Description of Registered Securities

EX-4.25 2 svra-ex425_1036.htm EX-4.25 svra-ex425_1036.htm

 

Exhibit 4.25

 

DESCRIPTION OF THE REGISTRANT’S SECURITIES

REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12

OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

General

The following description of registered securities of Savara Inc. (“us,” “our,” “we” or the “Company”) is intended as a summary only and therefore is not a complete description. This description is based upon, and is qualified by reference to, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our amended and restated bylaws and applicable provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”). You should read our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, which are incorporated by reference as Exhibit 3.1 and Exhibit 3.2, respectively, to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of which this Exhibit is a part, for the provisions that are important to you.

Our authorized capital stock consists of 201,000,000 shares, with a par value of $0.001 per share, of which:

 

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200,000,000 shares are designated as common stock; and

 

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1,000,000 shares are designated as preferred stock.

Our common stock is registered under Section 12(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

Description of Common Stock

Our certificate of incorporation authorizes us to issue 200,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share. Additional shares of authorized common stock may be issued, as authorized by our board of directors from time to time, without stockholder approval, except as may be required by applicable securities exchange requirements. The holders of common stock possess exclusive voting rights in us, except to the extent our board of directors specifies voting power with respect to any other class of securities issued in the future. Each holder of our common stock is entitled to one vote for each share held of record on each matter submitted to a vote of stockholders, including the election of directors. Stockholders do not have any right to cumulate votes in the election of directors.

Subject to preferences that may be granted to the holders of preferred stock, each holder of our common stock is entitled to share ratably in distributions to stockholders and to receive ratably such dividends as may be declared by our board of directors out of funds legally available therefor. In the event of our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, the holders of our common stock will be entitled to receive, after payment of all of our debts and liabilities and of all sums to which holders of any preferred stock may be entitled, the distribution of any of our remaining assets. Holders of our common stock have no conversion, exchange, sinking fund or redemption rights and have no preemptive rights to subscribe for any of our securities. All of the outstanding shares of our common stock are fully paid and non-assessable. 

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

Provisions of the DGCL, our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws could make it more difficult to acquire us by means of a tender offer, a proxy contest or otherwise, or to remove incumbent officers and directors. These provisions, summarized below, are expected to discourage certain types of coercive takeover practices and takeover bids that our board of directors may consider inadequate and to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of us to first negotiate with our board of directors. We believe that the benefits of increased protection of our ability to negotiate with the proponent of an unfriendly or unsolicited proposal to acquire or restructure us outweigh the disadvantages of discouraging takeover or acquisition proposals because, among other things, negotiation of these proposals could result in an improvement of their terms. This summary does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the DGCL and our certificate of incorporation and bylaws.

 

 

Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws 

Preferred Stock. Under our certificate of incorporation, our board of directors has the power to authorize the issuance of up to 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, all of which are currently undesignated, and to determine the price, rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions, including voting rights, of those shares without further vote or action by our stockholders. The issuance of preferred stock may:

 

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delay, defer or prevent a change in control;

 

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discourage bids for our common stock at a premium over the market price of our common stock;

 

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adversely affect the voting and other rights of the holders of our common stock; and

 

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discourage acquisition proposals or tender offers for our shares and, as a consequence, inhibit fluctuations in the market price of our shares that could result from actual or rumored takeover attempts.

Advance Notice Requirement. Stockholder nominations of individuals for election to our board of directors and stockholder proposals of other matters to be brought before an annual meeting of our stockholders must comply with the advance notice procedures set forth in our bylaws. Generally, to be timely, such notice must be received at our principal executive offices no later than the date specified in our proxy statement released to stockholders in connection with the preceding year’s annual meeting of stockholders, which date shall be not earlier than the 120th day, nor later than the close of business on the 90th day, prior to the first anniversary of the date of the preceding year’s annual meeting of stockholders.

Special Meeting Requirements. Our bylaws provide that special meetings of our stockholders may be called only at the request of our board of directors, president (unless there is a chief executive officer who is not the president, in which case a special meeting may be called at any time by the chief executive officer and not the president) or chair of the board of directors. Only such business shall be considered at a special meeting as shall have been stated in the notice for such meeting.

No Cumulative Voting. Our certificate of incorporation does not include a provision for cumulative voting for directors.

Indemnification. Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws provide that we will indemnify our officers and directors against losses as they incur in investigations and legal proceedings resulting from their services to us, which may include service in connection with takeover defense measures.

Removal of Directors. Our bylaws provide that the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 75% of our voting stock then outstanding is required to remove our directors, either with or without cause.

Authorized but Unissued Shares. Our authorized but unissued shares of common stock and preferred stock will be available for future issuance without stockholder approval. We may use additional shares for a variety of purposes, including future public offerings to raise additional capital, to fund acquisitions and as employee compensation. The existence of authorized but unissued shares of common stock and 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.

 

 

Delaware Anti-Takeover Statute 

We are subject to Section 203 of the DGCL, an anti-takeover law. In general, Section 203 prohibits, with some exceptions, a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in a “business combination” with any “interested stockholder” for a period of three years following the date that stockholder became an interested stockholder, unless:

 

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prior to that 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 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, excluding for purposes of determining the number of shares of voting stock outstanding (but not the voting stock owned by the interested stockholder) those shares owned by persons who are directors and officers and by excluding employee stock plans in which employee participants do not have the right to determine 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 that date, the business combination is approved by the board of directors of the corporation and authorized at an annual or special meeting of stockholders, and not by written consent, by the affirmative vote of at least 66-2/3% of the outstanding voting stock that is not owned by the interested stockholder.

Section 203 defines “business combination” to include any of 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 merger or consolidation involving the corporation and the interested stockholder;

 

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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

 

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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 person who, together with the person’s affiliates and associates, beneficially owns, or within three years prior to the determination of interested stockholder status did beneficially own, 15% or more of the outstanding voting stock of the corporation.

The above provisions may deter a hostile takeover or delay a change in control.

Transfer Agent and Registrar

The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is American Stock Transfer & Trust Company.

The NASDAQ Global Select Market Listing

Our common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “SVRA.”