Description of Securities of the Registrant

EX-4.5 2 ex45descritpionofstock.htm EXHIBIT 4.5 Exhibit

Exhibit 4.5
Description of Class A Common Stock
General
The following description of the Class A common stock of Planet Fitness, Inc. (the “Company” or “us”) is intended as a summary only and is qualified in its entirety by reference to our restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, which are filed as exhibits to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of which this Exhibit 4.5 is a part, and to the applicable provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”).
Our authorized capital stock consists of 300,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Class A common stock”), 100,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Class B common stock”), and 50,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “preferred stock”). Our Class A common stock is registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and is listed on the NYSE under the symbol “PLNT.”
Common stock
Voting rights. Holders of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock are entitled to cast one vote per share on all matters submitted to stockholders for their approval. Holders of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock are not entitled to cumulate their votes in the election of directors. Holders of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to stockholders for their vote or approval, except with respect to the amendment of certain provisions of our certificate of incorporation that would alter or change the powers, preferences or special rights of the Class B common stock so as to affect them adversely, which amendments must be approved by a majority of the votes entitled to be cast by the holders of the Class B common stock, voting as a separate class, or as otherwise required by applicable law.
Generally, all matters to be voted on by stockholders must be approved by a majority of votes cast affirmatively or negatively on a matter by stockholders (or, in the case of election of directors, by a plurality), voting together as a single class. Except as otherwise provided by law, amendments to the certificate of incorporation must be approved by a majority or, in some cases, a super-majority of the combined voting power of all shares entitled to vote, voting together as a single class.
Dividend rights. Holders of Class A common stock share ratably (based on the number of shares of Class A common stock held) if and when any dividend is declared by the board of directors out of funds legally available therefor, subject to any statutory or contractual restrictions on the payment of dividends and to any restrictions on the payment of dividends imposed by the terms of any outstanding preferred stock. The holders of our Class B common stock do not have any right to receive dividends other than dividends consisting of shares of our Class B common stock paid proportionally with respect to each outstanding share of our Class B common stock.
Liquidation rights. On our liquidation, dissolution or winding up and after payment in full of all amounts required to be paid to creditors and to the holders of preferred stock having liquidation preferences, if any, each holder of Class A common stock are entitled to a pro rata distribution of any assets available for distribution to common stockholders. Other than their par value, the holders of our Class B common stock do not have any right to receive a distribution upon a liquidation or dissolution of our Company.
Other matters. No shares of Class A common stock or Class B common stock are subject to redemption or have preemptive rights to purchase additional shares of Class A common stock or Class B common stock. Holders of shares of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock do not have subscription, redemption or conversion rights. There are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to the Class A common stock or Class B common stock.

Preferred stock
Our board of directors may, without further action by our stockholders, from time to time, direct the issuance of shares of preferred stock in series and may, at the time of issuance, determine the designations, powers, preferences, privileges and relative participating, optional or special rights, as well as the qualifications, limitations or restrictions thereof, including dividend rights, conversion rights, voting rights, terms of redemption and liquidation preferences, any or all of which may be greater than the rights of the Class A common stock. Satisfaction of any dividend preferences of outstanding shares of preferred stock would reduce the amount of funds available for the payment of dividends on shares of our Class A common



stock. Holders of shares of preferred stock may be entitled to receive a preference payment in the event of our liquidation before any payment is made to the holders of shares of our Class A common stock. Under certain circumstances, the issuance of shares of preferred stock may render more difficult or tend to discourage a merger, tender offer or proxy contest, the assumption of control by a holder of a large block of our securities or the removal of incumbent management. Upon the affirmative vote of a majority of the total number of directors then in office, our board of directors, without stockholder approval, may issue shares of preferred stock with voting and conversion rights which could adversely affect the holders of shares of our Class A common stock and the market value of our Class A common stock.
Anti-takeover effects of our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws
Our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws contain provisions that may delay, defer or discourage another party from acquiring control of us. We expect that these provisions will discourage coercive takeover practices or inadequate takeover bids. These provisions are also designed to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of us to first negotiate with the board of directors, which we believe may result in an improvement of the terms of any such acquisition in favor of our stockholders. However, they may also discourage acquisitions that some stockholders may favor.
These provisions include:
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Classified board. Our certificate of incorporation provides that our board of directors is divided into three classes of directors. As a result, approximately one-third of our board of directors is elected each year. The classification of directors has the effect of making it more difficult for stockholders to change the composition of our board.
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No cumulative voting. The DGCL provides that stockholders are not entitled to the right to cumulate votes in the election of directors unless the certificate of incorporation specifically authorizes cumulative voting. Our certificate of incorporation does not authorize cumulative voting.
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Requirements for removal of directors. Directors may only be removed for cause by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 75% of the voting power of our outstanding shares of capital stock entitled to vote thereon.
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Advance notice procedures. Our bylaws establish an advance notice procedure for stockholder proposals to be brought before an annual meeting of our stockholders, including proposed nominations of persons for election to the board of directors. Stockholders at an annual meeting will only be able to consider proposals or nominations specified in the notice of meeting or brought before the meeting by or at the direction of the board of directors or by a stockholder who was a stockholder of record on the record date for the meeting, who is entitled to vote at the meeting and who has given our secretary timely written notice, in proper form, of the stockholder’s intention to bring that business before the meeting. Although the bylaws do not give the board of directors the power to approve or disapprove stockholder nominations of candidates or proposals regarding other business to be conducted at a special or annual meeting, the bylaws may have the effect of precluding the conduct of certain business at a meeting if the proper procedures are not followed or may discourage or deter a potential acquiror from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect its own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of our Company. 
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Actions by written consent; special meetings of stockholders. Our certificate of incorporation provides that stockholder action can be taken only at an annual or special meeting of stockholders and cannot be taken by written consent in lieu of a meeting. Our certificate of incorporation also provides that, except as otherwise required by law, special meetings of the stockholders can only be called by or at the direction of the chairman of the board, a majority of the board of directors, or by the secretary at the request of the holders of 50% or more of our outstanding shares of common stock.
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Supermajority approval requirements. Certain amendments to our certificate of incorporation and shareholder amendments to our bylaws will require the affirmative vote of at least 75% of the voting power of the outstanding shares of our capital stock entitled to vote thereon.
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Authorized but unissued shares. Our authorized but unissued shares of common and preferred stock are available for future issuance without stockholder approval. The existence of authorized but unissued shares of preferred stock could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.



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Business combinations with interested stockholders. We have elected in our certificate of incorporation not to be subject to Section 203 of the DGCL, an antitakeover law. In general, Section 203 prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in a business combination, such as a merger, with a person or group owning 15% or more of the corporation’s voting stock for a period of three years following the date the person became an interested stockholder, unless (with certain exceptions) the business combination or the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder is approved in a prescribed manner. However, while we are not subject to any anti-takeover effects of Section 203, our certificate of incorporation contains provisions that have the same general effect as Section 203.
Exclusive forum
Our certificate of incorporation requires, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in the name of the Company, actions against directors, officers and employees for breach of a fiduciary duty and other similar actions may be brought only in specified courts in the State of Delaware. Although we believe this provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.