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

EX-4.5 2 quot-ex45_195.htm EX-4.5 quot-ex45_195.htm

Exhibit 4.5

 

DESCRIPTION OF THE REGISTRANT’S SECURITIES

REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE SECURITIES

EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Quotient Technology, Inc. (“we,” “our,” “us,” or the “Company”) has one class of securities registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”): our common stock, $0.00001 par value (“Common Stock”). The following summary of the terms of our Common Stock is based upon our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended (the “Certificate of Incorporation”), and our Amended and Restated Bylaws (the “Bylaws”). This summary does not purport to be complete and is subject to, and is qualified in its entirety by express reference to, the applicable provisions of our Certificate of Incorporation and our Bylaws, each of which are incorporated by reference herein and filed as exhibits to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, of which this Exhibit 4.5 is a part. We encourage you to read our Certificate of Incorporation, our Bylaws, and the applicable provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”) for more information.

Authorized Capital Stock

Our authorized capital stock consists of 260,000,000 shares, of which:

 

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250,000,000 shares are designated as Common Stock, $0.00001 par value per share; and

 

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10,000,000 shares are designated as Preferred Stock, $0.00001 par value per share.

Common Stock

Voting Rights

Holders of our Common Stock are entitled to one vote per share of Common Stock on all matters on which the holders of Common Stock are entitled to vote. In addition, the affirmative vote of the holders of 66-2/3% of the voting power of all of the then outstanding shares of our capital stock is required to take certain actions, including amending certain provisions of our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws.

We have not provided for cumulative voting for the election of directors in our Certificate of Incorporation.

Dividend Rights

Subject to preferences that may apply to any shares of preferred stock outstanding at the time, the holders of Common Stock will be entitled to share equally, identically, and ratably, on a per share basis, with respect to any dividend or distribution of cash or property out of assets or funds legally available therefor, as our board of directors may from time to time determine.

Liquidation Rights.

In the event of our liquidation, dissolution or winding-up, upon the completion of any distributions required with respect to any shares of preferred stock that may then be outstanding, our remaining assets legally available for distribution to common stockholders shall be distributed on an equal priority, pro rata basis to the holders of Common 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 our 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 our Preferred Stock that we may designate in the future.

 

 

Preferred Stock

Our board of directors may, without further action by our stockholders, fix the rights, preferences, privileges, and restrictions of up to an aggregate of 10,000,000 shares of Preferred Stock in one or more series and authorize their issuance. These rights, preferences, and privileges could include dividend rights, conversion rights, voting rights, terms of redemption, liquidation preferences, 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 our Common Stock. Any issuance of our Preferred Stock could adversely affect the voting power of holders of our Common Stock, and the likelihood that such holders would receive dividend payments and payments upon liquidation. In addition, the issuance of Preferred Stock could have the effect of delaying, deferring, or preventing a change of control or other corporate action. As of December 31, 2019, no shares of Preferred Stock were outstanding.

Anti-Takeover Provisions

Some provisions of Delaware law and our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws contain provisions that could make the following transactions more difficult: (i) acquisition of us by means of a tender offer; (ii) acquisition of us by means of a proxy contest or otherwise; or (iii) removal of our incumbent officers and directors. 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.

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 our board of directors. We believe 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.

Anti-Takeover Statute

We are subject to Section 203 of the DGCL, or Section 203, which generally prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in any business combination with any interested stockholder for a period of three years after the date that such stockholder became an interested stockholder, with the following exceptions:

 

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before such date, the board of directors of the corporation approved either the business combination or the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder;

 

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upon completion 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 began, excluding for purposes of determining the voting stock outstanding, but not the outstanding voting stock owned by the interested stockholder, those shares owned (1) by persons who are directors and also officers and (2) 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 after such date, the business combination is approved by the board of directors and authorized by the stockholders, by the affirmative vote of at least 662/3% of the outstanding voting stock that is not owned by the interested stockholder.

 

 

In general, Section 203 defines a “business combination” to include the following:

 

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

 

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

 

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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;

 

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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; or

 

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

In general, Section 203 defines an “interested stockholder” as an entity or person who, together with the person’s affiliates and associates, beneficially owns, or within three years prior to the time of determination of interested stockholder status did own, 15% or more of the outstanding voting stock of the corporation.

Undesignated Preferred Stock

The ability to authorize 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 control of the Company. These and other provisions may have the effect of deterring hostile takeovers or delaying changes in control or management of the Company.

Special Stockholder Meetings

Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that a special meeting of the stockholders may be called only by our board of directors, our Executive Chairman, or our Chief Executive Officer.

Requirements for Advance Notice of Stockholder Nominations and Proposals

Our Bylaws establish advance notice procedures for stockholders when nominating candidates for election as directors and proposing business matters. 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 office not less than 90 days nor more than 120 days prior to the first anniversary date of the preceding year’s annual meeting. As a result, our Bylaws may have the effect of precluding the conduct of certain business at a meeting if the proper procedures are not followed. These provisions may also discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of the Company.

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 Certificate of Incorporation provides otherwise. Our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws do not expressly provide for cumulative voting.

 

 

No Stockholder Action by Written Consent

Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that all stockholder actions are required to be taken by a vote of the stockholders at an annual or special meeting and that stockholders may not take any action by written consent in lieu of a meeting. This limit may lengthen the amount of time required to take stockholder actions and would prevent the amendment of our Bylaws or removal of directors by our stockholders without holding a meeting of stockholders.

Board Composition

Our Certificate of Incorporation provides for a board of directors comprising three classes of directors, with each class serving a three-year term beginning and ending in different years than those of the other two classes. Only one class of directors will be elected at each annual meeting of our stockholders, with the other classes continuing for the remainder of their respective three-year terms.

This tri-class structure, combined with the other provisions in our Certificate of Incorporation and our Bylaws, make it more difficult for another party to obtain control of us by replacing our board of directors. Since our board of directors has the power to retain and discharge our officers, these provisions could also make it more difficult for another party to effect a change in management.

Choice of Forum

Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the exclusive forum for: (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf; (ii) any action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty; (iii) any action asserting a claim against us arising under the DGCL; (iv) any action regarding our Certificate of Incorporation or our Bylaws; or (v) any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. This provision would not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the U.S. federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction.

Transfer Agent and Registrar

The transfer agent and registrar for our Common Stock is American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC.

Listing

Our Common Stock is currently listed on the NYSE under the symbol “QUOT.”