Oasis Petroleum Inc. does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the provisions of applicable law and to our Amended Charter and Amended Bylaws.
Common Stock
As of February 19, 2020, we had 323,926,171 shares of common stock outstanding, all of which is voting common stock.
Except as provided by law or in a preferred stock designation, holders of common stock are entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters submitted to a vote of the stockholders, will have the exclusive right to vote for the election of directors and do not have cumulative voting rights. Except as otherwise required by law, holders of common stock, as such, are not entitled to vote on any amendment to the Amended Charter (including any certificate of designations relating to any series of preferred stock) that relates solely to the terms of any outstanding series of preferred stock if the holders of such affected series are entitled, either separately or together with the holders of one or more other such series, to vote thereon pursuant to the Amended Charter (including any certificate of designations relating to any series of preferred stock) or pursuant to the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware. Subject to preferences that may be applicable to any outstanding shares or series of preferred stock, holders of common stock are entitled to receive ratably such dividends (payable in cash, stock or otherwise), if any, as may be declared from time to time by our board of directors out of funds legally available for dividend payments. All outstanding shares of common stock are fully paid and non-assessable, and any shares of common stock sold pursuant to this prospectus will be fully paid and non-assessable. The holders of common stock have no preferences or rights of conversion, exchange, pre-emption or other subscription rights. There are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock. In the event of any liquidation, dissolution or winding-up of our affairs, holders of common stock will be entitled to share ratably in our assets that are remaining after payment or provision for payment of all of our debts and obligations and after liquidation payments to holders of outstanding shares of preferred stock, if any.
Anti-Takeover Effects of Provisions of Our Amended Charter, Our Amended Bylaws and Delaware Law
Some provisions of Delaware law, and our Amended Charter and our Amended Bylaws described below, contain provisions that could make the following transactions more difficult: acquisitions of us by means of a tender offer, a proxy contest or otherwise; or removal of our incumbent officers and directors. These provisions may also have the effect of preventing changes in our management. It is possible that these provisions could make it more difficult to accomplish or could deter transactions that stockholders may otherwise consider to be in their best interest or in our best interests, including transactions that might result in a premium over the market price for our shares.
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These provisions, summarized below, are expected to discourage coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids. These provisions are also designed to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of us to first negotiate with us. We believe that the benefits of increased protection and our potential ability to negotiate with the proponent of an unfriendly or unsolicited proposal to acquire or restructure us outweigh the disadvantages of discouraging these proposals because, among other things, negotiation of these proposals could result in an improvement of their terms.
Delaware Law
We are subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, or DGCL, regulating corporate takeovers. In general, those provisions prohibit a Delaware corporation, including those whose securities are listed for trading on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”), from engaging in any business combination with any interested stockholder for a period of three years following the date that the stockholder became an interested stockholder, unless:
the transaction is approved by the board of directors before the date the interested stockholder attained that status;
upon consummation 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 commenced; or
on or after such time the business combination is approved by the board of directors and authorized at a meeting of stockholders by at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock that is not owned by the interested stockholder.
Section 203 defines “business combination” to include the following:
any merger or consolidation involving the corporation and the interested stockholder;
any sale, transfer, pledge or other disposition of 10% or more of the assets of the corporation involving the interested stockholder;
subject to certain exceptions, any transaction that results in the issuance or transfer by the corporation of any stock of the corporation to the interested stockholder;
any transaction involving the corporation that has the effect of increasing the proportionate share of the stock of any class or series of the corporation beneficially owned by the interested stockholder; or
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 any of these entities or persons.
A Delaware corporation may “opt out” of Section 203 with an express provision in its original certificate of incorporation or an express provision in its certificate of incorporation or bylaws resulting from amendments approved by the holders of at least a majority of the corporation’s outstanding voting shares. We did not “opt out” of the provisions of Section 203. The statute could prohibit or delay mergers or other takeover or change in control attempts and, accordingly, may discourage attempts to acquire us.
Amended Charter and Amended Bylaws
Among other things, our Amended Charter and Amended Bylaws:
establish advance notice procedures with regard to stockholder proposals relating to the nomination of candidates for election as directors or new business to be brought before meetings of our stockholders. These procedures provide that notice of stockholder proposals must be timely given in writing to our corporate secretary prior to the meeting at which the action is to be taken. Generally, to be timely, notice must be received at our principal executive offices not less than 90 days nor more than 120 days prior to the



first anniversary date of the annual meeting for the preceding year. Our Amended Bylaws specify the requirements as to form and content of all stockholders’ notices. These requirements may preclude stockholders from bringing matters before the stockholders at an annual or special meeting;
provide our board of directors the ability to authorize undesignated preferred stock. This ability makes it possible for our board of directors to issue, without stockholder approval, preferred stock with voting or other rights or preferences that could impede the success of any attempt to change control of us. These and other provisions may have the effect of deferring hostile takeovers or delaying changes in control or management of our company;
provide that the authorized number of directors may be changed only by resolution of the board of directors;
provide that all vacancies, including newly created directorships, may, except as otherwise required by law, be filled by the affirmative vote of a majority of directors then in office, even if less than a quorum;
provide that any action required or permitted to be taken by the stockholders must be effected at a duly called annual or special meeting of stockholders and may not be effected by any consent in writing in lieu of a meeting of such stockholders, subject to the rights of the holders of any series of preferred stock;
provide that directors may be removed only for cause and only by the affirmative vote of holders of at least 80% of the voting power of our then outstanding common stock;
provide our Amended Charter and Amended Bylaws may be amended by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least two-thirds of our then outstanding common stock;
provide that special meetings of our stockholders may only be called by the board of directors, the chief executive officer or the chairman of the board;
provide for our board of directors to be divided into three classes of directors, with each class as nearly equal in number as possible, serving staggered three year terms, other than directors which may be elected by holders of preferred stock, if any. This system of electing and removing 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;
provide that we renounce any interest in the business opportunities of EnCap Investments, L.P. or any private fund that it manages or advises or any of its officers, directors, agents, stockholders, members, partners, affiliates and subsidiaries (other than our directors who are presented business opportunities in their capacity as our director) and that they have no obligation to offer us those opportunities; and
provide that our Amended Bylaws can be amended or repealed at any regular or special meeting of stockholders or by the board of directors.
Limitation of Liability and Indemnification Matters
Our Amended Charter limits the liability of our directors for monetary damages for breach of their fiduciary duty as directors, except for liability that cannot be eliminated under the DGCL. Delaware law provides that directors of a company will not be personally liable for monetary damages for breach of their fiduciary duty as directors, except for liabilities:
for any breach of their duty of loyalty to us or our stockholders;
for acts or omissions not in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law;
for unlawful payment of dividend or unlawful stock repurchase or redemption, as provided under Section 174 of the DGCL; or
for any transaction from which the director derived an improper personal benefit.
Any amendment, repeal or modification of these provisions will be prospective only and would not affect any limitation on liability of a director for acts or omissions that occurred prior to any such amendment, repeal or modification.
Our Amended Charter and Amended Bylaws also provide that we will indemnify our directors and officers to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law. Our Amended Charter and Amended Bylaws also permit us to



purchase insurance on behalf of any officer, director, employee or other agent for any liability arising out of that person’s actions as our officer, director, employee or agent, regardless of whether Delaware law would permit indemnification. We intend to enter into indemnification agreements with each of our current and future directors and officers. These agreements require us to indemnify these individuals to the fullest extent permitted under Delaware law against liability that may arise by reason of their service to us, and to advance expenses incurred as a result of any proceeding against them as to which they could be indemnified. We believe that the limitation of liability provision in our Amended Charter and the indemnification agreements will facilitate our ability to continue to attract and retain qualified individuals to serve as directors and officers.
Transfer Agent and Registrar
The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is Computershare Trust Company, N.A.
Listing
Our common stock is listed on Nasdaq under the symbol “OAS.”